A full success but also easily predictable. In France it was decided to take concrete action and directed to curb the drop of hunters, a phenomenon that has been recorded for several years now: several associations of the transalpine departments have decided to eliminate the costs of hunting licenses, thus making them become free. One of the most interesting cases that the local media are dealing with is that of the Vendée, the department that is part of the region of Pays de la Loire (Pays de la Loire). The initiative was greeted in a more than positive way, with many questions and requests from young people and women.
The Vendée could count on 16 thousand hunters overall, a respectable number but not sufficient to stem the bleeding, so much so that the number that worried the most was that of the decline recorded from 2010 to today (2 to 3% less). In addition to this department, three others have followed the same path of free licenses, so we are not talking about an isolated case. The payment exemption was deemed the best compromise ever, following the example of Haute-Vienne, what until recently was the only French federation to earn from its members.
The goal of zero-euro licenses is quite simple. Indeed, the local hunting federation and the departmental council are committed to fund the training and the passing of the exam from start to finish. The training is carried out in a single, complete day, in order to allow participants to learn the rules and safety issues. In the 20s, there were more or less XNUMX hunters in the Vendée, now the figure has dropped, as already highlighted, to about 16 thousand, will the experiment we are talking about be able to sustain the hunting growth? The other two departments that have ventured the solution are those of the Charente and the Nièvre, but the Vendée has caused much more talk because it is the first territory of the so-called “Grand Ouest” which is the protagonist of the initiative.
In 2016 they should be "recruited" almene 800 iscritti, a total that seems ambitious but which is within the reach of the same department. About 250 hunting companies have accepted the offer and now the first concrete feedback is awaited. Specifically, the Vendée federation invests 120 thousand euros, while the Departmental Council will have the task of supporting it 25mila: the group of hunters is now more “varied”, well divided between women, the elderly and the young.