“This Morning, I Killed a Deer”: A Journalist’s Encounter with Wildlife Turns Tragic
On the morning of Saturday, March 8, a journalist from Oise Hebdo was driving on the D136 in Aisne when a herd of deer suddenly crossed the road, fleeing from a hunting pack. He hit the brakes, but it was too late to avoid the terrified deer. One of them, a stag, collided violently with the car. According to multiple witnesses, the deer were being chased by a hunting crew and hounds as part of a chasse à courre (hunting with hounds).
The impact: chaos on the road
The stag struck the front-right side of the journalist's Toyota Aygo, bounced onto the windshield and roof, leaving visible blood marks, before escaping and likely dying further into the woods. Although the journalist was physically unharmed, the crash caused serious damage to the vehicle. “The airbag didn’t even deploy,” he noted with disbelief.
In shock, he pulled over, turned on the hazard lights, and was soon approached by concerned passersby. One of them commented, “They were probably running from a chasse à courre.” The driver couldn't shake the image of the wounded animal and the brutal sound of the impact. “I’ll have a hard time falling asleep tonight,” he wrote in his original article.
Witness accounts confirm the hunt’s involvement
As soon as the article was published, testimonies poured in. Multiple eyewitnesses confirmed the presence of a hunting party in the area and directly linked the chase to the accident. Footage from AVA (Abolissons la Vénerie Aujourd’hui) volunteers, who were monitoring the hunt that day, shows the herd fleeing along the D136, pursued by hounds, while members of the hunt occupied the road with total disregard for safety.
Despite the accident, the hunt reportedly continued as if nothing had happened.
A scandal that repeats itself
This is yet another example of how hunting with hounds causes chaos and endangers the public. According to AVA, gendarmes were dispatched not to protect civilians, but to assist Baron d’Aillières in collecting his dogs. Once again, the state seems more concerned with protecting aristocratic tradition than ensuring public safety.
The public fights back
As AVA points out, only an organized civil resistance can put an end to this barbaric tradition. There are six hunts left in the season, and local AVA branches are calling for action.
"The hunting elite may ignore the damage they cause, but the public sees it — and it's fighting back."
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