I cant make up my mind...thoughts on hunting

[KatieM84]

I can see both sides of the argument. I've heard of hunts having set up dens to encourage foxes to live in the area and feeding them which goes against the argument of pest control. Digging them out when they go to ground also doesn't seem very sporting. I want to go hunting this season, it will be my first time out. I do like the spectacle that hunting Is, the turnout of horse and rider, the ability to ride across the countryside. It's a tough one, I think because I really like foxes, I shoot other animals but foxes are a no. I think I'm just being sentimental. If it was a rabbit being hunted I would say it's nature. Sorry I've gone on a ramble haha. I think there are people on both sides that behave in appalling ways and I hope that is the few rather than the many.

 

[[139672]]

Anyone remember that really, really old film, The Belstone Fox? Remember watching it when I was about 10.

 

[IngramsRoughDiamond]

I am all for fox hunting, even more so since one followed me and my dogs on a recent evening walk and was trying to stalk and steal one of my tiny dogs

 

[MagicMelon]

I rarely venture in this particular forum since Im very anti. I was born and have lived in the (very rural) countryside my whole life. I very much live in a farming area, most of the kids at my sons school are farmers, I live very near a pheasant shooting estate, I have lost all our ducks to foxes, my OH's dad was a hunt master etc. so I totally understand the countryside ways.

However, I will never agree with the killing of animals. I understand to a degree that some animals might need to be controlled, however I very much do not agree with any enjoyment being had doing so... hunting falls under this category. It is a heap of people galloping about having a great time with the aim being a grim death of an animal after having been chased for who knows how long. That to me, is barbaric and I'm shocked it still continues in this day and age. No animal should be terrorised by a pack of dogs and galloping horses before its demise. It baffles me some people think this is ok. Im very lucky that where I live (NE Scotland) I never see hunting. I think there's a pack somewhere but its miles away thankfully. I dont believe hunts stick to the law by any means, there's far too much evidence to suggest otherwise therefore I believe an outright ban is absolutely necessary.

But hey, I'm the kind of person who wills the pheasants from the shoot down the road to come up to our house where they're safe - I even throw out bird food for them to try to encourage them to stay and avoid the slaughter caused by some nasty blokes (usually American it seems) paying a fortune to be driven around in 4x4's, drinking whisky and having a jolly old time maiming beautiful birds... It saddens me to my core to hear the shooting.

 

[spacefaer]

@MagicMelon
You are perfectly entitled to your opinion.

Slightly futile posting it in this section of the forum and not sure why you have felt the need to resurrect an old thread.

 

[Tiddlypom]

MagicMelon often comments on zombie threads as if they are current ones. I think she doesn’t notice the dates.

 

[zandp]

To be fair, I saw the thread pop up, liked some posts, got to page 4 before I noticed the date !!

 

[Foxterrierist]

The first time I heard the hounds I felt quite emotional. A very beautiful song, set my dogs off and my youngest one went beserk!

 

[Rebecca84]

I love hunting through and through, but would never attend a fox hunt. Drag hunts all the way!

Using foxes is completely unnecessary to me, and not what hunting is about. I enjoy letting loose and the social aspect of the hunt. For me, the presence of a fox adds nothing to the experience. I don’t understand why people feel a fox makes things more exciting, and even it does, it’s not worth it for the cruelty

 

[littlefluffball]

I love hunting through and through, but would never attend a fox hunt. Drag hunts all the way!

Using foxes is completely unnecessary to me, and not what hunting is about. I enjoy letting loose and the social aspect of the hunt. For me, the presence of a fox adds nothing to the experience. I don’t understand why people feel a fox makes things more exciting, and even it does, it’s not worth it for the cruelty

hmmm I would argue it IS what it is about considering that is what hunting is - we evolved to drag hunting - it is a relatively new concept. Not saying I agree with it but it is hunting. I don't know of anyone that feels they need a fox to make it more exciting but in Scotland hunting is still pest control so foxes are still being hunted - if we moved to drag hunting I think the same people would still hunt (and most likely more people who disagree with hunting a fox) I don't know of anyone who would decide to no longer hunt because they aren't hunting an actual fox. We don't have any drag or trail hunting here at all

 

[Bernster]

It seems a very odd and inefficient method of pest control to me. The two don’t need to coincide or continue imo, which is why I’m a drag hunting convert.

 

[palo1]

It seems a very odd and inefficient method of pest control to me. The two don’t need to coincide or continue imo, which is why I’m a drag hunting convert.

Well it is a bit immaterial really seeing as fox hunting has been banned for years but I would disagree about the 'oddness' and 'inefficiency' of it as pest control. It may not be the best way to kill huge numbers of foxes but it is exactly the method of balance that nature itself has designed. Foxes were once controlled by wolves and other predators in this country (including hounds) - once wolves etc were removed only hounds remained as predators of foxes. That probably wasn't sufficient in all honesty BUT it probably was the most balanced and safe method of fox control from the point of view of the natural ecosystem. So much work has been done on the incredible benefits of top predators in an ecosystem (the trophic cascade) that it is surprising that people still think that the number of animals culled by a predator is the most significant impact. People clearly and understandably find those who 'spectate' on fox hunting with hounds as cruel but the reality is that hounds as a predator are certainly no crueller than lions, crocodiles, Eagles, wolves etc which on the whole people support preservation of. I do get that the human element is perceived as unneccessary but the humans in a fox hunt are working with hounds as another predator. It might not be pretty but it IS natural from that perspective.

 

[Tiddlypom]

I don't know of anyone who would decide to no longer hunt because they aren't hunting an actual fox.

I do. A local MFH who gave up the mastership in disgust at the end of the season before last when his pack finally decided to trail hunt.

He ‘couldn’t see the point in trail hunting’. Though he’d declared to me not long before that, while he was still a master ‘Of course we are trail hunting’, when it was very obvious that they weren’t...