South Devon Hunt, Broadhempston, 11.01.23

Yesterday we paid a visit to the South Devon Hunt, who met on the edge of Broadhempston on land belonging to the owner of Fishacre Barton.

We arrived late due to some vehicle issues and found the hunt in the valley between Hollycombe Green and Bow Cross, not far from the meet. From there they headed west towards Kingston Gate Cross and then into the fields between Combe and Fursdon.

Several dense bits of covert were drawn under the watchful eyes of our three foot teams. Clearly the South Devon Hunt have also given up any pretence of trail-hunting.

Drawing blank in this area and amidst strong winds and torrential rain the hunt then headed further west towards Abham Copse and Clay Copse. Hounds started speaking and a fox broke immediately in front of sabs who were able to cover the scent and ensure this one got away. Hounds squeezed themselves through large patches of dense brambles lining the slopes of Clay Copse, with riders stationed on point on the road and in surrounding fields.

Eventually huntsman Guy Landau gave up on finding the fox in this area and headed slowly for home.

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Stevenstone Hunt, Little Derworthy, 07.01.23

This Saturday we sabbed the Stevenstone Hunt in former Tetcott Hunt country again.

They unboxed at Five Lanes Cross and then went to Little Derworthy to eat sausage rolls. The quadbike with the registration TRAIL was spotted a few times throughout the day, usually on the road miles from the hunt who were seen pursuing multiple foxes (and some deer) during the day.

They started off in the moor near Barton Cottage which terrierman Alex Wass attempted to evict sabs from. They looped around Broomball Wood and out into Gardenclose Wood. Hounds got onto a fox here, which was seen just a few feet in front of the lead hound. The fox was running strong and with help from sabs rating and calling hounds we are sure this one got away, as it was seen heading north while the hunt went back west towards Sanders Cross.

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Eggesford Hunt, New Years Meet, 01.01.23

On Monday Eggesford Hunt killed a beautiful young vixen at their New Year’s meet hosted by the Waie Inn, Zeal Monachorum.

Please let the pub know how you feel about their support for illegal bloodsports. Don’t let them tell you they don’t know about the illegal hunting. The hunt were openly boasting about it over drinks at the pub at the end of the day.

As you’ll see from the video below, police were in attendance at this meet, although they didn’t stick around to watch any of the actual hunting. They continue to turn a blind eye to wildlife crime in our countryside and this is the direct result of that.

The day was spent doing numerous loops between Zeal Monachorum and Down St Mary. Foxes were hunted right from the off. Hounds were cast into thick hedges, dense bramble patches and coverts where foxes typically lie up. Our three foot teams gave their all to defend every fox they saw, across boggy fields and difficult terrain, and contending with the usual threats from the quadbike riders.

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Eggesford Hunt, Boxing Day, Okehampton, 26.12.22

On Boxing Day we sabbed the Eggesford Hunt’s traditional meet on the edge of Okehampton.

One of their quadbike riders ran down a sab that day, injuring his leg:

In response to the video showing the incident, the British Hound Sports Association (a PR rebrand of the Hunting Office following the smokescreen webinar scandal) put out a hurried statement claiming the hunt were unaware of the incident until we publicised it on social media (a blatant lie) and “investigations are now underway. We are, however, aware that false allegations have been made in the past in an attempt to slur the reputation of the hunt and hunting.”

In other words, when you can’t defend it, deny it ever happened and point the finger at the victim. Gaslighting at its finest.

It’s worth just taking stock for a minute. Eggesford are the hunt:

whose terriermen were convicted for attempting to dig a fox out of a badger sett (1) after one of them already had a caution for an identical offence a few years earlier (2)
whose huntsman attacked one of our sabs, resulting in her being airlifted to hospital, an incident for which he was convicted (3) and only acquitted on appeal after the judge said he had been charged with the wrong offence
whose supporters were forced to pay to replace our Land Rover tyres after they were slashed during a hunt meet (4)
and who welcome convicted sex offender Jason Kiddle within their ranks, even after he himself was filmed admitting that the hunt chase and kill foxes and dig-out badgers (5).

Add to that the many documented kills and dig-outs you can see in the videos we have shared on our page in recent years.

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Stevenstone Hunt, Winterlands Farm, Holsworthy, 24.12.22

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.

