Tecor Societario

[JustOneGuy]

In Galicia there are signs everywhere that say “Tecor Societario,” often in areas adjacent to Camino's path.

My understanding is that these signs grant access to hunters (TECOR = Terreo Cinexeticamente Ordenado) on the lands.

So I was wondering if any of you have ever had problems with hunters, and if these pose a danger or a reason for anxiety while walking.

It is a problem just about everywhere. In Brittany, for example, the problem is very much felt, to the point that during hunting season people are afraid to walk in the woods. Several people have also report pets shot to death, sometimes on their private land. When I lived in Umbria I found myself under a hail of hunting pellets a couple of times, in my private garden (luckily in free fall...).

p.s. Please do not turn the discussion in a pro- or anti-hunting one. Otherwise, we risk the thread to be closed. What I want to know is just whether it is a problem while walking on the Caminos. Thanks!

 

[Telelama]

I can't say we had any issues, but definitely heard the guns while walking.

Where I live, at least once a year someone shoots a horse thinking it's an elk. A number of years ago, a guy shot a horse right out from under the rider. Yea, someone often gets killed too. I was an active hunter when I was much younger and I cannot get over how some now just don't follow the basic safety rules, such as a positive, undeniable recognition of what you're actually shooting at.

Generally we stay out of the woods during hunting season. Too many unskilled and dangerous people with weapons ready to kill anything that rustles a bush.

 

[K_Lynn]

We saw some signs on Camino Ingles last year in October as well as a couple of hunters walking down the roads. Mostly we just heard their dogs and the occasional gun shot. We were not worried.

When I walked Frances there was one day (I don't remember where) where we heard multiple shots far off in the distance for hours. We assumed it was a gun club. Again, not worried about it.

I'm sure things happen now and then, but I have no control over the fickle fingers of fate.

 

[Tincatinker]

Tecor Societario,

Hunting reserved to the society - ie no random nut case with a tube that makes a bang allowed.

Is hunting a problem for pilgrims on the thousand roads to Santiago? No, or certainly probably not. There’s been the odd report over the years. The renowned Ditch Pig @tyrrek picked up a flesh wound from a careless quail hunter who had put a loaded gun back into his gun-bag which discharged into the gravel track as they passed each other.

I’ve encountered Boar hunters who had posted sentries. They asked me to “espere” and blew hard on their whistles. The guys I passed all had their guns pointed at the ground and grunted a polite “Buena Dia” as I passed.

Every Spanish hunter I’ve ever encountered has seemed to take their sport very seriously. I’ve never seen anything like Coppola’s “The Deer Hunter” or Berri/ Florette’s “Manon des Sources”.

I’m always more concerned by the guys with driving licences than the ones with gun licenses

 

[JustOneGuy]

thanks for the answers.

And what about the bang? Did it wake you up in Albergues in the countryside?

 

[Tincatinker]

The things that have woken me in Albergues have been: snoring; farting; headlamps; bag-rustling; vomiting; a bad tempered German motorcyclist and, once, a smiling nun who gently shook my foot as I’d overlaid.

There haven’t been many instances of gunfire in urban settings since 1939

 

[Robo]

I passed a group on Hunters last year on the VdlP, just North of Carcaboso.
It wasn't on the Camino trail but a 'short-cut' a local farmer suggested to me.
They were very polite and seemed to know what they were doing in terms of safety etc.

I've heard gun shots off in the distance a few times on different routes.

Explosions a couple of times too.
Far off quarry/mine operations.

 

[davejsy]

Well with up to 600+ accidental shootings resulting in 50+ accidental deaths each year in Spain due to hunting accidents it's something never to be ignored, but yes I would suggest it isn't something to worry about on the more well trodden paths. Like @Tincatinker alluded to you are more likely to get taken out by a car.

I find France the worst, every weekend in rural France all you can hear is gunfire from hunters - it really does ruin it for me. I don't notice it so much in Spain but I guess it depends where you are.

 

[JustOneGuy]

Well with up to 600+ accidental shootings resulting in 50+ accidental deaths each year in Spain due to hunting accidents it's something never to be ignored, but yes I would suggest it isn't something to worry about on the more well trodden paths. Like @Tincatinker alluded to you are more likely to get taken out by a car.

I find France the worst, every weekend in rural France all you can hear is gunfire from hunters - it really does ruin it for me. I don't notice it so much in Spain but I guess it depends where you are.

