This is the conclusion of several months of debate.
Through the voice of its Secretary of State for Ecology Bérangère Couillard, the government announced on Monday its decisions to better secure the practice of hunting and reduce the number of accidents.
While this weekend again, an 84-year-old hunter who stored his weapon in his car accidentally killed himself in Haute-Corse.
Alcohol offence, training, public information on a mobile application...
The government plan is based on three axes: strengthening the training and raising awareness of hunters, establishing reinforced safety rules during hunting and better ensuring the sharing of spaces through better information for nature users.
“The objective in which I deeply believe is that of moving towards zero accidents.
(…) It is reinforced security 7 days a week that we are looking for, ”said the Secretary of State for Ecology, Bérangère Couillard, who went to Loiret on Monday to unveil her plan.
These are the main measures to remember.
No day without hunting
The most radical idea to emanate from the consultation carried out in recent months was the creation of a day - or at least half a day - without hunting at the national level.
But this ban was ultimately not retained by the government.
The government had raised the idea of a half-day without hunting at the end of October, introduced at local and why not national level, specifying that a ban on Sundays was "not a taboo subject", but this track did not ultimately not retained at the end of the public consultation.
Read also Ban on hunting on Sundays: it's no for Emmanuel Macron, who is considering a plan B
Willy Schraen, the boss of the hunters, said on Thursday that he could not imagine "a single second" a Sunday without hunting, believing that this would put rurality "on fire and blood".
Neither alcohol nor narcotics
The government has introduced a blood alcohol offence, similar to what is done for motorists.
The executive also prohibits the prohibition of narcotics during hunting parties.
The executive plans to create "at the beginning of 2023 a fine to punish the act of hunting under the excessive influence of alcohol and then promote the creation of an offense by legislative means".
But it is "ridiculous", despair the leaders of the League for the Protection of Birds (LPO).
Sanctions in the event of a serious accident should also be reinforced, with in particular the possibility of the withdrawal of the hunting license for a certain period with a ban on returning it.
More training and prevention
The government wants to generalize training in the practical handling of weapons for all hunters.
“One out of two hunters will have to be trained by 2025 and all hunters will have to be trained by 2029,” it says.
The hunt organizers (approximately 200,000 people) will be required to receive specific training from the federations “noting in particular the safety rules and the issues of communication with local residents”.
Finally, to better inform walkers and other nature users, a digital platform will be set up in the fall to identify non-hunted areas and times.
The organizers of collective hunting will have the obligation to declare themselves there.
To better inform residents and walkers, a mobile application whose outlines are still vague should be created to list the hunting… or non-hunting areas.