"I cannot say that such an accident cannot happen in Luxembourg,” says Richard Frank, secretary general of the St. Hubert’s hunters federation in Luxembourg (FSHCL), a few days after the hunting accident that occurred in France last weekend. A 17-year-old female hunter fatally hit a 24-year-old female hiker in the Cantal region of France.
However, Frank points out that "Luxembourg has some of the strictest, if not the strictest, hunting regulations in Europe.”
In Luxembourg, the hunting season starts in mid-October and closes at the end of January. "This is the shortest period in Europe,” Frank explains. Beat hunts must be announced 15 days in advance to the Administration de la nature et des forêts. The public can find out about the dates and locations of the drives on the Geoportal website, but also from the commune where the drive is taking place. The FSHCL says that hikers, especially during the hunting season, should stay informed and perhaps adapt their outing accordingly.
You don't get your hunting licence after six evenings of training like in France.
In addition to the administrative aspects, the drives are also signposted in the area where they take place. "The forest must be cordoned and signs must announce the hunt. The signs must indicate the date of the hunt and they must be placed at best the day before the hunt or at worst on the same day," says the secretary general of the FSHCL. "The forest is not off-limits for hikers, and sometimes some people have no choice but to use a path where the hunt is taking place. In this case, hunters must be careful and are equipped with means of communication to signal the presence of hikers to other hunters on a specific frequency,” Frank explains.
An expensive and time-consuming permit
In Luxembourg, a hunting licence costs €230 per year (compared to €46 euros in France, €35-€112 euros in Germany and €223 in Belgium) and is issued by the environment ministry. There are currently about 2,200 hunters in the country.
To obtain the permit, hunters must be at least 16 years old and have a clean criminal record. It takes almost a year from application to the various tests, examinations and passing the safety course. "You don't get your hunting licence after six evenings of training like in France," says Frank. "The Luxembourg hunting licence is expensive and among the most difficult to obtain in Europe. Training starts in May, the aspiring hunter has to go on 24 outings with a mentor, in addition to the courses given by the hunting federation and the nature and forests administration.“
The hunter is responsible for his gun,
“The courses run from mid-September to mid-February. There is also a written exam and oral tests to take, shooting practice and, finally, a safety course that is eliminatory," explains Frank, who is also a hunter.
"The hunter is solely responsible for his gun. The gun must be aimed at the ground 100 percent, while respecting the safety angles. The shooter must also respect a safety distance and avoid shooting at rocks to eliminate ricochets. A ricochet can go in all directions, and there is not much you can do about it, apart from taking care of the terrain, i.e. avoiding stones, rocks, asphalt, etc., to be sure that the bullet will end up buried. Because even if the bullet hits an animal, you can't be sure that it won't ricochet, in case it hits a bone. But again, in any case, the hunter is responsible for his shot," says Frank.
A fatal hunting accident in 2013
The FSCHL is also very vigilant in observing safety rules by applying good practices, such as leaving the gun open when travelling or putting the gun safety catch on.
"We do monitor good practice, and if a hunter does not follow it, we point it out to him. But we cannot withdraw a hunting licence, as we do not issue it,” Frank concluded.
The last hunting accident in Luxembourg took place on 24 September 2016, when a 51-year-old hunter, trying to shoot a wild boar, seriously injured a woman in the face while she was sitting on the terrace of a residence in Fentange. The last human fatality in Luxembourg was on 7 November 2013. A hunter accidentally shot himself while trying to pass under a fence. This was the first time in 20 years that a fatal accident had occurred.
This story was first published in French on . It has been translated and edited for Delano.