Yes, many French friends have told me the same thing. It's a shame. I really do not understand how this can be acceptable in a civilised country like France.

As for accidents involving cars and guns, I haven't been able to find any real statistics, but considering that it depends more on your behaviour (and many paths are separated from the roads), I wouldn't assume that cars are more dangerous without reading real statistics. Does any of you know anything about this?

 

[davejsy]

Well this is the article I got the Spanish figures from:

New figures show number of accidental shootings during hunts last year across Spain - Olive Press News Spain

HUNTING, by nature, is a dangerous sport, especially if you are a rabbit, partridge or a boar. However new figures released by the government show that

www.theolivepress.es

Whilst Gemini tells me there are between 300-400 pedestrian road related deaths a year in Spain. But of course you could argue you are more susceptible to a hunting related incident if you are walking rural paths.

I still think there is very little for you to worry about.

 

[Pelegrin]

Well with up to 600+ accidental shootings resulting in 50+ accidental deaths each year in Spain due to hunting accidents it's something never to be ignored, but yes I would suggest it isn't something to worry about on the more well trodden paths. Like @Tincatinker alluded to you are more likely to get taken out by a car.

I find France the worst, every weekend in rural France all you can hear is gunfire from hunters - it really does ruin it for me. I don't notice it so much in Spain but I guess it depends where you are.

Al menos 63 muertos y 483 heridos en accidentes de caza en España durante 13 años·Maldita.es - Periodismo para que no te la cuelen

Varios medios de comunicación publicaron que los accidentes de caza en España se cobraron 51 muertos en 2020. Estos datos,…

maldita.es

According to this article there was a mistake about 51 people dead in 2020 but in reality this was in a period of ten years. Those figures are decreasing because there is not generational replacement in hunting in Spain. I am not a hunting deffender. Actually, I have the right to hunt in the Tecor Societario of my homevillage in Galicia but this is the last thing I would do.

 

[davejsy]

Al menos 63 muertos y 483 heridos en accidentes de caza en España durante 13 años·Maldita.es - Periodismo para que no te la cuelen

Varios medios de comunicación publicaron que los accidentes de caza en España se cobraron 51 muertos en 2020. Estos datos,…

maldita.es

According to this article there was a mistake about 51 people dead in 2020 but in reality this was in a period of ten years. Those figures are decreasing because there is not generational replacement in hunting in Spain. I am not a hunting deffender. Actually, I have the right to hunt in the Tecor Societario of my homevillage in Galicia but this is the last thing I would do.

That would make sense. Interesting no statistics from Basque or Catalonia though - obviously must be political I guess? (edit: this is makes it a similar number to france which records about 6-8 deaths a year from hunting accidents)

Going back to @JustOneGuy question about risks on the Camino I recalled a really unfortunate incident last year where someone was accidentally killed by a stray bullet from a hunt whilst sat in their living room. I think that was in Castilla y León. Almost has an air of Final destination about it.

 

[Kathor1]

I recalled a really unfortunate incident last year where someone was accidentally killed by a stray bullet from a hunt whilst sat in their living room. I think that was in Castilla y León. Almost has an air of Final destination about it.

I got curious about this. I don't know what "almost an air of Final destination" means. It was not in Castilla y Leon but in Deba in the Basque Country. A 75 year old woman was killed in her home, unintentionally, by a bullet that went through a window of her building. It was a party of 23 hunters, all licensed and on a legal batida for wild boar on a Sunday in December 2023. Since then, a number of them had their licences revoked and 3 of them, or the 1 responsible for the bullet that went astray, may have received more severe sanctions - I did not check the current legal state of affairs for them.

A recent article from November 2024 says that during the current hunting season for wild boar that started in September the 1,200 licensed hunters in the region have not made a single shot in the context of wild boar hunting. Under normal conditions, about a thousand outings to hunt wild boar and roe deer would have already taken place this season, but the hunters associations are dissatisfied with the regional administration's currently insufficient regulation of what constitutes "safe zones".

Source: This article and many more.

 

[davejsy]

A recent article from November 2024 says that during the current hunting season for wild boar that started in September the 1,200 licensed hunters in the region have not made a single shot in the context of wild boar hunting. Under normal conditions, about a thousand outings to hunt wild boar and roe deer would have already taken place this season, but the hunters associations are dissatisfied with the regional administration's currently insufficient regulation of what constitutes "safe zones".

Wow I'm surprised they haven't managed a single shot among them. I wonder what is meant by the insufficient regulation of safe zones though? Are they unhappy with what is been classified as safe zones perhaps?

