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.