Hunter shot dead during wild boar hunt

The man, who lived in the Toulouse area, was taking part in the hunt at Solliès-Ville on the morning of Saturday February 17. Local prosecutor Bernard Marchal, told newspaper Var-Matin he had been hit in the chest.

Another man who was also taking part in the hunt was briefly taken into custody for investigation, but no charges have been laid.

The sequence of events is yet to be confirmed but early reports from the gendarmerie at La-Valette-du-Var said one of the hunters fired three shots at a boar, apparently without hitting it, from his position in a watchtower to one side of the hunting area.

Wanting to warn his hunting mate, who was on another watchtower a few hundred metres away, the man called out but heard no reply, and so went to look for him.

He then found the man lying on the ground, with his rifle at his side.

The shooter, another man in his 60s, told police that he only ever shot at the “defined angles” allowed in the hunting area.

Investigators are to use lasers to research the angles of the shots made, alongside research on the ground next to the dead man’s watchtower, in an attempt to judge how he fell, as well as find the bullet that killed him.

An autopsy on the dead man is expected early next week.

The man’s death is only the latest in a number of tragedies seen during animal hunts in recent months; in September 2017, a 13-year-old boy was shot dead by his grandfather on a hunting trip near Luçon in Vendée, and a 57-year-old man was killed on a hunt in Clans, Alpes-Maritimes, while in November, a man who acted as a hunt beater - helping to flush out stag for others to hunt - was gored by a young stag.