Pressure on Boughton estate after hunt kills hare in shocking footage

Pipewell Foot Beagles killed hare in January 2025

Pipewell Foot Beagles (PFB) were filmed setting their hounds on a hare on 25 January. Northamptonshire's Boughton House and Estate says it has temporarily suspended PFB activity on its land after the shocking footage of the incident circulated on social media. However, local people are asking why it took so long, as they have been warning the Estate for years about wildlife crime being committed on their land.

As well as the PFB, the Boughton Estate regularly hosts the Pytchley with Woodland (PwW) Hunt too. In fact they employ George Whittaker who reportedly used to be huntmaster for the Pytchley. They haven't banned the PwW from using the estate, despite the fact that there have been multiple complaints about the Pytchley chasing foxes in breach of the Hunting Act. In fact, a concerned local resident called the police to the estate just five days before the killing of the hare. She told us that she had to physically intervene to prevent the Pytchley's hounds from killing a fox.

The Estate has spent years enabling the hunts to use their grounds. Locals report that an employee of the Estate always escorts the hunts around the estate on hunting days, stays with them throughout the day and monitors all their activities. The Estate employee follows the hunts in a four-wheel-drive vehicle, often opening and closing gates for them. On the day that the hare was killed, the PFB started their meet inside the Estate's land.

A viral video that got the estate worrying about their reputation

This footage from the 25 January shows the killing of the hare by the pack of hounds. It isn't graphic, but it is upsetting.

The hunting of hares is prohibited by the Hunting Act 2004. Protect the Wild has seen graphic images from the aftermath of the incident, when the same local person was able to photograph the hare's mutilated corpse.

A "systemic" problem

The member of the public who witnessed the killing told Protect the Wild that it "wasn't an isolated incident". In fact, she said, it was a "systemic problem" of the estate covering up illegal activity by the two hunts

Huntmaster Rachael Lenton and huntsman Ed Turner, before the killing

The matter was reported to the police. More importantly. the video was shared on social media.

This isn't the first time that the PFB have been caught hunting hares. On 26th October 2024, Northants Hunt Saboteur witnessed "a hare fleeing with [the PFB's] beagles in close proximity in cry". Police were called on this occasion too. This particular incident didn't happen on the Estate's grounds, but nearby.

Once the video from the 25 January started going viral, Boughton House and Estate decided to do some damage limitation. They made the following statement via their Facebook page:

"We are aware of an incident which took place while the Pipewell Foot Beagles were undertaking legal exercise on the Boughton Estate over the weekend.

We have been in touch with organisers for the Pipewell Foot Beagles and the Police to understand what happened and any next steps. Until the matter is resolved, exercise by the Pipewell Foot Beagles has been suspended on the estate."

No faith in Boughton Estate's sincerity

We hope that Boughton House's suspension of the PFB will be permanent, and that they will ban the PwW too. But, to be honest, we don't have much faith that the estate owners will take the matter seriously. The owner of the estate, the Duke of Buccleuch, is from a hunting family, to say the very least. In fact, the guy even has a Scottish hunt named after him. The Duke and the estate allow both the PFB and the PwW to use their lands, and they should know by now that what's going on isn't just trail hunting. Members of the public have warned them about it repeatedly, and matters have been reported to the police many times.

Furthermore, the local person that we spoke to told us that the PwW is the more prolific abuser of wildlife, and they're still allowed to hunt on the Estate, with the help of the Pytchley's former huntmaster.

We contacted the Boughton Estate and asked them why they hadn't acted earlier to prevent illegal hunting on their land? And why they didn't ban the PwW too? We hadn't received a reply, however, by the time of this article's publication.

Plenty of warning

The Boughton Estate's owners have had ample warning that illegal hunting is happening on their land. On 4 November the same member of the public was witnessing another day of hunting by the PwW. By chance, she encountered the Duke of Buccleuch out walking his dog. She provided us with a recording of her conversation where she warned the Duke that illegal hunting was regularly taking place on the estate, that the estate managers knew about it and were doing nothing. The Duke promised to look into it.

She was certain that the PwW were up to more than just trail hunting, precisely because of what she had already witnessed on the estate. On 17 October 2024 she had captured a recording of another conversation between huntmaster Lewis Chutter and his whipper-in. A whipper-in is someone employed by the hunt to bring straying hounds back to the pack. Chutter is expressing frustration, and is heard saying:

“I can fucking get them [the dogs] in! you go find me a fox"

You can view the video here. Chutter's words are clearly audible for 00.43 (turn your sound up loud though):

Silencing dissent

Protect the Wild has seen correspondence between the member of the public, the Estate and the police going back more than two years. The correspondence shows that the Estate's managers had been made fully aware on several occasions that illegal hunting was going on. They didn't do anything to stop it, in fact the only steps they took were aimed at trying to prevent the public seeing what was going on.

The same member of the public had made a police complaint about the PwW chasing a fox on the estate on the 12 February 2024. The Estate manager's response was to write her a letter banning her from coming onto the Estate's land, except to make use of its public areas.

She had made similar complaints about the PwW committing wildlife crimes on 17 January 2023 and 11 November 2022. At the incident in January 2023 she witnessed an Estate employee opening and closing gates for the hunt. When she complained, his response was to ask her to leave the area.

Later in 2023, she made complaints to the police about incidents of aggressive behaviour towards her and others by the same Estate employee. The employee attended a voluntary interview with the police in January 2024.

She told Protect the Wild:

"I've tried to do this through all the correct channels. They [the Estate] have actively allowed, enabled and facilitated wildlife crimes committed by the Pytchley with Woodland Hunt and the Pipewell Foot Beagles over many hunting seasons, and actively disengaged with witnesses who have evidence of such offences.

They have continued to ignore the complaints from members of the public about the activities of these hunts. I know that others have reported it to [the Estate manager] too. But he has just been very dismissive and allowed these hunts to continue using the estate, despite knowing that they are engaged in illegal activity."

"Caught in the act"

Northants Hunt Saboteurs (NHS) don't have much faith in the Boughton Estate either, they posted on their Facebook:

"Boughton House are only now speaking publicly about "An incident" after they have been exposed for hosting and allowing illegal hare hunting to take place on their land last Saturday.

We wonder....Would they have come out with this statement if we hadn't posted the damning footage that shows a brave member of the public exposing the Pipewell Foot Beagles killing an innocent hare?

The Pipewell Foot Beagles have been caught in the act along with the very establishment that hosts them to carry out illegal hare hunting."

NHS are calling on their supporters to contact Boughton House and complain about the incident.

Protect the Wild hopes that the public keep up the pressure on the Boughton Estate to stop its lands being used for illegal hunting. The Estate has known for years that the hunts are doing more than just trail hunting, and they haven't stopped it. Now is the time to make sure that they finally do.

• Follow Northants Hunt Saboteurs via Facebook, Instagram and X

• Donate to NHS here.

• Read our proposals for a real ban on hunting here.

• Read more about Boughton Estate on our bloodbusiness.info website

Video and featured images gratefully received from members of the public by Protect the Wild.

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