Reports and film to follow for last couple of days but today saw sabs early in the field sett checking prior to the North Cotswold Hunt opening meet at Spring Hill. No blocked setts found. Sadly though the pheasant shooters and their beaters were out in force.

Ollie took his hounds first to Beauchamp Clump then ran away from sabs. We found him soon enough and kept with him all day with hounds picking up intermittently around Hinchwick Manor and Kinetonhill farm. As dusk drew in they had a fast hunt in the quarry into the dark with sabs struggling to see the hounds and hunt staff still trying to gather the pack in the dark.

Yesterday it was the Ledbury Opening meet at the Corse Lawn hotel, Gloucestershire (supplementary badger culling zone 1 with the cull continuing). So it was a late night Thursday sett checking and meeting up with our friends Newent Badger Alliance in the field and then out at dawn checking for cull activity and sett blockers. Report and film to follow on that.

Working alongside Gloucestershire Badger Office we also have people going out to check setts around other hunt meets – the Cotswold Hunt were due to meet in Hawling today, just south of our location, the CVFH would be out and members of the Heythrop Hunt were spotted earlier around the Moreton-on -Marsh area. Working alongside Cirencester Illegal Hunt Watch we’ll have people checking on setts around the opening meet of the Duke of Beaufort’s Hunt in Badminton and the VWH hunt meet!

So even more sett checking tomorrow…