Has anyone shot Boar in Corsica ?

wivenhoe65

Well-Known Member
Family hol's coming up and as ever looking for something to keep me amused whilst the rest of the family roasts on the beach ,seems boar are in residence but details thin on the ground , anyone been ?
 
Corsican hunters are absolutely crazy about boar and their numbers have hugely increased in recent years, but unless you have local friends, it may not be easy to join in. Also, the hunting season doesn't start until September I believe. Your second best bet is to tuck into the fabulous repertoire of boar charcuterie that they make there, as well as all the other charcuterie, including the famous donkey saucisson.
 
I have not shot there but a long lost pal of mine went once to shoot boar in Corsica. As I remember he said that they had to use shotguns and sg/ssg type shot to shoot them .They may also have used slugs though?
 
Corsican hunters are absolutely crazy about boar and their numbers have hugely increased in recent years, but unless you have local friends, it may not be easy to join in. Also, the hunting season doesn't start until September I believe. Your second best bet is to tuck into the fabulous repertoire of boar charcuterie that they make there, as well as all the other charcuterie, including the famous donkey saucisson.

Is that possibly only driven you are talking about? Don't they stalk them most of the year round the same as most of France.

reiver I think that rifles are now used more than shotguns (with slugs) in Corsica as was the case in the past. I am basing this on articles in French hunting mags and advertisments in those magazies. Unfortunately my French isn't that good to be certain of this. I remember trips being arranged to Tunnisia some years ago and they were strictly limited to shotguns and rifles were not allowed.
 
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Is that possibly only driven you are talking about? Don't they stalk them most of the year round the same as most of France.
That depends on the Département: the Prefect can authorise culling outside of the hunting season to protect crops or for disease control. It's not necessarily the same from one year to the next. No idea what the score is in Corsica.

I think that rifles are now used more than shotguns (with slugs) as was the case in the past. I am basing this on articles in French hunting mags and advertisments in those magazies. Unfortunately my French isn't that good to be certain of this.

That depends quite a lot on where you go. Driven big game is the most widespread form of hunting in France (like driven birds is here), but most French hunters are on quite a tight budget. There are a lot of handed down shotguns in use. Corsica has a particularly strong tradition of collective hunting and subsequent sharing of the meat, and it's also a poor region, so I don't know that rifles are as common as you might think. If you go East to Alsace though, everyone uses rifles pretty much, and they're even quite keen on stalking. Interestingly, stalking on your own is viewed with suspicion or even hostility in many more traditionally-minded parts of France as it's seen as individualistic and selfish, whereas the hunting tradition is that it's done together and the spoils shared. Creeping up on game and keeping it for yourself is akin to theft from your fellow hunters.
 
On the couple of driven boar hunts I have been on in France (Normandy) shotguns were very much the exception and then these were mostly carried by the traqueures. I agree its certainly very much a social event and a collective thing as regards the sharing of the spoils at the end of the day. It's quite a sight to see guys walking away with their association carrier bags with legs sticking out of the top. Regarding the hunting seasons yes I realise that the various departments set their own dates in consultation with the national association but I thought that they set different dates for battue (driven) and l'approche (stalking).

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Some areas allow stalking for males in the summer and then hand out bracelets to members who apply for them, but it's by no means universal. It's gaining in popularity though. I think that we who are involved in fieldsports know that entrenched attitudes are not an exclusively French phenomenon.... My in-laws are in Normandy and one of these days, I hope to go hunting with my brother-in-law and his family. He's currently in the final stages of restoring a beautiful old farmhouse in the heart of his local hunting association's grounds. Needless to say, visits to the in-laws will hopefully be a whole lot more fun from next year!
 
​Been but not shot.
All I know is that the season starts in September and the hotel I stayed in told me it costs around 400 euro per day.

We hired a car when we were there and drove into the mountains which were alive with them.
 
Thanks for the replies , looks like i will be there 'out of season' worst luck , just have to make do with tasting boar instead .
 
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