Calls for hare close season grow as Bill stalls in Lords 

The campaign for a legally enforced close season for brown hare shooting during breeding season has gained renewed momentum, with Defra ministers supporting the ambition to introduce a close season for hares in England. 

Currently, hares are the only game species in England and Wales that can be shot all year round, unlike Scotland which introduced protections more than a decade ago. Most shoots take place in February and March when females are already pregnant or nursing dependent young (leverets), leading animal welfare groups to argue this results in orphaned leverets facing starvation. Hare numbers are in drastic decline in the UK; from as many as four million brown hares in 1880 to fewer than 600,000 today, yet 300,000 or more hares are shot each year on farmland and shooting estates. 

The shooting community has responded with voluntary codes of practice, with BASC recommending that from 1 March to 31 July hares should only be culled if they are actually causing serious crop damage. However, campaigners argue this voluntary approach has proven insufficient. 

The Hares (Close Season) Bill was introduced by Conservative peer Baroness Helic in November 2024 but as yet there is no date for its second reading.