We have made it to the end of the French hunting season, which is a bit of a relief.

More than 1.2 million French citizens had hunting licenses for the five-month 2015-16 season, which ended today (along with February), and we saw more than a few of them out and about on weekends in this part of the Languedoc.

And now we know why people who work outdoors, and especially in fields, wear fluorescent vests of orange or lime green — because several people are killed by hunters in France each season. By accident.

France is not at all empty of guns in private hands. Not with the hunters out there blasting away.

Wild game comprises a regular part of the French menu during the fall and winter months. Wild boar, partridge and venison probably lead the field.

Some odd/creepy things about the French hunt.

–It seems accepted that hunters skew toward the aged. In its story ahead of the opening of the current season, an English-language website noted that an 82-year-old hunter accidentally shot two hikers when he mistook them for pheasants, a few years ago.

–The same site suggests that around 12 people are killed and 200 wounded in France during each hunting season.

–We live on the edge of a town, and have hiked regularly in the vineyards around us, some of which include a fringe of trees or brush. Eventually, we noticed hunters often position themselves not far from a tree line, apparently waiting for animals to emerge. It is just as likely people will emerge.

–A local organization has called for hunting to be banned on Sundays, arguing that is the day that non-hunters are most likely to be walking in the woods. And it also has called for checks/tests to make sure that geriatric hunters meet certain standards for eyesight, and are not suffering from dementia.

–We have seen spent shotgun shells less than 100 yards from where we are staying.

–France is not a country with big empty spaces. Nearly every parcel of land has a fence around it, and it is not clear how hunters can be sure they are out of range of someone picking mushrooms or walking.

–France has more hunters than any other country in western Europe, it also is legal to hunt every day of the week. France also has more accidental shootings, by hunters.

When we first got here, we thought it was quaint/silly that vineyard workers all seem to wear orange vests. Now we grasp why they do.

We know what animals hunters are hoping to bag, but in two months in this country we have yet to see, aside from birds, a wild animal bigger than a lizard. And one of the major arguments for the hunting season going on … is to keep down the number of wild animals which might otherwise cause damage to crops or farm animals.

Meanwhile, I have yet to see a rabbit, never mind a deer.

We have heard shooting in the distance several times. The other day, walking alone (and without a fluorescent vest) I heard what certainly sounded like a half-dozen gun shots.

Let’s just say it made me walk a bit faster away from that sound.

Ahead of next October … we need to find out where to buy those bright safety vests.