It’s one more tragedy, which revives the debate on hunting in the middle of the presidential campaign. On Saturday, a 17-year-old girl killed a hiker during a wild boar hunt in Cantal. The victim, aged 25, was hit by a shot “in the upper part of the body”, before dying on the spot despite the first aid given to him by the man who accompanied him. According to the investigators, the teenager responsible for this shot immediately presented herself as the author of the shot, then was hospitalized in a state of shock. Holder of a hunting license in good standing, the young woman told the gendarmes that she had targeted a boar, shot, then heard a cry at the level of the path where the victim was hit, on which she quickly went.
But while 80 hunting accidents have been recorded in the 2020-2021 season, including seven fatalities, and three additional people have lost their lives in such incidents since the start of the 2022 season, this drama raises questions. “We must take into account the weight of the responsibility that we put on somewhat young shoulders”, reacted Monday the Minister of Ecological Transition Barbara Pompili, during a trip to Tarbes. “We must not fall into demagogic escalation, but also look at how such a young girl can end up with a gun in her arms,” she added. The accident raises in particular the question of the training of hunters: the youngest among them can start this hobby at 15 years old – provided they are accompanied by an adult “sponsor” – and pass their license at 16. But Are these courses really sufficient? And how does the examination that authorizes young hunters to handle such weapons, sometimes lethal up to three kilometers away, take place?
“Dense and Intense”
“Whether during training or during the exam, safety really comes first,” assures L’Express Nicolas Rivet, director general of the National Federation of Hunters (FNC). To have the right to exercise this hobby, he recalls that a minor can go through two different routes. The “accompanied hunt”, first, offered from the age of 15 to a young person who would like to train in the field. Accompanied by a sponsor, who must have passed his hunting license for at least five years, the future hunter benefits from compulsory elementary training with a Departmental Federation of Hunters – which can be followed from the age of 14. and a half -, then obtains a license to hunt for one year from the day of his 15th birthday. His guide must also undergo training adapted to his responsibilities as a sponsor, valid for ten years and carried out by the FNC. Once the authorizations have been obtained, the godson-sponsor couple obtains the right to hunt with only one weapon for two: a rifle, a shotgun or a bow.
From the age of 16, the minor can then register for a hunting permit, by providing a medical certificate and a sworn statement certifying that he is not registered in the National File of Persons Prohibited from Acquisition or possession of a weapon. Then, he must follow a training course delivered by his Federation – the same as that taught for accompanied hunting. “But before any training or examination, each apprentice hunter is asked to go over a practical guide, which goes over the different protected species, the regulations surrounding the practice of hunting or the use of weapons and ammunition”, indicates Nicholas Rivet. “Everyone must make the effort on their side, read and learn these different rules”. Then comes the practical training, which generally takes place over a day or half a day. “You learn how to handle weapons, how to overcome obstacles, what to do before, during and after the hunt, respecting shooting angles…”, lists Stéphane Walczak, senior technician within the Interdepartmental Federation of Hunters of Île-de-France (FICIF). This course is carried out on landscaped grounds, on which silhouettes can spring which appear suddenly in front of future hunters. In order to learn how to shoot, clay birds to aim for according to their color – which represents whether or not a species is protected – are also presented to the candidates, as are the different types of weapons or the way of put away a gun.
“It’s quite dense, rather intense”, summarizes Antoine Herrmann, director of the Federation of Hunters of the Rhône and the metropolis of Lyon. The former trainer is clear: “If we have someone in difficulty, we offer them additional training. It goes without saying that if we have never touched a weapon, it takes a little time to be ready comfortable,” he says. “Releasing people into the wild with a weapon is a huge responsibility”, abounds Francis Gross, vice-president of the Haut-Rhin Federation. In his department, this training manager specifies that students must participate in two days of “minimum” training: a first in a small group, then individual training a few weeks later – which is not the case everywhere. “When we see that they don’t have the level, we offer clay pigeon shooting outside, other courses, a deepening on the handling of weapons… We only send them to the exam when ‘they’re on top,’ says Francis Gross, who admits that for some, ‘a single day of practice is not enough’.
