Should hunting with hounds be banned?(poll)

[Sandstone1]

I just thought it would be interesting to see peoples thoughts on this. I make no secret of the fact I am anti hunting. I do not want this to turn in to nasty thread but just want to see peoples thoughts. I have never posted a poll before so apologies if I have done it wrong!

 

[Hackback]

Are you talking Fox Hounds only, as I see there is no option for hunting the clean boot?

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

Are you talking Fox Hounds only, as I see there is no option for hunting the clean boot?

This.
No option of bloodhounds above.

 

[Esmae]

I thought that hunting foxes and other live quarry with hounds was banned already.

 

[Clodagh]

Are you talking Fox Hounds only, as I see there is no option for hunting the clean boot?

This.
No option of bloodhounds above.

I suspect OP means drag hunting as blood hounds. But I’m pretty sure they’ve got me on UI so this won’t help!

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

I suspect OP means drag hunting as blood hounds. But I’m pretty sure they’ve got me on UI so this won’t help!

But drag hunting is very different to blood hounds, both are following a scent but huge differences between them.

 

[Mrs B]

You haven't got the option I would vote for, which would be to return to hunting as it was before the ban.

 

[ArklePig]

I thought that hunting foxes and other live quarry with hounds was banned already.

Still legal in NI unfortunately so on that basis I'd vote yes to the above poll but I'm not really clear on whether it means drag hunting etc as well.

 

[Tiddlypom]

You haven't got the option I would vote for, which would be to return to hunting as it was before the ban.

Bold , but yes, full repeal should be added as an option along with bloodhounding.

I’d be minded to go with bloodhounding only or full ban. Trail hunting is utterly compromised by the naughty hunts, and in my mind drag hunting is too visually similar to full on hunting to be able to stay.

 

[ycbm]

You haven't got the option I would vote for, which would be to return to hunting as it was before the ban.

Liked for your honesty opinion, not in agreement.
.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

I just thought it would be interesting to see peoples thoughts on this. I make no secret of the fact I am anti hunting. I do not want this to turn in to nasty thread but just want to see peoples thoughts. I have never posted a poll before so apologies if I have done it wrong!

^^^ Hating to say it but this forum is called "Horse and HOUND"..........

That said, I appreciate that there are those on here who like myself who do not actively participate in hunting; for no other reason that personally I don't have sufficient confidence if I'm honest to ride to hounds, also I wouldn't be able to afford it.

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

and in my mind drag hunting is too visually similar to full on hunting to be able to stay.

I disagree, it's a very different beast, my 2 'almost' local drag packs are so different to the trail hound packs.
Both advertise their meets, they both liaise with local land owners adjacent to where the lines will be, both are very rigid in keeping to the lines, just about all meets have parking away from public roads.

Whereas the trail hound lot are 'secret squirrel' for everything, involving phoning on the day as a minimum

 

[JBM]

Can someone explain to me the difference in the types please? I wouldn’t be knowledgeable in hunting

 

[Clodagh]

But drag hunting is very different to blood hounds, both are following a scent but huge differences between them.

Yes I know. I’m not sure OP does.

 

[Burnerbee]

I thought that hunting foxes and other live quarry with hounds was banned already

Unfortunately that doesn’t stop it happening. Lots of banned things happen when there’s no one there to stop it =(

 

[irishdraft]

Our local drag hunt is nothing like hunting with the local foxhounds. The drag has their runner who is dragging scent in full view, the field and masters are fast & furious absolutely no chance they are fix hunting.

 

[Tiddlypom]

I disagree, it's a very different beast, my 2 'almost' local drag packs are so different to the trail hound packs.

I freely admit I’ve never been drag hunting whether mounted or on foot, so might well be talking out of my @rse, but drag hunts still use foxhounds, don’t they? So it’s a mounted field and a pack of foxhounds.

To you and to other people from a horsey/hunting background it might be easy to tell the two apart at a glance, but not so much to lay people or the average bobby on the beat.

I’ve nothing against drag hunting at all, far from it, but the behaviour of the naughty hunts is going to bring drag hunting down with them, and the naughty hunts don’t give a fig.

 

[Burnerbee]

Our local drag hunt is nothing like hunting with the local foxhounds. The drag has their runner who is dragging scent in full view, the field and masters are fast & furious absolutely no chance they are fix hunting.

…and if a fox appears in front of the hounds, do they all wave and suggest a pint in the pub later?

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

I freely admit I’ve never been drag hunting whether mounted or on foot, so might well be talking out of my @rse, but drag hunts still use foxhounds, don’t they? So it’s a mounted field and a pack of foxhounds.

To you and to other people from a horsey/hunting background it might be easy to tell the two apart at a glance, but not so much to lay people or the average bobby on the beat.

I’ve nothing against drag hunting at all, far from it, but the behaviour of the naughty hunts is going to bring drag hunting down with them, and the naughty hunts don’t give a fig.

The biggest difference is what is used to set the line, never an animal based scent at all.
In all the years I went dragging, only once did I see a couple and a half veer off when a buck appeared across the line. The Whips were absolutely on them immediately and errant hounds returned onto line.

I went to dragging after having my horsebox sabbed, (windscreen smashed and 2 tyres slashed) my daughter exposed to almost being pulled off her pony, this was in the 1980s.

To the non horse person (like my DH for example when we met last century), a person in competition gear is the same as the next, at a venue he wouldnt have a clue if doing stressage, sj, or anything else. He just thought 'posh person on horse', like many other non equestrians do.

