Hunt Saboteurs: Video shows man shooting 'exhausted' stag after alleged 10-mile chase - as police investigate

Warning: This story and video contain graphic content which may be distressing.

Anti-hunting activists have released shocking footage of a huntsman shooting an exhausted stag dead as it lies in a stream.

The Hunt Saboteurs Association say the incident was recorded on 20 April in Exmoor National Park, and involved dozens of members of the Devon and Somerset Staghounds hunt pursuing their quarry with horses, hounds, and quadbikes. Hunting any mammal - including deer - with a pack of hounds is illegal under the 2004 Hunting Act, although there are some exceptions.

The footage, taken by Hunt Saboteurs members, shows them crossing a field into a copse of trees, where they encounter a group of men they allege to be members of the hunt. What appears to be a red deer stag can be seen lying in a shallow stream with its head raised, looking at the people around it. The Hunt Saboteurs try to persuade the men to let it go, before one raises a rifle and shoots it. The men then drag its body up the hill, as the person filming can be heard sobbing.

The Hunt Saboteurs Association allege that the stag was one of several pursued by the hunt that day, and had been chased across the national park for three hours before its death. A spokesperson told SWNS that the whole day showed “what a tangled mess” current hunting laws were.

“Legislation allows stag hunts to pick and choose whichever legal exemption suits them each day of their disgraceful spectator blood sport,” they said. “The murdered stag was clearly exhausted, as he struggled to jump multiple fences while being chased, all while hounds are relayed to stack the odds hugely against the hunted animal.”

The campaigners said that stag hunts “bend the rules” imposed by the Hunting Act, by using motorised vehicles like quad or motorbikes. Stag hunts sometimes claimed to be carrying out ‘research’ by hunting stags, which is allowed under the law, which they added was “a complete joke”. NationalWorld has contacted the hunt for comment.

A Devon and Cornwall Police spokesperson told NationalWorld they were investigating a report of a stag being chased by hounds and later shot on land in the Twitchen area of North Devon, between 11.30am and 5pm, on Saturday (20 April).

The force is urging anyone who might have witnessed the incident, or who has any information or dashcam footage that could help with enquiries, to please contact police via their website here, or by calling 101 - quoting reference number 50240101337.

The 20-year-old Hunting Act has faced scrutiny in recent months, with accusations of hunters exploiting other legal loopholes to hunt wildlife with dogs. Scotland has recently introduced new legislation aimed at closing some of these loopholes, which has seen a number of arrests.

”In March, Police Chief Matt Longman commented on national news that the Hunting Act was in fact unworkable, due to loopholes in legislation,” the Hunt Saboteurs Association spokesperson added. The Labour Party had vowed to ban hunting with packs of dogs altogether, including drag hunts where hounds follow a pre-arranged scent trail - which sometimes see pets or wildlife accidentally killed.

Mature stags are hunted from early August until the end of October, before the hinds (females) are chased in November, the Hunt Sabs say. Young stags are chased from the beginning of March until the end of April, while the roe deer hunts continue into May.