Eggesford Hunt, Opening Meet, Chulmleigh Beacon, 01.11.25

Eggesford’s opening meet was another roadside meet at Chulmleigh Beacon. Riding helmet tucked under his arm, Jason showed everyone his freshly-polished head while giving his annual speech to mark the start of the main hunting season.

As the hunt set off, terrierboy Tom Bounsall reversed his quad at speed straight at one of our sabs on the road, pinning her against a parked car and narrowly avoiding seriously injuring her.

Just as he did during the cubbing season in this area, Jason started the day by entering hounds into a field of beets just off Parsonage Cross. Unsurprisingly, a fox was flushed within minutes. The fox ran out across the road and back again, followed closely by the pack who by now were in full cry and being hunted-on by Jason. Sabs stopped some of the hounds on the road but the bulk of the pack were running at speed towards Parsonage Copse, where the fox eventually went to ground at a badger sett. Our presence ensured this fox was not dug out. As sabs were rating hounds off the badger sett, a frustrated Jason jumped off his horse and began filming sabs on his phone, accusing them of interfering with his hounds… while he was continuing to allow the hounds to interfere with the badger sett!

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Stevenstone Hunt, Five Lane End, 25.10.25

Eggesford’s Jason Marles was busy polishing his head for opening meet, so we decided to sab the Stevenstone at Five Lane End in Little Torrington.

When we arrived we heard hounds in cry in Langtree Common and quickly found them marking a fox to ground, with hunt support lined up along the road eager to see them dig it out and kill it. However with sabs guarding the mark the huntsman gathered his pack and headed west to Watertown through the almost impenetrable gorse and conifer plantation along the valley.

Hounds went into cry again in the elephant grass near Langtree Moor but sabs were able to rate them off the line and a fox was seen running safely south. The hounds continued west into more elephant grass, which is so incredibly dense they mostly just scattered and got lost, occasionally whelping when they were slashed by the surprisingly vicious grass. The cohesion of the pack was not helped by the huntsman, who can’t decide if he wants to call the hounds back or hunt them on, so just alternates between the two while making irate Welsh noises. The hounds seem to have learned to ignore him.

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Eggesford Hunt, Puddington, 20.10.25

On Monday Eggesford met at Smith’s Farm on the edge of Puddington. Accompanied by a pack of terriermen, consisting of convicted badger digger Seward Folland, Richard Elliott, Jake Crabb and Tom Bounsall, they spent most of the morning south of the village, between Brindifield Plantation, Comins’ Copse and Woolsery Mill.

We caught up with them here as they headed back north and into the fields north of the meet. The aforementioned terriermen stationed themselves at Hence Ford, holding whips and making noise to push back any foxes being driven their way. The hunt eventually left this area and Jason put hounds in at Washford Moor Linhay for the last half hour. Gates aren’t relevant in Jason’s world, so he encouraged the hounds into the field via a gap in the hedge and himself tried to force his horse to climb the 8 foot bank to access the field via the same gap from the road. His horse was having none of it though.

Heavy rain put an end to the day earlier than expected. The hunt hung around the meet for half an hour blowing for lost hounds but eventually gave up and drove back to the kennels, probably still missing some of their hounds.

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Eggesford Hunt, Ashreigney, 18.10.25

We sabbed Eggesford Hunt twice in the last week. On Saturday they met at South Farm on the edge of Ashreigney, where they sadly killed a sheep.

The hunt started in the valley west of the village. Hounds usually get onto foxes pretty easily in this valley and unsurprisingly they spent a lot of time in cry here. Foot teams kept tabs on the hounds while a beautiful bushy-tailed fox ran out of the valley and right past our vehicle. We covered the fox’s scent and prevented hounds from following. Sometimes it feels as though the foxes know who their allies are!

