I might be thick but is there a point to fox hunting ?

Question

Do you get a prize or is it like football you get points for killing a fox and the one with the most points gets a trophy. Also can you kill them in any manner or do you have to go charging around the country side on a horse, because surely with modern vehicles and sat nav etc. you could speed the whole event up.

Answer 1

My family have farmed for generations and I have no problem whatsoever shooting foxes, especially during the lambing season. Many Townies, including those who have recently moved to the countryside with their 4 x 4's,have no idea of what a viscious predator a fox can be and have certainly not seen the bloody destruction they can cause.

Shooting may sound a lot more humane than hunting foxes with horses, but most people don't have a clue how difficult this can often be. If you only wound a fox you can turn it into a totally crazed killer so you have to make sure of a clean shot which means getting within effective range - if you're armed with a rifle at the time it's not so much of a problem, but most farmers only have shotguns - a 4-10 has a killing range of about 20 meters and a 12 bore a range of about 70 meters if you pack your own cartridges. Now factor in the fact that a great deal of a the fox's activity is nocturnal and you'll see why going for a walk with a dog and a shotgun is not very effective. Even with a rifle and infra red sights at night you're lucky to see one and accidents can occur,as when a smallish dog wandered into the wrong place at the wrong time about three years ago on my cousin's farm.

I'll assume that most people will agree with me that leaving poisoned bait or traps around is not a great idea, so what's left? I don't hunt on horseback myself, but it does provide service in the countryside,much as rat catchers do in town. The major difference between the two is that rat catchers are seen as at the bottom end of the working class, whilst hunting is seen as socially exclusive, which it is not in most hunts.

Answer 2

Fox hunters would say that there is a point - vermin control, job creation for the workers associated with the horses and dogs etc, and a jolly good day out!

I was interested to see that at the time the ban was introduced, we heard all these woeful tales of how many people would be laid off because it was banned and how a little bit of our cultural history was being consigned to the dust bin, blah, blah, blah.

However, none of this has happened. The dogs are still alive, a form of hunting still goes on where they chase a scented rag as if it was the fox and no animals are harmed which just goes to prove that if it was for the thrill of the chase, nothing has been lost but for people who continue to bemoan its passing, it was for the actual killing of the fox that they enjoyed it.

It actually made me laugh out loud at the time when there was an interview on tv with some bloke or other with his horse-faced wife and equally horse-faced kids whining on that banning foxhunting was going to positively ruin their family time together. What would they do if they didn't have the hunt? ......What? So he meant to say that his idea of a fun family day out was hunting a defenceless animal down until it was utterly exhausted and then watch dogs rip it limb from limb? What did they do for an encore? Go around chopping little babies' heads off? Surely they could think of something else they could do together? Like riding their horses still but not actually slaughtering anything at the end of it.

Answer 3

Hunting in general and mounted hunting in particular was, in the old days, a form of military training. It improved horsemanship and stamina. Hunting also acquainted the hunter with terrain and made them familiar with their local geography. The hunt followers would not only follow the hunt in peace time, but would follow their lord into battle in wartime.

Naturally there has to be something to hunt. Most of the big game in England (wolf, bear and wild boar) was soon driven into extinction. Deer and smaller game had to be managed by game-keepers. The creature that offered the main sport when hunting with horse and hound was the humble fox. Hence the tradition continued.

Driving and satellite navigation may well speed up the hunt but that is not the point. Hunting is still good military training (regardless of the fact that the horse is no longer used in war).

If you really wanted to control fox and deer numbers in the UK by natural means, the re-introduction of the wolf would be a solution to both problems. Wolf not only predicate the deer, but drive out and kill any foxes they catch.

Answer 4

OK before the other idiots give you the wrong impression. fox will kill everything it can get its mouth around. in a few years 2 or 3 fox can kill every small animal with in several miles of their home. not good for the other animals and hunting. they are fast and in the old days they would get a group together on horses and hunt them to keep the wild game in the area. in 2 years you couldn't find any small game in my area until the fox were killed...sorry for the fox but that is the Truth.......

Answer 5

I have in the passed owned my own horse and a friend of mine who's father owned a riding stables allowed his daughter to go on a fox hunt at 16 years of age. When she came back she told me that someone cut the tail off the fox and as it was her first hunt dobbed the tail against her brow as part of some initiation, some of the fox's blood was left on her forehead. I asked her how this had made her feel, to see the fox killed and everthing. She seemed ok with it all.

I don't agree with it... a living animal is used because they simply need something to chase, it is cruel because we live in a democratic state full of animal lovers and drag hunting is just as good. Why can't we promote that more. Besides often the fox escapes and dies of exhaustion. Lets all dress up in fox's outfits and give chase at some of those huntsmen and women see if they like to run till they breathe their last breath then get ripped to pieces all in an afternoons fun and games........

Fox power please...............I am also a countryside fan.

Answer 6

It's a purely traditional sport and is deeply ingrained in countryside culture. There are arguements for and against it. I don't agree with it myself and feel foxes should be controlled in a more humane manner but the hunting ban has probably meant a lot of horses and dogs have had to be put down or rehomed. It's a shame that drag hunting isn't as popular.

Answer 7

Advocates will try to convince you that it's not so much about killing a fox, more about the sport of the riding and the sound of the hounds and lots of other things. They will also tell you that it's more humane than shooting foxes (which is still legal) in order to control their numbers, because a rifle or a shotgun can kill many of them in one day, but "The Hunt" will take many fewer.
But check out how they train the hounds - on fox-cubs, only a few weeks old. Real humane, that.

Personally, I don't see why they can't get the horsey-fun with dogs around just by drag-hunting (laying a scent in advance for the hounds to follow)

Answer 8

The only point (although they won't admit it) for fox hunters is that it supposedly makes them feel 'big' or 'manly'. Wow, your so courageous chasing a terrified innocent creature along with about 50 other people. The reality is they are a bunch of psychopathic cowards.

I haven't been to a real hunt but I have seen footage of one and let me tell you it is utterly stomach-churning. If the hunt is a 'success' the unfortunate fox will be chased for miles until it is completely exhausted and is then literally ripped apart, limb from limb by a pack of hungry dogs, after which the hunters cheer their 'victory'.

In short, it is completely barbaric and belongs in the dark ages.

Answer 9

The bulk of those out "hunting" never get near the fox. Most are out for a social day on horseback.
I subscribe to the view that hunting as such should have been left alone and unfortunately too many people who have absolutely no idea what they're talking about make the most noise against it.

Answer 10

Here in Montana it is just for predator control, the fox does not have alot of natural enemies, in some areas it has none, so humans have to hunt them to keep the population under control,
the foxes can cause alot of problems for farmers and ranchers, the higher the population gets the more likely they are to go after chickens and other farm animals.