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ITS TIME TO SMASH THE HUNT
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Many people pose the question; "how do you sab a hunt?". You basically have to play the part of the huntsman (The bloke who you would see in a redcoat, who has the hounds and blows the horn), but of course not hunt the animal. Sabs who can blow a horn (which is quite hard to do so) have a horn, which can control the hounds ie; calling the hounds to the sabs rather than the hunt. This can prove succesful if you know the horn calls of each hunt; The calls we use differ from hunt to hunt but two basic rules can be applied............FAST CALLS ........ are used to hunt the hounds on and to make them run faster SLOW CALLS ...... are used to either slow or stop the hounds, draw out of coverBefore using the horn, or any tactic for that matter we always check and listen to the huntsman’s calls and the hounds.
When you hear the hounds barking and squealing, this is when they are in 'cry'. This is normally when the hounds are on a scent of the animal. To get the hounds to slow up and lose the scent, we use citronella sprays to make a break in the scent of a fox. Citronella is not a toxic liquid; it is natural and does not damage to the hounds are any other animal/human.
Another way of getting the hounds to stop working on a scent of an animal is to shout variuos calls which the huntsman will use if the hounds are chasing something they should not be (eg - der or a cat). "LEAVE IT", "HEADS UP" and "GET ON BACK" are calls we use to confuse hounds and stop them hunting when they are on to the animal. A series of "ON,ON,ON,ON" and "COME ON, COME ON, COME ON" calls will make the hounds hunt if sabs have hounds. You must be careful when doing this incase you hunt them on to an animal! There are also hunting horn calls to hunt the hounds, and vise versa when you want hounds to get off a scent. Another way to stop hounds from running after the animal, are whips. The whips we use are home made, and when cracked in front of hounds, the main of the time it will turn them around the other way.
If you are lucky enough, you may even get time to feed the hounds. Cornwall Hunt Sabs feed hounds on bourbon and digestive biscuits, which they love - and are of course vegan. Hounds are normaly not fed a day before a hunt, so they will stay with sabs longer if they think they have food, as understandably they are hungry.
Pre-meeting takes place before the hunt (usually a foxhunt) sets off from the meet, it is done to clear any animals from the surrounding area and to give them a much greater chance of escape. Many foxhunts hunt the same wood/area in the same order every time they meet, this means with local knowledge the hunt’s actions can be quite predictable and our pre-meeting can be organised around this predictability. We will firstly clear the wooded areas of any animals, this is called `pre-beating’. A line can be formed across a wood and this will act as a beat line, rather like in shoots.
The line will then advance through the wood and make enough noise to scare any animals out of the wood, whilst advancing `antimate’ can be sprayed to dull any scents which are in the wood. Blocked badger setts and fox earths can also be cleared but you must be careful to only unblock ones which are undigable, ones which are in very hard ground or under large trees etc. All the animals must be beaten out and away from the meet, they must be cleared far enough away so that they do not return immediately. Finally, rook scarers (bangers on string) can be placed in woods to make enough noise to scare the animals away, this is useful to do if there are insufficient saboteurs to beat through the woods.
IT MUST BE NOTED THAT SOME GROUPS DO NOT FEEL THAT PRE-MEETING A HUNT IS BENEFICIAL TO THE HUNTED ANIMAL, BUT, IT IS TOTALLY UP TO THE INDIVIDUAL/GROUP
AND WHAT ACTUALLY WORKS ON THEIR HUNTS.
A few tips when out sabbing a hunt. If you ever see a the quarry of which the hunt is hunting, never point at it. That animals life could be in danger if you do so. If hunt supporters see you point, they will see the animal and scream to indicate that they have seen the animal; which may be killed by the hunt. If you see a red ribbon on a horses tail, this indicates that the horse kicks and you should avoid walking behind it! A green ribbon on the tail signifies that the horse’s rider is a novice.
Many people dont understand what certain words or sayings mean, which are frequently used by hunt supporters. The meanings are below.
The 'Meet'. This is where the hunt meets its riders, supporters and of course the hounds before setting off to kill wildlife. These meets differ everytime the hunt meets - it may be at a farm, pub, crossroads or on common land/moors.
The 'Whip'. This is a shorter name for the whipper in.
'Covert'. Pronounced 'cover', another name for a wood or forest.
'Draw'. When the hounds are placed in to the wood to find the animal to be hunted, they are said to be drawing the wood.
In 'Cry', 'Speaking' or 'in tongue'. Where the hounds are barking and squealing fast while on the scent of and chasing the quarry.
'Riot'. Rioting occurs when the hounds are chasing after an animal which is not meant to be chased. Forexample, this may be a cat or duck.
'Charlie' or 'Basil'. This is another name for a fox.
'Chop'. This occurs when the hounds run strait on to an animal and kill it without the chase.
'Hacking'. This is another name for horse riding.
'Line' or 'heel line'. The line is the invisible scent which has been left by the hunted animal and is being followed by the hounds. The hounds are normally in cry when doing this. The heel line is when hounds follow the line the wrong way, away from the hunted animal.
'Holding up'. When a hunt surrounds a wood or covert and then places the hounds in it to hunt.
'Blank'. This is when the hunt does not find an animal to hunt after drawing a wood, covert ot field.
DO'S AND DONT'S
DO;
Stand still if the hunted animal comes towards you.
Always stay in a group whilst looking for the hunt.
Always tell others sabs what you see.
Follow the country code - close all gates.
Have one horn blower and one caller.
DONT;
Point to a hunted animal.
Call or hunt hounds on to danger spots - eg roads or railway lines.
Hit hounds or horses.
All scream and shout when the hounds are coming towards you.
Of course these are just a few basic points, but need taking note of!
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