I know there is much anger from people who want to enjoy the countryside in a peaceful manner often find large parts of it out of bounds because hunters are given preference. Or they are too scared to go out walking their pets or with their children because of it. I do think that there shouldn't be any circumstances hunting should be allowed on public lands at the expense of hikers and walkers.

I don't know what "almost an air of Final destination" means.

Apologies, it's probably not to everyone's tastes but it is a film series where fate dictates your end no matter how you try to avoid it.

 

[MichelleElynHogan]

It seems that one must become more concerned if banjo music begins to play…

 

[Bert45]

I just want to get this off my chest: "Coto privado de caza". I walked across Spain from Llanes to Tarifa in 1998, and I saw this sign about a thousand times. I have also seen the sign on various caminos. I was sick of seeing this sign, but I was unable to not read it every time I saw it. There is a symbol that means the same, I believe: a rectangle with a diagonal, black above and white below. Can't they just assume that everywhere is private hunting?

 

[Nelle]

Thank you for raising this question. I walked the Camino in October 2023 and heard lots of shots and hunting dogs on a foggy Sunday morning while hiking alone after Calcabelos. Some of them where quite close to the road. I grew up around hunting and don’t have an issue with it, but I was concerned because I wasn’t wearing blaze orange (or carrying any bright color) to make myself visible, which is what I would do when hiking in hunting areas in season in the US. And someone I know (a hunter) was killed in an unsolved hunting accident, so I was a bit scared. I yelled Hola! a few times and thankfully ran into an Camino Angel who had tied his orange towel to his bag and I felt much better after that. Next time — I’m bringing an orange towel. Buen Camino.

 

[Kathor1]

Coto privado de caza

Coto de caza is also a sign that I noticed numerous times along the Camino Francés. Once I knew what it meant I took it to mean "Stay out of this forest area" and since it was not my intention anyway to walk into it, it did not bother me. (I grew up in an area with regulations and traditions similar to Spain although these signs are not as common as in Spain).

 

[t2andreo]

"Coto de Casa" means "Private Hunting Reserve."

IMHO, it is best to follow standard precautions and wear bright orange so you can be seen. For example, my windproof rain parka is international orange. I wear it all seasons, as needed. This is especially true in the autumn months - like now - when most large game hunting is authorized.

I have thought of wearing a cow bell to make noise as I walk along. But this counters my overriding interest in walking quietly so I can think and ponder. Life can be complicated.

Hope this helps.

Tom

 

[Tincatinker]

Can't they just assume that everywhere is private hunting?

The assumption is that anywhere that doesn't say it is, ain't. "Coto privado de caza" and it's variants mean no hunting unless you live here.

 

[Kathor1]

Well, all I can say and what I remember is that these areas with a sign saying "Coto de Caza" were practically always wooded areas and they were sometimes even fenced in and nothing was going on in there. It was all quiet. Navarra and La Rioja mainly I think.

When people report here on the forum about having seen hunting parties along the Camino Francés, it was open fields and similar areas and they were on a beat for wild boar, usually on a Saturday or Sunday, and in the autumn. It may be different in other regions and on other Caminos.

In the south west of France, I heard what I took for firearm shots on several days and I got a bit concerned - who has not heard those stories of walkers and bikers being shot by mistake - that I might be taken for a hare although I moved slowly and in a straight line unlike a . In the end, I never found out whether the noises had come from shotguns or from these devices that make a mighty noise at irregular intervals to scare birds away from crops.

 

[Pelegrin]

The assumption is that anywhere that doesn't say it is, ain't. "Coto privado de caza" and it's variants mean no hunting unless you live here.

In a short explanation there are " cotos privados de caza" and also public " cotos de caza". You can hunt in most cotos in Spain but in most cases you must pay something. In the case of the Tecor of my homevillage is necessary to be born there or your parents to have the right to be a member of the Tecor Societario but I don' t know if this requirement is common for other Tecor in Galicia

 

[Stephan the Painter]

So I was wondering if any of you have ever had problems with hunters, and if these pose a danger or a reason for anxiety while walking.

In my part of the world where hunting is quite common in the woods, it's considered best practice to wear a bright yellow or orange vest when hiking during hunting season.

I never heard a gunshot while on the Camino, but if it is a concern to you, it wouldn't be a bad idea to have a vest or perhaps get some bright yellow or orange tape to put on your pack. Wouldn't hurt for the cars either!