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Hunter seriously injured in France after being gored by deer
19-year-old airlifted to hospital in Gironde after deer punctured his lung with antlers
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A hunter was seriously injured after being turned on by a deer he was hunting in Gironde, south-west France.
The man, a 19-year-old, was participating in a chasse à courre (hunting with hounds) in Saint-Laurent-Médoc on Tuesday, November 3.
While he was hunting it, the animal gored him in the chest with its antlers, according to Sud Ouest.
The deer’s antlers reportedly managed to pierce one of the man's lungs. Firefighters attended the scene and treated the man before he was airlifted to Bordeaux University Hospital (CHU de Bordeaux) by the Dragon 33 helicopter.
According to local media reports, his life is not thought to be in danger.
Hunting accidents in France
According to the Office français de la biodiversité (OFB), France’s biodiversity office, 92 hunting accidents were recorded during the 2025-2026 season, including four fatalities, 57 seriously injured and 31 lightly injured.
While hunters accounted for 89% of those injured, there are occasional accidents involving non-hunters. Last month, for example, a 65-year old man was killed while out walking in Lozère department southern France after a hunter reportedly mistook him for a wild boar.
The OFB also found that 92% of accidents in big-game hunting resulted from human error, with failure to respect the 30-degree shooting safety angle and incorrect handling of firearms among the main causes.
While OFB figures record injuries caused by hunting weapons, they do not record incidents involving direct attacks by animals, although these kinds of attacks are thought to be rare.
