Thanks to a kind tip off by a member of the public our group was spared the early start and boredom that goes with watching the kennels for a hunt meet. We still had to be up and about at 5am to pick up the gang. We arrived in Hunton at 7am but decided to wait until the hunt actually set off to avoid them deviating from their plans. Our timing could not have been better as we first spotted the hunt 200 metres from the meet Elphicks Farm, on their way to the first wood.

The huntsman cast his hounds into the wood at the back of Hunton School. It did not take long before the hounds started to cry indicating that they were onto the scent of a fox. Checking our local surroundings (closeness to roads and motor vehicles) we decided to play the gizmo (an amplified recording of hounds in cry). A few minutes passed and then approximately half the pack came running out of the wood towards us. The hunt managed to get the hounds back so we played the gizmo again and the hounds came running out of the woods again. The hunt then decided to move on so nine of the group followed whilst the driver of the van stayed behind keeping in contact via the CB radio.

The hunt had a similar problem at the next wood with the hounds wanting to pay a visit to the black clad saboteurs courtesy of a very loud gizmo.

A little time passed before the hunt crossed the road towards Buston Manor and surrounded a wood. The wood was on Lughorse Lane, a small quiet road that soon became blocked with riders and hunt supporters so we were able to call the hounds out without any risk to their safety. We used the gizmo and the horn this time plus voice calls. A third of the pack came running out straight away with others following shortly. Any hounds called back by the hunt were soon replaced by other hounds "interested" in our noises. This carried on for at least half an hour seriously disrupting their hunting. No hounds - no kill!

When the hunt finally moved on we met up with a police landrover. As expected we were stopped and asked for our details. They were however polite - this was a welcome change for our group.

The rain was now turning from drizzle to heavy rain but this did not deter us, and just as well. This was because just as we bailed out of the van a fox crossed the group's path. The sabs immediately covered the ground with lemon spray to dull the scent. This worked an absolute treat as the hounds lost the scent when they neared the sprayed ground.

A little later we briefly managed to get the whole pack off the huntsman using the gizmo and voice calls. We did not have them for long but long enough for the fox get out of the area.

The last wood hunted was very small and completely surrounded by hunt followers. The gaps between the field and followers were far too small to call hounds out so we decided to sit and wait. The hounds got onto a scent but it was probably from a fox that had moved on as the hounds only went into cry intermittently.

At approximately 10.45am the huntsman blew for home but we were not going to budge until the terrier men were packing up. The police intervened and "escorted" us back to our van. We returned to the original meet to check that the hunt were packing up and then satisfied that the "main hunt" was over we returned to the last wood they had hunted. We needed to see if the terrier men had returned to continue their "activities". Luckily everything was quiet and the day was over.

The day was not over for us though! Our driver accidentally drove into a concealed block of concrete down a narrow lane that blew the front tyre. We then discovered that our spanner did not fit the wheel nuts. Fortunately the nice people of Hunton, who had displayed tremendous support throughout the day, came to our rescue - who said this was a town versus country issue? A very nice man lent us his personal tools and his brute force to help change the tyre. We would like to say a big thank you to this gentleman for his help and for restoring our faith in humanity.

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