The hunt then crossed the road back onto the side of the meet and into the valley between Densham Plantation and the edge of the village. Hounds started chasing a sheep who had become separated from the rest of the flock. The hunt did nothing to intervene and when foot sabs caught up to the flock about 10 minutes later they sadly found this sheep dead in the field, still warm and eyes wide open. There were no signs of bite marks but she did have an injured foot and we suspect she had probably died of shock. The intense fear from being chased by 30-odd dogs likely triggered a fight or flight response, flooding her body with adrenaline and other stress hormones, raising her heart rate and blood pressure and eventually leading to circulatory collapse.

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Eggesford Hunt, 27.09.25

We sabbed Eggesford’s cub hunting meet at their kennels. As the main season approaches, Eggesford and all hunts are ramping up their days, now on horseback and hunting for longer.

A fairly small group left the kennels at around 8.30. Alongside huntsman Jason Marles were ancient hunt groupie Helen Dunn, troglodyte terrierman Tom Bounsall and several children. Really great parenting from the Eggesford supporters – Tom can show your 8 year old a dead fox and your 8 year old can teach him how to read.

They hunted around Labdon, Crossgate, Gosse’s farm and Kennydown farm for most of the morning. We kept track of them with our drone and foot teams. Near Gosse’s Farm a fox broke from a maize field and ran right in front of Marles and sabs. They were one of a few seen to safety throughout the morning. From Marles’ little quips he seems to think if he can’t see us we aren’t there. Maybe the children can teach Marles about object permanence.

Marles’ weirdly high pitched voice harmonises beautifully with his new whip Jade’s. We were “treated” to a bit of rural opera in North Down Plantation as they gathered some of the pack and went home, leaving several hounds to find their own way back.

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Eggesford, Chulmleigh Beacon, 20.09.25

With thanks again to Helen Dunn, we were able to sab another of Eggesford’s cubbing meets at Chulmleigh Beacon. The hunt set off towards Parsonage Cross to begin drawing thick hedges and woodland around Parsonage Farm.

Two foxes were marked to ground in the first hour. Terrierboy Tom Bounsall didn’t notice either of these marks, as he was too busy trying to impress the young blonde on the back of his quad by trying to run sabs over on the road. He also wasn’t aware of the fox who was later marked to ground in the valley by Horridge Moor. Having earlier threatened to “end” one of our sabs who merely said good morning to him, Bounsall tried to aggressively block one of our foot teams from accessing a footpath. To our surprise, he was told to pack it in by a female riders who was chaperoning a group of young kids on horses.

Having lost many of their older members over the last season, Eggesford are making an effort to groom the younger generation. When they’re not being brought along on ponies to witness animal cruelty, they’re riding around in Hugh Trerise’s Land Rover looking bored stiff. Hugh Trerise and Helen Dunn no longer ride to hounds and have now taken up the sport of road-blocking. In turn, they’re becoming regular features in the Operation Snap hall of fame!

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Stevenstone Hunt, Great Gorwood, 13.09.25

A few weeks ago we sabbed a Stevenstone Hunt meet at Great Gorwood, together with Plymouth & West Devon Hunt Sabs.

We sent the drone up and spotted hounds hunting a fox to ground near Park Farm. Foot sabs were deployed to clear the hounds out and have a nice chat with terriermen Ben Vincent (the one we filmed digging a fox out of a badger sett at the Axe Vale last year) and David Lawrence. There’s a 50/50 chance of finding either of these two with their heads down any hole in Devon. They admitted there was a fox gone to ground and wanted to debate the legality of hounds marking a badger sett. Not even pretending any more, are they?

The hunt spent the rest of the morning hunting Park Farm and Park Moor. While sabs were busy dealing with the first marked sett, our drone filmed hounds bolting a fox from a thick hedge. The fox ran right past huntsman Stephen James. Two hounds were allowed to pursue the fox and Stephen can be seen in our footage encouraging the rest of the pack to join them. The fox disappeared into a very thick hedge at the junction between several fields and sadly we did not see them reemerge. Unfortunately we are not sure whether this fox went to ground and survived or was killed by hounds in the hedge.

