From the Morzine talk to me Facebook page

16yr old hunter shot and killed a 40yr old riding down Super M yesterday.

So Sad

R I P

🙁

Just been reading the Facebook page. Jeeesus I didn’t realise this went on. Sounds like an absolutely ridiculous situation, literally like riding through a live firing range!!!

Was it intentional ?

Doesn’t seem to read like it was intentional but near misses seem a regular thing.

Blimey, that’s horrible for all involved.

It seems the anti-hunt folk in France have a much bigger task on their hands than over here.

Link ?

I can’t imagine how this could happen, Silverthorne mistook him for a deer ?! Or the rider rode across hunters firing line the exact second he hired.  Really?  Surely the hunting should be in areas where there is no riders or walkers.  Is this a real story?  Seems such a remote chance if people were behaving sensibly

https://m.facebook.com/groups/133652130008056?view=permalink&id=2134815859891663

I think its genuine as others were asking about helicopter activity near Super M yesterday evening

Seems such a remote chance if people were behaving sensibly

Far too common – most hunters are old, stupid, drunk (pick any two from three) and have a cavalier attitude to safety, firing at anything that moves whether they can see it or not. This includes each other, themselves and their dogs!

It’s normally Dogs mistaken for wolves that are the most common victims of the Hunt

English guy apparently

https://www.ledauphine.com/haute-savoie/2018/10/14/a-montriond-un-chasseur-tire-sur-un-vetetiste-et-le-tue

Only too common here in France.

Marc from Wild Beets in Les Gets according to that Facebook link. Really awful for all concerned.

Tragic, hunters do tend to like their red wine. I was out walking in the mountains yesterday and heard some very close gunfire.  It’s the hunting season and the alcohol does cloud the hunters judgement.  That and the hunting dogs who go for anything.

Maybe enough of a wake-up to ban this event and those who like to kill animals for entertainment, although I doubt it uunortunately.

The thought that its socially ok to walk around public access land with a loaded weapon you intend to use after a drink or seven if quite frankly horrific. 16yr old hunter in this case though – you’d hope if was immaturity/inexperience rather than being intoxicated. You’d hope.

A shocker of a way to pop your clogs.

and those who like to kill animals for entertainment, although I doubt it uunortunately.

Agreed but unfortunately there’s still lots of psychopaths around.

Seems like the usual madness. The hunters have probably been shooting there long before the MTB set turned up. The bikers will know about the hunting so assuming the dead guy (being local) wasn’t ignoring a risk and thought it was a no shooting area. Probably the hunter’s fault and the anti hunt brigade will be out in force. The only way the shooting will stop is if the towns think their income will be affected if they see bikers staying away.

Eddie, you should be setting your shot up, so that it doesn’t pass over tracks that other people may be using and you should ALWAYS know exactly where your round is going to land and if it misses the target, it should not continue on for hundreds of meters. You use your surrounding geography as a backstop.

If that means you can’t bag your deer, then so be it.

The cyclist won’t be in the wrong here, hunters have a duty of care.

Need to wait for further info before passing judgement.

I agree totally Raybanwomble. I don’t know the circumstances yet so will comment no more.

This is really sad.  I spend a month a year in France and I never considered this as a danger and  im usually somewhere much further off the beaten track than Morzine, something to think about in the future.

There’s no way you’d get the restrictions in huntung in France that we have here it’s engrained in their culture.  You only have to go to a Decathlon in France to see it.

Ive always had a hatred for the combination of French Hunters and Farmers since the sole Brown Bear that had been re-introduced into the  Pyrenees was ‘accidentally’ shot by Hunters.

Accident my ass.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/breaking-french-alps-shooting-brit-13415256

Well according to the Mirror it’s the riders fault cuz he was speeding through woods on a well known track in low light.

Well according to the Mirror it’s the riders fault cuz he was speeding through woods on a well known track in low light.

You took that from the article . Really?

Hope the shooter goes to prison, if nothing else to deter the other reprobates that run around shooting things with guns in public areas

Absolutely tragic and my thoughts are with this poor chap and his loved ones and friends. To think he nipped out for a quick spin and ended up fatally shot really beggars belief.

I went hunting in France back in the 90s and it was a complete farce. I’m an experienced shooter and have years of hunting experience. What I witnessed back then was outrageous. A plastic one litre bottle of red in the cartridge bag was mandatory. Nobody checked the backstop of their shot and they shot anything; song thrushes, finches – anything that moved. In fact, I tell a lie. I recall towards the end of la chasse, a group of them opened up on a fridge that had been left at the roadside! Safety ? Boff.

Tpbiker the opening sentence “A British mountain biker has been shot dead by a hunter in the French Alps as he sped through “thick” woodland in fading light.” – is purposely worded so as to lead the reader into assuming fault on the cyclists part.

