This meet, at the Hunter’s Inn in Buckbury, heralds the end of the season for this hunt, bar one more possible meet next week.

One of us went along and regrettably found 3 badger setts partially freshly blocked. One entrance had lots of badger prints all over it as the badger had dug their way back in! Both badgers and foxes are nursing babies this time of year which must always be bourne in mind. Furthermore this is badger cull zone 1 where culling has been taking place for 9 years!

At the meet the hunt staff thanked the sab again for helping them with the hound who was rescued from a deep shaft last week – Gospel has injured one foot and being kept in to let it heal.

First draw was Hillenders and they did pick up briefly. After spending ages in that area it was then on to the rest of the Forthampton estate. At Greenhill they hunted a fox through Voulters Wood. Mark was then seen on foot back at Voulters where they hunted again over to Sarn Hill. The pack split and local people at Bushley said that they had seen two foxes running away from hounds, who then went the wrong way.

It took a long time to gather them and the by then tired sab thought to walk back to Forthampton. As they did, back in Sarn Hill, hounds came running towards them on a patchy scent. They were stopped for a short time by the sab’ rating them back but were called through the wood by the huntsman and picked up for a brief time. The fox came back past the sab’, tongue hanging out, brush down and crouched looking behind him before running through a hedge. The pack did not follow him at that point with the sab waiting to make sure that they did not.

They packed up shortly afterwards at 5pm.