20 years later, they’re still hunting, so we’re still sabbing!

This report is a collaboration between Devon County, Mendip and Plymouth & West Devon sabs.

Twenty years on from the birth of the Hunting Act, sabs are still defending wildlife.

They’re still hunting

The 18th of February marked the 20th anniversary of the hunting act coming into force, and even after all this time hunts up and down the country are still continuing as if it never happened.

The Two Bridges hunt club meet is an annual gathering of the four Dartmoor hunts (the Mid Devon, South Devon, Dartmoor, and Spooners & West Dartmoor) that grotesquely commemorates the anniversary of the Hunting Act.

This year the large meet was on the 19th of February and attracted at least 30 riders and numerous support. Despite this intimidating gathering 4 south west based sab groups spent the day in collaboration to spoil their ‘fun’.

We’re still sabbing!

The hunts met at the East Dart Inn at Postbridge and this year it was the Mid Devon Hunt’s turn to bring their hounds. To counter this Devon County Sabs, Plymouth & West Devon Hunt Sabs, Mendip Hunt Sabs and South Devon Hunt Sabs were present.

In dense fog the hunts set off to the north, taking the bridlepath next to the Dartmoor visitor centre in direction of Broadun Round. They drew the gorse-covered slopes on both sides of the East Dart River, under the watchful eyes of our sabs who intervened to rate the hounds when they picked up on scent.

The hunts carried on east towards Arch Tor, where a foot follower was seen pointing in direction of Archerton, having probably seen a fox running that way. Hounds were sent in that direction and were soon running in full cry towards the disused quarry south of Archerton. They eventually lost the scent and headed back north and west for a second loop of the whole area. This time a fox was flushed from the large gorse patch at Higher White Tor. Some of the Mendip sabs spotted the fox running at speed very close to hounds. Radios come in handy here, as the message was passed to some of the Plymouth & West Devon foot sabs, who were perfectly positioned to cover the fox’s scent line.

The last part of the day was in the Cherry Brook valley south of Bellever Forest. Huntsman and another red coat chose to jump a wall from the road onto the stretch of moorland west of the brook, destroying the wall in the process. Some of the hunt riders were left trying to reassemble the wall. While foot teams were busy coming off the moor north of the road and repositioning all along the valley, one of our runners followed huntsman and hounds from one gorse bush to another.

The hunts drew blank after blank and eventually headed back to the road to finish for the day.

Public Support

The Two Bridges hunt club is essentially the hunts sticking two fingers up at the law and proclaiming that Dartmoor is their private playground. Many walkers and visitors to the moors were less than pleased to see them and to find the Postbridge road blocked with hunt traffic. It was nice to receive thanks from members of the public for standing up to these wildlife criminals.

A dashing Devon County sab said:

“This 4 hunt meet is always an intimidating prospect. Throw in the unpredictable weather conditions often present on Dartmoor and we always have the recipe for a challenging and physically demanding day.

Despite this we managed to keep up with the hounds and huntsman at all times, reliably rating hounds from within gorse and away from areas where foxes went to ground.

Teamwork and communication between our local, tightknit sab groups was excellent.”

A marvellous Mendip sab said:

“It’s sickening that four hunts have the audacity to openly celebrate twenty years of illegally killing foxes in a national park by clubbing together to kill more foxes. But when hunts join together, so will sab groups, and it’s imperative for us to show strength and solidarity and support local groups defending wildlife in the inhospitable Dartmoor terrain.”

A plucky Plymouth & West Devon Sab said:

“The Duchy of Cornwall and Dartmoor National Park continue to allow hunts to subvert the Hunting Act on Dartmoor. It is left to sabs to do what they can to prevent the killing of foxes. But sabs cannot prevent the damage that dozens of horses hounds and quadbikes will have done to the waterlogged delicate ecosystem. The authorities on Dartmoor need to step up.”

Back us up! Support your local groups:
Devon County Sabs
Plymouth & West Devon Hunt Sabs
Mendip Hunt Sabs
South Devon Hunt Sabs

20 years later, they’re still hunting, so we’re still sabbing!