This page is for anyone who hunts in Haute-Saône and finds a ring on a pheasant or partridge: where to report it, who validates it, and what is known about the department. RingFollow never publishes the name of a hunter, an ACCA (approved communal hunting association) or a municipality, nor any count below 3. On the administrative map, department 70 belongs to the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region; its prefecture is Vesoul.
The federation and RingFollow
The Haute-Saône hunters' federation (FDC 70) is not among the federations registered on RingFollow. A ring found in Haute-Saône can still be reported: the report is recorded, and it will be validated by a federation, never by GIBIS. The ring number leads back to the original release: if the federation of the department where it took place is registered, it validates; if not, the report waits, filed under department 70.
Found a ring: what to do
- Open bagues.gibis.fr on your phone and photograph the ring close up, in good light.
- Enter the municipality, Vesoul or any other in the department; no municipality is ever shown publicly.
- Pick the species from the list (pheasant, grey partridge, hare and red-legged partridge); sex and circumstances are optional.
- Send: with no signal, the report goes out on its own as soon as coverage returns.
What happens to the report
The report is recorded as soon as it arrives, with the photo and the municipality given. The ring number is then matched against known releases; if one took place in a department whose federation is registered, that federation validates the recovery. If no release matches, the report is kept under department 70 and stays out of the public totals. The public only sees totals per department; points on the national map are rounded to about 1 km.
What a reported ring is for
Every recovery reported gives a date, a distance and a species. Added together, they give an operation's recovery rate and how far the birds disperse after release: enough to adjust future releases in Haute-Saône.
What the rings say in Haute-Saône
- The count of validated recoveries in Haute-Saône still stands at zero.
- The validation queue for Haute-Saône is empty.
- Nationwide, RingFollow records 85 ringed releases (3,592 birds) and 16 validated recoveries, across 5 participating federations.
The Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region and RingFollow
Besides Haute-Saône, the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region comprises Côte-d'Or, Saône-et-Loire, Yonne, Jura, Territoire de Belfort, Nièvre and Doubs. None of the eight departments in the region has a federation tracking its rings on RingFollow at present (see the list by region).
Land and population
The European CORINE Land Cover inventory (2018) puts agricultural areas at 52% of the area and forests and semi-natural areas at 44%. The rest is shared between artificial surfaces (4%) and water bodies (1%). About 5,390 km², 536 municipalities and 233,185 inhabitants in 2022: those are the orders of magnitude. Besides Vesoul, the prefecture, the department has one sub-prefecture: Lure.
Sources: INSEE (official geographic code 2025, 2022 population counts), OFB / EEA (CORINE Land Cover 2018), geo.api.gouv.fr (areas).
Further reading
Species, delivery and release planning are a matter for the breeder: see game birds for restocking and red-legged and grey partridges on gibis.fr.
Haute-Saône and its neighbours
Its neighbours are Côte-d'Or to the west, Doubs to the south, Haute-Marne to the north-west, Territoire de Belfort to the east, Vosges to the north and Jura to the south. Beyond the regional boundary lies the region of Grand Est. Among its neighbours, the share of agricultural areas ranges from 42% (Territoire de Belfort) to 59% (Côte-d'Or), against 52% here (CORINE Land Cover 2018). The nearest department whose federation tracks its rings on RingFollow is Ain, about 180 km to the south as the crow flies between department centres. Next come Isère (about 265 km) and Haute-Loire (about 330 km).
Game-bird rings: common questions
Who validates a recovery reported in Haute-Saône?
A hunters' federation: the one for the department where the bird was originally released, if it is registered on RingFollow. The Haute-Saône hunters' federation (FDC 70) does not use RingFollow at present, and GIBIS never validates.
Where do I report a pheasant ring found in Haute-Saône?
On bagues.gibis.fr, from a phone: a photo of the ring, the species and the municipality where the bird was taken are enough. No account is needed.
Do I have to give my name to report a ring in Haute-Saône?
No. Name, phone and e-mail are optional; an e-mail address only gets you an acknowledgement. Only the validating federation sees what you leave.
Which neighbouring departments track their rings on RingFollow?
None of its direct neighbours. The nearest registered federation is in Ain, about 180 km away between department centres.
How do I recognise a Gibis ring found in Haute-Saône?
A coloured, numbered leg ring, or a numbered coloured plastic wing tag, with no address. A ring engraved with an address belongs to another scheme: the guide explains where to report it.
Registering a federation
The situation of every federation is on the Federations page. A federation that would like to track its recoveries can write to gibis@gibis.fr.
Few figures for Haute-Saône so far? See what a well-filled department page looks like (example with simulated data).