GPS collar while hunting: what the decree…

Since July 10, 2026, your dogs' GPS collar has been authorized during the act of hunting. The text went almost unnoticed, to the point that some hunters had sold their equipment based on an opinion that has since become obsolete. Here is exactly what the decree says, and what it does not change.

One month before the general opening — set for September 13 in several departments, September 20 elsewhere — the question comes up in every hunting party: can you track your dogs on a screen during the action? The answer changed this summer. A decree published in the middle of July rewrote a 1986 text that many had never closely read.

Hunter checking his hounds' GPS on a smartphone in open country, 2026 decree

Before July 10, 2026: a 1986 text and a lot of confusion

The framework applicable until this summer was Article 7 of the decree of August 1, 1986. This text governs the electronic assistance means allowed in hunting, and it operates according to a closed list logic: what is not included is not authorized. Dog tracking devices were indeed listed, but with a clear restriction: their use was limited to after the hunt. Officially, the collar was therefore used to recover a dog left in the woods once the action was over, not to follow its progress during it.

A gap with real-world practice

In the field, that interpretation was unworkable. A handler who lets his dogs work does not check his screen “afterward”: he checks it to know where they are, whether they are approaching a road, whether they are leaving the territory, whether they have stopped moving. The restriction turned a safety tool into a mere reporting tool.

The resulting confusion is well documented. On specialized forums, the topic filled entire threads, and the most telling effect was this: hunters simply resold their GPS collars after receiving guidance to that effect from their departmental federation. Equipment bought for dog safety, set aside out of legal caution.

That concern is no small matter. Losing a dog is a structural fear in the hunting world: Passion La Chasse’s lost or stolen dog reporting thread, open since 2021, alone totals 331 replies and 21,275 views. From the outside, it is easy to underestimate what a dog not coming back really means.

What exactly the decree of June 25, 2026 says

The text is short, and its effect is clear.

Signed: decree of June 25, 2026.
Published: Official Journal of July 9, 2026.
Effective date: July 10, 2026.
Scope: it amends Article 7 of the decree of August 1, 1986 and removes the restriction that limited dog tracking devices to after the hunt.

The direct consequence: the GPS collar during hunting is now authorized. Real-time tracking of your dogs during the action is no longer a gray area; it is now the general rule. No procedure, no declaration, no prefectural authorization is required, since the restriction was simply removed from the text.

Two useful clarifications to avoid misunderstandings. First, the text concerns dog tracking devices, meaning the tracking of your own animals: it does not open up anything else. Second, this ministerial decree applies throughout the territory, but it does not override prefectural decrees or ACCA internal regulations, which may set their own organizational rules. The reflex remains the same: check what your department says.

Source: decree of June 25, 2026 on Légifrance

The second change, commented on even less: walkie-talkies

The same decree contains a second development, overshadowed by the first even though it affects many more hunters.

Until July 9, 2026, radio transceivers — walkie-talkies — were allowed only within a narrow framework: collective big game hunting and wild boar regulation operations. A small game hunter, an individual hunter, or someone hunting collectively outside big game hunting was outside the rules if carrying a radio.

Since July 10, 2026, radio transceivers have been extended to all hunting methods.

This is a long-awaited alignment, and above all a safety gain: radios are used to announce a position, report a presence, coordinate movement, and warn in the event of an incident.

Source: FDC 13 — changes to the 1986 decree effective as of 10/07/2026

What does not change: thermal remains prohibited during the act of hunting

This is the key point to remember, and the one most often misunderstood.

Thermal imagers are not authorized during the act of hunting. They do not appear in the closed list of electronic assistance means in Article 7, and the decree of June 25, 2026 did not add them. Since the text follows a closed-list logic, absence means prohibition.

The misunderstanding comes from elsewhere: these devices are freely sold. They can be found in stores and online without any formality. Many conclude in good faith that their use during the act of hunting is naturally allowed. It is not, and the July easing should not be read as a general signal of openness toward electronics: it concerns dog tracking and radio, not vision.

So the same decree expanded two uses and left the third exactly where it was.

Source: FDC 14 — thermal vision devices, what uses?

Before / after July 10, 2026: the summary

Device	Until July 9, 2026	Since July 10, 2026
Dog tracking collar	Authorized only after the act of hunting	Authorized during the act of hunting
Radio transceiver (walkie-talkie)	Reserved for collective big game hunting and wild boar regulation operations	Extended to all hunting methods
Thermal imager	Not listed in Article 7, therefore prohibited during the act of hunting	Unchanged: still prohibited during the act of hunting
Legal basis	Article 7 of the decree of August 1, 1986	Article 7 amended by the decree of June 25, 2026 (OJ of July 9)

Only one line in this table has not changed: the thermal one.

The equipment: Pack GPS Chasse TR DOG V2 + Collar — €549

A rule change does not make equipment essential. It simply removes the obstacle that discouraged those who were hesitating. If you are one of those who had given up on tracking, or one of those starting again with aging equipment, here is what we offer.

The Pack GPS Chasse TR DOG V2 + Collier is priced at €549 (instead of €639). It combines the multi-dog tracking unit and one collar, with dual VHF + 4G technology.

Three concrete benefits:

Tracking usable during the action, which the framework now explicitly authorizes: position, movement, stop.
Two channels rather than one: VHF does not depend on any operator, while 4G takes over where coverage exists.
4G, not 2G: at the end of March 2026, Arcep still recorded 2 million active SIM cards in 2G-only terminals, and specifically mentions GPS trackers among the connected devices at risk. Orange is shutting down 2G in departmental waves between September 22 and October 20, 2026.

Let’s be honest about what this pack does not do. It does not remove the physical limitations of VHF in steep terrain, nor areas without mobile coverage: a collar replaces neither knowledge of the territory nor a well-chosen high point. And it does not exempt you from checking departmental rules.

If you already equip several dogs and are missing a unit, the Collier GPS TR DOG V2 alone is priced at €229 (instead of €279).

In short, before the opening

The collar during the action: authorized. Radio: open to all methods. Thermal: still prohibited. One decree, three lines to remember, and one month ahead of you to get your equipment back in order. For the technical side, then read VHF range: why you lose your dogs at 500 m — legality is useless without signal.

GPS collar while hunting: what the decree changes