“We have lost a friend, an archer, among our community”.
It is with a lump in his throat and a perceptible emotion in his voice that Philippe Favereau, president of the Association des Chasseurs à l'Arc du Nord (CAN59), talks about the violent accident which took away Frédéric, his hunting companion, at the beginning of november.
The drama was tied in the Meuse, during a beat, while the father of two children was hunting with a bow.
"He found himself in the path of a deer that hit him," explains Philippe soberly, huddled in his camouflage uniform, his gun in hand.
“We ask ourselves a lot of questions;
we lost a friend, ”testifies Bertrand, at his side.
The two men, who were not present during the accident, explain that they "hunted back very quickly".
"Our happiness today is to continue doing what he loved," says Philippe.
Read also Meuse: a hunter dies hit by a deer
Very popular in the United States, bow hunting is gaining ground in France.
The French Federation of Bow Hunters now has nearly 3,000 members.
To be able to practice it, you must have your hunting license and follow a special training day specific to archery.
Its specificity in relation to driven hunting, with hounds or firearms: “get as close as possible to the animals”.
Equipped with camouflage uniforms and attentive to the direction of the wind, Philippe generally approaches (on tiptoe) “about 10 or 15 m” from the animals, to carry out a “clean” and effective shot.
The arrows, whose tips are tapered like razor blades, travel at a speed of around 40 to 90 m per second depending on the type of bow (compared to around 760 m/s for a rifle bullet).
We accompanied Philippe and Bertrand during an outing in the forest, in a wood near the town of Thumeries (Nord).
A report to see in the video at the top of the article.