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Hunting Act 2004 (c. 37)
Schedule 1—Exempt Hunting
- (a) which belongs to the hunter, or
- (b) which he has been given permission to use for the purpose by the occupier or, in the case of unoccupied land, by a person to whom it belongs.
Rabbits
4 The hunting of rabbits is exempt if it takes place on land—
- (a) which belongs to the hunter, or
- (b) which he has been given permission to use for the purpose by the occupier or, in the case of unoccupied land, by a person to whom it belongs.
Retrieval of hares
5 The hunting of a hare which has been shot is exempt if it takes place on land—
- (a) which belongs to the hunter, or
- (b) which he has been given permission to use for the purpose of hunting hares by the occupier or, in the case of unoccupied land, by a person to whom it belongs.
6 Flushing a wild mammal from cover is exempt hunting if undertaken—
- (a) for the purpose of enabling a bird of prey to hunt the wild mammal, and
- (b) on land which belongs to the hunter or which he has been given permission to use for the purpose by the occupier or, in the case of unoccupied land, by a person to whom it belongs.
Recapture of wild mammal
7 (1) The hunting of a wild mammal which has escaped or been released from captivity or confinement is exempt if the conditions in this paragraph are satisfied.
(2) The first condition is that the hunting takes place—
- (a) on land which belongs to the hunter,
- (b) on land which he has been given permission to use for the purpose by the occupier or, in the case of unoccupied land, by a person to whom it belongs, or
- (c) with the authority of a constable.
(3) The second condition is that—
- (a) reasonable steps are taken for the purpose of ensuring that as soon as possible after being found the wild mammal is recaptured or shot dead by a competent person, and
- (b) in particular, each dog used in the hunt is kept under sufficiently close control to ensure that it does not prevent or obstruct achievement of the objective in paragraph (a).
(4) The third condition is that the wild mammal—
- (a) was not released for the purpose of being hunted, and
