Hunting accidents are slightly up this season, but the twenty-year trend remains downward

For the second consecutive year, the number of fatal accidents is at its lowest in twenty years, the French Office for Biodiversity (OFB) rejoiced on Thursday, July 25. The number of hunting accidents, however, rose slightly again last year, mainly due to the increase in self-inflicted injuries. Over the 2023-2024 season, 97 hunting accidents (defined as “any bodily injury caused by a firearm in the course of a hunting activity”) were recorded, compared to 78 last year, including six fatalities, among hunters alone.

Over one year, the increase in accidents as a whole (minor and serious) is 24%, but this is due to a “significant increase in self-accidents (40% of accidents in 2023 compared to 29% on average over twenty years), including three fatal accidents out of the six recorded”specifies the public body. But over the last twenty years, the trend remains despite everything “positive” with a 42% drop in overall accidents and a 77% drop in fatal cases.

Furthermore, last year, the number of non-hunter victims was almost halved (from 23 to 12) and none were affected by a serious or fatal accident. “If one accident is always one too many, the work carried out with the National Federation of Hunters to strengthen safety around hunting has been very strong and is starting to bear fruit, (…) even if there are still levers to activate”particularly around training, Olivier Thibault, general director of the OFB, responded to AFP.

In accidents recorded during big game hunting, which accounts for the largest number of accidents (55%), the main cause is failure to respect the 30-degree angle (42% of cases), followed by handling errors (19%). These figures show the need to strengthen “learning the basic handling of weapons, their transport and their wearing during hunting”underlines the OFB.