Each year the hunting season in France is marred by deadly accidents. Most of these involve hunters killing fellow hunters by accident after mistaking them for game or wild boar.

 

But there have also been numerous high profile cases of walkers, joggers and even cyclists being shot dead in similar accidents.

 

The tragedies regularly lead to calls for hunting to more regulated in France and banned at weekends but Willy Schraen, the president of France’s national federation of hunters hit back with a message that hikers and lovers of the French countryside will not be pleased to hear.

 

When asked about people wanting to go for a peaceful walk but not run the risk of being shot by hunters Schraen said: “They just have to do it at home, they won’t have any problem.

 

“You can always be hit by a stray bullet, but don’t worry, you have a much better chance of being killed in France by a murderer than by a hunter,” he said.

 

According to figures from the French government there were some 80 hunting accidents during the 2020/21 season that saw seven people killed, six of whom were hunters and one victim who was just a passerby.

 

 

In February this year, a 25-year-old woman hiker was killed in the département of Cantal after being shot during a wild boar hunt.

 

That death led to renewed calls for hunting to be regulated.

Animal rights charity the Brigitte Bardot foundation called from stricter controls on hunting and a limit to the days when hunters can operate.

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Charity spokesman Christophe Marie said at the time: “We need a political response because unfortunately the death of this young woman is not an isolated case.

“In 20 years, hunters have killed more than 400 people and injured thousands more. We are asking for a much stricter framework for hunting and for days without hunting in order to achieve a better sharing of nature.

But France’s powerful hunting associations have so far resisted any move to tighten the laws around the practice and President Emmanuel Macron has shown little willingness to take on the fight and indeed has expressed support for hunters.

 

Schraen simply said that “nature is not for everyone”.

 

 

“Guys like (Yannick) Jadot and (Jean Luc) Mélenchon, who say that ‘everything is open, go for a walk, nature is for everyone’, it’s not true, that’s not it real life,” he added.

 

Schraen also likened the cause of his members to that of vegetarians and vegans.

 

“I would never dream of giving a moral lesson to flexitarians, vegans or vegetarians to get them to change their ways,” he said calling for people to show the same kind of tolerance towards hunters.