Conor O'Gorman Posted July 22, 2020 Report Share Posted July 22, 2020 BASC is expecting the retention of an open season for mountain hares this year as the Scottish Government continue to discuss a licensing scheme for their control. The open season for mountain hares is expected to start, as usual, on 1 August in Scotland. BASC Scotland Director, Dr Colin Shedden, said: “It is entirely appropriate for the mountain hare open season to continue until a workable licensing scheme comes into force. The amendment was rushed through without adequate scrutiny, and it will now take time to design a licensing scheme which will allow management to continue in a practicable way. “High density populations of hares are associated with well-managed moorland and, to prevent damage, it is important for land managers to have the ability to control them, just as they need to manage other herbivores such as deer. Like other managed species, hares are an important but often undervalued food resource.” The Scottish Parliament voted to abolish the open season following a late amendment to the Animals and Wildlife (Penalties, Protections and Powers) (Scotland) Bill, tabled in the name of Scottish Green Party MSP, Alison Johnstone. The move attracted criticism from across the chamber, with numerous MSPs accusing Ms Johnstone of avoiding proper parliamentary scrutiny by tabling the amendment during stage 3 – the final stage before a bill becomes law. Dr Shedden said: “We are extremely concerned about the way in which Ms Johnstone avoided scrutiny to appease party-political views. The delay in protecting the mountain hare is a direct consequence of the Green Party’s actions within the chamber.” See: https://basc.org.uk/mountain-hare-open-season-set-to-go-ahead-says-basc/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
washerboy Posted July 22, 2020 Report Share Posted July 22, 2020 Pity we can't run them with dogs anymore. Always a great days sport Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbrowning2 Posted July 22, 2020 Report Share Posted July 22, 2020 Oh that’s a good idea, not, that should makes us even more popular why not show restraint and goodwill and have a voluntary ban until such time as the licensing scheme is up and running? Take the initiative. as it is it will be kill as many as you can quick before we can no longer do so, will make for good PR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisWill184 Posted July 23, 2020 Report Share Posted July 23, 2020 3 hours ago, rbrowning2 said: Oh that’s a good idea, not, that should makes us even more popular why not show restraint and goodwill and have a voluntary ban until such time as the licensing scheme is up and running? Take the initiative. as it is it will be kill as many as you can quick before we can no longer do so, will make for good PR. End of the day, they still need controlling by those that know what they are doing and not just for 'grouse shooting' but for the healthy population of the hares. Should their numbers not still be reduced to reduce incidents of group deaths through disease and parasites? Its a concept many people can't deal with that for the many to survive, some have to be removed. I have been on one of these organised shoots and until they are put in front of you , I don't think you would believe the numbers there are. This ban has been voted on by those who cannot have had enough time to view all of the scientific evidence on hare populations and the overall effect of their localised higher densities on managed moors. They voted emotively on a last minute amendment and I'm not surprised it went through. I didn't even know anything could be amended at stage 3. Very poor. I don't think it matters either way whether we showed restraint as a group or not. If we didn't shoot one hare the antis would still claim they are being shot and the papers would run a story on it. Its the reason why we get the blame every time a bird of prey goes missing or loses their tracker. Any chance to drag us through the mud will be taken, truth or no truth to promote their agenda / make money off of good willed people, and they get away with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scutt Posted July 23, 2020 Report Share Posted July 23, 2020 SHOW restraint and goodwill just like the lead issue sorry but the anti's see it as a weakness and a win for them . they will keep on going at field sports until we show goodwill and ban all field sports ourselves . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbrowning2 Posted July 23, 2020 Report Share Posted July 23, 2020 (edited) 5 hours ago, ChrisWill184 said: End of the day, they still need controlling by those that know what they are doing and not just for 'grouse shooting' but for the healthy population of the hares. Should their numbers not still be reduced to reduce incidents of group deaths through disease and parasites? Its a concept many people can't deal with that for the many to survive, some have to be removed. I have been on one of these organised shoots and until they are put in front of you , I don't think you would believe the numbers there are. This ban has been voted on by those who cannot have had enough time to view all of the scientific evidence on hare populations and the overall effect of their localised higher densities on managed moors. They voted emotively on a last minute amendment and I'm not surprised it went through. I didn't even know anything could be amended at stage 3. Very poor. I don't think it matters either way whether we showed restraint as a group or not. If we didn't shoot one hare the antis would still claim they are being shot and the papers would run a story on it. Its the reason why we get the blame every time a bird of prey goes missing or loses their tracker. Any chance to drag us through the mud will be taken, truth or no truth to promote their agenda / make money off of good willed people, and they get away with it. Chris may sensible what you say, but they would say that is just nature and would be occurring without human intervention anyway, the vote was the vote however arrived at we may not like it but we live in a democracy so we now have to abide by it, I don’t like the idea of a lead shot ban, but do understand that they are trying to take the initiative so why not do the same hear and may be gain some respect and engagement in the licensing system rather than hand an easy win to the likes of wild justice to campaign for even more money to fight us with. Edited July 23, 2020 by rbrowning2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbrowning2 Posted July 23, 2020 Report Share Posted July 23, 2020 2 hours ago, scutt said: SHOW restraint and goodwill just like the lead issue sorry but the anti's see it as a weakness and a win for them . they will keep on going at field sports until we show goodwill and ban all field sports ourselves . We have lost this battle, licensing will happen soon, we have yet to legally lose lead and the fight continues, so not quite the same I don’t think. The voluntary ban of lead shot and single use plastic surly was a very bad idea anyway and yes has shown weakness and significantly reduce any ability to negotiate the scope of any future legal ban if or when in happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conor O'Gorman Posted July 23, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2020 The Scottish Green Party have responded to BASC's expectation for the mountain hare open season to be retained this year until a workable licensing system is in place. Predictably, the response from the Greens is littered with inaccuracies. https://greens.scot/news/shooting-lobby-confirm-mass-killing-of-mountain-hares-will-go-ahead-next-week We have challenged a number of their statements on Facebook and Twitter. To support shooting and conservation in Scotland share the BASC Scotland updates: https://twitter.com/BASCScotland https://www.facebook.com/BASCScotland See also this new BASC blog "How not to make law – insights from the Scottish Green Party" https://basc.org.uk/how-not-to-make-law-insights-from-the-scottish-green-party/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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