Problems with hunting?

[Pighunter]

Shooting stag in garden - ridiculous and deserves to be condemned unless for purely humane purposes.

Mushroom picking generally illegal, especially on an industrial scale, but everyone does it.

Cold and bored yes, sometimes I wonder what I am doing out there especially when the Tramontane is blowing up a storm and you can go for months without seeing anything. Contrary to popular belief it is not all about killing something but also the oneness you have with nature and the things you see while you are out there for hours on end. And a good day out with the locals who are like a big family.

Benefits - the plate of wild boar in cream and wild mushroom and mustard sauce I just finished off (and Bullet enjoyed too!)

Hunting dogs, quite right, my Bullet is a typical Jack Russell with selective hearing and a will of steel. Fearless, 100 kilo boar no obstacle and he bears the scars of several tussles with angry boar, but it is still the ONLY thing he is happy to get up at 5am for, sometimes I think his tail will fall off it wags so long and hard!

https://www.facebook.com/MasNialgue/pho ... =3&theater

His choice and mine but not for everyone, I know.

[/img]

[martyn94]

[Gus Morris]

My understanding (subject to correction) about hunting is as follows:

-It is restricted to certain days of the week. The weekend and also Wednesday so that school children can participate.

-Hunters maintain feeding stations in the countryside to encourage their prey to stay in the locality

-Sanglier meat cannot be sold commercially

- Sanglier numbers are increasing because the natural food chain has been disturbed and they have no natural predator other then man. Who effectively farms them anyway.

-Deaths during hunting can now lead to a criminal prosecution. Hence the hi-vis gear. Which can be bought in Decathlon at their hunting, shooting and fishing store!

In the same vein FR3 are big fans of the Corrida which they promote enthusiastically. Despite the fact that it is now effectively banned in Catalunya.

So the hunters and bullfighters can publicly slaughter animals in an inhumane manner while enjoying full legal immunity.

On the other hand woe betide anybody who kills a dog that attacks them while walking in the street, or takes action against domestic cats infesting their property and killing the wildlife. The animal rights brigade will crucify you.

Gus

[martyn94]

[Allan]

[martyn94]

[Webdoc]

Cats are just doing what Mother Nature intended. They're not intentionally cruel, they're just top of the food chain. Few people hate Simba even though he occasionally eats Bambi. Cats are just smaller, and more numerous.

[Allan]

Cats are just doing what Mother Nature intended. They're not intentionally cruel, they're just top of the food chain. Few people hate Simba even though he occasionally eats Bambi. Cats are just smaller, and more numerous.

It is not the cats that I object to, it is the owners who feel that it is right to inflict their nuisance animal on others.

As far as the food chain is concerned, humans are pretty well at the top, so why the fuss over foxes, sangliers and bulls for that matter.

[Sus]

I think the problems with hunting are exaggerated, yes accidents do happen but there is also a lot of hunting going on. Our experience is that the hunters are courteous, they will let you know and ask whether they can hunt over your land. You do need to be used to the noise, but it does come with living in an isolated house. Our dog and horses are used to it, they still flinch a bit but it works fine. It is also good to remember that you somewhat need the hunters, especially if you live in an isolated house, boars will easily destroy any garden around your house in one night. They also come so close to your house that you need to be careful with your dog so that they dont go chasing after them in the dark.

[russell]

-Sanglier meat cannot be sold commercially

I hadn't realised that. It explains why it is never seen in supermarkets and why I have to go to Spain if I want some.

How come supermarkets can sell French made sanglier paté? The manufacturers must buy it commercially.

Russell

[Allan]

-Sanglier meat cannot be sold commercially

Gus

I don’t think this is correct, viande de sanglier is widely advertised on-line and by supermarkets such as Carrefour.

[Gus Morris]

-Sanglier meat cannot be sold commercially

Gus

I don’t think this is correct, viande de sanglier is widely advertised on-line and by supermarkets such as Carrefour.

These links may explain the current situation

www.lamaisondugibier.com/nos-produits-liste.php?

www.ladepeche.fr/article/2003/12/19/292 ... anger.html

Gus

[Allan]

-Sanglier meat cannot be sold commercially

Gus

I don’t think this is correct, viande de sanglier is widely advertised on-line and by supermarkets such as Carrefour.

