Hunting season in France: when to hunt what?

Who sets the hunting season dates in France?

Shooting seasons are set every year, for each département, by an order of the prefect (Environmental Code, art. R424-6). The order is issued after consulting the departmental hunting and wildlife commission and the hunters' federation, within national limits laid down in article R424-7. Wildfowl and migratory birds follow a different regime: their dates are set by ministerial order.

A single order can apply different rules to different communes. In the Loir-et-Cher, for instance, common pheasant opens on 27 September 2026 in most communes, but some are limited to a shorter period under the local cull plan and others are closed altogether. Red deer, roe deer and fallow deer are also subject to a cull plan, which caps the number of animals taken on each estate.

The 2026-2027 orders were signed at the end of May 2026 (on 20 May in the Yvelines, 29 May in the Loir-et-Cher). The dates for any season are therefore only known the spring before. We build every shooting day within this framework, département by département.

The calendar by species: two reference départements

Rather than publishing “national” dates that do not exist, this guide relies on the 2026-2027 orders of two départements we have read in full: the Loir-et-Cher, the heart of the Sologne, and the Yvelines, on the edge of Paris, France. Other départements set their own dates, sometimes weeks apart: always check the order for the département concerned.

Big game has a long season, but not in every form: before the general opening, red deer, roe deer and fallow deer may only be stalked or shot from a high seat, under an individual prefectoral authorisation. Driven days for big game take place during the general season, and beyond it for wild boar.

Month by month: what is in season for driven days

The table below turns these orders into a practical calendar, the one you look at when choosing the date of a shooting day. It applies to the two départements above; elsewhere the broad pattern is often similar, but only the dates in the local order count.

Pheasant and partridge: the driven bird season

Driven pheasant and partridge days run from the general opening in late September to the end of January for pheasant and red-legged partridge. In the Yvelines, hen pheasants close on 31 December and grey partridge on 29 November; in the Loir-et-Cher, partridge can be shot until 31 January within the “Sologne cynégétique” area defined by the order, and closes earlier elsewhere in the département.

February remains possible in one specific case: commercial shoots declared to the authorities may shoot reared pheasant and partridge until the département's general closing date. These shoots keep a register of the birds they release, each marked with the shoot's registration number.

The calendar also shapes the length of the day. In the Yvelines, the order sets shooting hours: 9am to 6pm until 31 October, 9am to 5pm from 1 November to 15 January, then 9am to 6pm until 28 February. In midwinter the light decides: meeting time, the rhythm of the drives and lunch are all built around it.

Wild boar and red deer: the driven big game season

Red deer can be shot from 1 September to 28 February in both départements, roe and fallow deer from 1 June to 28 February; before the general opening, only by stalking or from a high seat, under authorisation. Driven days for deer are therefore concentrated in the general season, from the opening to the end of February.

Wild boar has the longest season. In the Loir-et-Cher it runs until 31 March 2027, and a bag record kept up to date on the shoot is compulsory. In the Yvelines, the season runs until 31 May 2027 under several regimes; every commune there is classed as a “black spot”, with at least one driven day a month from October to the end of March.

Whatever the date, one rule never changes: on a driven big game day, everyone present, armed or not, wears high-visibility clothing, as French rules require. That includes guests who stand with a gun at their peg.

Out of season: clay and simulated game all year round

Clay shooting and simulated game days, where clays are presented to recreate the flight of driven birds, are not hunting: they do not depend on the opening orders and run all year round, according to the calendar of the clubs and estates that offer them.

They are the natural choice from April to September: to keep your eye in before the season, to bring a board or clients together around a private stand, or to introduce guests without a licence to shooting. A clay shooting lesson supervised by a qualified instructor can be arranged privately at an affiliated club.

How far ahead should you book a shooting day?

No official timeframe exists, but two things matter. The first is the calendar itself: high-season dates are the most sought after, and a private day or a château weekend in high season needs to be requested much earlier than a weekday late in the season. The second is paperwork: formalities take time, especially for a visiting gun who has to have a licence validated and, where relevant, arrange for their guns to travel.

We recommend contacting us several weeks before the date you have in mind, and earlier for a high-season date, a château stay or guests travelling from abroad. We will tell you what is possible, and on which dates, before you commit to anything.