Dorset Hunt Sabs

The hunt moved off from the meet at around noon – the late start reassume was down to the rugby final. The huntsman headed to the North of the meet to Nyland Withy Beds a place we know they like to frequent and sabs were dropped in early as we expected them to go here. The ground was very wet underfoot and the hunt didn’t stay in the area for very long before heading north tin the direction of Pelsham Farm, which is another place they like to frequent. Picking up on a scent of a fox the hunt never made it up to Pelsham Farm and the fox took them towards Moormill Withy Bed and from there to an area near Moormill Bridge. Today we had the pleasure off working with monitors and Somerset Wildlife Crime and luckily for the fox there were in this area and observed a second fox as the hunt crossed Common Lane heading towards the village of Whitchurch.

One fox ran into the built up area and was left. The other fox ran to the east of the village and was observed by sabs in the landy running into a stable yard. Sabs were soon down the drive way despite the usual protests from the hunt support about trespassing – but there was a fox to be saved and that will always be of the upmost importance. The hounds were appearing to mark a small, very overgrown pit in the ground and we are sure this is where the fox was now hiding. A sing song began with the huntsman’s son, famous for his brawling outside the William Dampier pub in Yeovil, Edward Doggrell on one side shouting “on, on’ to encourage the hounds on to the fox and “leave it” from the sabs on the other side of the small trees and brambles.

The sabs stood their ground and eventually the hounds were gathered and taken to the woodland adjacent to Park Lane where the hounds became extremely vocal. The hounds had picked up on the scent of another fox and this was confirmed when the fox crossed the lane in front of the Landy and behind the monitors vehicle. The line of this fox was soon drenched in citronella leaving him safe to live another day. Meanwhile the monitors moved to Yenston and headed towards Templecombe and as they left the village they observed a fox crossing the road by the temporary traffic lights and immediately contacted us on the radio knowing we were not far behind them. We were soon on the scene and the line the fox took and the surrounding area was drenched in citronella just before the huntsman and hounds appeared and this fox lived to see another day

Followers who witnessed the fox crossing – and the monitors position – sent a message to the front end of the hunt and a whip was positioned to prevent any chase developing by the hounds. The hunt seemingly not able to make their mind up as to where to operate, crossed south west of the A357 to the Windmill Hill side at Yenston and then back again down the short lane opposite Sedgemoor Farm.
The hunt then crossed the A357 again south east of Chapel Lane in the valley below that often holds foxes. Indeed after some searching two foxes were on the run with one in particular jinking in the fields and properties of Yenston.
This fox showed signs of being pressed really hard and monitors had grave doubts as to its survival. However after some very tight circles the fox took refuge within a thick hedge and stayed there – so did the monitors!
Thereafter the hunt found the line of the second fox and moved to Martins Copse before information suggests losing to the built up area of Templecombe. With darkness approaching the hunt started to disperse and moved back towards the meet at Nyland.

Today was a very fast moving day with foxes popping up all over the place which is bizarre seeing as fox hunting is illegal ? The hunt claim accidents happen but these would not have accidents today …. It was blatant hunting !!

A huge thanks to the monitors and Somerset Wildlife Crime for working with us today – its always a pleasure when we do such a great job !!

Our photos and videos will be uploaded shortly but in the meantime you can watch Somerset Wildlife Crime video here ….

As ever if you want to join us please do get in touch either by sending us a message or an email to dorsethuntsabs@riseup.net

HIT REPORT : Saturday 29th December 2018

BSV Hunt meeting at Pond Farm, Hilfield

Leaving the meet just after 11:30am mark “Lugz” Doggrell headed east towards Little Coppice, foot teams went in at Penn Wood and along the Little Coppice bridle way. The huntsman and hounds spent about 20 minutes searching this coppice with the field standing around watching. Having been unable to locate their fictional trail they began searching Great Coppice and Twisting Alders Coppice.
Continuing East the hounds were cast through West Wood towards Cockeram’s Plantation. The hunt were next sighted heading East along the Newlands Farm bridle path and up onto the ridge.

