The Third Section of the Court of Cassation expressed in the past on the notion of hunting exercise. According to the judges, this term does not only mean the capture and killing of game, but also the preliminary activities and the preparation of means and any other act aimed at the subsequent withdrawal. The attitude and the practice of hunting, moreover, are deduced from the dangerous situation.
The intervention of the ermines was necessary following the financial sentence of two people for having hunted during the night, carrying a rifle with an active device and a magazine equipped with three rounds: the targets were also illuminated with car headlights and flashlights. Both asked for the sentence to be annulled, given that the Court had ignored (according to their defense thesis) that they were in the woods and at night for look for their dog that had strayed.
The presence of the rifle, moreover, would have made the hunting attitude less, as it is unloaded and in a case separate from the ammunition. However, the appeal was declared inadmissible. The presence of the rifle, the ammunition and the switching on of the lights convinced the Supreme Court that the attitude was indeed hunting, as explained initially to clarify the notion of hunting.