Hunting.

Unlike the rest of the world, in Great Britain and Ireland the term ‘Hunting’ is only applied to hunting mammals such as foxes with packs of dogs and hunters on horseback, although it also covers what we call ‘Foot Packs’, where the hounds are followed on foot, rather than by riders.

This is currently one of the most controversial aspects of country sports, and recently, legislation has been passed in Scotland to ban hunting.  Currently, similar legislation is going through the English Parliament, which would affect England and Wales.

In Scotland, we have managed to come to an accommodation whereby we can still hunt with dogs, provided that the dogs are used to drive the quarry out to be shot by carefully placed and experienced Guns.

This is essential in fox control, particularly due to the immense areas of blanket conifer plantations in Scotland.  It is to be hoped that a similar accommodation will be found in England and Wales.  Currently, there is no ban in Northern Ireland.

The term ‘Hunting’ is also used in a more specialized way, to include any hunting where a dog is used to find and either flush or kill quarry.

In the context of using dogs to flush quarry, this is usually in connection with gundogs, some of which are bred and trained to find game which is hiding in cover, and when they are working, they are said to be ‘hunting up’.  For a more detailed account of this, see under Gundogs.

Since the recent badly thought out and politically motivated Act to ban hunting with dogs, mounted packs in Scotland must only use their hounds to find and flush foxes, not to kill them.  The foxes are now flushed and driven forward to a line of Standing Guns, to be shot.

One of the most important and effective methods of fox control remaining is the use of Terriers, to enter a fox earth and drive the foxes out, again to be shot.  This Association feels very strongly that everything possible must be done to promote and support this practice and the dedicated men who carry it out, and welcomes terrier men as members.

The final form of hunting, now almost but not quite banned, is the use of Lurchers, sometimes called ‘Long Dogs’, whose traditional role was to catch and kill hares and even foxes.  Sadly, this ages-old custom also fell foul of the law, and it is now only legal to use them for hunting rabbits, which were excluded from the Act.

It is difficult to understand the logic of this Act, which was supposedly to prevent cruelty to mammals, when in practice almost everything which was done in the past, in most cases for centuries, is still permitted, and no protection at all is given to rabbits, which are, after all, just another mammal.

The only conclusion which can be drawn is that the Act was motivated by political expediency, as a means of getting votes, rather than any moral or humanitarian grounds.  In the early stages of the Act, when it was a Bill for discussion, Mike (now Lord) Watson, who was introducing the Bill, met with some of our members, and the impression they got was that he knew nothing about foxes, hunting, or indeed anything which would be relevant to the Bill.

Difficult as it may be, every effort will be made in the future to reverse or amend this ridiculous piece of legislation.

No genuine countryman would wish to see unnecessary cruelty to any wild creature, but the legislation should be based on the advice and practical knowledge of those who live in and know the countryside, not urban do-gooders who put out food for the urban foxes and think they are being kind.

How will they feel when the inevitable outbreak of Mange affects all of the pet dogs in the cities?  Do none of them remember the last outbreak of rabies in Britain, when, on Government orders, immense areas of the countryside were ringed by men with guns, who shot everything which walked, crawled or flew?

Countrymen would not dream of forcing someone who lives fourteen floors up in a multi-story flat to live their life in a certain way.  Sadly, the reverse doesn’t seem to apply.