HUNT SABBOTEURS ASSOCIATION SAY THE STAG HUNTING SEASON IS FAST APPROACHING

View this email in your browser Hi, Supporter The Autumn Stag Hunting Season Is Fast Approaching In less than a few weeks the stag hunting season will begin, with the three remaining stag hunts in the south west, heading out to terrorise and kill mature autumn stags. This will continue until the end of October when they switch their sights to hinds. The autumn stag hunting season focuses on more mature stags, usually at least four years of age. Naturally these stags will be bigger than those terrorised in the spring and hunts will be looking to claim a trophy, targeting those with larger antlers, some of which will still be in velvet after the rutting season. Last season North Dorset Hunt Sabs witnessed this stag running for its life from the Quantock Staghounds. Unfortunately, each season there are more and more reports of the depravity of these hunters and the pain and terror they inflict upon these beautiful animals. In 2023 The Independent featured an article about the Quantock Staghounds, who, on the 23rd of October, chased a stag onto National Trust land. Sabs present on the day spoke of how they witnessed the stag running past them “in a terrible state, gasping for breath with his tongue hanging out, eyes bulging in terror.” Footage from this day can be found here. This stag should have been safe once he had entered National Trust land, however some riders and a supporter on a bike trespassed onto the land and the stag was pushed out towards Holsey Combe. At 6:30pm a monitor reportedly heard a gunshot; however, the kill was never confirmed. The hunt was back in the same area a few days later and killed a stag very early in the day. It is suspected that this was the same stag who was still recovering from the ordeal merely days earlier. The stag was moved off National Trust land, where he should have been safe, by the sadistic Quantock Staghounds. On the 21st August 2025 the Devon and Somerset Staghounds, who the HSA exposed in June for extreme cruelty towards a hind, killed and carved up a stag for their American guests. However, prior to the butchering of this stag, they had forced him to endure a three-hour chase before he could no longer go on and was shot. The hunt then tried to conceal themselves beneath a tree while they carved his body up for trophies and threw bits to the waiting hounds. Sickeningly followers were witnessed leaving with pieces of the stag in carrier bags. For over twenty years the Devon & Somerset staghounds have been breaking the law and terrorising stags, enabled by loopholes and exemptions within the current Hunting Act. © North Dorset Hunt Sabs Autumn stag hunting, as with cub hunting, takes place earlier in the day before conditions become too warm. Autumn stags will be larger due to a summer of good feeding, and will be weighed down by their large antlers. This married with the exhaustion from rutting means these stags are not able to endure a prolonged chase and will push themselves to the extreme in order to try and escape the depraved hunts. A stag’s lifeless body is hauled onto the back of a quad before being carved up. This video shows a collection of footage from the 2024 autumn stag hunting season and exposes just how barbaric it is. The hunts will use tactics such as driving quads/vehicles towards a stag to try and manipulate his direction of travel while riders and supporters will line roads and the surrounding hills. Hounds will be relayed in pairs to keep them fresh to ensure that the hunt can continue to chase the chosen stag for their own amusement. All of this is employed for the callous people who have no regard for wildlife or the law. Loopholes and exemptions in the law are allowing stag hunts to get away with abhorrent levels of animal cruelty. Thanks to the tireless work of sabs, stag hunting continues to be exposed and lives are saved. If you have any information regarding the three remaining stag hound packs then please contact the HSA. The information in this article was thanks to the hard work of North Dorset Hunt Sabs and Mendip Hunt Sabs. Join the Hunt Saboteurs Association! Support our vital work by becoming a member. Join The HSA Spread the word! Please share our news Share via email Facebook icon Instagram icon Twitter icon Logo Copyright (C) 2026 Hunt Saboteurs Association. All rights reserved. You were subscribed to the newsletter from Hunt Saboteurs Association. Our mailing address is: BM HSA, London, WC1N 3XX, U.K. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe