Fleeing stag kills hobby hunter

As one of the most forested departments in France, the Meuse attracts hobby hunters of big game. Many northerners travel there to hunt stags and wild boar. One of them, a 50-year-old man from Merville, a business owner and experienced bow hunter, fell victim on 5 November 2022 in Dainville-Bertheléville to an extremely rare accident. The incident took place in a private forest on the edge of the Meuse between Commercy and Neufchâteau. The man was participating in a recreational hunt organised by “experienced people familiar with this massif in the foothills of the Vosges,” emphasised Hervé Vuillaume, president of the Meuse departmental hunting association.

Fatal collision with a fleeing stag

At 11:10 a.m., emergency services were informed that the 50-year-old was lying unconscious after being struck by a stag weighing between 150 and 200 kilograms. The man, married with two children, could not be resuscitated. He was pronounced dead, writes lematin.ch.

“In the line of flight”

“In more than twenty years, I cannot recall a fatal accident under these circumstances,” commented Hervé Vuillaume, president of the Meuse departmental hunting association. “In this tragic case, the victim was in the animal’s line of flight — in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Hervé Vuillaume further clarified: “The stag is not aggressive — it avoids humans. Moreover, the rutting season in the Meuse ended several weeks ago.”

The northern gendarmerie stated that “several forensic measures must be carried out” to determine the exact cause of death. Hunting accidents are not isolated incidents — in Switzerland too, the criminal activity surrounding hobby hunting shows that the risks of recreational hunting are systematically underestimated. The animal welfare issues of hobby hunting affect humans and animals alike.