Driven hunt equipment: the checklist by role

For big game driven hunt equipment, everything falls into two columns. Mandatory, in France: a valid licence, insurance, a visible vest for everyone, bullet ammunition for ungulates, a firearm in a case in the vehicle, and signs put up by the organiser. Recommended: a noise-reducing headset, a horn, a knife, a first aid kit, a torch, a radio and equipment for the game.

In Occitanie, federations have audited more than 100 hunting grounds. Their technicians keep coming back to the same equipment points: “hunt in progress” signs that need strengthening and better placement, two-way radios to roll out more widely, firing angles to mark out with stakes, no visual aid to locate the stands⁶. The national rules, for their part, fit in a few lines. Everything else is set out in your department’s departmental hunting management plan (SDGC).

This guide sorts your driven hunt equipment by role: the hunter at a stand, the beater, the hunt leader. Each requirement links to its source text. Print the page or send it to your guests before the next hunting day. This article covers French regulations.

What equipment is mandatory in a driven hunt, and where does the requirement come from?

Three national requirements govern big game driven hunts in France. They come from the order of 5 October 2020, issued under article L. 424-15 of the Code de l’environnement (Environmental Code): a vest for every participant, signs put up by the organiser, and a safety refresher course every ten years¹².

The wording on the vest is precise. Every participant in a collective big game shoot with firearms, as defined by the SDGC, wears it “in a visible and permanent manner, including unarmed persons”. The vest may be built into a T-shirt, a jacket or a brightly coloured cape¹. The OFB (Office français de la biodiversité, the national biodiversity agency) recommends orange, more visible in open ground than yellow¹. It also warns against a raincoat worn over the vest, which hides it at the first shower¹.

Other national rules directly affect what goes in your bag and your car boot:

• the licence: “No one may hunt unless they hold and carry a valid hunting licence”, the OFB reminds us¹. It is validated for the season, which runs from 1 July to 30 June⁵;
• civil liability insurance, mandatory. It covers bodily injury caused by a hunting act and the hunter’s liability for their dogs⁴;
• ammunition: red deer, fallow deer, mouflon, chamois or Pyrenean chamois, roe deer and wild boar can only be shot with a bullet or a bow. The prefect may authorise birdshot for roe deer, and a three-yearly ministerial order allows buckshot for wild boar in driven hunts, in certain departments³;
• transport: every hunting firearm travels in a vehicle “in a case or broken down”, and always unloaded and without a round in the chamber³.

Everything else is a matter for the department. The SDGC can add to these national rules, and failing to follow its safety provisions is punishable by the fine for class 4 offences¹. It is valid for six years: check the current version on your federation’s or your prefecture’s website¹. For small game, the vest and the signs are not required at national level: your plan decides.

What the June 2026 order changes in your kit

The order of 25 June 2026 rewrote the list of authorised electronic aids, in article 7 of the order of 1 August 1986. It has been in force since 10 July 2026³. Three lines directly concern the checklist:

1. “Headsets that reduce the noise of gunshots” are explicitly authorised³.
2. Radio transmitters and receivers are authorised. Dog tracking collars are too, for their safety, finding them and preventing collisions, unless the SDGC states otherwise³.
3. A camera mounted on the firearm remains banned, except one no more than 15 centimetres long, fitted under the barrel and triggered by the shot³.

The same order still bans light sources “likely to help catch or kill game”³. A head torch is therefore for reaching your stand before daylight, never for lighting up an animal. For the detail on radios and GPS collars, read our article on two-way radio and dog GPS regulations.

What should the stand hunter’s checklist contain?

The hunter at a stand packs their papers, firearm and vest first, then what they need to stay still for several hours and deal with a shot animal. Pack your driven hunt equipment in the same bag, in the same order, from one outing to the next. Here is the checklist, in the order you check it before leaving home.

1. Papers. Hunting licence, season validation and insurance certificate⁴⁵. Keep them in a waterproof pouch, on you rather than in the car.
2. Firearm and case. Firearm unloaded, in a case or broken down for the journey³. Check that the firearms authorised by the organiser (rifle, shotgun, buckshot, bow) match yours.
3. Suitable ammunition. Bullets for big game, enough for the day³. Store them separately from the firearm.
4. Orange vest or garment. Worn over everything else, visible from the safety briefing to the end of the last drive¹. If you add a rain jacket, choose an orange one too.
5. Hearing protection. A headset or earplugs. A headset that reduces the noise of gunshots is expressly authorised³.
6. Horn (corne or pibole). The OFB recommends one for every participant, to repeat the horn calls from stand to stand¹.
7. Knife. For gutting and marking, kept in its sheath.
8. Head torch. For the walk in at dawn and the walk back at dusk.
9. Light first aid kit. Compression bandage, survival blanket, disposable gloves.
10. Charged phone. The hunt leader’s number saved, and the stand map if the organiser has sent it.
11. Equipment for the game. Gloves, clean bags, a drag rope. Handling the venison, from the initial inspection to the bags, is covered in our guide on initial game inspection after a driven hunt.
12. Comfort at the stand. Folding seat or shooting stick, warm layered clothing, thin gloves that let you feel the trigger.

A word on the seat. The OFB advises against firing while sitting or kneeling from a ground stand, since the shot then loses its downward angle¹. The seat is for waiting, not for shooting. For behaviour at the stand, angles and shooting, see our driven hunt safety instructions.