Training “too light”
“I was absolutely not ready”, testifies Valérie*, who failed her hunting license at the end of 2021. Despite her lack of appetite for this hobby and her commitment to the Alliance of Opponents to Hunting (AOC), this gamekeeper of the Rhône has no choice but to obtain the precious sesame to exercise his activity. “But I had never handled weapons before, and I don’t come from a family of hunters,” she recalls. Trained in an afternoon of training, Valérie considers her training “very light” and “astoundingly insufficient”. “I shot five or six saucers, I was shown once or twice how to aim, and that was it,” says the game warden, who also regrets having had no additional training in the theory. , respect for protected species or biodiversity. “We’re given a practice CD, and a theory book, that’s all. Then you’re asked to shoot white or red saucers that should represent the protected birds, but that’s not the actual conditions. ! This is not enough”.
“I admit that a few hours of additional training wouldn’t have hurt,” confirms Simon, a 23-year-old hunter. Before his training, the young man had never fired a weapon, nor participated in a hunt. “We are taught for a day how to handle the rifle, the semi-automatic rifle and the tilting barrel. There is a lot of safety, but not really lessons on how to aim,” he explains. “The training is reassuring, but when you have never handled a weapon, like me, there is still a little stress”. Marine, 25-year-old hunter, nuance. “If you have already been immersed in the hunting world, the one-day training is more than enough”. The young woman, who passed her license at the end of last year, assures that her trainers were “listening”, allowing her to shoot several times and handle the weapons as much as she wanted during her training exercises. Nevertheless, she admits to having failed her first exam session. “I was recalibrated on a question concerning a species of duck that I did not know, and because I made some careless mistakes…”, she grants.
For some, the speed of training and the simplicity of the exam are a problem. “In reality, this training is far too superficial for the moment”, judges Jean-Louis Chuilon, president of the AOC. “In real life, you have moving targets, protected species, unexpected elements that can arise… It can’t be learned in an afternoon”, insists this game warden, who campaigns for the license French is modeled on other European permits, such as the German model. Much more advanced, the latter requires, for example, three months of training for future hunters, including an introduction to different types of weapons and shooting, but also courses on hunting game, zoology or the functioning of ecosystems. “Above all, the examination of the license is much more thorough, and reassessed every three years”, declares Jean-Louis Chuilon, who considers the French control “far too light”.
“We have candidates who are very comfortable, others not at all”
The examination, issued by the French Office for Biodiversity (OFB) – dependent on the State – takes place over a single day, and evaluates future hunters via various practical and theoretical exercises on 31 points. To be accepted, the candidate must obtain a minimum of 25 points, and not commit any eliminating fault. “Security is part of it: if you support while a human silhouette is in the axis, for example, it’s over. You don’t even pass the theoretical test”, specifies Nicolas Rivet. The man also points out that the success rate for the test is only around 70% each year. “We have very comfortable candidates, others not at all. Some pass it several times, others give up. You don’t become a hunter like that”, underlines Antoine Hermann. The former trainer is also keen to point out that each hunting accident is worked on and dissected by specialists, in order to understand the failures and then teach them to the students. “We take a step back from these accidents during training,” he says.
But for Jean-Louis Chuilon, these reminders are not enough. “Once the permit has been passed, whether you are 16 or 45, it is acquired for life”, recalls the president of the AOC. “There is no real leveling, no control, no renewal of medical visits each year, alcohol is not prohibited during hunting parties… Security around this hobby is not is not pushed enough”, he believes, judging “insufficient” the decree published on October 15, 2020 requiring all hunters to follow, every ten years, a refresher course on safety. Asked about the possible establishment of days without hunting, Barbara Pompili, for her part, indicated that it was necessary “to think about how to reconcile hunters and all users of nature, […]territory by territory”. The young minor responsible for the death of the hiker was indicted on Tuesday for manslaughter, and was placed under judicial supervision with “prohibition to hold or carry a weapon”.
*The first name has been changed at the request of the interviewee.