This is the moment the hunt took over our job and began sabbing themselves… with the pack split in two and appearing to be following two different ‘trails’ the riders were left scattered in small groups in surrounding fields and lanes. Hunt support vehicles were driving round quite bewildered and none the wiser, although they were kept busy herding the odd loose hound into the back of their vehicles. Having heard some of the hounds in Ruppen coppice we maintained a presence along the road by Minterne Seat coppice where we observed yet another loose hound. Eventually the huntsman and hounds were reunited here. This hoo-ha had cost them over an hours valuable killing time.

Having most of his hounds back Lugz headed north and they exited at Penn Wood moving West to try their hand at picking up their elusive “trail” again in Twisting Alders Coppice. Then continuing West they searched West Wood… AGAIN ! Foot sabs were in the field when the huntsman’s persistence finally paid off and the hounds picked up on the scent of a fox. Edward “The Rural Genius” Doggrell made an appearance and was very vocal urging the hounds onto the line of the fox which went through a thick hedgerow, there was a gate each end of this field – surely the trail layer would have ran through the gate coz theres no way he got through the hedge ?? Today was one of the most blatant days of not laying a trial we have ever seen !!

This fox took the hounds in the direction of Newlands Farm …. with a foot team in tow. The hounds left Newlands Farm heading South to Batcombe where it is believed they marked this fox to ground. A fox was observed in the area by the monitors we were working alongside today. A foot team went in but hunt support and riders were soon on their mobiles to warn the huntsman who reluctantly moved the hounds on. The drone was deployed to ensure the area was clear of all hunt staff especially the terrier thugs who we know like have a cheeky dig out.

Monitors remained with the hunt as they moved onto Hermitage with the hounds taken through Frog’s Folly Plantation, an area they were in earlier this month. In the coppice next door, Furzy Drong, the hounds picked up on the scent of a fox. The drone was in action overhead at this time. This fox was chased through Admiral Digby’s Plantation, over in the direction of Leigh and then back along the length of Stone Rush Drove. By now the light had faded and with no regard for hound, horse, rider, support or general public safety the huntsman was not about to give up on the chance of a kill he exited Stone Rush Drove on foot. The huntsman walked up the road towards Osmond Farm casting the hounds through a small wooded area beside the road trying to put them back on the line of the fox. Sabs escorted Lugz and his hounds on foot until he remounted and went in at Osmond Farm heading East to Rhymehorn with what was left of his field in tow. Sab and monitor persistent paid off and with the hounds unable to pick up this line again the disappointed hunt headed back to pack up at Almshouse Farm just after 4.30pm.

Apart from them sabbing themselves today with terrible hound control there was a pheasant shoot in the area hosted by Manor Farm, Hilfield and this meant the area the hunt could use was restricted. On our patrolling when the hounds disappeared we observed the truck that carries the pheasant shooters parked by the farm with the back doors of their vehicle open and all the guns in full view whilst they stopped for lunch !

Another major factor that didn’t help the BSV today is that Brian May owns some woodland near Hermitage which they know they are absolutely, defiantly, positively not allowed on …. Brian is a great guy !!

A big shout out and thanks to Somerset Wildlife Crime, between us we saved at least 3 foxes !! We would really like to know what Dorset Police are going to do to combat illegal hunting in Dorset because their current tactics are not working. Its not just illegal hunting, there are assaults, drink driving, traffic offences, quads with 3 up, blocking of roads ….. the list is never ending. We urge you to please contact dorset police and ask what they are gong to be doing to combat all this countryside crime please ?

As ever a huge thanks to our supporters and donators.

