The impact of field sports on Brown Hare (Lepus europaeus) populations.

Abstract

This study assesses the impact on hare populations of three widely practised field sports and was prompted by concern about the effect of hunting on an apparently declining population. Spotlight counts estimate hare population size on farmland used for driven hare shooting, coursing and beagling. The proportion killed and population changes were adopted as measures of hunting impact.
Shooting and coursing were conducted on areas supporting high hare densities while low density areas were used for beagling. Shooting removed up to 70% of the population. A reduction of less than 7% resulted from coursing and beagling, despite the lower density associated with the latter.
The high hare densities of shooting and coursing areas were associated with mainly arable land on which foxes were controlled as part of normal shoot management. Productivity is likely to be high in these circumstances and high mortality appears to be sustainable.