Hare shoots are often organised in areas where hare numbers are high and crop damage is a serious risk. So far as is reasonable those who shoot should always seek to avoid or minimise disturbance to local residents as well as other countryside users. Those controlling hares with a rifle must ensure that their firearm certificate is appropriately conditioned for such use. Provision for retrieving shot hares, such as using properly handled retrieving dogs, is essential. Advice on suitable guns and ammunition is available from BASC. Those shooting hares must always use an appropriate gun/ammunition combination capable of achieving an instant kill. Those shooting hares must be competent shots and able to judge the circumstances in which a shot may be safely and humanely taken, as well as the range appropriate to their skill with the gun and ammunition employed. For further guidance see the BASC Lamping Code of Practice. This may involve the use of a rifle at dawn or dusk, and even during the night using bright lamps. Control later in the spring should be avoided if possible.Ĭonsideration should be given to the most effective and selective method of control. These months avoid the main breeding season and thereby reduce any risk to dependent young. This advice is available from the GWCT.Ĭontrol to prevent damage to crops should be carried out in the winter months of January and February when crops and vegetation are low and hares are easily visible. The Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) and the Mammal Society have produced practical advice for farmers and landowners for improving habitats to increase hare numbers where they are low. Land managers and shoots can make important contributions to improving the habitats for hares. In some regions (the pastoral landscapes of western England, Wales and southern Scotland) the prevailing habitats are not suited to maintaining hare populations, so some areas have few or no hares. Where habitat is good and foxes are well controlled, hares can multiply very quickly and become locally abundant to the point of being a pest. The major determinants of hare numbers have been shown to be the prevailing farming practices, cropping and predation. The brown hare is subject to a species conservation plan further advice is available from the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT).įrom game bag records and other surveys, we believe the number of hares has generally remained stable since the 1990s, probably thanks to agri-environment schemes. Like so much farmland wildlife, hares have suffered from agricultural intensification and have declined in Britain and the rest of Europe during the 20th century. This prohibition removes any commercial incentive to kill hares during the main breeding season but does not apply to imported hares. The Hares Preservation Act 1892 makes it an offence to sell, or expose for sale, any hare or leveret between the months of March and July inclusive. This Act prohibits the shooting of game on Sundays and Christmas Day. This means that every occupier (farming tenant) retains the right to kill hares whether or not they hold shooting rights and therefore obviates claims for compensation for damage caused by hares.īrown hares are defined as ‘game’ by the Game Act 1831. Subject to certain conditions, the occupier may also authorise others to control hares, but only he and one other authorised person may use a firearm. This Act gives a statutory right to every occupier of land to take or kill ground game this right may be shared with other persons, such as the holder of the sporting rights. Any killing or control must always be carried out in strict accordance with the law.īrown hares are defined as ‘ground game’ by the Ground Game Act 1880. This code specifies that any killing or control must be undertaken by competent people who are aware of their responsibilities as game shooters or as pest controllers. Voluntary measures supplement the law to cover the differing and changing needs that arise. The law allows them to be killed both as game and to prevent serious damage to farm crops. In some parts of their range they are scarce, but in others they can be extremely abundant and need control. Hares are an important and much-valued component of our natural heritage and biodiversity. It sets out both statutory and voluntary measures to address a wide range of circumstances and needs. The code has been drawn up by representatives of farming, game and wildlife, and shooting interests. This code sets out the law and best practice for ensuring an appropriate and workable balance between the welfare and conservation of brown hares Lepus europaeus, their status as game, and their ability to cause serious damage to crops. Biosecurity: shooting and the countryside.
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