I'd better get in quick before the other users yell at you and scare you away! I'm a great believer in uninformed girl who doesn't ask questions stay uninformed...school of thought!
Firstly I can only speak for the hunting side of fox control. You have to understand the purpose of fox hunting. This is to control the fox numbers at a sustainable level as foxes no longer have a top predator since man in his wisdom made bear and wolf extinct in the UK.
Starting from this basic premise you then have to understand how a hunt works or should I say used to work pre-ban The hounds would pick up the scent in a wood say, the fox would have departed the covert with the hounds on the trail, the hunt staff would be somewhere behind the hounds. A field or more behind come the mounted field and then the foot followers and car followers taking less direct routes.
The fox and the hounds can wriggle through tiny gaps and so they are far away from the mounted fieldwho have to negotiate routes round the obstacles. Thus by the time the kill was made the chances of any of them seeing it are slim to zero. Although the one or 2 kills I saw pre-ban were over in 30 seconds.
So if it isn't the enjoyment of the kill that people go hunting for, why on earth do they go hunting? There are many reasons - here are some of mine - I hunt on a bike so I enjoy the physical challenge of cycling hard across country, I love seeing the hounds work. Others who ride enjoy going across new terrain that isn't open to them for hacking, they enjoy the safe cross country jumps that they can tackle. Others find they enjoy the social activities associated with hunting.
Why not come out for yourself and see what happens? Your local hunt might well be hosting a newcomers day or they can arrange a day for you.
Any other questions or you want some clarification on what I wrote just shout.
Claire xxx
