Moves to repeal the ban on hunting with dogs in England and Wales may not happen in 2013, a minister has said.
Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Environment Secretary Owen Paterson appeared to rule out a vote next year.
But he insisted it was still the government's intention to give MPs a free vote on lifting the ban.
More than 300 hunts are to hold Boxing Day meets, a week after the RSPCA's first successful prosecution of a hunt for operating illegally.
It has been illegal to use dogs to hunt animals in England and Wales since 2005, and in Scotland since 2002.
Mr Paterson told the Telegraph: "At the moment, it would not be my proposal to bring forward a vote we were going to lose."
But Mr Paterson insisted it was still the government's intention to have a free vote "but we need to choose an appropriate moment".
Ban scrappedThe RSPCA prosecution of two members of the Heythrop Hunt has led to claims illegal hunting is still going on.
The hunt's Richard Sumner and Julian Barnfield admitted unlawfully hunting with dogs on four separate occasions.
Heythrop Hunt Ltd also pleaded guilty at Oxford Magistrates Court on 17 December to four counts of the same charge.
Sumner was ordered to pay a £1,800 fine and £2,500 in court costs, Barnfield was ordered to pay a £1,000 fine £2,000 in costs and Heythrop Hunt Ltd was fined £4,000 and £15,000 in costs.
Hunts are no longer allowed to use dogs to chase down foxes, but are instead supposed to use techniques such as drag hunting, where dogs set off on the trail of a scent laid about 20 minutes in advance by a runner or rider dragging a lure.
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BBC News spends a day with a hunt in the Foret d'Eu in France
Animal welfare charities, including the RSPCA and the League Against Cruel Sports, have commissioned research which suggests that only 15% of people want to scrap the ban.
The Countryside Alliance says it has seen no slackening of support for hunting in recent years, but on the busiest day of the hunting season, members of hunts across the country will be out in force in a continued show of support for their sport.
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