Jean-Claude Delage, one of four trackers with the Rallye L’Aumance stag hunt in the Troncais forest looking for deer tracks. Pascale D'Ormesson, the Master of the Rallye L’Aumance stag hunt pets to the tricolor anglo-français hounds the the hunt's kennels. Pascale d'Ormesson (left), the master of the Rallye L’Aumance hunt, sets off with Daniel Thominet, her huntsman. Hunt followers discuss the progress of the Rallye L’Aumance stag hunt. Daniel Thominet, huntman with the Rallye L’Aumance, calls to the other hunters. Countess of Champeaux, 84, with her daughter Nathalie Gastet listen for the sound of the Rallye L’Aumance hounds barking in the forest as they chase a stag. A Rallye L’Aumance hunter holds his horn as he stands beside the body of the stag the hunt has been chasing for several hours through the forest. Rallye L’Aumance hunters tuck in to picnics and wine while the huntsman prepares the stag carcass after a successful hunt. As Rallye L’Aumance hounds surround the carcass of the stag and soon reduce it to nothing. A mobile blacksmith re-shoes a Rallye Les Amognes hunter's horse. Pascale d’Ormesson, Master of the Rallye L’Aumance. She became Master of the hunt after her father, who started the hunt in 1960, passed the role on to her. "My father was a great hunter. I am proud to maintain the tradition of hunting with hounds in one of the most beautiful French forests." Pierre Allard, 78, is one of the oldest members of the Rallye L’Aumance. He has been hunting twice a week since 1957, first the wild boar, then the stag in forests north of Paris before arriving in Tronçais in 1973. When he hunts, he feels "transformed into a hound". Countess Anne de Champeaux, member of the Rallye L’Aumance, rides with her daughter Mathilde de Villaines. One of her seven children or 37 grand-children always come hunting with her. In her family of rural land owners, hunting has been a tradition for several generations. Valérie Chevrier, a parisian publicist, has been initiated into deer hunting by her husband Philippe, 15 years ago. Their wedding took place in Tronçais : all the guests were invited to a deer hunt. Jacques Maillard and Agnes Bourgeon kiss each other before the hunt starts. Daniel Thominet is the huntsman of the Rallye L’Aumance. He takes care of the 143 hounds in the kennels with his son. As the number one huntsman, he wears a long knife attached to his belt. Hunters on horesback with the Vautrait de Banassat wild boar hunt listen for the sound of the hound pack as they begin to chase a wild boar. Vautrait de Banassat hunt followers watch as the hounds chase the wild boar accross a field and back into the forest. The Vautrait de Banassat hunt's Pointevin hounds chase after the wild boar they have wounded after pursuing it for over an hour. Pointevin hounds from Vautrait de Banassat hunt pick at the dead body of the wild boar they had been chasing hard for over an hour. Once the boar was finally surrounded by the hound pack it was killed by the huntsman with a lance. 21-18-Hunting-WS copyThe dead wild boar is cut up by Vautrait de Banassat huntsmen and the best cuts of meat are saved. The rest of the animal will be fed to the hounds as a reward. A member of the Vautrait de Banassat hunt attends to one of the wounded Pointvin hounds. Four hounds from the 80 strong pack were injured by the boar's sharp tusks during the hunt. As part of the Vautrait de Banassat hunt's "la curée" closing ceremony, the Pointvin hounds surround the skinned carcass of the wild boar they caught earlier in the day and soon reduce it to nothing. Philippe de Chaisemartin, A retired film producer, hunts four times a week in Tronçais forest, as a member of two hunts : Rallye Les Amognes for roebuck, Rallye L’Aumance for red deer. He started hunting at the age of 12. François Civreis was forced to stop riding after a bad fall from his horse five years ago. He now follows each hunt of the Rallye L’Aumance in his 4X4, with his binoculars. David "Daguet " Thominet, son of the hunstman Daniel Thominet, is the second huntsman of the Rallye L’Aumance. He takes care of the 143 hounds in the kennels together with his father. Daguet, his nickname, means "young stag". The tradition is to give hunstmen nicknames related to the forest. Gilles Billard, a factory worker for Dunlop, follows the Vautrait de Banassat boar hunt twice a week. Sylvie Kleboth,daugher-in-law of the Master of the Vautrait de Banassat hunt, takes care of the Poitevin dogs, trained to hunt wild boar. Mathieu Boulois, 24, is the youngest member of the Vautrait de Banassat wild boar hunt. He has started hunting with his older brother, a real estate agent. "Red deer is too beautiful an animal to be killed. This is why we chose the wild boar". Henri Gruloos holds the lance with which he just killed the wild boar. A farmer, he joined the Vautrait de Banassat one year ago, after having chased stags for 10 years with the Rallye L’Aumance. "There is more action in a wild boar hunt”. Jean-Paul Boubet, a member of the Vautrait de Banassat, holds a foot of the wild boar that has just been killed by the hunt. This foot will be given as a present to one of the guests of the hunt during the hunt's closing ceremony. Jean-Claude Brugière is "the butcher" for the Vautrait de Banassat. When the hunt is successful, he cuts up the wild boar Jean Lafond feels too old to ride, at the age of 82. So he follows the Vautrait de Banassat hunt in his 4X4. As the record keeper of the hunt, he keeps notes of all the places in the forest where the hunt passes is in charge of weighing the dead animal. Patrick "Nious" Jamet, a roofer, has more than 300 deer antlers piled in his attic. On Saturdays during the hunting season he follows the hunt of the Rallye L’Aumance. In spring, when stags loose their antlers, he spends hours looking for them in the undergrowth.