HIT REPORT : BSV 
MEET : Haddon Lodge 
Saturday 2nd March 2019

No one was more pleased than us to have finally arrived at the closing meet on the BSV hunt calendar. It was as expected well supported with a field of about 80 riders and around 40 support vehicles filled to the brim with blood thirsty, tenner waving, inbreds. 
We had the absolute pleasure of working with two firs-class monitors today and extend them a huge thanks. 
After all the end of season speeches. presentations and port swilling were over the huntsman set off taking the hounds North. A foot team went in at Clayhanger and were soon greeted by the hounds, huntsman and field. The hounds were happy to see the sabs and many sab strokes were handed out. It’s a very sad fact that these dogs are so friendly and trusting of humans when they have been trained to kill foxes, get run round fields for hours and eventually just get a bullet to the head rather than a chance of being re homed. 
It was a welcome sight to see a presence of Dorset Police who were around for some of the morning and some of the afternoon. 
The hunt crossed the road and headed west to see if they could locate a fox in Wood House Covert. With no access in here the Landy drove through Purse Caundle keeping them in our sight as best we could. Deer were flushed from here and we realised they were going to cross the road in front of us by Hanover Hill. We stopped in the road to let them past and Ben Harris drove round saying “ are you lot seriously gonna park there”. We told him deer were about to cross but he didn’t believe us and drove off . The deer then crossed in front of his car. One thing you lot don’t get is that we are there for wildlife. You may have no regard for their lives but we do – if we tell you something in relation to an animals well being it will always be true.
The hounds had a good search round Tripp Farm before heading east towards Ramillies Farm, where they go on the scent-line of a fox.
This fox took them south to Holtwood and the huntsman exited the hounds at Garvey Hill having lost the line of this fox. Cubs are being born already this year and its disgraceful that the hunts carry on trying to kill them when they may be pregnant or have cubs reliant on their parents.
The whole hunt continued north on the road through Stourton Caundle, took a left along Drove Road and over to Holtham Plantation, with the monitors keeping an eye out from the A357 the landy went round to meet the hounds when they exited onto Eastop Lane. The huntsman took the hounds towards Sturt Farm and was searching an area he likes to cover beside the road. 
Monitors were now at Basel Bridge and they saw a fox cross the road, so sabs were out spraying the road while the hounds were trying to pick up in Harpitts. The terrier thugs passed the landy and were pointing to the spot where the fox had fled over the wall before parking a little further up the road. A female foot supporter was filming a sab spraying the road but when the sab started taking photos of her she didn’t like it at all, and had the audacity to say “I haven’t given you permission to film me’ She certainly didn’t have permission before she started filming us …. it works both ways Einstein. The hounds exited from Harpitts alone a bridleway north east of Basel Bridge and were taken to Park Wood. There is limited access here but we know the area well and kept eyes on several spots along Park Wall. The hounds went into cry on the western side of Park Wood and the hunted fox took them across the road near the disused quarry. Monitors had walked along Furge Lane and it is believed that this fox went to ground in a badger sett that had been partially blocked. The monitors were able to unblock the sett much to the fury of the quad thugs, and this fox lived to see another day. 
Continuing North West and crossing the A30 by Quarry Farm the huntsman took the hounds to try his luck at Inwood and he took the hounds around Inwood in an anti clockwise circle. The hounds were seen by the monitors having a good search of an area beside the road above the Henstridge Ash crossroads and from there they headed South back in the direction of Purge Lane. 
This concluded the day at around 4.30pm and not a moment too soon ! Still no sign of the brawling Doggrell brothers Edward or Ben, we would like to think this is because the BSV hunt don’t want to be associated with criminals but the bearded psycho was out in the position of terrier thug today and the Hat thief was riding up front with the hounds !