These links may explain the current situation

www.lamaisondugibier.com/nos-produits-liste.php?

www.ladepeche.fr/article/2003/12/19/292 ... anger.html

Gus

The links don’t really explain anything, the first says that sanglier meat sold in shops is farmed (without the claim of a legal obligation). The second says that if wild sanglier meat is sold to shops or restaurants by hunters then it must first be checked for parasites.

Either way, it is clearly available in shops.

[Pighunter]

Responding in reverse order:

Game meat can only be sold into the food chain if it has been lab tested due to the parasites which can be found in it. The majority is consumed by hunters or given away to friends, old peoples homes etc It should be frozen for a minimum of 6 months and well cooked, not eaten pink. Boar is also farmed commercially for the food chain.

All of the boar except the guts, lungs and skins is normally eaten. The tongues are very good, some make fromage de tete with the heads and believe it or not the testicles (which take a lot of preparation) are the best bit!

The position regarding hunting days is as set out in a previous reply in this thread.

There is very little feeding here although it is common practice in Eastern Europe where hunting is more commercial and they have large feeding stations. Here the hunting is communal rather than commercial and more of a pest control exercise. There is plenty of natural and cultivated food around anyway, acorns, chestnuts, nuts and of course grapes and other crops, and the boar cover large distances to find their favourite meals.

Apart from lynx, the only other main predator for boar are wolves and there aren't many left. The fire across the border a few years ago pushed a lot of boar to our side and the numbers shot doubled as a result. Climate change means a higher survival rate for young. The biggest factor is that the Spanish let their domestic pigs roam free, they have interbred with the boar who are now having 2 litters a year instead of one. This means each sow is having 8-10 piglets per year and the population can increase by 4-5 times its numbers each year if they are not controlled.

Quite rightly the law holds individuals responsible for their actions and prosecutions result.

I do not know any hunter who enjoys seeing their quarry suffer. The aim is to despatch the animal as quickly and humanely as possible. Wounded boar are very dangerous to humans and dogs alike. The majority are finished with one shot, but bearing in mind they can be running at 30mph it takes considerable skill, and if a boar is wounded it will be finished off at the earliest opportunity.

There is no comparison to bullfighting. I went to see a bullfight to make my own mind up about it and won't be going back. Finding and shooting an animal cleanly as part of a game management plan in a wild environment where it is very well equipped to escape and frequently does, and is not held captive is one thing. To introduce an animal to an enclosure and torture it to death purely for entertainment is something entirely different.

Apart from duck shooting, hunting in France can only take place between dawn and dusk so during daylight hours.

I live remotely and love it but like hunting it is not for everyone!

[martyn94]

Cats are just doing what Mother Nature intended. They're not intentionally cruel, they're just top of the food chain. Few people hate Simba even though he occasionally eats Bambi. Cats are just smaller, and more numerous.

It is not the cats that I object to, it is the owners who feel that it is right to inflict their nuisance animal on others.

As far as the food chain is concerned, humans are pretty well at the top, so why the fuss over foxes, sangliers and bulls for that matter.

You obviously know your own situation, but are you sure they have owners in the first place? I ask because all but one of the half-dozen or so cats which visit my terrace and (smallish) flowerbeds are feral: the exception belongs to a next-door neighbour, and looks exactly like Sylvester the cat in the cartoons of my youth. Both factors seem good reasons to be indulgent.

When I first moved in, I thought Oh Hell, I’ll have to feed them. My earlier house in remotest Normandy came with a family of feral cats which already lived there, including acquired rights to lie around my woodstove in the winter. I spent the next 17 years trying to look after them: if I didn’t, there was nobody else to do so. It’s a very strange relationship, but after the first decade or so you become quite fond of them. As it turned out, I had no need to fear down here: half my neighbours, near and far, were already feeding them.

If they are feral, there may be hope, at least in the long term. There’s a voluntary organisation in PV which captures feral cats and gets them vaccinated and neutered (and then lets them loose again). If there’s an equivalent near you, it might be worth finding them. Though I guess new ones might move in: I had to leave food for mine outside, so I ended up feeding half the feral cats in 76 (plus a few hedgehogs, which was pleasant).

[Kate]

Thanks PH. That’s really interesting. I didn’t realize that the fire had been responsible for the increase in the boar population.

[martyn94]