The hunting if hares with dogs is not illegal but the trespassing on private land is.
I have no end of trouble with these scumbags every year and have now decided to leave them alone and call the police when they appear.
About two years ago I was shooting pigeons on one of the farms (because it wasn't flyable weather!) and a van full of coursers and dogs drove into the farm yard and unloaded. Two of the blokes had video cameras and were filming the dogs who soon set off across the field in pursuit of a hare. I naturally felt rather pissed off about these unwanted guests and fired at a couple of pigeons that weren't actually flying past. What a mistake that was.
I became embroiled in a full scale argument with 6 rough looking pikeys and they filmed the whole scene. I found it harder and harder to remain polite and eventually told them to go back to the hole they had been raised in and to leave me alone.
I walked back towards the farm yard where my vehicle was and had to put up with 5 minutes of abuse as they followed 10 yards behind. I got in the car and drove off. My tyres had already been slashed. I was going nowhere.
This was a source of great amusement to them. I had to eventually walk home to get away from them and had to leave them to trespass. The police were not interested in my plight.
If they come near you the best thing to do is say nothing. Absolutely nothing. These guys have the intelligence of a labour party tea boy and the personal hygiene of a Greek sewer rat. They are scum but just make sure you don't tell them or you'll become Gengis the Paraplegic Engineer in a very short space of time. Do not underestimate their temperaments. They are evil in numbers.
Just make them aware that you are watching them. If they are far enough away, take a photo of them. This usually works as they hate this. Even if you don't have a camera, pretend to take a picture with a small square object that could be mistaken for a camera at a distance.
I hate these types of people and I would dearly love to breed a hare that fights back. Besides, the more hares their dogs catch, the less there are for me to shoot
