The man was reportedly chopping wood near his home in Lot, south west France, when he was hit by a hunter who was aiming at a wild boar during an organised hunt.
Frédéric Almendros, public prosecutor in Cahors, told French media: “The gunman thought he had identified a wild boar, but his shot caused the death of this young man who was not taking part in the hunt.”
A 33-year-old local man was taken into custody on suspicion of manslaughter.
The prosecutor added that the hunter “was not drunk”.
The case comes just days after a hunter was jailed for the 2018 fatal shooting of a British man who was mountain-biking near his home in the French Alps.
Every during the French hunting season there are dozens of accidental shootings, both of fellow hunters and passers-by.
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Although France remains on lockdown, local authorities in Lot had authorised hunting for deer and wild boar.
Aiming at a wild boar! They all say that don’t they? If they can’t tell the difference between a human and a wild boar they shouldn’t be allowed guns, never mind to hunt.
I have hunters shooting 150-200m away in the woods behind me or in the valley opposite. There are a lot of homes within 600m of their ‘hunt’. Perhaps when those giving the hunt permissions are held personally responsible for the death and loss of freedom the rest of us have to put up with there might be some change in this disgusting pursuit.
It’s the braindead that aren’t members of an organised hunt that are the real trouble. I’ve hunted since the age of eight but on family estates but now don’t hunt at all and think it should be banned because of the braindead that now do it.