Gunner Bailey shot at!

[Seadog]

Bl**dly typical of the French, shooting and missing!!

Norman

[SteveMarsdin]

Good afternoon All,

All the joking apart, the French and Belgians take their hunting seriously. It is widely popular, which is to say all types take part with varying levels of skill and manners. As previous posters have mentioned it's not usually pheasants they're after; a wildboar takes some stopping and they have the weaponry to match.

If you are going to be out in the countryside in the autumn then please avoid wooded areas and even on open farmland wear a reflective jacket. As "Healdav" helps illustrate, most rural areas of France/Belgium and Luxembourg have their tragic hunting stories and when you see the discarded bottles of Jaegermeister near some of the shooting stands you perhaps understand why.

Keep safe !

[chrisharley9]

Dont these hunters understand the dangers they are causing or is it a case of traditon overides all

Chris

[Gunner Bailey]

Bl**dly typical of the French, shooting and missing!!

Norman

I'll see you after school Norman!

John

[auchonvillerssomme]

They aren't a danger, very few tourists are actually killed, they need a special license for that. Probably more at risk of being shot in the centre of Sheffield these days or by a child with an air rifle.

Mick

[Gunner Bailey]

I've been saving the space for the airship but i'm willing to shove it in a corner.

Mick

They are smaller with the gas out! - I'll get me coat....

JOhn

[auchonvillerssomme]

No wonder it cost a fortune in bubble wrap.

[KIRKY]

Out of interest, can the hunters wander where they like or do they have to get farmers permission?

Tony

[1st_east_yorks]

Gunner,

Remember the old farming saying ;

"Red sky at night....................get orf my laaaaaaaaaaaaand!!!"

Sean.

[SteveMarsdin]

Chris and Kirky,

Usually they have to have permission from the landowner or if it's communal forest from the mairie. The hunting locations/dates are normally posted at the local mairie and on the main entrances to the land/forest. The onus is on the public to establish whether it is safe to enter a particular area. Most locals would know when not to enter a particular forest etc. but as a tourist you must check first. It is extremely unwise to enter a forest anywhere other than an obvious main entrance route (which should be signed or be red-flagged if hunting is taking place) but as I said, in autumn, if unsure, avoid forests and wear a reflective jacket on open-farmland, especially if you haven't sought express permission to be there.

As Mick said they, follow this commonsense approach and they aren't a danger.

[towisuk]

The way they go at their shooting seasons its a wonder there's anything left to shoot...........

So I suppose us battlefield tourists will do as a second best!!

regards

Tom

[mandy hall]

I have just returned from a week in the Loire. All week when driving around we saw men wandering around with guns in the countryside. Didn't dare go for a walk around the village where we were staying because of the sounds of gunfire.

Mandy

[Gunner Bailey]

I have just returned from a week in the Loire. All week when driving around we saw men wandering around with guns in the countryside. Didn't dare go for a walk around the village where we were staying because of the sounds of gunfire.

Mandy

Thanks Mandy. It's the same all over.

I think more people are killed by their own hunters than by WW1 munitions.

John

[geraint]

Since John posted his original posting, I spoke to the secretary of the local hunt associoation at Chateauponsac in the Limousine (and you can't get more rural than that), who is a neighbour and friend of mine. He is also a member of the National Hunt Council for France, and does know his stuff. He tells me that all hunting done in the name of a local hunt is according to the strict rules of the local mairie and the ruling council. He cann't recall a single death in the hunts, though he does tell (gruesomly) of self-inflicted wounds caused to individual hunters with their own guns.

The hunt falls into three categories; all usually held on a Sunday, and on land which either belongs to a hunting co-operative or individual landowners who has given permission and are usually members.

Shotgun- partridge in open fields after the combines have gone; pheasant in woods (usually bred specifically for a private hunt), and waterfowl of all kind in the relevant marshy areas. This, is purely for food. All birds end up on the table.

Vermin - foxes, badgers, pine martins and mammals that attack poultry. Usually done with hounds resulting in a swift kill. They plan before hand where the hunt will be, and they usually deal with four or five locations during the day. These are carried out on farming land in which the farmer plagued by such vermin invites the hunt in.

Rifle hunts - though the target animals are eaten and highly regarded for the cuisine; they are generally thought of and hunted as vermin. These include fallow deer, sanglier and ragonda. The deer can strip a field of pasture in a few hours, and great numbers of roaming wild deer are regarded as an acute problem. The sanglier or wild boar, however, is not thought of as vermin or a problem to farmers, just d*mned nice to eat! The hunt is less planned than the fox hunt because of the wandering nature of the deer. Hounds are the main way of hunting, with the rifle used as a final coup de grace. The use of hunting horns are mandatory. The noise made by the hounds and horns are voluable enough to tell anyone nearby as to the nature of their activity. The collection of vans and cars at the public road entry into the wood, as well as a steward is also notification. Publicly displayed signs throughout the year indicate hunt areas. Hunters mandatoraly wear high-vis items.

He tells me that in October, the biggest risk for the hunters are city-dwellers foraging for mushrooms, chestnuts and nuts. The hunt should have stewarts/hunters at public access points (fieldgates, paths, roads) with their 'portables' feeding information to the huntmaster. They are aware of public non-hunting movements in the vicinity. As 'randonee' or rambling/walking is so popular in France, the hunt expects to see nonhunters in their path.

As he says, he's never heard of a non-hunter being injured let alone killed!

I have accompanied the local hunt on two occassions and will probably join them this October, and can vouch that their sense of security, risk assessment and organisation was excellent. The meat was good too.

[Christina Holstein]

In the Verdun-Argonne-St. Mihiel areas hunting is allowed every day of the week throughout the season, so you are bound to fall on a hunt somewhere. At least the hunters have to wear high-vis jackets these days and they have started to post men at the entrance to hunting areas to tell you that a hunt is in progress. Keep well away, is my advice.

Christina