Wales hare close season would run from February to September

The proposed season would run from 1 February to 30 September each year, during which it would be illegal to injure, take or kill a hare anywhere in Wales. The dates were confirmed on 11 September as the Welsh Government announced the consultation, which runs from 21 September to 19 October and would leave England as the only part of Britain where hares can be shot all year.

What dates does the Welsh Government propose for hares?

The close season would cover the main breeding period, when females may be pregnant, nursing dependent young or supporting newly independent leverets. The Welsh Government says the dates are consistent with the statutory close season that has operated in Scotland since 2012.

Llyr Gruffydd MS, Cabinet Minister for Rural Resilience and Sustainability, first announced the White Paper on a Wild Animal Welfare (Wales) Bill in a written statement on 10 September, describing the absence of a close season as an anomaly. “Unlike other game species, hare have no statutory close season and may currently be killed, injured or taken throughout the year, including during their breeding season,” he wrote. The dates followed in a press release the next day.

There is still no detail on exemptions for crop protection, which will be the first question for farmers and shoots when the White Paper appears. The consultation documents will be published on the Wild Animal Welfare White Paper page on the Welsh Government website when the consultation opens.

Hare law in England, Wales and Scotland today

In England and Wales hares can be shot year round. The only breeding-season protections are the Hares Preservation Act 1892, which bans the sale of hares and leverets from 1 March to 31 July, and the Ground Game Act 1880, which restricts occupiers from shooting ground game on moorland and unenclosed land between 1 April and 31 August. Scotland went further under the Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2011, which gave brown hares a close season from 1 February to 30 September and mountain hares one from 1 March to 31 July.

A Welsh close season on the proposed dates would therefore match Scotland’s brown hare season exactly. The seal proposal, a new offence of intentionally or recklessly disturbing seals, sits alongside it in the same Bill.

What has the minister said about the proposals?

Announcing the consultation, Mr Gruffydd said: “I want people across Wales to have their say on these proposals. We’ve listened to concerns about the harm disturbance can cause to seals and their pups, and about the gap in protection for hares during their breeding season.” He added that he was “keen to hear a wide range of views before we decide how best to move forward”.

Deputy Chief Constable Nigel Harrison of North Wales Police, the national policing lead for wildlife and rural crime, backed the consultation. He said a specific seal disturbance offence would give officers “a clearer and more effective way to protect these animals and respond when harm is caused”.

The Welsh Government said farmers, land managers, fishers, conservation groups and members of the public were all encouraged to respond, and that the proposals form part of a wider effort to modernise and simplify wildlife law in Wales. Shooting Times has asked the shooting organisations for their response.

What happens next

The consultation opens on 21 September 2026 and closes at midnight on 19 October 2026. Shoots, farmers and land managers in Wales who shoot hares for sport or crop protection should read the White Paper when it is published and respond through the Welsh Government consultation page, with the crop-protection question the one to press. The views received will inform the Bill and any subsequent legislation.