Hunting season and dog walks - what you need to know
Driven hunt dates and locations are public information. The hunting club leasing the district must notify the local mayor and the district forester at least 14 days in advance, and the local authority must publish the details within 5 days of receiving them, both as a public notice and on its website. Before an autumn forest walk, check your municipality's public information bulletin. Regardless of hunts, Polish law bans letting a dog off leash in any forest.
Autumn changes the forest in more than just colour. From October onwards, driven hunts take place across many hunting districts, and that is a very different situation from a single hunter sitting in a raised hide. The good news: the dates are public and you can check them before leaving the house. The bad news: almost nobody does.
Hunt dates are public, you just need to know where to look
The rules are specific. The party leasing or managing a hunting district must inform the local mayor and the relevant district forester about a planned driven hunt at least 14 days in advance, giving the start and end times and the location.
The municipality then has to publish that information within 5 days of receiving it, in the customary local manner, as a public notice and on its own website.
In practice that means one click: your local authority website, public information bulletin, notices. Bookmark it for the season the way you would a weather forecast. If you walk in forests spanning several municipalities, check each one, because the notices are not collected in a single national place.
Landowners have an additional right: an owner, holder or manager of the land may file a reasoned objection with the mayor no later than 3 days before the hunt is due to start.
How to plan autumn walks around it
- Check the notices once a week, ideally on Thursday when you are planning the weekend.
- Pick your hours. Driven hunts happen mostly in daylight, and wildlife movement peaks at dawn and dusk. A midday walk in an area with no scheduled hunt is a calmer choice than a first-light outing.
- Stay on tracks and marked trails. A dog ranging loose through a thicket is both a risk and a breach of the forest law.
- Be visible and audible. A hi-vis vest on the dog, a headtorch, normal conversation. Silence is overrated here.
The off-leash ban applies regardless of hunts
Polish forest law prohibits letting dogs run loose in forests, and breaking that rule carries a fine or a formal reprimand under the petty offences code. The exceptions are narrow: dogs working during a hunt, and search and rescue or service dogs while working or training.
The rule is not aimed at owners. In autumn and winter, deer are entering the hardest part of the year, and a chase costs them energy they cannot easily replace. There is also a direct risk to your dog: collisions with vehicles on forest roads, snares, and wild boar with young.
If you hear shots
Have this sequence ready before you need it:
- Put the dog on a short leash, ideally at heel.
- Turn back the way you came.
- Leave the forest by the shortest route, on a track rather than through the trees.
- Talk in a normal, clearly audible voice so people know you are there.
- Do not try to go around "just a bit further along". You cannot know where the line of guns is.
Alternatives when the forest is busy
If the notice says your favourite woodland has a hunt on Saturday, do not improvise. City parks, riverbanks, reservoir shores and open farmland do the job, and what a dog needs most is sniffing time rather than kilometres. We collected ideas for that kind of walk in our piece on making walks more interesting, and we cover the autumn forest itself in a separate guide.
Checking the notices takes a minute and turns the autumn forest from a lottery into an ordinary plan. See what your local crew walks at this time of year on the DOGOUT map, and add the spots you know.
Sources
Frequently asked questions
- Where can I check whether a hunt is taking place in my area?
- On your local authority's website, usually in the public information bulletin under notices. The municipality is required to publish the start and end times and the location of a driven hunt within 5 days of being informed by the hunting club. The district forestry office receives the same information.
- How far in advance are the dates known?
- The party leasing or managing the hunting district must pass on the details of a planned driven hunt at least 14 days before it starts, including the start and end times and the location. That is enough notice to plan weekend walks around it.
- Can I object to a hunt on my own land?
- An owner, holder or manager of the land may submit a reasoned objection to the local mayor no later than 3 days before the planned start of a driven hunt.
- What should I do if I hear shots while walking?
- Put your dog on a short leash, turn back the way you came and leave the forest by the shortest route, sticking to tracks rather than cutting through undergrowth. Talk out loud so it is obvious that people are around. Do not try to skirt the area, because you cannot know where the line of guns is set up.
- Is a high-visibility vest for a dog worth it?
- Yes, and not only during hunting season. A hi-vis or reflective vest makes a dog visible from much further away, including to cyclists and drivers on forest roads. In autumn, when dusk starts before four in the afternoon, it is one of the cheapest safety upgrades you can make.
