Odd hunting assumptions?

cptrayes

cptrayes

Well-Known Member
Joined
4 March 2008
Messages
14,748
Visit site
Does anyone else think it's odd that the Countryside Alliance keep saying that because there are 10% MORE people hunting now, that the ban on fox hunting with hounds needs to be repealed? Doesn't that just show what a latent demand there was for hunting (eg drag hunting) where sport was not being made out of chasing a wild animal?

And does anyone else get sick of the assumption that because they drag hunt they agree with Fox Hunting?
 
I get some odd assumptions but I'm not anti fox-hunting. I'm vegetarian, so get strange questions from both sides!

What do you mean, why don't you oppose hunting?? Er, well, I'm not going to eat the FOX, am I?
grin.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
I only hunt because they don't kill foxes anymore!

[/ QUOTE ]

Same here....I hunted regularly when I was a kid with the Percy in Morpeth but saw a kill first hand after 6 years of hunting and never went back. I only go now because I feel I can do so with a clear conscience....maybe mistaken as I'm sure foxes still do get killed
 
Same with me - I saw a fox running for its life, realised just what I was getting my entertainment from and never hunted fox again.

I love my drag hunting now and I feel sorry for all the people who started hunting because foxes weren't being chased if the law is now repealed and they have to stop. Not every area has a drag within reach.
 
Would love to drag hunt but am dead against fox hunting. I hope drags become more common as an alternative to fox hunting as everyone could have a go, there's no real moral issues to contend with, so it has a much wider potential. Although from what i have seen the ban hasn't been very well enforced so people carry on regardless. Which is a shame...
 
The shame is that a law has been passed by the biggest bunch of hypocrits everv to enter parliament.This law does nothing for the survival of the fox as a species, and as Prescott made clear, it was an attack on people he viewed as a "Class". I have hunted all my life ,and I live for the day this stupid ,classist legislation is flung out.
 
I read about a ' Boot Hunt ' some years ago - presume (?) much the same as draghunting . It sounded great , but I can't remember which area it was in . They even stopped for tea & cakes at a farmhouse !

They also had special days - a shorter run for older horses , one for nervous riders , one for young horses & a hell for leather one for the brave .
grin.gif
 
I do not have a liking for blood sports , but must agree , the ban seemed to me , a class thing .

John Prescott hates Norfolk ; it's an aquired taste admittedly , but I don't think Norfolk dwellers are that bothered
tongue.gif
 
Question to the people who have started hunting since the ban.....do you now hunt with established drag hunts or go out with your local pack who are having to trail hunt?

If the answer is the latter and the ban is repealed, will you cease hunting with your local pack?

Here, before the ban, we had a healthy population of foxes which were culled responsibly - since the ban, every single fox is shot - I don't think the fox faired very well at all thanks to the Animal Rights Groups and Labour Government.
 
I'd rather a fox be shot dead than chased for hours to exhaustion then killed. The ban hasn't made things worse for the population, stupid people have. The fox population in general seems pretty healthy to me tbh, we see loads round here. Apparently hunting is to keep the population down anyway, so if more are being killed by shooting then it should be happy days and a revelation for fox hunters who've wasted so many hours chasing the flaming things when a bullet can do a damned fine job in minutes!

I don't think it's a class thing, thats the most amusing argument i've heard yet
laugh.gif
made my night. Of course the image of posh toffs riding around chasing a fluffy fox is enough to provoke government legislation changes... they don't have anything more important to do than pick on the poor upper class. Not that hunting is class restricted anyway.
 
[ QUOTE ]
so if more are being killed by shooting then it should be happy days and a revelation for fox hunters who've wasted so many hours chasing the flaming things when a bullet can do a damned fine job in minutes!

.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sorry, I am confused. You are anti fox hunting but you are happy that the entire population are wiped out by shooting? You have amazing faith in the person holding the gun - are you sure that each and every shot kills a fox outright - "in minutes" ? Perhaps you should spend a few evenings lamping with your local Gamekeeper - just to get an idea of how it all works! Have you ever heard a litter of pups crying for nights and nights because the vixen has been shot?
 
[ QUOTE ]
I read about a ' Boot Hunt ' some years ago - presume (?) much the same as draghunting .

[/ QUOTE ]

That would be a Bloodhound Pack - there are still a few and one has just reformed. They hunt the 'clean boot' - i.e. a human runner - not a dragged scent. It's more difficult for hounds - and it's also a bit slower (bloodhounds aren't as fast as the foxhounds used in draghunting - and because the scent is weaker, they have to keep their noses down ALL the time - which slows them down a bit more.)
 
I hunt with an established draghunt - it has always been a draghunt, never a fox hunt. I would never fox hunt and cannot really understand the mentality. It is not the kill that bothers me - if any animal needs to be culled, then that should happen responsibly - it is the chase I couldn't stomach. Sorry, I would get no pleasure from chasing something smaller than me with dogs.
A
 
I dont believe that the people shooting them get a good shot everytime, so no doubt they suffer terribly! Which makes me feel worse than if they were put out of there misery by a pack of hounds.

Ive read some of the research coming from the governments working parties (?) and im sure that they said that fox hunting with hounds allows survival of the fitest (ie older and ill foxes) and that the young and healthy can get away!!
 
I suppose some people may have started due to the lack of a kill.
But all the "new recruits" I know started because they were so disgusted by the fact the Govt. thought they could just bulldoze a completely ridiculous Act through Parliment, that impacts so greatly on rural life, and that people would just sit there and take it.

