Hunting in Foix: “The deer spend the day going around the houses to avoid us”

You may come across a deer or a wild boar feasting in the Foix pastures. And yet, here too, while the territory seems very urbanized, these wild animals are hunted. Explanations with Jérôme Ruffié, president of the Fuxéenne Saint-Hubert hunting company.

Which parts of Foix do we hunt?

We go to the Pech, between the old fish farm and the Bruilhols district station. We hunt all over the slope up to the crest. On the Saint-Sauveur massif, between the Sainte-Hélène house and Cos, up to the Lizonne farm. In Cadirac, in the wooded slopes which go up to Ganac. When you go up to Prat d’Albis, you can go to the right part, and near Fort Guilhret, it is the left part. These are communal plots. Otherwise, we can also hunt on state lands located higher up.

Is it pleasant to hunt on the slopes?

We like the mountains, it’s steep. We go to places that some people don’t even know about. Very steep areas, with stones on the ground, if you fall, you are not well. But we want to go there, we see beautiful landscapes and our risks are calculated. We know where the game is passing, we position ourselves in access areas. I prefer to hunt on slopes than on the plain. At least the bullets are stopped. A rifle shot in the plain has a range of 5 km.

What animals are they hunted?

On the pech, we find wild boar, deer, doe and a few roe deer. On the Saint-Sauveur, wild boar, a few deer but it’s not really their area. In Cadirac, we hunt big game, woodpigeons, thrushes, starlings and deer. On the slope of Prat d’Albis, there are big game, pheasant, partridges, woodpigeons, thrushes and woodcocks.

What are your hunting days and periods?

The schedule is quite complex. In fact, a hiker is sure that there is no hunting in March, April and May. I also draw attention to the fact that people are removing signs put up to signal hunting in progress. It is very important not to remove them to inform the population of our presence. In winter, wild boar hunts take place on Wednesdays, Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. Stags, does and roe deer are stalked every day as they approach. The number of hunting days differs depending on the period for migratory birds.

What advice do you give to hikers?

You should not dress in black or green, like us. On the contrary, you can wear a fluorescent vest, very visible colors. Hikers can continue their activity while hunting, we know the trails. Often, we put ourselves quite far from these paths, or we position ourselves in places where we do not shoot in their direction. We know that we have a weapon in our hands, we have no room for error. This is why we build watchtowers in the plain, in order to shoot towards the ground. Again, they should not be destroyed.

Has the animal population evolved?

28 years ago, in Cadirac, we hunted 10 to 15 deer. Now, if we see one, that’s good. The deer population has declined sharply, particularly due to diseases transmitted by sheep. For three years, we have killed one per year, whereas before we shot seven or eight. There is also poaching. For deer and does, the population is holding up. When we hunt deer, they spend the day going around the houses at a bend on the Prat d’Albis road to avoid us, because we cannot shoot within 150 m of a house. There are a lot of them, between 20 and 30 does. We have few wild boars in Cadirac, however, there are many on Pech and Capitany.

Do you notice wild animals moving closer to inhabited areas?

At Lake Labarre, it is Vernajoul’s company that hunts. There are a lot of wild boars, since they have understood that being near houses protects them. They sleep between the Castella hill and the dual carriageway. On the island, during an administrative raid, requested by the prefect, fifty were removed. People are often unhappy that we are chasing them. But a deer or a doe can eat rose bushes, pull carrots, salads. Recently, wild boars turned over the entire garden of a resident of Capitany. He had forgotten to close his gate. A farmer near the dump had all his grass ripped out. Sometimes we think we’re going to have to think about it and, in the end, people are happy with our actions.

In Foix, do you have a bad image?

We are men to be taken down. At the side of the road, we receive insults from motorists, bikers, even paragliders. This behavior has increased with the number of environmental associations. However, we respect quotas, based on calculations on the animal population, which causes great damage, particularly among farmers. And mentalities among hunters have changed, but we keep the image of the sketch with the good and the bad hunter from Les Inconnus. It hurt us.