Attention, on Thursday, hunting in progress in this national forest of Val-d'Oise

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The signs are clear: “Attention, shooting.” “Hunting in progress Access prohibited by prefectural decree”.

The National Forestry Office reminds us every year that “the forest is also hunting”.

15 days of hunting

Like every year at this time, the hunters are back in the Montmorency national forest

in Val-d'Oise. The hunt restarted on Thursday, November 7. The order signed by the prefect, Philippe Court, prohibiting public access to the Montmorency national forest duringbeaten

concerns 15 days, always on Thursday.

Thursdays

The next operations will take place on December 12 and 19, January 9, 16, 23 and 30, February 6 and 13, March 6 and 13. Organized by the ONF, responsible for managing the national forest on behalf of the State in this 2,000 hectare forest which extends over 12 municipalities, hunting is necessary because “in the absence of natural predators, the populations of deer, deer et wild boars

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“Due to a lack of natural predators, the populations of deer, roe deer and wild boar have increased significantly” Concerning predators, France had 620 wolves on its territory in 2020-2021, according to the French Office of biodiversity (Ofb). If the presence of loup

was confirmed in Yvelines, on November 11, 2021, near Blaru (commune bordering Eure), the solitary animal has never been observed in Val-d'Oise to date.

Wolf are you there

“By consuming seeds and young plants, large mammals (deer, roe deer) undermine the natural renewal of forests. This is why hunting (…) proves to be the only way to restore the balance between the forest and large wildlife,” explains the Onf.

In 50 years, the wild boar population has increased twenty-fold and the deer population eleven-fold. The ONF specifies that individual protection of young plants entails additional costs and produces waste.

“Hunting is practiced in the three national forests of Val-d'Oise, Montmorency, Carnelle and L'Isle-Adam but in the Montmorency forest, it is a controlled license hunt, organized by the staff of the “Onf which supervises the hunters because we are on a very busy site and we cannot proceed, like on the other two forests, with a rental to a successful bidder”, explains Charles Goubert, hunting and fishing manager at the Onf Île-de-France west territorial agency.

Shots from a watchtower, shooting

On average, 24 hunters are on each of these hunts. Some of them are posted on watchtowers two meters high and the rest do the driving. Shooting bullets from watchtowers, at a maximum of 30-35 meters from the animal, allows “a sharp shot”, the angle of which considerably limits the risks. The Onf claims to have not had to experience any incident to date.

SecuritySafety is the watchword of the National Forestry Office. “In addition to the prefectural decree which protects hunters and users of the forest, a technician installs Hunting in Progress signs at each entrance and installs tape to close certain forest roads. Technicians remain on site at the entrances and we also called on a security company this year”

explains Charles Goubert.

Authorization to kill 80 deer and 150 wild boars

The number of animals “taken” is not established at random but based on indices, on the flora, browsing (browsing of brush and young trees by wild animals), analyzes on the weight of the animals killed, their fertility rate or even the abundance index, recorded via night checks with light beams from vehicles.

The hunting plan is established with the interdepartmental federation of Île-de-France hunters (Ficif). “This year, 80 deer were allocated, or 4 per 100 hectares, but we rarely do all of them.”

Wild boars, which mainly cause “agricultural damage, which the ONF compensates”, or which are sometimes the cause of road accidents, will be “taken” to the tune of 150.

* Andilly, Béthemont-la-Forêt, Bouffemont, Chauvry, Domont, Montlignon, Montmorency, Piscop, Saint-Brice-sous-Forêt, Saint-Leu-la-Forêt, Saint-Prix, Taverny.