This week has seen sabs across the country out in force while most people are still asleep. For many hunts, the cubbing season has now started.
Sab groups have been keeping an eye on their local hunts and have reported that many of them, who would usually still be ‘hound exercising’, are instead now surrounding coverts and sending their hounds in to kill foxes. The early start to the cubbing season is largely due to farmers harvesting their crops early, as well as a sense amongst the hunting community that this could very well be their last season if Labour stick to their manifesto pledge to ban ‘trail hunting’.
On Thursday, West Kent Hunt Sabs found the Kent Hounds cubbing at an evening meet in St Mary in the Marsh. The hunt, with just 11 riders in tow, soon ran out of ideas with sabs watching their every move and returned to the meet at 7.45pm.
Friday, Three Counties Sabs, Cotswold Hunt Sabs and Cirencester Illegal Hunt Watch found the Beaufort Hunt out at 7am in Badminton, holding up a small old quarry in classic cubbing formation. The hounds were sent into the quarry to hunt for foxes with the field surrounding it. Often the field will slap their saddles and make noise. They do this so the foxes are frightened back to the hounds, the hounds get to experience a kill and any escaping foxes are dispersed from their family unit.
With sabs present the hunt had to decide what to do next, new huntsman and Joint Master Will Bryer next tried to hold up a wood, but it was too large so they hunted a maize field instead. Sabs stayed with them until they packed up at 10am, with the rising temperature making it impossible to find a scent.
Saturday Two Counties Sabs joined Weymouth Animal Rights at the South Dorset Hunt in Winterborne Kingston with another new huntsman, Keiran Hawkes, along with some riders from the Portman Hunt. They were seen hunting vast maize fields – perfect for hunting foxes – and not possible to lay a trail in! Sabs kept with them until they eventually returned to kennels.
South Coast Sabs caught the Southdown and Erridge and East Sussex and Romney Marsh hunt (SDEESRM) sneaking out at 5.30am. Along with Brighton Sabs they kept with the hunt until they packed up at 9am.
The Beaufort Hunt were out illegally hunting fox cubs for a second day in a row, being found at Allen Grove, close to the Beaufort’s kennels on the Badminton Estate. They were found by Cirencester Illegal Hunt Watch, who were joined by Cotswold Hunt Sabs. Two whistles were heard being blown at 7am – these signalled that a fox(es) had left the covert and were on the move. Hunt supporters were in position desperate to witness a fox fleeing for their life but they appeared to lose the scent.
Cirencester Illegal Hunt Watch stated:
“It’s about time their ridiculous ‘trail hunting’ farce came to an end. Everyone knows they’re training the new hounds and hunting cubs at the moment. It’s hard to understand how the 12th Duke of Beaufort, Master of Fox hounds, has enabled this to take place on his land for so long without Section 3 of the Hunting Act being enforced. Still they have Lord Mancroft [of the leaked hunting webinars] riding with them to make sure they don’t break the law!”
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