What equipment for the beater and their dogs?

A beater’s kit is built for movement: they walk through brambles, guide their dogs, and must stay visible and audible. The vest is mandatory for them too, armed or not¹.

Their checklist differs from the stand hunter’s on five points.

1. Tough, brightly coloured clothing. A reinforced orange vest or jacket, bramble-proof trousers, gaiters. A vest torn on the first drive no longer does its job.
2. Hunting horn. It signals the position of the line and repeats the horn calls¹.
3. Firearm, if the organiser allows it. The OFB recommends only shooting inside the drive at very short range, 10 metres at most, at a wounded big game animal or one at bay posing a risk to the dogs¹. Shooting there stays the exception.
4. Equipment for the dogs. A GPS tracking collar, authorised for the dogs’ safety and for finding them³, a lead, a first aid kit for injuries from a cornered animal.
5. Radio. Useful for coordinating the line with the hunt leader. The OFB recommends using it solely for safety¹.

Gloves, a knife, a torch and a phone complete their bag, along with water: they walk all day.

What does the hunt leader keep in the car boot?

The hunt leader prepares the equipment for the whole day: the signs, the documents, the stand map and the full first aid kit. The signs are a national requirement, the logbook depends on the SDGC, the map and the kit are common sense.

The Occitanie federations have observed what is most often missing in the field. Since the 2023-2024 season, their ASAPT audit programme has reviewed more than 100 hunting grounds across nine departments in the region⁶. Their technicians recommend strengthening “hunt in progress” signage and placing signs better on roads and paths. They encourage two-way radios and recommend stakes to mark out firing angles. The lack of a visual aid comes up often: they recommend large-format maps (A0) and the GPS position of each stand⁶. They also noted “old habits of loaded firearms carried on the shoulder strap”⁶.

During its fifth national round of checks, the OFB carried out 184 checks in Occitanie and recorded 36 offences⁶.

The hunt leader’s checklist follows from this:

1. Signs. The OFB recommends the AK14 temporary danger sign, with a KM9 sub-panel reading “chasse en cours” (hunt in progress) or “chasse” (hunt)¹. Put them up on the day itself before the start and take them down that evening¹.
2. Driven hunt logbook. The one from your federation, for the current season, if your SDGC requires it. Our guide to the driven hunt logbook says where to find the right template.
3. Attendance sheet and stand list. Printed, with a pen that writes in the rain.
4. Stand map. A map everyone can read at the briefing, with the stands numbered, roads and houses marked.
5. Stakes. To help hunters at stands mark out their firing angles⁶, 30° relative to their neighbours according to the OFB¹.
6. Horn and radios. With the start, end and emergency stop codes reminded at the briefing¹.
7. Full first aid kit. In the vehicle, with a survival blanket and what’s needed to compress a wound, with the emergency services meeting point located in advance.
8. Spare vests. Two or three, for the guest who forgot theirs: without a vest, they don’t meet the requirement of the order of 5 October 2020¹.

This checklist replaces neither the SDGC nor the briefing instructions. It simply stops you discovering a missing item in the car park. For the full course of the day, from the briefing to the game tally, read our guide to organising a wild boar driven hunt.

How do you send the checklist to your guests before the driven hunt?

The simplest approach is to attach the checklist to the invitation a week before the driven hunt, then send a reminder the day before along with their stand. A guest who receives the driven hunt equipment list with their invitation arrives with their vest and their papers.

On paper, print this guide or our free printable driven hunt sheet, which prepares the list of stands and participants.

With Mes Chasses, the checklist follows the path of the hunt:

1. Create the hunt and tick the “Authorised firearms”: rifle, shotgun, buckshot or bow. Guests know straight away which firearm to bring.
2. Paste your checklist into the hunt’s “Safety instructions”. Confirmed participants find it under “Safety and instructions”, in the “Organisation” section of the hunt page.
3. Invite participants with “Invite to the hunt”, or share an invitation link. You can organise the driven hunt online without asking your guests for an account.
4. Place the stands on the hunting ground map, then, on the web, click “Send the stands” in stand management. Each participant receives an email with the “View my stand on the map” button: meeting time, their stand highlighted and “GPS directions”.

Stands saved on the IGN and land registry hunting map can carry a “Safety sheet” and an “Ideal firearm”. This information is provided for guidance only: Mes Chasses is an information tool, and the decision to shoot remains that of the shooter. On the day, the organiser can also download the hunt map in the mobile app, to use it without a network connection.

Conclusion

The driven hunt equipment required by national rules fits in a few lines. A visible vest for everyone, a valid licence, insurance, bullets for ungulates, a firearm in a case in the vehicle and the organiser’s signs form the common base across all of France¹³. The rest comes from your departmental plan, which you should read once a season.

The June 2026 order clarified two points about your kit: the noise-reducing headset and the radio are explicitly authorised³. Equip your ears, and agree with your team on how you’ll use radios.

Before your next driven hunt, reread the safety chapter of your SDGC and add to this checklist whatever it requires. Prepare the hunt leader’s car boot the evening before, spare vests included. Send the list to your guests with their invitation, on paper or through Mes Chasses: the briefing will start on time, with everyone in orange.

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