*** Blocked sett at Cotswold Vale opening meet * Hounds repeatedly riot on deer ***

The CVFH held their opening meet today (at Apperley Hall Farm instead of Apperley Court and a week later than last year to try to avoid us). Apperley Court have chosen to stop hosting hunt meets! Our foot sabs (and an awesome sab from Bristol Hunt Saboteurs who had come to join us for the day) who had been watching the meet from the fields behind, moved on to check on a known artificial earth before getting inland at Apperley Grove as the pack were anticipated to head there first.

As the hunt headed towards Apperley Grove through the fields from the meet, some of the hounds picked up on a scent within a hedgerow and half of the pack ran at speed towards Coombe Hill Nature Reserve, the rest splitting with some heading north on another scent and some standing bewildered in a field. Huntsman was already losing control of them and they’d only just set off. He finally gathered them and they drew a covert alongside the road, hounds rioting on a deer but being rated off the scent.

Over the road and a scent was picked up on in Apperley Court so we drove round and got inland from the other side, threats and insults from huntsman Gary Williams even embarrassing his own hunt members who told him to calm down. Despite hounds picking up briefly, he took the pack away from us instead – this is the shortest amount of time we’ve known them to spend here.

They moved off back towards Apperley Grove again and with other sabs arriving and heading inland behind them, our driver headed them off by road as we ran with them next to the river, another scent being lost by hounds as huntsman ran away from us.

Apperley Grove. Again. Hounds rioted on deer. Again.

Through the fields behind the meet and we anticipated the hunt heading towards Deerhurst. With other sabs watching from the road at the Farmer’s Arms pub to the west of the pack we decided a nice pincer movement was in store and headed north of them and to the location of a healthy, active badger sett. It was freshly blocked.

With the hounds in full cry on a scent and heading towards us our driver kept an eye on them and kept us updated as we did an emergency unblock of several entrances to provide an escape for any hunted foxes, then moved away quickly in case any headed our way, so as not to scare them off (we did a more thorough unblock at the end of the day).

Hounds picked up, losing the scent repeatedly for around 25 minutes, until it went completely quiet. We were inland and couldn’t see or hear the hunt at all – they had run away again. Then our driver was passed by the hound van, going back into the meet. We did a circuit, headed inland to listen for the hunt at various points, checked more setts… but no sign of them. Two hunt masters drove past us separately. It was an very early pack-up.

Hunt on the run all day, terriermen being watched by sabs most of the day, a sett unblocked to help foxes and badgers, one (very) frustrated huntsman, more people out checking setts later and fighting the cull*… support us if you can by liking and sharing our posts and page and financially if possible – we couldn’t do as much as we do without our fantastic supporters!

*the blocked sett (and any others found around this meet) is within the West Glos cull zone where a ‘supplementary cull’ continues