Hunting in France

Hunting is widely practised, particularly in rural areas. A licence [permis de chasse] is required and is issued for a year (1 July to 30 June) or for various shorter periods, by application which should be filled in, submitted and paid to the local tax office [Tresor] or the local hunting association. There are more than 1.5 million licensed hunters and an estimated 700,000 hunting dogs in the country. Access to private lands varies across the country, as does the hunting season, which usually is from late September to late February.

Hunting is mostly for birds, for wood-dwelling game including red deer, roe deer, and boar, and for wood and field game, including fox, hare and rabbit. Wood and field hunting is mostly with hounds and is done both on horseback [la venerie a cheval] with larger packs of 40-80 hounds and on foot with small packs of 10-30 hounds of smaller breeds. By practice, hunting divides into three sectors:

• Ordinary hunting, on foot or on horseback. Some hunters use dogs that they have bred and trained, but the trend now is toward belonging to and using the dogs of a cooperative hunting dog association [societe de chasse].
• Deterrage, literally "underground", the hunting on foot or on horseback of game that dwells underground, principally fox and badger. The hounds are of small size, usually of terrier or dachshund breeds, and there are an estimated 1750 underground-hunting packs.
• Venerie, also called chasse a courre, the pursuit of game by large packs of dogs followed by mounted hunters who use no firearms. The practice is similar to that of the English fox hunt, but other game also are hunted, including boar, hare, rabbit, red deer and roe deer.

Two organisations are involved in the administration, regulation and organisation of hunting:

• ONCFS, the abbreviation for Office national de la chasse et de lafaune sauvage, the governmental agency that issues hunting licences, monitors hunting and its impact on the environment, conducts research and publishes relevant brochures and papers. For further information, contact ONCFS at either of its two offices, 85 bis avenue de Wagram, BP 236, 75822 Paris Cedex 17, Tel: 01 44151717, or rue de Saint Thibaud, St Benoit, 78160 Auffargis, Tel: 01 30466000, www.oncfs.gouv.fr.
• FNC, the abbreviation for Federation nationale des chasseurs, the national federation of local hunting associations, 13 rue du General Leclerc, 92136 Issy Les Moulineau Cedex, Tel: 01 41096510, www.unfdc.com with an interactive local association locator map and online ordering of numerous publications.

Other organisations of interest to hunters include:

• Maison de la chasse et de la nature, a foundation, resource centre with a library of 3300 works, permanent art exhibitions in Paris and a retreat 90 km east of Reims, www.chassenature.org
• Chasse-enligne, a website design house specialising in hunting, www.chasseenligne.com
• Chassons.com, a portal for hunting and related matters, such as travel and taxidermy, www.chassons.com.
• CPNT, the abbreviation for Chasse - Peche - Nature - Traditions, a single-issue political party representing the interests of hunters and fishermen at the national level, www.cpnt.asso.fr
• Ligue ROC, a conservationist group principally concerned with hunting, www.roc.asso.fr
• Par Ions chasse, a portal and online shop, www.parlonschasse.com