The Pordic Hunting Society (Côtes-d’Armor) has had an archers section for two years. Five hunters, Philippe Petit, André Delpeux, Gaël Gaubert, Bastien Léo and Sébastien Le Bigot, have taken the plunge into bow hunting. They all started with target shooting.
“To be able to bow hunting, we must have a permanent hunting license title. But also to have followed a compulsory training day ”, explains Philippe Petit. The hunter holding a French hunting license is required to mark, indelibly and with the number of the permanent title of his hunting license, all arrows taken. “Bow hunting is developing. In the Côtes-d’Armor, there are now nearly three hundred ”, specifies André Delpeux.
“It’s a different state of mind”
Bow hunting is entirely different from traditional hunting with a rifle. “It’s a different state of mind. We are closer to nature. There is no noise. We hunt, alone or with others, on the lookout, well camouflaged and sometimes perched in a tree, or on the approach. It takes a lot of patience, waiting and taking into account the direction of the wind. Rifle hunting shooting is instinctive. With the bow, it takes time to cock the bow. It is necessarily longer ”, underlines André Gaubert.
“When we shoot an arrow, we are at a maximum of 15 or 20 m. We are not shooting to make a hunting picture. Moreover, there is a lot of game that we cannot hunt ”, adds Philippe Petit.
Contacted by municipalities
The relationship with the people we met has changed. “Before, with our guns, the people we passed did not speak to us, or even cursed at us. With our bows, people come our way. They seek to discuss. Besides, we meet more people, because we are allowed to get a little closer to the houses. But vis-à-vis some, we are taken for marginal “, says Bastien Léo.
This summer, the town hall called on their services to eliminate nutria which are beginning to proliferate in the Coteaux de l’Étang and in the Guivaux pond. “We killed nine. This species is considered harmful because it is an invasive species. This proliferation is worrying, because nutria dig galleries on the edges of water bodies. They are doing enormous damage ”, underlines André Delpeux. They are also called upon to intervene in other municipalities.
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