Roel Gate area, Opening Meet.

We caught up with the hunt (after getting soaked through) at Hank’s Gorse where they got a bit precious about footpaths after a while. We were escorted back to the footpath and were thus ideally placed to spray out the line of a fox when one was hunted from a barn with huntsman Lloyd Heard holloaing and encouraging them on. He rushed past sabs and into a field to tray and cast them on but gave up after a while and legged it to Hawling.

Two blocked setts found in the area and as it grew dark one sett had a few people on it and some big stones on one entrance. Other setts were not blocked but not looking very active with this being Gloucestershire badger cull zone 9 in its 5th year of culling and about to enter the 6 month of culling. One baitpoint was also found by sett checkers.

In the pitch black one hound was lost but soon picked up by the whipper in.

And as it is announced that we will enter a lockdown on Thursday, no social distancing and many more than 6 people huddled together whilst hunting and then back at the boxes afterwards.I

t would be outrageous if hunting or syndicate shooting were to continue whilst everyone makes immense sacrifices and an announcement from the Hunting Office is expected. If this doe not happen for any reason, there needs to be a lot of noise made about it. And huntsman and whipper in wore black today, not red.

In other news, several calls about the Croome and West Warwickshire blocking the roads at their Opening meet at Peopleton. One of our sabs was inland at the Heythrop cub hunting Near Chipping Norton, more to follow.