It makes sense to have a limit/space, between dwellings and hunters… much like farmers spraying their fields/crops near schools/dwellings.
300m is not exactly a hugely safe distance….bullets can travel further than that.
Recently I’ve been getting hunters consistently hunting very near my land and house. Less than the obligatory 150m. And there seem to be two cars parked pretty close by fairly regularly in the evenings, and then the gunshots start. I want to approach the local hunters/mairie about the situation, but when I was discussing the situation with a friend recently, they mentioned they had someone in their village that had approached the mairie about hunters being close to their property. Next minute they ended up with graffiti sprayed on the walls of their house and a pigs head on their doorstep. Sounded absolutely horrific, so have thought twice about pursuing my particular situation, but certainly not comfortable with the hunters coming so close to my property.
Sure this isn’t an urban myth? It’s the sort of rumour that circulates a lot!
Does your friend live in your village and know your local chasse? They are very different in each place depending on president and members.
Unfortunately it’s not an urban myth, and very real. The friend lives in a neighbouring village, so not mine, but must admit it did make me sit up a little and think twice before making any moves. Will certainly mull over what I do, and now maybe try to eke it out for this season and see if I can subtly deal with it before next season kicks off. Dealing with matters subtly isn’t necessarily my normal way, but very conscious of the possible ramifications.
Whilst you may not wish to give your own whereabouts… can you at least say which Department has suffered such disgraceful behaviour…
It’s dept 34
Well only another few days to go this year, so probably a good plan. You will have time to get to know who is a member of the local chasse, and who might be approachable. Ideally if you could find a friend of yours, who is also a friend of some of the hunters, and for them to have a quiet word about his mate being concerned for his children, elderly mother, whatever. Things are often much better received that way.
Yes, totally agree, think the subtle approach is definitely what’s called for, and indeed, the next few months will allow me to suss out a bit more as to who’s who 
La Chasse doesn’t fully close until the end of March here in the Charente Maritime.
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That reminded me to take a look on the net, and end of Feb is the ‘finish’ date here 
Does that include Sanglier?
Another good check as didn’t realise there could be slightly different dates for the various victims 
Anyway, end of Feb remains - below is the extract from the source:
#### When does the wild boar hunting season end?
In most departments concerned by the presence of this animal, wild boar hunting ends at the end of February. For the 2021-2022 season, the closing date is February 28, 2022 . An exception remains in the Alsatian departments (Haut-Rhin, Bas-Rhin) and Moselle: the hunting season, open from April 15, ends on February 1 of the following year (i.e. February 1 , 2022 for the previous period). In Moselle, the hunting season now covers almost the whole year, almost without interruption.
Some areas can also ask for an extension if there are too many boar or deer. Luckily our hunters are a bit hunted out this year as they had very big quotas, so I think they are happy to stop!
We usually find the numbers out drop off significantly after Christmas. They get bored (or something). They’ve worn their new gear, tried out their new gun and the new dog and the wife is moaning that they are never around.
The occasional shot in the thick fog can be a bit disconcerting.
Unfortunately our valley is something of a magnet for guys from the local town and I have been known to be anything but subtle when they let their dogs stray onto what is clearly our lawn and not a field, which means there can then be confrontations with our dogs. I gave a couple of guys an earful a couple of years ago and told them that our neighbours who hunt respect our boundaries. I did wonder afterwards whether I’d been wise losing my temper with two men with loaded guns! They have not been back.
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I live in a very small commune in the Gironde. The president of the chasse always advises Madame le Maire when a battu is planned , the date and the hours. Everything is identified by temporary signs as you go along the roads. Attention Chasse. My regret is that because of Covid we haven’t had a repas de chasse for two years. Peronally I’d rather have my fellow villagers with their high vis vests and rifles than those prats in pink coats on their horses. unfortunately because of hygiene regulations and cold chain requirements it isn’t possible to make an economic proposition of hunting sangliers, a major pest, so if you want to eat boar you take your chances on eating Australian scrub pigs or tame porkers from New Zealand
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Our chasse “lieutenants” are working with a “wolf team” from the pyrenees and are allowed scaring shots to try and deter/move on our wolf problem. They’re not allowed to actually shoot them though.
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Do you not have the guys just out for a Sunday with their mates and their dogs and their guns David? If so, you are lucky. An occasional organised batu is a very different thing to men in white vans arriving every Sunday from 8am onwards and most Wednesday afternoons and just shooting at everything that moves. We put up with it for the fact that our valley for the rest of the time is wonderful. And we are the incomers, so wouldn’t dream of complaining - except directly to any hunter who I think is too close to my dogs.
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Same where we live Sue. To be fair, last autumn, when they ran their dogs across the back of our property, we went out making a huge racket to chase off the dogs, and then when I spotted one of the hunters standing at the very corner of the field next to our woodshed, rifle in hand, less than 20m from the house, I had a polite, if rather tense word, and asked him to recall the dog that was still wandering around. After muttering something about it not being his dog, he did actually make an attempt to recall the dog.
Since that event, we’ve not seen them again this year. We have now bought the small wood through which they were running their dogs, and which adjoins our existing property, and it turns out that they weren’t actually authorised by the previous owner to do any hunting in the wood, so we shall see what happens next year… Additionally, the local hunt association were pre-notified of the sale and could have chosen to buy the land in preference to us, but they declined, so I can only assume that they were either too skinflint or not interested enough for it to be worth their while. I’ve ordered some warning notices about the land being “Propriété Privée - Chasse Interdite”, and intend to nail them to some suitable trees in unavoidably visible places - we’ll see how many potshots get levelled at them.
In a previous run-in with a pair of local hunters using their dogs for “pistage” through our garden, I received a torrent of abuse, and subsequently contacted the president of the local federation to make a formal complaint, so perhaps they know enough of me now to know that I’ll not let things lie. I certainly expect that they know my car registration number, but things have remained polite ever since. Fortunately, other than bluster, there have been no incidences such as the ones reported in this thread from the 34, where presumably, people are quicker to ire, being meridional and all that, but I am acutely aware that things could potentially go south quite rapidly if they were to be provoked.
If anyone has worries re hunting… they can speak with someone at their Mairie and/or the local Chasse.
Each area of France has a lieutenant de louveterie (equivalent of a chasse-policeman) and he is also contactable. The Mairie should have the details.
For any serious situation, contact the gendarmes without delay, would be my advice.