The brown hare (or European hare) is native to Europe and Western Asia and commonly found in the Scottish Borders. The hare lives mainly in open fields and thrives on arable farmland feeding on grass, weeds and crops in the summer, and buds, twigs and bark in winter. Larger than a rabbit the hare has elongated ears with a predominantly brown body, paler underside, and black markings on its ears and tail.
Hare shooting in the Scottish Borders is less widespread than rabbit shooting and is prohibited on many shoots. Often found as part of a mixed species walked up day or occaisionally driven if numbers get too large from 1 October to 31 January.
The blue hare (or mountain hare) is smaller than the European hare and is largely adapted to mountainous habitats and is commonly found in northern Scotland, with its brown summer coat turning to white in the winter. Its diet is similar to the brown hare preferring grass, but grazing on twigs and bark when there is snow on the ground.
Numbers of hare vary depending on the success of the beeding season and they are most commonly shot by a team of guns on a walked up day from 1 August to 31 December. Blue hare are not resident in the Scottish Borders, but if you would like to shoot them as part of a mixed shooting day we would be happy to arrange this for you, just give us a call.
Exclusively Scottish can tailor make shooting packages for novices, single guns, couples, small groups and teams, or even customise an entire shooting based holiday for you. So if you're visiting the Scottish Borders for a holiday get in touch and we'd be happy to help!