France Hunting Season

France hunting season are managed on a regional level to compliment the ecological needs of the area and its animal and bird life.

Opening dates of hunting

• First Sunday of September : Corsica.
• 2nd Sunday of September : In the south of France (Languedoc-Roussillon, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Poitou-Charentes, Limousin, Aquitaine, Midi-Pyrénées, Franche-Comté, Rhône-Alpes and Auvergne).
• 3rd Sunday of September : Pays de Loire and departments Gold Coast, Indre-et-Loire, Saone-et-Loire.
• 4th Sunday of September : In the North of France (Nord Picardie, Ile-de-France, Centre, Haute-Normandie, Normandy, Brittany, Champagne-Ardenne, Lorraine, Burgundy).

Ungulates

• Deer may be hunted from 1 June;
• Deer can be hunted from 1 June on individual authorization, to approach or on the lookout;
• Deer, chamois, chamois and mouflon can be hunted from 1 September;
• Boar may be hunted from June 1 to August 14 in beaten on the lookout or prefectural authorization approach after the holder of hunting rights (such holder to send the Prefect before September 15, the results of this early hunting). Then from 15 August until the general opening. It can be driven in conditions defined by the prefecture.

It should be noted that the fox may be hunted during these early hunts.

Birds

See Table of opening hunting waterfowl and passage dates.
In addition, hunting partridge is possible from the first Sunday of September in seven departments (Allier, Ardennes, Aube, Marne, Nord, Pas-de-Calais, Somme) on natural populations (without releases), with plan management.

Closing Hunting Dates

The general closure in late February (it is earlier for some species, such as grouse and hare), but the hunt continues until the end of March.
As for opening dates and closing dates for the hunting of waterfowl and passage are specific. To date, they have not yet stabilized. Indeed, the State Council issued on 23 July 2010, a decision that requires changes to the current date.

Please note that the destruction by fire of species classified as "harmful" goes beyond the closed season.