Joint Masters:

Mrs Christine Compton, Micheldever near Winchester, Hampshire; tel no. (0962) 774476. Mr David Marshall, Burley, Ringwood, Hampshire; tel no. (0425) 402485. Mr Peter Barfoot, Fareham, Hampshire; tel. no (0489) 89813

Huntsman:

John Stride, the Kennels, New Park, Brockenhurst; tel no. (0590) 22203

Founded in 1854, the NFBH hunt fallow deer two days a week, Mondays and Fridays, in the New Forest from August to April with a month off in October. They are allowed to hunt in the New Forest under the terms of a licence from the Forestry Commission, a government agency, which also supplies at least two keepers to select which deer is to be hunted and to supervise the kill. These keepers are paid by the Forestry Commission while out with the hunt so that in effect the taxpayer is paying for them to help the hunt find and kill deer.

• November 1987:the Deer Protection Council call on the Forestry Commission to investigate the hunt after a buck is whipped on to provide further sport when it stopped, exhausted, after a 2½ hour chase. The terrified animal was pursued for a further 2 hours before it was killed.
• October 1988:the hunt are reprimanded by the Forestry Commission after they invaded Setthorns campsite while chasing a buck. Furious complaints from the campers forced the Forestry Commission to take action.
• October 1989:the hunt hit the headlines after huntsman John Chalke, 48, is sacked for "setting up a country lovenest" (Sunday Mirror 22/10/89) with 21-year old Tina Marshall, daughter of Joint Master David Marshall. He is replaced by John Stride, the current huntsman.
• March 1991:Huntsman John Stride jumps off his horse onto a fleeing buck and wrestles it to the ground. Saboteurs who attempt to intervene are beaten up by hunt staff and supporters. Stride shoot the deer, holding the gun less than a foot from a protester's head. The Forestry Commission does nothing about the breach of firearms regulations.
• April 1991: New Forest District Council call on the Forestry Commission to ban the Buckhounds from the New Forest.
• November 1991: Two hounds killed on Bournemouth-Waterloo railway line at Ashurst, Hampshire after huntsman loses control of the pack. Train services were disrupted for over an hour.
• January 1st 1992:15 men beat up a lone saboteur who is taken to hospital by ambulance where he receives treatment for severe head wounds.
• June 1992:Southampton Itchen MP John Denham, presents to the House of Commons a petition signed by 36,563 residents of the and visitors to the New Forest calling on the government to ban deerhunting in the Forest.
• August 1992:New Forest Buckhounds Huntsman John Stride convicted of assault and criminal damage at Lymington Magistrates' Court after attacking a saboteur with his whip in November 1991 near Burley, Hamp- shire.
• 21st September 1992: 10-15 hounds run riot on a fox sanctuary run by wildlife photographer Eric Ashby, 74, at Linwood in the New Forest, terrifying the rescued foxes and causing great distress to Mr Ashby and his wife.
• March 1993:New Forest Buckhounds are among several hunts across Britain exposed by the League Against Cruel Sports as participating in a tax fiddle involving the huntsman selling carcasses of dead animals in cash-only deals without declaring the profits to the Inland Revenue.
• September 1994:Hunt rider, landlord of the Hobbler pub near Lymington and the Turfcutter's Arms near Boulder, assaults a saboteur, causing injuries to his ear and hearing loss.
• November 1994: Members of the hunt are filmed sitting on a terrified deer while they wait for the huntsman to arrive with his pistol. The huntsman shoots the terrified creature and the carcass is then dragged into a nearby field where it is dismembered for "trophies" to be given to hunt members and the innards tipped out for the hounds to eat. The huntsman washes his heavily-bloodstained arms in a puddle. One hunt supporter pays the huntsman for the deer's hoof (or "slot" in hunting terminology) which he will keep as a grisly souvenir.
• 13th January 1995:The hunt chase a deer for over six miles before hounds finally bring the wretched creature to bay in a stream. Hunt master David Marshall and a hunt supporter hold the struggling deer underwater, with the master holding the poor animal's head under with his foot. By the time John Stride, the huntsman, arrives to shoot the deer, it has stopped struggling and is believed to have drowned. Stride shoots it anyway and the body is dragged off down the stream with blood pouring from its mouth, as the water is stained red. The body is left lying on the floor while the hunt laugh and joke as they wait for a hunt vehicle to arrive to remove it. The corpse is then unceremoniously slung in the back of the vehicle and driven away to be cut up for trophies.
• Joint Master Peter Barfoot told the Lymington Advertiser "Everything was exactly as it should have been...as far as I'm concerned that film is representative of what we do when we go hunting." He added "The Forestry Commission keeper was happy with the kill." If this is indeed the case, the keeper should be sacked forthwith.