Cycling in Hunting Season: Club Rides, Battues and Shoot Days

Sunday, 09:20. The gravel group turns onto a forest track. Nailed to a post is a sign: "Chasse en cours". Two hundred metres on, a man in an orange vest stands at the bend. Twelve riders look at the leader: you.

To ride safely in hunting season, find out which woods are driven on your ride day, give every wooded sector a road alternative, wear a bright outer layer and keep talking, and stop and ask before passing a sign or a hunter.

A battue is a collective drive hunt: beaters and dogs push deer or wild boar through a wood toward hunters standing at fixed posts. In France, Spain and Italy the season runs roughly from September or October to February, and French accident data put the peak on Sundays and in the morning, club-ride time.

Why Sunday club rides and battues meet

The French Senate report on hunting safety (n° 882, September 2022) gives OFB data from 2003-04 to March 2022: 71 % of hunting accidents happen at weekends, 46 % on a Sunday, and 45 % between 09:00 and 12:00.

That measures when hunting happens, not the risk of riding past. The OFB report on the 2025-26 season counts 92 accidents and 4 deaths in France. 89 % of the victims were hunters; the ten others survived, the fourth season in a row with no non-hunter death. The same report counts 122 incidents in which a shot hit property. Over the last six seasons, such incidents happened on average 214 m from the shooter, the furthest close to 2,000 m. The risk to a passing group is low, but distance alone doesn't put you out of range.

The politics are live. A 2023 French bill whose single article read "Nul ne peut chasser le dimanche" (nobody may hunt on Sunday) was rejected in committee on 29 March 2023. The hunters' federation president, Willy Schraen, said a Sunday ban would have the "seul objectif de tuer la chasse populaire" (sole aim of killing ordinary people's hunting), as reported by l'Info Durable on 23 March 2023. The walkers' federation FFRandonnée wrote in early 2023: "nous ne militons pas pour un jour sans chasse" (we are not campaigning for a hunt-free day), asking for better signs and information instead.

Season dates and hunting days by country

In France the prefect of each département sets the dates every year by arrêté, within national limits: opening no earlier than the second or third Sunday of September, closing no later than the last day of February (Code de l'environnement R.424-6 and R.424-7, as summarised by the Bouches-du-Rhône and Loiret prefectures). There is no national day without hunting.

We read the 2026-27 opening arrêtés of 92 metropolitan départements on 20-21 October 2026, using the copies hosted by the national hunters' federation (for example Isère). At least 13 of the 92 ban all or most shooting across the whole département on one to three weekdays: Ain, Hautes-Alpes, Ardèche, Ariège, Cantal, Creuse, Doubs, Isère, Jura, Lozère, Morbihan, Savoie and Haute-Savoie, on Tuesday, Wednesday or Friday; Lozère adds a Thursday ban with exemptions. None bans Sunday. Gard bans boar battues on Tuesday and Friday. Where a département limits boar drives to three to five days a week, as Hérault, Tarn or Lot do, Sunday is always one of them.

In Hérault, 25 of a club's 52 Sundays fall inside the general season, and boar can be shot on 33; in Ille-et-Vilaine (20 Sep 2026 to 28 Feb 2027), 24. In England, no pheasant or partridge shoot falls on a Sunday. Ban lists change yearly, associations pick days within the arrêté, and Alsace-Moselle has its own law.

Finding out where and when hunts run

No single site lists Sunday's drives. Build the picture in September.

• France. Ring the mairie of each commune your route crosses; the local hunting association often posts its days there, and the FDC knows who hunts a given wood. In state forests the ONF leases about 3,300 lots, and the Senate report says each gets at most two collective-hunt days a week; in busy state forests, Sunday hunting is banned in about 40 % of cases. ONF calendars go up at forest entrances and mairies, and have been open data since autumn 2021. Some départements have an app (Chasse Info in Isère); there is no national one.
• Spain. Each coto's number is on its boundary signs. In Castilla-La Mancha, the 2026-27 order (art. 6) requires "Peligro, acción de caza" signs, with date and times, where public roads, tracks and trails enter a montería or batida, posted at least three days ahead.
• Italy. Read the regional calendario venatorio, then ask the local ATC (ambito territoriale di caccia) about boar teams.
• UK. Ask the estate office or shoot captain for shoot days.

Some areas have no-shooting hours: after a serious accident to a trail runner in 2015, Haute-Savoie's hunters' federation created orange zones with no Sunday shooting from 11:30 (Senate report). Ask your FDC about yours and ride those woods in the protected hours.

Check whether your département has a weekday ban and its exemptions, and ride gravel or MTB midweek on that day. With one row per wood, the weekly check takes ten minutes.

The weekly pre-ride check for the route planner

Fold hunting into the route check you already do (the guide to planning a club group ride route covers bail-outs and recon) every week.

The briefing line takes 15 seconds: "Hunting season. If we see a sign or a hunter, we stop together, I talk, nobody rides through. Bright layer on top, keep talking in the woods." Add it to your pre-ride briefing script until March.

Rerouting road, gravel and MTB rides

The rules that keep shots away from people are written around public roads.

In France, the arrêté of 5 October 2020 on hunting safety requires drive signs only "sur l'accotement ou à proximité immédiate des voies publiques" (on the verge or next to public roads). The ministry's answer to written question 2905 (26 September 2023) confirmed that private paths fall outside that rule. The Gard arrêté for 2026-27 bans shooting from public roads and paths but says hunting "reste autorisée sur les chemins ruraux" (remains allowed on rural paths). Italy's Law 157/1992, art. 21 bans shotgun fire toward roads from under 150 m, farm tracks excepted.

