Thread: Hunting in France. Differences to NZ. Just for reference

Although I'm originally English, I lived in France for 14yrs. The gun laws are a lot different there. No firearms safe is required unless you own a handgun. A shooting licence is not a hunting licence. You can shoot targets with a shooting licence but have to pass an exam to hunt (all in French). To obtain a shooting licence you get a 20 euro medical exam to say your heart wont stop when you pull the trigger and then you take that piece of paper in the gun shop with a electric bill to prove your address with 110 euros, then buy your gun. By the way there is hardly any gun crime. (But the police all carry guns and will use them.) Nearly everyone rural owns a firearm and you can defend your home in certain situations.
Living in NZ I quickly realized all the animals are trapped in the bush, something I would of never of guessed before arriving here. Doesn't happen anywhere in Europe as far as I'm aware. I look out the window at the bush wondering how I get access , seems odd that I cant just walk directly to get to it.
In France there is a law that translated means "The right to roam". Meaning farmland is not strictly private even though privately owned. We have the right to walk through farmland whenever we feel like it as long as no damage is caused and gates are shut behind you ( with our dogs if we choose). My garden was 1.5 acres and we have had people going though it with guns after deer.
The wildlife (game) , wonders in the forest, bush , fields ,and in paddocks with the cows and horses . Most mornings I would experience deer or fox passing across the rural roads, something we take for granted. Just as much traffic there as to here. Hunting is not restricted to the bush. I would walk out of our house with my rifle, walk across 5 or 6 fields containing livestock to hunt. It is polite to ask farmers permission but not law. I've seen hunters with shotguns on the edge of land with their backs to the roads waiting for boar to be chased towards them by the dogs. This is common. Just a few metal signs on the roads warning that a hunt is in progress. Not to say there isn't accidents involving firearms because there is. The tradition is to go out at dawn and hunt in large groups, then take 2hrs lunch with wine, beer and cider then return to the hunt. I've shared a hospital room when I had alcohol poisoning one xmas with someone who had been out hunting who had shot half his foot off.
I like NZ as you can hunt with an AR style platform which is banned in France as are all military calibers. I like the fact that your licence lasts for 10yrs as opposed to one year and the fact that you can hunt in general with a few exceptions all year as opposed to between September and February.
Just a useless lot of information you may not have known.

" I look out the window at the bush wondering how I get access , seems odd that I cant just walk directly to get to it."

Check put the department of conservation website / parks and recreations / doc maps, tick the box for hunting areas and have a look near to you....

Always interesting to hear about how things are done in other countries.

2 hour lunch with wine, beer and cider....then resume the hunt

Very interesting post, always good to here how things are done in other country's

Found that a very interesting read, thanks for sharing.
It kind of lines up with a conversation today with someone who was telling me how hard it is to use suppressors in USA and Australia, that we take for granted here.
We could lose much of our freedoms based on no factual benefit achieved with current Police head Office/UN manifesto goals.

Thanks dudz, I was hanging out in the countryside in France for a couple of weeks last year and saw heaps of those little deer they have(roe maybe?). I couldn't believe it as i could have shot several a day from the road side. Might take a takedown bow next time.

Not all of France is hunted in the way that is described above. Especially about the lunch bit. It is frowned upon to be drunk in public. Also the hunt that I have been going on for the last five years you would be physically removed if you where drunk.
You also can’t just walk onto land and start shooting. This would be classified as aggravated trespass.
The rules have also been changed for the last two years in regards to military calibers.

Originally Posted by Sideshow

You also can’t just walk onto land and start shooting. This would be classified as aggravated trespass.

They can and they do. Unless you register with the local Mayor that you dont want your land hunted on and stick no hunting signs up everywhere, they are free to hunt.

I remember the road signs and guys with shotties when we were doing a cycle trip through the Charente.
The French gunshops are nothing like ours with rifle brands you've never even heard of.

Maybe in your neck of the woods mate but not where I’ve hunted.
You would be moved on very very fast....and not by ya yellow jackets lol

Yellow Jackets are the French protesters lol. Im guessing you go over there to join the hunt and not live there ?. As maybe they are on their best behavior with accompanied guests ?

Dont get me started about lunch times lol. even tradesmen (Artisans) on days of work and long distance lorry drivers all stop in the bars at lunch time and drink. Its tradition and they get a 10 euro lunch rebate on their working tax for this very reason, cider, beer, and wine comes with each lunchtime meal . I used to pull cars out the road side ditches with my tractor on a weekly basis. I've never met a completely sober Frenchman

I still have my house in Rural France ( I moved to NZ in 2017 ) if anyone is interested to stay there while touring, hunting and fishing . 6 bedrooms . Open log fires. Parking for up to 10 cars and bbq in the garden. For a fee of course

I think that part of what amazes us kiwis about "drinking at lunch time" is our perception of drinking, which for us is generally binge drinking.
Same in South America, their culture draws heavily on their European roots and EVERY meal is served with alcohol, usually red wine but sometimes beer and spirits also, it wasnt about "getting pissed" at all. We had a cook on our farm in Uruguay and provided all meals for the guys working there and I used to go to town to buy groceries and it seemed like I could never buy enough casks of red wine. A typical lunch involved plenty of meat cooked on the parilla, along with salads, bread (there is also always bread with every meal, proper bread, not your sliced loaf of tiptop) and washed down with Red wine. Then the guys would have their siesta for a couple hours before going back to milk the cows in the afternoon.

Hope that right to roam shit doesn't catch on here.

Wish it did Brian. It makes it so much better. Feels like too many places are private here