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Eggesford Hunt, Honeychurch, 06.09.25

With thanks to hunt member Helen Dunn, we were able to sab Eggesford’s early morning cubbing meet at Honeychurch!

The hunt had parked on the side of the road north of Rowtry for a 7am meet. Foot sabs caught up with them west of Honeychurch where riders had surrounded a small copse, ‘holding-up’ in typical cubbing fashion to prevent foxes escaping.

When sabs approached, one young rider shouted “oh no, the sabs are here”, the rest quickly dispersed and huntsman Jason Marles pulled hounds out of the copse and headed north. A short while later, our eye in the sky witnessed a fox darting from this copse in the opposite direction. It’s highly likely this fox would have been killed if the hunt had been allowed to remain there for a few minutes longer.

For the next hour our two foot teams kept an eye on the hunt as they continued to draw dense field boundaries between Honeychurch and Cliston. Hounds ended up scattered all over the place, with one being seen on the road at Exbourne, where a local resident told our driver that she’d just had to chase the hound out of her garden.

Eventually everyone headed back to the meet for a few alcoholic beverages before getting in their vehicles and driving home. While we were waiting we met several locals who thanked us for being there and complained about the traffic chaos the hunt with their vehicles.

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Stevenstone Hunt, Hoarestone Cross, 30.08.25

After packing up the Eggesford Hunt earlier in the day, we headed to Hoarestone Cross north of Thorne Moor in north Devon to see what the Stevenstone Hunt were up to.

We got there a few minutes after the hunt had cast hounds into Vielstone Woods. Sabs deployed into the surrounding fields in the pouring rain to march this gang of wildlife criminals back to the shed where the rest of their haggard followers were lurking. The skies calmed and the sun came out just as the hounds were loaded into the lorry.

In what has become something of a ritual in recent weeks, we spent the next couple of hours having a picnic by the side of the road while watching the hunt huddle in the farmyard. Followers occasionally turned to glare in our direction, their frustration evident. At one point, huntsman Stephen James – tie oddly tucked into his trousers – put his hand on his hip, adopted the sourest of sour faces, and spoke at us at a volume completely lost to the wind. We could only guess at his words – perhaps something about sour grapes, sour apples, or a newfound interest in sourdough.

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Eggesford Hunt, Lower Gorhuish, 30.08.25

We sabbed twice on Saturday! First in the morning, when one of us teamed up with a Mendip sab to hassle the Eggesford Hunt at their 7am meet at Lower Gorhuish near Northlew, and then in the evening when we shut down the Stevenstone Hunt’s cubbing attempts at Hoarestone near Thorne Moor in North Devon.

As we’re used to with Eggesford, their early morning cubbing meet was full of blatant illegal foxhunting. Riders held up coverts by positioning themselves strategically around the edges, slapping their saddles to make noise, supported by foot followers who bashed sticks on fence posts to scare back any foxes trying to escape. These are things even the BHSA have advised hunts not to do during cubbing, because it makes it so obvious they’re hunting foxes. Huntsman Jason Marles also did the usual tongue-rolling, trying to rouse a fox from covert. Several foxes were seen over the course of the morning and our presence and intervention helped those we saw get away.

A young, terrified fox was seen running along the inside of South Moor Plantation, desperately trying to find a place to escape. The pack were hunted onto this fox, who darted from one covert to another with hounds gradually gaining on them. We’ll be posting the video footage later and you’ll see how the Mendip sab had just run in to cover one fox’s scent near the lake by the farm when a second fox ran across the track next to the sab. Hounds arrived in full cry on that fox’s line. Instead of calling hounds off the fox, Eggesford’s Duncan Tucker sat on his horse filming the sab, whose expert rating and whip-cracking lifted the hounds’ heads and bought both foxes crucial time.

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