A gravel or MTB group can ride into a drive with no sign at all.

Rerouting usually beats cancelling; the ride cancellation policy guide covers how to tell members. For off-road cover on private tracks, the waivers and insurance guide lists what to ask your insurer.

Be seen, be heard: the hi-vis and voice rule

Hunters on a drive dress to be seen: the 2020 French arrêté puts everyone on a collective big-game hunt in a high-visibility vest, and Tuscany's calendar (art. 4 bis) does the same for boar drives. Match them.

• Bright outer layer. Orange, yellow or red on top, not under a dark jacket. No brown or beige kit, and no white patch on the back: in the trees it can read as a deer's tail.
• Talk. The Luberon regional park's advice (updated March 2024) sums it up as "être vu et discuter" (be seen and talk). Chat through woods and call out as you leave them.
• Stay grouped. No solo stops in the trees; for a puncture, the group stops in sight.
• Dogs on the track: stop, don't sprint past, wait for the handler.
• Rear light on. A flashing light shows through grey woods; your winter ride rules already ask for one.

The leader's script: a sign or a hunter on the track

A "chasse en cours" sign is a warning, not a closure. The Senate report puts it plainly: "pour un vététiste ou un randonneur, ce panneau ne vaut pas interdiction" (for a mountain biker or walker, this sign is not a ban). But a drive is running nearby and you don't know where the guns are. Don't push through.

1. Stop the whole group before the sign or 50 m short of the hunter, bunched and in sight.
2. The leader goes forward alone, slowly, and talks. Hunters at posts often carry radios and know where the line runs.
3. Say who, how many, where to, then ask. "Hello, we're 12 cyclists heading to the village. Which way is safe?"
   FR: "Bonjour ! On est 12 cyclistes, on va vers le village. Par où peut-on passer en sécurité ?"
   ES: "¡Buenos días! Somos 12 ciclistas y vamos hacia el pueblo. ¿Por dónde podemos pasar sin peligro?"
   IT: "Buongiorno! Siamo 12 ciclisti e andiamo verso il paese. Da che parte possiamo passare in sicurezza?"
4. Take the answer. Wait, ride through together or take the other way, as told. Over 10 minutes' wait: road alternative.
5. Nobody to ask? Turn back and use the road alternative.

If shots are close

Distant shots are normal. Close shots or pellets through the trees call for this drill.

1. Stop and shout. Everyone: "Cyclists!", "Cyclistes !", "¡Ciclistas!", "Ciclisti!".
2. Stay visible. Don't hide in the undergrowth; moving into cover makes you look like game.
3. Leave the way you came, together and talking, toward the nearest road.
4. Regroup on the road; count heads.
5. If someone is hurt, call 112 first, then follow the ride leader's crash plan.
6. Afterwards, note the time, place and signs. Report a dangerous shot to the police or gendarmerie; don't argue at the scene.

UK: shoot days, the Sunday rule and rights of way

In England and Wales the Game Act 1831, s.3 makes it an offence to take game on a Sunday or Christmas Day, so a Sunday club run won't meet a pheasant shoot; Saturday and midweek rides can. The ban covers only hares and game birds (s.2; Senate report, p. 120), not deer, rabbits, pigeons or wildfowl: a Sunday off-road ride can still meet a stalker or a pigeon shooter. The 1831 Act doesn't apply in Scotland, where the Sunday ban covers wildfowl (Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, s.2(3)) but not game; ask the estate.

Shoots run on private estates on booked days. The Highways Act 1980, s.161 makes it an offence to fire within 50 feet of the centre of a road if a user is injured, interrupted or endangered. The Code of Good Shooting Practice (2017 edition) says shooting must "not obstruct, cause danger or alarm to users of the public highway, including roads, bridleways, footpaths and other rights of way". If you meet a shoot, stop, make yourself known and wait to be waved through; the first club group ride playbook covers the rest of the ride day.

FAQ

Is hunting allowed on Sundays in France, Spain and Italy?

Yes. None of the 92 French departmental arrêtés we read for 2026-27 bans it across a département; Italy bans Tuesdays and Fridays; Spanish regions set their own days. England and Wales ban Sunday shooting of game birds and hares, not of deer or pigeons.

What does a "chasse en cours" sign mean for cyclists?

A drive is running nearby today. It doesn't close the road, but you don't know where the guns are: stop, ask a hunter which way is safe, or turn back.

What colour should cyclists wear in hunting season?

A bright orange, yellow or red outer layer, like hunters on a drive; no brown, beige or white patches.

Is it safe to cycle during hunting season?

Mostly, with planning: in France's 2025-26 season, OFB counted ten non-hunter victims and no non-hunter death, the fourth season running.

Should we cancel the club ride in hunting season?

Rarely. Reroute wooded sectors onto roads or open farmland and keep off-road loops for days without drives.

How we made this. Written by club ride leaders, with AI help for drafting and translation. The census of 92 French arrêtés for 2026-27 (FNC-hosted copies read on 20-21 October 2026; scanned files read by OCR, hence "at least 13") and the chart's Sunday counts are our own work. Quotes translated by us. General guidance, not legal advice: rules change every season, so check with the mairie, hunters' federation or ATC, your national cycling federation (British Cycling, FFC/FFVélo, RFEC, FCI) and your insurer.