No more gunshots on Sunday afternoon. In Saint-Dié-des-Vosges, hunting is now prohibited during this half-day of the week. The measure, which came into force on April 1 and which will be truly effective from the reopening of hunting on June 1, was taken “by mutual agreement and in good understanding”, declared Bruno Toussaint, mayor (without label ) of this town of 23,000 inhabitants located in the Vosges mountains.
“We sat around the table and the hunters accepted without any problem,” he said. The hunters, who no longer hunted on Wednesdays, will therefore no longer do so either on Sundays from 1 p.m. in two particularly busy massifs in the town.
An approach that is not linked to a hunting accident since there is “none” to deplore, underlined the mayor. Rather, he wants “that the forest be for everyone: hunters can hunt five and a half days a week and walkers can go there in complete safety with the children”.
This measure is “unprecedented to my knowledge”, indicated the city councilor, adding that “many mayors of France call me to find out how we did it, because they would like to do the same thing”.
This was decided “in consultation” with the town hall, confirmed Bernard Fertig, president of the Saint-Dié hunters’ association, which has around fifty members. “You have to put water in your wine on each side,” he commented. “Some people would like it to be banned all day, but don’t overdo it. »
Soon to be debated in the National Assembly
The measure comes into force in Saint-Dié a few days before the debate on a bill by EELV deputy Charles Fournier, which aims to ban hunting on Sundays, a measure which was already rejected in January by the government. The text must be debated Thursday in the National Assembly.
In March, during the national congress of the National Federation of Hunters (FNC), its president Willy Schraen considered that this project had the “sole objective of killing popular hunting”. He stressed that accidents were at “the lowest level in the history of French hunting”. Last season, 90 accidents were recorded, including eight fatalities.