post ban hunting

[ycbm]

The thing that has always utterly bewildered me is the intensity of the anti fox hunting hatred and the media attention to something that only engages a very
few people and very few animals

My belief is that the level of animosity is to do with the exceptionally visible enjoyment of a sport which depends on chasing an animal to its death.

I'm bemused by the number of people who support hunting who are genuinely unable to see why that would upset anyone.

 

[Sandstone1]

My belief is that the level of animosity is to do with the exceptionally visible enjoyment of a sport which depends on chasing an animal to its death.

I'm bemused by the number of people who support hunting who are genuinely unable to see why that would upset anyone.

Some of them would probably argue that the fox enjoys it☺

 

[Clodagh]

"I was out after rabbit and fox when I came across this bunch of illegal coursers, Officer."

.

If, at any point, you point your gun at a person, or even handle it in a manner to be threatening you would lose your license. I am either amazed or impressed that in Derbyshire they don't mind, in Essex you would be in huge trouble.

 

[ycbm]

If, at any point, you point your gun at a person, or even handle it in a manner to be threatening you would lose your license. I am either amazed or impressed that in Derbyshire they don't mind, in Essex you would be in huge trouble.

All three incidents were in Cheshire. We were all amazed when the guy who threatened a driver parking a minibus on his driveway kept his licence.


But going back to the illegal coursers, they aren't going to report it, are they?

 

[Clodagh]

But going back to the illegal coursers, they aren't going to report it, are they?

Probably not, but it would be a brave license holder who risked it! Once you have guns you can no longer express any anger, ever, or you are at risk of losing them.

 

[Fiagai]

Some of them would probably argue that the fox enjoys it☺

That all very cosy but is about as verifiable as European bendy bananas ...

 

[palo1]

The 'sport' of hunting though is keeping up with the hounds, watching them work together and individually and understanding the way hounds deal with scent, weather conditions and a variety of distractions. The killing of foxes was always a job for the huntsman and not a sport. The huntsman was no different to any pest control officer. The field are taking the 'sport' of moving across the country to keep up with a moving target (huntsman and hounds). A good day could be had regardless of whether a kill had been made, though the huntsman may not have felt that way.

 

[Nugget La Poneh]

....

I am not bothered if they hunt foxes or not but the amount of complete idiots who know nothing of the countryside and are just out to gallop around private land, on drill and crops, with no thought or even a polite acknowledgement to the landowner, completely ruined it for me. Hunting should be about hound work, or just go and compete in cross country or eventing.

There is a particular hunt near here that I see pictures and videos of and that has put me off joining them, despite them being the nearest one. At least with XC or eventing they'd be pulled up for dangerous riding.

I think there are more people now that 'hunt' than there would be had the ban not come into effect. I'm not sure that is necessarily a good thing, and round here I think it's made it more about class than it ever was.

 

[palo1]

There is a particular hunt near here that I see pictures and videos of and that has put me off joining them, despite them being the nearest one. At least with XC or eventing they'd be pulled up for dangerous riding.

I think there are more people now that 'hunt' than there would be had the ban not come into effect. I'm not sure that is necessarily a good thing, and round here I think it's made it more about class than it ever was.

I am glad I have not had that experience.

 

[ycbm]

The 'sport' of hunting though is keeping up with the hounds, watching them work together and individually and understanding the way hounds deal with scent, weather conditions and a variety of distractions. The killing of foxes was always a job for the huntsman and not a sport. The huntsman was no different to any pest control officer. The field are taking the 'sport' of moving across the country to keep up with a moving target (huntsman and hounds). A good day could be had regardless of whether a kill had been made, though the huntsman may not have felt that way.

I find the cognitive dissonance in this post truly astounding.

 

[palo1]

Oh dear! I can understand why you say this but not cognitive dissonance, just an attempt to be clear. Of course, the end result of the field following hounds, rather than directly pursuing a fox 'to its death' may be the same for the fox, but hunting, for the field has always been about following hounds. I was not trying to be disingenuous either. Fox hunting could never have existed without hounds, the idea of bunch of riders trying to follow or catch a fox is, of course, ridiculous. I am entirely cognizant of the fact that whichever way you look at it, pre-ban, if you were hunting you were participating in an activity which may deliberately cause the death of a fox.

 

[GermanyJo]

Ah this chestnut. My vegan friend informed me that she could guarantee that EVERY hunt (drag, trail, bloodhounds) kill AT LEAST 2 foxes every time they go out. I asked her to prove this as Bloodhounds were not bred to track foxes and she just said “you have to respect my beliefs”... not if they are completely wrong I don’t.

When it was legal they didn't get 2 a day!... I worked in the industry for 4 differents packs

 

[ycbm]

It's an amusing fact that before the ban the argument was that a ban was not necessary because so few got caught, and now the ban is in place and people want it lifted, they say that the fox population has suffered from not being controlled by fox hunting on horseback. Not necessarily the same people using each argument of course, but amusing all the same.

I find the other argument - look how the number of people hunting has increased, we need to remove the ban because of the level of support - equally amusing. How about the alternative suggestion that the number of people hunting has increased because there was latent demand for trail hunting?

 

[Nancykitt]

Although I don't have any hard evidence, it looks to me like there are more reports of sab activity than there were pre-ban and friends of mine have remarked on this too. I do know people who are put off hunting because they don't like confrontations and some of the hunts round here - including drag packs - are pestered by sabs quite regularly.
It's been suggested that the sabs are more high-profile because, since the ban, they see themselves as some sort of guardians of the law, stopping illegal activity. When foxhunting was legal it was different because, however much the sabs disagreed with it and tried to disrupt it, the hunts were not breaking the law.
I've never been 'live' hunting because I only became a horse owner after the ban and most of my hunting was with a bloodhound pack. I still got some awful abuse from people and most of it was along the lines of me being a posh, stuck-up snob from a very wealthy background. Actually I'm from a council estate in Manchester. The abuse did upset me but I try not to take it too personally.

 

[Bernster]

Interesting question. I try not to get into too much debate online as I don't think it's a helpful medium frankly.

The ban was a factor in my deciding to try hunting. I've been out with fox hound packs but I'd prefer to go drag hunting and tried that for the first time this year. I suspect I will stick with drag hunting from now on.

Not having to worry at all about antis (apparently they haven't had have any issues) and the 'openness' of the meets was a nice change.