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In Search of France’s Gourmet Bird

One of the most sought after game birds in France

Mike Alexander

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Michellegraber Pixabay

I live in the heart of French hunting country and now the sound of gunfire can be heard regularly. Most of the hunters in this part of the world are fairly undiscerning and will take wild boar, deer or pheasant given the opportunity.

Hunting is a sport that has seen a serious decline in recent years and the wild boar and deer populations have grown so rapidly that specialist cull teams need to be brought in to try to manage their numbers.

When walking in the normally deserted countryside one may well run across men dressed in an interesting combination of camouflage and bright day glow orange security clothing. One supposedly allows you to sneak up on unsuspecting quarry whilst the other stops you getting shot by your fellow hunters — a fairly regular occurrence each season. There are over a million hunters in France making it a pastime that is deeply ingrained in French culture, even though numbers have dropped by half over the last thirty years.

Although most French hunters are quite generalist in terms of the game they pursue, there is one group that tends to be a little more specialized.

The bécasse (woodcock) is one of the fastest and most challenging of game birds and some hunters hunt this bird

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Mike Alexander
Mike Alexander

Written by Mike Alexander

France based freelance writer with a passion for the environment and quirky cultural history. http://mediumauthor.com/@mikealexander wordseeker46@yahoo.com

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