Today we sabbed the Christmas Eve meet of the Stevenstone Hunt in former Tetcott Hunt country, at the aptly named Winterlands Farm on the edge of Holsworthy.
The day was hosted by landowner and former Tetcott Master Diana Stevens. She had woven festive tinsel into her horse’s mane but for a major Christmas meet the turnout was poor, with just a handful of riders and the same number of car support.
The hunt took off into fields to the south and hounds immediately went into cry. They were in cry on and off for most of the day but our foot teams stuck with them throughout, stopping hounds whenever they found scent, and we kept an eye via the drone as well.
They hunted the River Deer valley between Westdown Bungalow and France and carried on to the south from there. A fox was hunted to ground in a badger sett and sabs caught up with hounds as they were marking the sett. A few drops of blood were found at the entrance to the sett, so it’s possible the fox was bitten by hounds as it entered the sett. With riders watching from a hill and terriermen Alex Wass and Mickey Hibberd hovering, we decided to leave some sabs at the sett to prevent a digout.
The hunt drew the scrub on Affaland Moor and carried on south through Affaland wood where hounds spent some time in cry. Sabs kept lifting hounds’ heads, much to huntsman Archie Clifton-Brown’s frustration. Another fox was seen and their scent covered with citronella, and hounds also flushed lots of deer from the woods.
After several hours of trying and failing to get away from sabs, the hunt slowly headed back to the meet and packed up.
We’ve been busy in recent weeks but are running a bit behind with hit reports, so look out for a few late reports to come over the next week.
We wish all our supporters a peaceful, happy and hunt-free Christmas x
Gallery
