What is deer hunting?
Deer hunting involves hounds being used to track stags or hinds for long distances before the hunt, following on horseback and quad bikes, kill the exhausted animal.
The hunts use absurd exemptions in the hunting ban which allow them to pretend to be ‘rescuing’ animals from suffering or conducting ‘scientific research’.
What happens during a hunt?
Hunts can take up to six hours and can cover more than ten miles. The stag will flee from the hounds in intermittent, desperate, bursts of speed before the exhausted animal stops, ‘stands at bay’ to face its tormentors, and the hunt shoot it with a shotgun.
These animals have been failed by weak legislation and are at risk of being forgotten by lawmakers.
When is the deer hunting season?
The red deer hunting season takes place from August to April in both Devon and Somerset, where the three remaining staghound hunts still chase and kill deer, targeting stags and hinds at different times of the year.
Join us in calling on the government to remove all the loopholes in the Hunting Act being exploited by hunts and to introduce prison sentences to act as a deterrent and to protect the forgotten victims of hunting with dogs.
How can I help end deer hunting?
- Contact your MP and ask them to urge their party to help strengthen the Hunting Act and remove the exemptions being exploited by hunts
- Join one of our Campaigners Against Cruel Sports Groups on Facebook or Circle to help us raise awareness of deer hunting
- Share this page on your social media