Blackmore & Sparkford Vale. 
23/2/19
Meet: Compton Castle, Somerset.
Incident at St Peter & St Paul’s Church, Charlton Horethorne.
From the meet the hunt moved swiftly in a southerly direction towards Charlton Horethorne. This being the village where the hounds are kennelled. 
Around 1:15 pm the hunt could be observed drawing Charlton Gorse to the north east of the village.
From a position near the small Woodland Trust Property in Mount Lane the monitors could view hounds becoming interested in a fox. 
This brought the hounds off the ridge and moving towards the village. 
Monitors realising the direction of movement took a position within the grounds of St Peter and St Paul’s Church. 
At 1:55 pm the hounds were nearing the boundary of the churchyard. The huntsman was using his horn which had the effect of ‘exciting’ the hounds both within the hunt and those in the kennels. 
Just before 2:00 pm the hounds ‘picked up’ in the rough to the east of the church and came into churchyard on full cry on the line of the fox. 
They ran over the graves to the western boundary of the churchyard.
It was evident the fox was very close as the hounds were ‘screaming’ at this point with some changing their pitch when obviously viewing the fox. 
Suddenly monitors who were close to the boundary observed a fleeing vixen exiting the neighbouring property with hounds very close.
She ran back to the rough area bordering the churchyard on the eastern side and was seen disappearing into the undergrowth. 
The hounds went in to the left of the undergrowth with the vixen escaping to the right and back momentarily into the churchyard before moving out to a rough area bordering the south of the church.
Here a holler was heard with horn and voice calls being heard. 
Two very experienced monitors moved quickly out of the churchyard and moved south and viewed her still running for her life and crossing a public path momentarily in front of the whip.
The whip was left in no uncertain terms as what he should do and in fact he did pull up the hounds. 
There followed a conversation between the huntsman and masters who decided to move completely away from the area. 
Without doubt they would have known we had video of the incident and this likely played a part in their decision. 
This beautiful fox lives on.Monitors sought advice from an experienced animal rescue centre and we now strongly suspect the vixen had not long given birth. Hopefully she made it back to her earth and both she and her cubs are safe. We find it astonishing that hunters continue to hunt foxes at this time of the year or indeed at all.

HIT REPORT : BSV
MEET : Bowden Lodge 
Saturday 16th Feb 2019

We paid a visit to the BSV today to their meet at Bowden Lodge. Arriving early a foot team went in around the meet area to pre spray, making the area safer for any foxes that may be in the vicinity and observed a dead cow in a field. This cow was removed by a tractor and taken up to Sedgemoor Farm in Yenston, this farm supports the hunt so we reckon this poor animal would have ended up in the hounds belly by nightfall ! Leaving the meet just after 11.30am the huntsman took the hounds and headed in a north westerly direction and the hounds were soon in cry by the reservoir. Today we were joined by a world class monitor and NDHS and between us we were able to keep the hounds in sight as they chased the line of this fox eastwards and came out on Bowden Lane. Having briefly lost this line the hounds did pick it back up went into cry again beside the road by Manor Farm and sabs were soon out spraying the area to help mask the scent of the fox and this fox was seen away to safety. This whole affair can only be described as pre ban hunting, the hounds clearly on a line and the huntsman blowing them on hard.

The huntsman gathered the hounds and headed north to West Wood, a foot team went in at Newleaze Farm and headed up to the eastern side of the wood. A red coat came over with another rider and threatened to make a citizens arrest because the sabs were spraying citronella and for being stationery on a public footpath. A sab told him to phone the police, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and as he rode off could be heard saying “ Hello, can I speak to ….. “ now when we call the police we don’t have the luxury of a direct line and we are the ones upholding the law !!! The hounds went into cry as they picked up on a fox that took them north towards where the monitor was standing and crossed the railway line. With even more citronella engulfing the area between us and the railway line another fox was seen away safely.

Continuing on the footpath the sabs exited at Stowell Farm, but not before having to paddle through mud and slurry which made the footpath incredibly hard to navigate. As the sabs walked through the farm they stopped to have a look at the condition of the cows. As usual, all of them skin and bone and locked away in shitty sheds …. in the last barn there was a dead cow laying in the barn surrounded by the rest of the herd. Just by the roadside were a few veal “crates” and the farmer suddenly appeared asking who had given us permission to film his animals. A sab told him the footpath was terrible and his reply was “its a farm track, what do you expect me to do?” The sab went on to tell him there was a dead cow laying in his barn and he said it had just died, the sab told him she would be reporting him to which he replied “don’t you dare Mrs”

The hunt were now back at Inwood, the meet, for a change of horses before heading out the northern edge and along Chapel Lane. The huntsman crossed the road at Yenston and the hounds were cast through an area north of Court Farm. As the landy was waiting for the traffic lights to change a lone hound came along the road so a sab hopped out to warn oncoming traffic, this hound was taken care of by one of the supporters and they herded it back up the road. The landy headed down Park Lane and a foot team went in at Whitchurch. The huntsman was on his phone and was informed of the loose hound back up on the road and he said thank you ! The huntsman gathered his hounds and took them north along a track that runs parallel to the the road and up to the Gartell Light Railway. The huntsman and hounds went along the railway and the loose hounds was finally returned to the pack by Chrissie Osbourne.

