Shooting hares to be banned for 9 months of the year.

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12gsnapcaps

12gsnapcaps

Well-Known Member
Anyone else aware of this?

An 'article' from our favourite leftist gutter rag AKA The Guardian.

www.theguardian.com

Shooting hares in England to be banned for most of the year

Exclusive: Ministers also expected to announce trail-hunting ban in sweeping changes to animal welfare law
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com

Some WILD quotes, with no sources given:

"At the moment, it is legal to shoot the animals during their breeding season, with pregnant hares left to bleed out"

"At present, hares are shot for fun"
 
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I don't shoot hares myself, never had a farmer ask me to and don't like the taste of the meat, but I know many people that do for rural management and for food.

Has this 9 month closed season had proper evidence lead consideration and consultation?

If there is proper peer reviewed evidence that Hare numbers are in danger, then I ofcourse have no issue with the ban/closed-season and i'm sure most people on this forum and in the shooting community would agree with me, as our number one priority is conservation;

BUT It smacks of an arbitrary 'tack on' by a Labour government - wilfully ignorant to their rural communities - to their new bill prohibiting people on horses smelling things.

Additionally concerned with the wild claims the particular reporter/writer makes. Thankful I left the Journalism field 13 years ago.
 
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The data behind this is shockingly bad

The 'hares are down 80%' thing comes from one study in 1995! the study is nearly old enough to have grandkids by now
It compares a highpoint of the entire 18th century with a single estimate from 1993



I remember 1993 hares were rare down south and people talked about them like the were extinct. I rarely saw them when I went (bird) shooting and if you saw lagomorphs they were rabbits

I still visit some of the same sites now and hares outnumber rabbits manyfold

The national game bag numbers show a fairly stable or growing population but again are now 15 years out of date

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(The decline in the early 60s reflects the bad myxie outbreak meaning rabbits were almost wiped out and hares took over)


To be fair I have no objections to a close season on welfare of newborns but the justification is not there otherwise.
 
Hares can cause huge damage to both young planted trees and commercial crops, especially row cropped vegetables. They are also very good eating.

Hare coursing is a challenge in some areas. There is plenty of existing legislation to prosecute illegal coursing, starting with basic poaching, then hunting with dogs, and thats before you start looking at the actual individuals and what else they are up to.

my Brother in laws sister in a sgt in Hampshire Police Force, involved in rural policing. Her biggest challenge is actually having police to deal with incidents. When she started with the force there were 8,000 police in service, there are now 3,000. She simply does not have enough police to respond ti incidents as she has not a way to make them be in three places at once.
 
The data is made up to suit the agenda; the agenda is to stop any rural pursuits that may cause upset to those unfortunate enough to live in cities and eat lentils every day.

I counted 106 hares on one field a week or so ago, the whole field looked like a decorated Christmas tree through the thermal
 
Bo Diddley said:
The data is made up to suit the agenda; the agenda is to stop any rural pursuits that may cause upset to those unfortunate enough to live in cities and eat lentils every day.

I counted 106 hares on one field a week or so ago, the whole field looked like a decorated Christmas tree through the thermal
Click to expand...
Yep me too bloody things are a pain m the arse
 
I'm not sure this will do much to increase the numbers down here. I don't know of anyone who will shoot them and I'm not aware of any coursing.

There are some about and we get the odd one on our land. However their habitat is being reduced each year - field margins are disappearing, old pasture being ploughed for cereals and ever more industrialised silaging. I also often come across dead half eaten hares so there're heavily predated.
 
Is there ever any good news from this government? They do seem to make their proposed policies feel personal to the groups affected.

I dont shoot hares myself but there are bloody loads on our shoot. Im told they make a squeeling sound when shot which has put a mate of mine off shooting them.
 
Whilst I'm not opposed to the proposal, I think the reasoning is the real nonsense - less to do with welfare & more about trying to give Labour voters something to smile about. It's all about trying to improve the mood amongst a failing party.
 
As bizarre a proposal as I would expect from the current Government. Labour has long been dominated by an urban elite. Incredibly out of touch- hares are in every field I get on at night foxing etc. Their population has increased greatly in recent years.
 
Think you'll find that hares will breed all year around. What's next, a closed season for muntjack to protect the young?
More fairy tale/ Walt Disney influence than reality but hey, when ever did truth get in the way of a politician!
And why is this in bold print?
 
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