They could have started with “A British mountain biker has been shot dead by a hunter, after the hunter fired in the vicinity of a well known path in low light”.

But they didn’t did they?

The article doesn’t remotely apportion blame to the biker. Stop trying to twist the article to suit your agenda. It’s not appropriate given the circumstances

They could have started with “A British mountain biker has been shot dead by a hunter, after the hunter fired in the vicinity of a well known path in low light”.

But they didn’t did they?

In these cases I’d generally assume very little thought went into the breaking news part and it is a version of the google translate press release from the local authorities rather than malice on the part of the journalist/sunday cover. The British press would not normally miss an opportunity to put the boot in to the french.

Tragic event and you can see exactly how it could have happened with the descriptions above. It was wild board hunting season opening in Finale when we were there, lots of clear signs and exclusions for certain days/areas so bikes and guns were not in the same place at the same time.

A quick Google suggests there are an average of 20 deaths and around 300 shooting injuries during the French hunting season  per year .  They include hunters , walkers , joggers , mushroom pickers and motorists .

Hunter, 22, in hospital with shock. Police looking at aggravated manslaughter.

British mountain biker shot dead in French hunting – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-45855897

It’s certainly not uncommon in the US for hunters to shoot at random movement in the forest assuming it’s a legit target, when it can be another hunter. Years ago I read in some American publication it was advisable to wear something brightly coloured, like an orange bandana around a hat, or camo with an underlying orange element to make yourself more visible to hunters, orange being the most visible colour and one that most wildlife can’t actually see. I knew hunters on the continent, and in places like Malta would happily shoot pretty much anything with wings, usually while drinking, but I hadn’t realised that French hunters were shooting in places with open public access.

Luckily Pinkbike comments are on the case now. ( Wait until they hear about Brexit and Jordan Peterson)

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/british-mountain-biker-shot-dead-in-morzine-by-hunter.html

This is awful news. I’ve walked in that wood this time last year (it’s just above my place there) and heard the hunt coming through below me. Fortunately I had a bright orange coat that I dug out of my fluoro Alpkit Gordon, put it on quickly and changed my route to peel away from the hunt area. As I did I saw three deer come out of cover and cross the trail in front of me. I’m heading back out there next week to do some more walking, it’s a lovely time of the year for it, it will be much sadder this season. Enjoying the peace of the mountains should never end this way.

Unfortunately the ‘chasse’ is a french institution, it would take a very brave mayor, let alone president, to try to take the local hunt on. We live an hour out from the Pyrenees and simply cannot ride in the countryside once the hunting season starts. Even wearing a hi viz doesn’t work as they usually manage to shoot each other.

A friend was talking to a member of the local chasse and tried to suggest that it was a bit daft to allow short sighted old men, who have just drunk more than a few glasses of red with their lunch, to run around the countryside with a rifle. He was shocked that anyone would question such a thing….. ‘No it is safe, I have only been shot once’

A neighbour found their car had been hit last year with a stray bullet.

Total madness but it won’t change.

Saddening news rip to the family. But what utter tripe by the Mirror,as posted further up the person behind the trigger is at fault nothing more or less and should be charged to the full extent of the law. Utter stupidity caused this loss of life nothing more !

The article doesn’t remotely apportion blame to the biker. Stop trying to twist the article to suit your agenda. It’s not appropriate given the circumstances

Yes it does, although not directly – it’s opening sentence is suggestive.

You sound like a defensive gun nut – at the end of the day, accidental deaths caused by hunters should not be happening. Full stop. You should not be shooting, if the conditions mean that you could make a mistake. You should not shoot unless you positively ID the target. Soldiers are held to a higher standard in warzones for **** sake.

Yes it does, although not directly – it’s opening sentence is suggestive.

What, a vague whiff of your opinion as to the intent of the article to blame the rider, despite the rest of it laying out what they know so far which doesn’t look at all good for the bloke with the gun.

As for the second half of your point has anybody disputed that? I don’t see anyone blaming the rider or excusing the guy who shot him.

You think some who said…

Hope the shooter goes to prison, if nothing else to deter the other reprobates that run around shooting things with guns in public areas

…is a defensive gun nut?

odd

What, a vague whiff of your opinion as to the intent of the article to blame the rider, despite the rest of it laying out what they know so far which doesn’t look at all good for the bloke with the gun.

Where does it suggest a bunch of reasons for why the hunter might have been the one in error?

The article doesn’t, instead – it appropriates causation to the cyclist with 1) Speeding 2) thick woods 3) dusk – these facts are being included because the paper thinks that these were contributing factors. Sure they might be quoting an official I guess, but it still sounds a lot like blame to me. There are no causative factors attributed to the hunter.