•Written by The Editors• ••Sunday•, 19 •October• 2008 06:00•
The French and Swiss hunting seasons for most game have been open since mid-September. Only in the Canton of Geneva is “la chasse” banned. However, apart from resounding gunshots and the ringing of hunting dog bells in the Rhône et Alpes, Vaud or Valais countryside , most ordinary citizens would not know it. Public notices are few and far between, particularly on the French side, and the regulations for when and where hunting is allowed are obfuscated by a quagmire of dates, species and zones. Efforts by the national hunting associations and local authorities – over 90 percent of France’s communes support the sport - to keep the public informed are hazardously insufficient. So if you are living in the Lake Geneva region, you are risking your life – and that of your children – every time you venture out into the woods or mountains. The result is that walkers, bikers and runners no longer dare go for morning or evening outings from late September to February, or allow their dogs to roam off the leash.
“La chasse” in France has become a highly controversial issue with growing numbers of wildlife and animal welfare associations challenging the right of hunters to operate when, where and how they like. But hunting is also is a highly social affair embracing both working and monied classes. With over 1.3 million registered hunters – and more joining their ranks every year – it is the country’s second largest past-time after soccer.
Hunting also represents a highly lucrative sport bringing in over 2.3 billion Euros annually to the economy in the form of hunting licenses, equipment, and access rights. Hunting revenue is one reason why so many farmers and landowners retain woods, copses and hedgerows. This supports the argument that hunting, if properly managed, can actually save the countryside by protecting areas where wildlife can breed and take cover, as well as make better use of communal resources.
Nevertheless, compared to Switzerland, where hunters have to demonstrate proficient expertise of game and weapons safety, the rules in France are highly lackadaisical. So are the attitudes of hunters toward the remaining 62 million people living in the country. According to French conservationists, who argue that the number of licenses be severely restricted, hunters in France receive “pseudo permits” which have little to do with skill. This is one reason, they maintain, that French hunters have less respect for the public than do hunters in Switzerland where the passion costs more, regulations are more strict, and social responsibility is more pronounced.
In France, there is a sense among many hunters that the countryside is theirs for the taking. It is up to everyone else to ensure that they are not intruding on the pursuit of shooting by gun, bow and arrow, or crossbow, the some 32 million deer, wild boar, chamois, ibex, birds or whatever else might be in season that are killed every year. It is against the law to shoot cats, but some do. It is against the law for a hunter to walk with an unbroken gun within 300 metres of any habitation, including sports field or other recreational area where there are people,yet many do. One Pays de Gex resident said he found a hunter with a rifle aimed at a tree in his garden. The hunter proceeded to be absusive when told that he should leave.
One Geneva resident recounted that he has been with a group of late afternoon strollers near Bourg-en-Bresse, when they encountered a line of hunters lurking in the shadows of a pine-forested thicket. To their surprise, the hunters accosted them by dryly announcing that they were taking their lives into their own hands by walking at this time of day. “It is up to the public to know that this is hunting season,” maintained the lead gun, a swarthy woman in dark green fatigues.The fact that not a single warning sign had been posted did not seem to matter.
In another incident, two Americans hiking mid-morning through the Jura mountains near Gex in mid-October were rudely threatened by several hunters. “This is not the time to go walking,” one of them declared. “You’re lucky we didn’t shoot you.” The hunters, whose 4x4 vehicle was parked nearby with empty wine bottles littering the boot, were clearly drunk. Again, there was nothing to alert the visitors that hunting was in progress. The hikers were more concerned by the casualness with which the men were handling their guns than anything else.
Alcoholism among French hunters is a serious problem. One writer from the Geneva region, who is not opposed to managed hunting but more used to single game stalking in southern Africa, accompanied a party with some 30 guns across the fields of the Sommes Valley in northern France. The hunt, which included a chief of police, two mayors, plus various local businessmen, farmers and workers, began before dawn with one long line trudging across the fields shooting whatever happened to break, rabbits, doves, starlings... It resembled more of a massacre than a sport, he noted. There was nothing fair about it.
The hunters halted after less than an hour and a half and proceeded to have a casse croute (snack) generously tossed down with wine. By ten in the morning, most were positively tipsy. Some were evidently in no position to be firing a weapon. One of the problems is that the manz local authorities, including police, are in on the game and therefore reluctant to push appropriate sanctions. The situation is no different in the Rhone et Alpes region, including the Pays de Gex and Evian/Thonon areas, where residents and visitors have witnessed hunters excessively soused by the time they broke for the morning.
