*** Blocked badger setts at Ledbury Hunt opening meet ***

The Ledbury Hunt held their opening meet today from Corse Lawn Hotel. It was a smaller gathering than we’re used to seeing at this meet, but known members of hunt staff from the South Herefordshire Hunt were in attendance, including Major Darling. Hunts in Gloucestershire have been a lot more wary about blocking badger setts since our data went public last season and a dossier was sent to the police – good teamwork with our sister group Cirencester Illegal Hunt Watch and written about in the latest issue of Howl (magazine of the Hunt Saboteurs Association) – but we still find the odd sett tampered with and so some of our group were out early this morning having spent the night fighting the badger cull (the supplementary cull in West Gloucestershire continues).

Known artificial earths, badger setts and drains were checked and documented – finding and unblocking setts can save lives as open entrances allow foxes to escape below ground and dig-outs by terriermen are easier to spot and intervene in. Once at the meet we listened to perhaps the shortest speech ever given, especially by this lot, and the hunt crossed the road and headed inland just after 11am. We got ahead of them and intercepted them as they hunted between Werth Lane and Lower Farm in the Chaceley area, scent being disrupted both by the sun, as the day was now warming up a bit, and by our two foot sabs. Hunt staff had changed into black coats from red ones in order to be less identifiable, a tactic used by the hunt for several seasons now. This is an area in which we’ve caught them hunting on several previous occasions. Hounds did pick up several times but only once did this lead to the chase of a fox who we believe escaped into the Forthampton area (where the hunt cannot go during shooting season as the gamekeeper becomes livid at them for scaring away the pheasants). On another occasion hounds rioted on a hare, rated back by sabs and then by the whippers-in when they knew we were filming them.

After going back and forth in the area for nearly 2 hours, the hunt finally moved on (with sabs being told to f**k off by master Roger Warner). We could see that they were heading in the direction of Haw Bridge. Getting in front of the hunt, we covered the line of a fox who had darted along a hedgeline and watched as hounds struggled to pick up the scent properly.

Due to our presence, huntsman Mark Meladay spent far less time than he usually would trying to encourage them to pick up again and they moved off once more, crossing the road and heading in the direction of a known artificial earth and an old badger sett where a dig-out took place a couple of seasons back. Other sabs were spotted arriving in the area and were able to keep up with the hunt whilst our foot sabs came back out to the road.

Second-horsing happened mainly on the move near a wildlife reserve in Ashleworth, the driver of white pick-up GJ58 PLV swerving towards our sabs on a track at around 25mph, annoyed at our mere presence. Hounds again failed to stay on any scents and the hunt returned to Tirley where they hunted near Roger Warner’s Townstreet Farm. Hearing hounds pick up and believing that they may be marking to ground, foot sabs ran inland once again (we covered a fair few miles throughout the day!) Sab driver told us that terriermen left a covert soon after a fox broke cover and ran… coincidence or highly suspicious? We headed back to the road and chased the hunt up a nearby hill, followed by terriermen. Hounds had “checked” (lost the scent temporarily and were trying to pick up again) and Mark re-cast them, making a swift U-turn and leaving once more as we came across a blocked badger sett in the field.

Hounds drew blank in hedgerows and coverts through Tirley, our two foot sabs inland as they drew through fields of kale while our driver covered the road where we’ve known foxes to run in the past. But hounds drew a total blank for the ten or so minutes they were running around. Mark took them quickly towards Eldersfield and straight up to Berth Hill from here. Spotting other sabs on one side of the hill, we stayed on another so the hunt were well covered as hounds chased round and round the hill on a scent. A muntjac broke cover in our direction (foxes often run the same lines as the scent of the deer helps to cover their scent) but we heard rating by other sabs and a fox had broken in their direction. We could see whippers-in whipping hounds back from the road and Mark gathered the pack and took them towards Pigeon House Farm.

You could be forgiven at this point for thinking that the hunt were packing up. The hound box was at the farm and it was getting dark quickly (and therefore less safe to hunt). But no… Mark took hounds inland and down towards Nash End where they picked up on a scent intermittently. We made our way over towards a very well known badger sett, a good place for foxes to try to head to in order to escape below ground and, sure enough, found it blocked. Having been unable to hold a line despite trying now for around 20 minutes, with visibility decreasing rapidly and having seen us unblocking the sett, filming the hounds and looking still fresh enough to intervene if needed, Mark made the wise decision to finally pack up. At 5pm.

A long day, but well worth going out!