closed season for Hares in Scotland

[shotgun sam]

There is now a closed season for Hares in Scotland

Sam

http://www.snh.gov.uk/protecting-scotla ... licensing/

[Ovenpaa]

Odd the Mountain hare - 1st March to 31st July and the Brown hare - 1st February to 30th September. Are the Brownies less common?

[M99]

Odd the Mountain hare - 1st March to 31st July and the Brown hare - 1st February to 30th September. Are the Brownies less common?

No, they just have a different breeding cycle, starting earlier than the Blue's and running through for longer (often a second brood)

Mike

[Scotsgun]

Its a move in the right direction. An areas' hare population can be decimated if shot in Feb/March.

I was once lucky enough to see about a dozen dancing in a field- like a great big cartwheel.

[Ovenpaa]

Although I have lived in the countryside on and off for most of my life I still cannot get my head around the numbers of Hares shot. I was chatting to a builder a while ago who had been Hare shooting the previous weekend. When I asked him how he got on he told me they had shot 80 Hares over two days so a good result.

I have not seen 80 Hares in my life, maybe it is because I live in Bedfordshire. I can still recall the last few occasions I have seen Hares, and I always stop and enjoy the moment so I find the thought of shooting 80 of them over a couple of days distasteful. However at the other side of the argument I am sure there is a valid reason for the culling of Hares in such numbers. I just hope it is not just for the sport...

I remember a few years ago the after dinner speaker was an internationally renown wildlife photographer (I forget his name!) His talk and accompanying photographs were very good and one picture made us all laugh, it was the white tail and back end of a Mountain Hare up on the Kinder Plateau. He had spent many years trying to get a picture of one and this was the best he could do, he was so proud of it the picture was in his latest book. Then recently I read about a couple of shooters in the same general area who were shooting Mountain Hares at 600+ yards (From memory) at the request of the land owner due to the damage the Hares were doing on the Moors. They were knocking down a reasonable number on every visit.

Two extremes of life...

[Scotsgun]

I can't see a justification for shooting such numbers of hares and wouldn't be tolerated around here.

Hares can be guilty of stripping the bark from trees and are therefore culled in managed forests. However i have refused leases when instructed to hammer any and all hares i come across.

Hares create negligable damage in comparison to rabbits. They don't burrow, they don't form large groups and are definately in decline in large areas.

[Polchraine]

One of the places I fish has a hare population nad they are not too worried by humans being around. In general they are left alone except on for one or twice a year when the Ghillie of farmer takes one for a special occasion.

One day I was treated to a wonderful demonstration of how to catch a hare ... an older relative of the farmer, literally crept up behind the hare, then, in one smooth action, threw his Barbour over the hare whilst propelling himself forward to land on top. A brief struggle, he got up and put the coat on. No hare to be seen! Not only had he broken the neck, but secreted it in the inside game pocket! It was incredible to watch.

[Ovenpaa]

A couple of years ago, hot summers afternoon we were out with the dogs walking up a step track by some woods. We stopped to let the dogs catch up and as I looked down the hill a Hare popped out of the hedge a few feet below us and promptly lay down also looking down the track as if he was also enjoying the view. I have not seen one since.

[whoowhoop]

Where I used to be, before I moved here, we held annual hare shoots, normally over 2 days.
300 was the average tally. Add to this that we shot every hare that could be seen from the roadside whenever possible due to the pikies coursing, that was a lot of hares. 20 odd years later and they still shoot the same number. They were big hares there, known as K...s W....n Donkeys.
They are very visible now, until the crops get up a bit.
They are a pain if you grow root vegetables or if you run a lot of sheep. They used to reckon 3 hares ate as much as a ewe, but I wouldn't know that.
I've coursed them, hunted them with beagles and bassets, shot them, snared them, my son had one for a pet. I even had a rottweiler bitch who caught one, a big leveret on stubble - no law and over 40 seconds on the run before she picked it ( she could catch the odd fox too.)
I still get a lot of fun watching them at this time of year.
Surprising how often they come in to the squeak, as well.
Ovenpaa, we get them across the road in the Millenium Park - they've always been there.

[Polchraine]

Just spent two days trying to fish in horrendous wind up here in Scotland and I have never seen as many hares out as I have this week.