From here the huntsman headed East and a foot team went in at Broadmead track, after searching some hedgerows the hounds were taken back out towards the road into Sedgemoor Farm. The hunt moved through the farm and headed north up to Yenston Hill where they crossed back over and went down Common Lane. The hounds searched the fields above Common Lane and not finding their miraculous trial the huntsman took them back to Sedgemoor Farm. Next on the agenda was Martins Copse but no trail was picked up in here either so the huntsman took the hounds back to Gartell Light Railway for another search…. for the trail … obviously !! No trail found so the hunt headed back to Inwood where the huntsman was drawing the southern edge as we observed with the monitor from Chapel Lane. We drove around to Bowden Lane to get a better visual on the meet and it seemed like it was the end of the day …. but that was far from the case !

Exiting Inwood, crossing Bowden Lane beside us the huntsman took the hounds south west towards Toomer Hill. A foot team attempted to head them off from Gospel Ash Farm and both ends of the footpath that runs along Toomer Hill but the hounds were changing direction like the wind. We strongly suspect they were on a bagged fox and ping ponged between areas from Toomer Hill to Summerleaze Copse, Higher Spurles Covert and as far down to briefly cross The Old Road and and be out onto the A30. Despite a busy day sabs and monitor dug deep and persisted to keep the hounds in view with multiple drop ins which meant that this fox lived to see another day ! It was finally called a day at Henstridge Bowden at 5.30pm probably only because it was almost dark by now !!

As ever a huge thank you for your support. If you want to join us please send us a PM or email to dorsethuntsabs@riseup.net

HIT REPORT : BSV 
MEET : Rectory Farm, West Camel
Thursday 14th Feb 2019

With a handful of horse boxes and a field of 14 riders the BSV gathered at their meet at Rectory Farm on West Camel – not much love was being shown on Valentines Day ! The foot support consisted of 7 in about 4 vehicles and we have to say were much more pleasant than the Dorset BSV followers . Having a gate opened for you makes a refreshing change from being ridden over and assaulted !! 
We caught up with the huntsman and hounds as they exited Southfield Farm which is west of the meet. The huntsman headed east on the public highway down to the cross roads where he turned right. Mark paused for a while to allow the hounds to search for their miraculous trail in a thicket area beside the public highway. A Sab hopped out the Landy but there was no sign of the trail here as per usual. Eventually Mark continued on the public highway down to Fields where he turned right still on the public highway. 
The hounds were taken along Hornsey Brook searching the thin shrubbery along the field boundaries. A thorough search was made of the area between the brook and Little Marston Farm but they couldn’t find their miraculous trail here either. The hounds did have a squeak here but a Sab managed to get a good visual through a gap in the hedge to watch as it quickly fizzled out. 
From here the hounds were taken south to Lacey Bridge Plantation and with no sign of the miraculous trail here either they crossed the road into land south of Ashington Bridge by Hinton Farm. 
Mark “Lugz” Doggrell took the hounds over to search beside the river following it North towards Ashington Bridge. The Landy continued up the road and dropped a Sab in on the footpath by the Park school. The Sab went along the footpath and found the huntsman, whip and hounds searching the copse. Engulfing them all in a haze of citronella essence there was no chance of picking up on a fox around here. 
Lugz gathered his hounds and headed north to Hornsey Bridge. By now it was about 2.30pm and we were getting really close to the boundary of the Royal Naval Air Station. With limited sab power and long footpaths we struggled to keep them in our sight for the next hour and half but we did have a few glimpses.
The hunt headed back down to Ashington Lane and we were there to see the end of day at 4pm. The hound van arrived to pick them up by Woodside Farm at about 4.15pm.
We are fairly certain there were no kills today !