 

[Muddywellies]

Just give it up completely. I used to be very pro hunting and was at the Liberty and Livelihood March many moons ago. But I'm pretty fed up with the carnage it causes in the village on hunt day and upsets the horses on the yard, who have to come in for the day. These people who hunt should simply hack like the rest of us, and hire local gallops/ XC courses for more of a blow out. Sorry I know that's an unpopular opinion and I don't expect others to agree, but it's just from my own personal experience of the local hunt in recent years. Hunting used to serve a purpose, to reduce the fox population so that livestock wasnt killed. The purpose now is ??

I've just seen the next post on here 'Vet bills and the hunt'. I rest my case.

 

[Esmae]

Unfortunately that doesn’t stop it happening. Lots of banned things happen when there’s no one there to stop it =(

Yes I understand that but having another banning won't improve things as far as I can see.

 

[Burnerbee]

Yes I understand that but having another banning won't improve things as far as I can see.

We agree. Only enforcement of the ban/s will achieve anything - but there are so few resources and so many people eager to take advantage…

 

[LadyGascoyne]

I just thought it would be interesting to see peoples thoughts on this. I make no secret of the fact I am anti hunting. I do not want this to turn in to nasty thread but just want to see peoples thoughts. I have never posted a poll before so apologies if I have done it wrong!

I’m not sure you’re going to get much insight into what people really think based on the options.

I think you should run a new one, with an options for those who are pro-hunting but not in agreement with how hunting is run today.

I’d give the same breadth of options to pro-hunting as to anti. I know a lot of people who are not happy with the state of hunting today but not because they want it restricted or reduced, rather that they feel it has lost its relevance to countryside management and attracts non-country people who don’t have proper respect for the land and community.

 

[Sandstone1]

I mean by drag hunting , hunts that hunt the clean boot with bloodhounds

 

[Sandstone1]

It is

I thought that hunting foxes and other live quarry with hounds was banned already.

But still goes on unfortunately.

 

[Fred66]

Just give it up completely. I used to be very pro hunting and was at the Liberty and Livelihood March many moons ago. But I'm pretty fed up with the carnage it causes in the village on hunt day and upsets the horses on the yard, who have to come in for the day. These people who hunt should simply hack like the rest of us, and hire local gallops/ XC courses for more of a blow out. Sorry I know that's an unpopular opinion and I don't expect others to agree, but it's just from my own personal experience of the local hunt in recent years. Hunting used to serve a purpose, to reduce the fox population so that livestock wasnt killed. The purpose now is ??

I've just seen the next post on here 'Vet bills and the hunt'. I rest my case.

Oh by all means let’s ban any activity that the majority don’t participate in.

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

I mean by drag hunting , hunts that hunt the clean boot with bloodhounds

Can you edit the poll then?
As I've mentioned up thread, drag hunting is not hunting with bloodhounds for the clean boot. It is hunting the non animal scent towed on a rope by a runner. Both sports are non live quarry (unless you count the human quarry) but very different hounds.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

Mock hunting is still a fun day out, there should be more of this type.

 

[nikicb]

I have never been pro hunting, so I too was confused by the difference between what the bloodhounds do, and trail and drag hunting. I found some useful (and hopefully correct) explanations on wiki, so I will copy them below. Perhaps a new poll, or amendments to this one, would give you (OP) a better idea of what other forum members think.



Hunting the clean boot is a term that has been used in Britain to refer to the use of packs of bloodhounds to follow a natural human scent trail.

The 'clean boot' refers to the absence of either an artificial scent such as aniseed, as used in drag hunting, or animal urine, as used in trail hunting.[1] Whilst today the term has become synonymous with the use of bloodhound packs, most breeds of dog can be taught the skill individually with varying degrees of success.[2]

Typically, clean boot hunts are run along similar lines to fox hunting (now prohibited in Great Britain), with a field of mounted riders following a pack of bloodhounds which trails the scent of a runner. Like other forms of mounted hunting with hounds, hunting the clean boot usually occurs in the autumn, winter and early spring.[3]

Whole article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunting_the_clean_boot



Trail hunting is a legal, although controversial,[1] alternative to hunting animals with hounds in Great Britain. A trail of animal urine (most commonly fox) is laid in advance of the 'hunt', and then tracked by the hound pack and a group of followers; on foot, horseback, or both.

Trail hunting, while superficially similar to the established sport of drag hunting, was an entirely new invention in 2005 and one which hunts claim is designed to replicate the practice of hunting as closely as possible, but without the deliberate involvement of live prey.[7]

Trail hunting should not be confused with drag hunting; where hounds follow an artificial scent, usually aniseed, laid along a set route which is already known to the huntsmen.[8]

Whole article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trail_hunting



Drag hunting is conducted in a similar manner to fox hunting, with a field of mounted riders following a pack of foxhounds hunting the trail of an artificial scent. The primary difference between fox hunting and drag hunting is the hounds are trained to hunt a prepared scent trail laid by a person dragging a material soaked in aniseed or another strong smelling substance.[1][2]

A drag hunt course is set in a similar manner to a cross country course, following a predetermined route over jumps and obstacles. Because it is predetermined, the route can be tailored to suit the riding abilities of the field. The scent, or line, is usually laid 10 to 30 minutes prior to beginning of the hunt and there are usually three to four lines, of approximately 2 mi (3.2 km) each, laid for a day of hunting.[1][2]
Whole article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trail_hunting#Drag_hunting


ETA I am not normally a fan of just posting links as responses, but I thought they might be useful to others like me who aren't really sure of the distinction between the different types of hunting.

 

[Muddywellies]

Oh by all means let’s ban any activity that the majority don’t participate in.

But I'm yet to hear anyone come up with a justifiable reason for trashing the farmland and causing chaos. Those who hunt say its a great day out. I'm sure it is.