According to French wildlife preservation societies, such as the Ligue ROC (www.roc.asso.fr ) or Univers Nature (www.univers-natur.com ), that oppose hunting, or at least they way it is managed, or mismanaged, France’s 80,000-odd hunting associations – an average of 840 per department - need to become far more responsible in the way they conduct their sport, not only in the name of conservation but also public safety. This includes making an effort to keep the public informed about their activities.
Nevertheless, despite representing millions of supporters, these societies still find it difficult to force the powerful hunting lobby to respect the rights of ordinary citizens wishing to enjoy the outdoors.Particularly disconcerting is the fact – although clearly required by the rules - the majority of French hunters, or communes which own land designated as “chasse gardee,” do not bother to announce their movements. This includes hunting in areas such as the High Jura Regional Park just north of Geneva, which, confusing for outsiders, allows "la chasse" in concession areas owned by local communes.
Some hunters do indeed take their responsibilities seriously and make the effort to place signs (“la chasse en cours”) in the back of their vehicles or hang red flags and signs along roads and footpaths to alert the public. Yet such steps remain inconsistent and rare. They also fail to take into account that the Lake Geneva region relies heavily on tourists, who do not necessarily speak French, but who would like to walk the mountains and forests without the threat of taking stray gunshot or a bullet.
The Essential Edge contacted six French communes in the Pays de Gex and the Haute Savoie about basic hunting information, but not a single one was able to provide any details on dates or shooting zones other than to suggest contacting the French hunting federation. Only the Divonne Tourist Office said that they were aware of the situation –and wanted to appraise visitors - but that they were still waiting for a response from the national hunting federation. The gendarmerie were not much help either. They seemed to treat any questions as to when and where hunting is permitted as an attempted intrusion into state secrecy.
The French hunting federation (Federation Nationale des Chasseurs – FNC – www.chasseurdefrance.com ) itself operates a website so complicated with so many different dates and the 90 species that can be hunted that no ordinary citizen – or hunter for that matter – can be expected to understand which days - and whether in the mountains, fields or woods - are safe to walk.
The various wildlife advocacy groups also have their sites with details about hunting, but make the point that no single human being can possibly know all the precise dates and locations.
Basically, "la chasse" in France spans six months with goose hunting opening in Corsica in August. For the Rhone et Alpes region, which has over 100,000 hunters, the season began mid-September running until 28 February, 2009 with hunting meant to operate from 8 am until 1900 hours. Nevertheless, hikers and early morning joggers have encountered hunters out with their guns well before dawn and shooting. The dates, too, vary from species to species, notably wildboar, deer and chamois until January with other species until later. The season, too, depends on whether it is in the plain or in the mountains. Some say traditional hunting begins with the first snow in the Jura. All very confusing.
The only solution would be for each commune to post clearly hunting days at the entrance of each village and update them on a weekly basis until the season ends. Warnings should also be in one or more other EU languages. The tourist offices and town halls should provide clear and simple flyers to tourists or residents wishing to inform themselves about the open days for hunting, and which areas are considered dangerous.
On the Swiss side in the Canton of Vaud, the information available to the ad hoc walker is only slightly better. The Vaud tourist office in Lausanne regretted that it did not have such information readily available but agreed that it would a good idea for this to be included in their information outreach, particularly for walkers in the mountains. However, they suggested contacting the Vaud hunting federation for further information.
The Canton of Vaud Centre de conservation de la faune et de la nature has a detailed public information booklet on its website www.vd.ch , but the dates are variable – hunting only allowed on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for most species ranging from wildboat and chamois to even muskrat and raccoon (feral animals from North America first introduced in Germany but have made their way down to France and Switzerland) and only from October 2 – October 31 in 2008.There is no hunting on weekends which is a relief to walkers.
The experience of the Canton of Geneva, which has completely banned hunting except for organized culling, has been mixed, but, according to conservationists, satisfactory. Farmers are fully compensated for any crops damaged by wildboar, deer or other species. Culling is carefully managed by expert hunters in conjunction with the wildlife department. Walkers can enjoy the countryside without the fear of being shot at. Geneva has also become know as a canton with rich biotopes with a wealth of birdlife such as the one behind Versoix on the route to Sauverny and the Rhone River Valley southwest of Geneva.
WHAT TO DO WHEN IN HUNTING AREA
* Talk loudly when walking, particularly if you have children. While this may not help bird watching, it may save yourself from getting shot.
* Demand tat your local commune place clear signs with dates to warn residents when and where hunting is taking place.Local police and gendarmes should also monitor hunting more closely and prosecute hunters who drink and hunt similar to sanctions for driving under the influence.
- Place pressure on hunting associations to ensure that they assume their responsibilities for informing the public.
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written by tammy, November 25, 2008
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