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South Tetcott Hunt, Northlew, 10.12.22

Yesterday’s sub-zero snowy weather didn’t deter Devon’s hunts from going out to kill wildlife. Neither did it deter us. South Tetcott hunt at least made the sensible decision to leave their horses at home, and instead only arrived at their meet on the edge of Northlew with hounds in the back of a trailer.

Keeping up with them on foot was pretty straightforward and not much ground was covered: from Bogtown Cross to Wigdon Mill, via a kale field into the valley south of there and then back up to Wadland Barton, where some hounds broke away and headed south towards Lower Melbury and Venn Barton, where they were eventually boxed up.

Our three foot teams kept eyes on hounds and huntsman throughout. Whenever the snow died down we also had the drone up above them, which resulted in huntsman Tim Ingram instructing his followers to try and shoot it down (they didn’t).

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South Tetcott Hunt, Kempthorne, 26.11.22

South Tetcott Hunt 26.11.22 This Saturday we had a wet and windy day sabbing the South Tetcott Hunt at Kempthorne near their kennels at Tetcott.

It was our first encounter with their new huntsman, Tim Ingram, who was recently given a conditional caution and ordered to pay almost £1000 to Mendip Hunt Sabs after causing criminal damage to their vehicle while he was still whipper-in with the Mendip Farmers’ Hunt.

Ingram started off on foot, sending hounds through Moortown Plantation. While he gave us an explanation of the genealogy of his hounds, they picked up on a scent and went into cry, running loops around the plantation. However, sabs were close by and able to rate hounds when necessary. This set a pattern for the day where the huntsman was completely happy to blatantly hunt in front of sabs.

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Silverton Hunt, Bickleigh, 23.11.22

A hilly and wet day with the Silverton today.

They met at Perry Lodge, north of the Fursdon Estate near Bickleigh, and spent quite a while at the meet before setting off. In part this was to allow the makeshift “trail-layer” to film himself laying his smokescreen across a field out the back of the meet. When hounds came through that exact field a few minutes later, they completely ignored the “trail”. When we enquired what the scent was made of we were told it was a trade secret. Clearly whatever had been put on the end of the rag (if anything at all) was not something the hounds were used to paying any attention to!

Nobody’s fooled by the trail-laying facade, including the hunt follower whose response to our allegations of illegal hunting was “well foxes have to be controlled somehow”.

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Cottesmore Hunt, Knossington, Rutland, 19.11.22

Yesterday saw us take a trip “up north” to join a mass sab of the Cottesmore Hunt in solidarity with Northants Hunt Saboteurs and Hertfordshire Hunt Saboteurs, whose sab was deliberately run down by a hunt vehicle a few weeks ago. Berkshire Hunt Sabs rode along with us for the day (pleasure sabbing with you guys!).

We joined approx 90 other sabs, flooding the area around the meet at Knossington in Rutland, and kept eyes on the hunt from the roads, fields and sky all day long. Wherever they turned, a group of sabs was waiting for them. In the words of one hunt rider, “they’re bloody everywhere”. Several foxes were seen to safety, including in the vicinity of an SSSI at Forestry-owned Owston Woods. Yes, hunts are banned from Forestry England land, but that doesn’t seem to stop them.

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Eggesford Hunt, Hatherleigh Carnival, 12.11.22

This Saturday we were joined by friends from Plymouth & West Devon Hunt Sabs to sab the Eggesford at their “traditional” meet at the Hatherleigh Carnival.

The carnival secretary spoke to sabs in the town centre, insisting that hunting isn’t banned and that “the Government” had given them (the Eggesford) permission to hunt. A baffling lie to justify having illegal bloodsports kick off the Carnival. Stay tuned for footage of our impromptu interview with her.

The hunt began on Hatherleigh Moor, just like last year, dragging a deer hide around for all of 5 minutes until they got far enough away from the village to give up even that flimsy pretence.

They couldn’t help themselves from doing their usual nonsense though, with quad bikes driving at sabs, ramming our vehicles and smashing the wing mirror of our Land Rover. One young quad bike rider had a collie tied onto the back of his quad with a piece of string. Considering the speed he was zooming up and down the A-roads, ramming our vehicles, overtaking and braking directly in front of us to try and stage an accident, and swerving deliberately into sabs, it’s a miracle the poor dog survived the day.

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