Gil,
Land access is a big deal in France. A farmer who might pay you to shoot pigs likely wouldnt consider letting you hunt birds or ducks on his ground. Birds, in this context, almost always means the big European woodcock. There are pheasants, nobody seemed to talk much about them.
I have no idea how the associations work. Perhaps they pool resources and lease land for the members. I would guess it is a little bit of everything, maybe up to even traveling to other countries to hunt under the umbrella of your club.
We have it better, here. I always wondered who the home team guys in France were, that kept the gunmakers busy enough to make a living building double guns. A lot of them were sold right in country.
Best,
Ted