I don't know anyone who hunts now because it's less cruel.
smile.gif


An even odder assumption I have come across is the one that I hunt because I derive some sadistic pleasure from the death of an animal.
smirk.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
I'd rather a fox be shot dead than chased for hours to exhaustion then killed.

[/ QUOTE ]

shooting a fox cleanly and so its instant death is very difficult and more often than not it will be maimed and die a slow painful death dying from a injury caused by shooting it. the fox being killed by the hounds is always quick not like shooting where it isnt always quick!
 
[ QUOTE ]

And does anyone else get sick of the assumption that because they drag hunt they agree with Fox Hunting?

[/ QUOTE ]
I think this is due to the fact that drag hunts usually speak up on behalf of their collective members that they are generally in full support of fox hunts, not a replacement for fox hunts and are in favor of scrapping the hunting ban.
 
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
so if more are being killed by shooting then it should be happy days and a revelation for fox hunters who've wasted so many hours chasing the flaming things when a bullet can do a damned fine job in minutes!

.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sorry, I am confused. You are anti fox hunting but you are happy that the entire population are wiped out by shooting? You have amazing faith in the person holding the gun - are you sure that each and every shot kills a fox outright - "in minutes" ? Perhaps you should spend a few evenings lamping with your local Gamekeeper - just to get an idea of how it all works! Have you ever heard a litter of pups crying for nights and nights because the vixen has been shot?

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm a realist. Of course i'm not happy for them to be shot, trapped, have dogs set on them or any other methods which i'm sure are used to kill them. But the most common argument pro hunting is that the population needs controlling, and people will still shoot and trap them even if hunting is legal. At least there's one less way for people to inflict terror and agony and eventual death on the poor creatures now. And of course a sensible person shooting a fox would go and finish the poor creature off, but people are inexplicably cruel.
 
Am I correct in thinking you are a younger forum member?

From your answer you unfortunately make it very clear that you have no experience and very little knowledge about this subject.
 
have never been lamping but I would imagine it would be very hard to actually find a fox once shot to 'finish it off' it being dark and the fox probably able to cover quite a distance in any given direction. So unless you had a dog to track it I don't think you would find it.
 
Shooting as a form of control is fine if it is carried out efficiently - which is not often the case. There is also no 'season' so foxes will be shot at any time of year including when vixens are feeding pups. Hunting with hounds will have stopped before the cubs are born.
 
QR it really isn't as easy as 'I shot a fox, I didn't kill it, I'll mosey on over to where I saw it and finish it off'.
I have been shooting for a long time and even very good shots find it difficult to get a clean kill with a rifle, much less a shotgun.
Equally difficult to track it with a dog because of current legislation!
For you guys in the mainland, anyhoo.

It can take hours to find an injured animal. Dogs kill by going for the back of the neck, bish bash bosh, the lead hound will have killed it in seconds and the fox is dead before they start to have a go at it.

My local pack haven't killed a fox or other quarry in about 20 years and the hounds always end up in villages miles away, doesn't stop people going out with them just because they are a bit lame. And the mounted followers very rarely see the kill anyway?
In fact last Boxing Day the local papers got a picture of a huge healthy dog fox running across the fields - slow enough to be caught on camera but too fast for their hounds to catch it
tongue.gif
 
That its fast paced
smirk.gif


To be honest I have only been once (and ok on a trial day) but I was pretty bored most of the time, a few short bursts of excitement when jumping - although never. seen so many badly behaved horses or people falling off (again, probably due to it being a newbies day).

But I gather there is a lot of waiting around in traditional hunting (ie not drag hunting) which doesn't really interest me, I rather go for a good hack than stand around in the cold and rain for hours
smile.gif


I would never go if they killed anything (proud bunny hugger that I am) and would go drag hunting, but only on nice days when the ground isn't rubbish
smile.gif
 
A few years ago there was a big healthy dog fox living in woods behind me. The chap who owned land next to mine, which he kept store cattle on, used to charge round the field in his 4 x 4 taking pot shots at rabbits and foxes. He shot this dog fox in the shoulder and wounded it (I was watching from my house), the fox ran into the woods and he made no attempt to follow and finish it off. I then watched him limping round the fields for the next couple of months, losing more and more condition, until he disappeared, probably lay dying for a while until he starved to death
frown.gif

Unfortunately hunt didn't come round here or I would have called them to dispatch him.
Although I no longer hunt (advancing years), I used to love going out when I was younger, and still follow in the car when I get chance. To me it is all about watching the hounds work, and the sound of them in full cry, and sadly they do not seem to work and give tongue in the same way following an artificial trail.
 
Mmmm very interesting folks, thanks for a good sensible discussion.

Personally, I think foxes should be killed but I find it odd in this day and age to use the way an animal is killed to get enjoyment out of. I'm not talking about getting enjoyment out of the kill, but the chase, which is thrilling. We wouldn't allow a fox to be used as the target in shooting competitions, would we?

The law is a bad law and there were better things for Parliament to spend its time on than that law. We are running out of electricity in this country, but they ban hunting! What kind of a Government is that!!??

I DO think it was a class thing. Where is the ban on fishing?

But if we are going to talk about indefensible, then shooting birds has to be the bee's knees. Pepper them with shot so they fall out of the sky, many of them still alive to be fetched by a dog and have its neck wrung by a human. How uncivilised!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top