Defra has launched a consultation on its proposals to change the seasons of a number of birds currently on the quarry list or general licence. Whilst some of the proposed changes are based in sound science and are perfectly justifiable, Defra has also included proposals which directly contradict Natural England advice and the available scientific evidence and one that is based on a clear and gross misinterpretation of data.

The variance in approach and recommendations from the government and the three statutory bodies, Natural Resources Wales (NRW), NatureScot (NS) and Natural England (NE), is stark.

NatureScot has taken a pragmatic approach that relies on robust scientific evidence and has not made unnecessary or unjustifiable recommendations. NatureScot has recommended a justifiable extension of the close season for woodcock to 14 November, in keeping with known migration patterns. In England and Wales, however, the recommendation is for the close season to be extended to 30 November, which goes beyond the mainstream understanding of migration patterns, which suggests that almost all migrants arrive before mid-November.

These questionable proposals are paltry in comparison to the UK government’s proposal to end all pintail shooting in England, and the Welsh government’s proposal to end all snipe shooting in Wales.

For pintail in England, Natural England recommended to the UK government that the current shooting season should be maintained unchanged based on its scientific assessment on the negligible impact of shooting upon any pintail populations. However, in an astonishing move, the UK government has brazenly dismissed this recommendation out of hand. Instead the UK government “recognises an alternative view” that pintail should be removed from the quarry list in England in order to protect the miniscule anomalous breeding population of pintail in England (numbering fewer than 20 individual birds scattered across the nation). It should be noted that pintail has always been considered to be a highly migratory species with tens of thousands of individuals overwintering in the UK and breeding in mainland Europe and western Russia.

The incredulity continues with the Welsh government’s proposals to end all snipe shooting in Wales. The key reasoning for the blanket ban is to protect the 1,100 pairs of breeding snipe in Wales. However, when the full rationale document is examined, it is clear that there is a serious misconception of the overall population of snipe in Wales. The official document states that “c. 2,000” snipe overwinter in Wales - a ludicrous fallacy.

Tim Bonner, Chief Executive of the Countryside Alliance, said:

“I have seen a thousand snipe in a single field in Wales, a statistical error of this magnitude in an official assessment by the government is very concerning indeed.”

It appears that the Welsh government has conflated the British Trust for Ornithology’s annual count across a selection of wetland sites with the total population of snipe in all of Wales. Just as for woodcock, almost all snipe shot in Wales are from the stable and large migratory population, not from the smaller resident population.

This begs the question - is this government committed to evidence-based policy making, or is it driven by an unscientific, anti-shooting agenda? In light of these proposals and last week’s bombshell that the government is to consider licensing all gamebird release as part of its new Land Use Framework, doubt (or worse) is cast on the words of then-Labour shadow Defra secretary, Steve Reed MP, before the last general election: “Labour supports the rights for shooting as long as it’s done within the law. Why wouldn’t we?” 

The question we are now asking in face of this post-election U-turn is: “why don’t you?”

The proposed creation of a close season for woodpigeon is a positive move, which the Alliance welcomes. Far from limiting the control of woodpigeon, it will mean that woodpigeon can be shot for meat and recreation in their open season as well as crop protection, with no plans to remove them from the general licence for prevention of serious damage to crops in the close season.

The Countryside Alliance will be responding to the consultation and members and supporters are encouraged to do likewise. Subscribers to the Campaign for Shooting newsletter will be notified when our response has been published, as this may be of help when submitting responses, which can be done either using the online portal or by email. The consultation will close at midnight on 17 May 2026.  

A summary of the changes can be seen in this table: