French hunting season begins: can hunters enter your garden?

Hunting season began in several departments across France last weekend, allowing departmental federations to organise events.

This year will see hunting of certain species banned in areas impacted by this summer’s wildfires, in order to allow flora and fauna in the worst-hit areas to regenerate. 

The government gave the green light for departmental prefects to work in collaboration with departmental hunting federations to limit hunting in certain areas.

This includes areas of the Var and Gironde, and officers from the Office français de la biodiversité (OFB) will patrol areas to ensure hunters remain away.

Despite the restrictions, the hunting season may be fraught with tension, with environmental activists pointing towards the need for a wider ban lasting for several years and covering a larger area. 

What about hunts close to homes? 

The hunting season often brings up fears for property owners over the impact of hunting activities near their home, both in terms of damage to their property and the risk of injury from hunting accidents.

Last year (2025/2026) saw four fatalities from hunting incidents, the lowest ever recorded by the OFB and less than half of the 11 in 2024/2025. 

A total of 92 injuries were recorded in 2025/2026, with 89% of these being hunters and only 11% non-hunting members of the public.

Of the deaths, three of the four were self-inflicted. 

France’s hunting laws are clear: Article L422-1 of the Environmental Code states that “no one has the right to hunt on another person's property without the consent of the owner or those holding rights from the owner.”

However, the 1964 loi Verdeille complicates this, allowing hunters to enter private land during hunts.

The law established the creation of Associations (Inter) Communales de Chasse Agréées (ACCA) in nearly 30 departments.

In these departments, private property of 20 hectares or smaller (or 100 hectares in certain mountainous communes) are automatically affiliated with the ACCA and tacit permission is given for hunters to go through their land when hunting, without needing to request it.

In departments where an ACCA has not been established, the rules remain the same and hunters are automatically banned from your land – you can reinforce this by putting up a ‘chasse interdite’ or ‘hunting banned’ sign.

In departments with an ACCA however, you must make a manual request to the departmental hunting federation to stay off of your land – information on how to write a letter and a template can be found in our article here. 

You can ask your local mairie or check online to see if an ACCA is in place in your department.

Hunting always banned close to properties

Regardless of whether an ACCA exists in your department, hunting is not allowed within close proximity to a dwelling anywhere in mainland France.

In departments with an ACCA, this zone is 150 metres. Land that is fenced-off is also fully off-limits for hunting, including firing shots through the radius. 

For departments without one there is no national limit, but a hunt-free radius around properties can be set by departmental or communal bylaws (usually around this 150-metre distance). 

Local hunting associations may opt to implement their own radius where one does not exist. 

In areas without an ACCA however, remember that hunters are nominally banned from entering private property and land, so should not come within this range regardless.

While hunters can still theoretically shoot inside a radius without entering it – for example, at an animal in this radius or across this invisible boundary to hit a target – they cannot shoot in the direction of a home or property. 

Hunters are also banned from shooting near public areas such as roads, walking paths, sports facilities, car parks, etc. 

Article R. 428-1-II of the Environmental Code does not strictly ban dogs being used for hunting from entering this radius, although hunters will need to be able to prove they did everything they reasonably could to prevent the animal from crossing the boundary. 

If the hunting dog injures a person or pet, the hunter will be held responsible. 

If hunters break these rules, you should immediately contact the local hunting federation, as well as the police. 

It is always worth checking when hunts are taking place in your area however, to minimise the risk of any incidents. 

Hunts typically take place on Sundays, but can happen on any day of the week. Departments may instigate a ‘hunt-free’ day for the period, banning hunting completely on a certain day of the week. 

You can check for upcoming hunts on the website of your departmental hunting federation, but not all activities are guaranteed to be shown.

Some departments have apps showing where hunts are taking place, and a calendar for hunting in forests is published by the Office National des Forêts, but these are aimed largely at those in natural areas and not merely rural villages.