Runrabbit not ready

for shooting and skinning

for boiling and slicing,

jugged in the jars lining the walls

of the timber hut with the corks and the vats,

the bottled duck and the bottled pig

the andouillette and the goose’s gizzards

the cider and Calva –

all tipped up by wild boar.

Dates for the opening of the hunting season in France is determined by prefectoral decree for each Department.

Figures are not easy to come by, but it is reported that the number of hunters in France are in decline, due to the older generation dying off, the cost of permits, ammunition, equipment and hunting dogs.