Background Information:
FOX HUNTING
Fox hunting is a method used to help manage the countryside and can be seen as a
form of pest control service for landowners and farmers. Foxes are a highly adaptable
carnivore that can be found in upland and lowland habitats and in the urban landscape.
Their diet is wide-ranging and they can take poultry, lambs, game birds and other wildlife
including species of conservation concern, they can also spread disease and hunting
them with hounds is one way of helping to keep the fox population under control. Even
those who support a ban on hunting, accept that there is a need to manage wild
mammals. It is also a very traditional sport and thousands of people take part in fox
hunting in the UK every year; giving riders an opportunity to ride over land that they
wouldn’t normally have access to. In Scotland, the traditional is followed mainly in the
Scottish Borders and Fife.
Fox hunting contributes to the rural economy. There are those employed by the hunts
themselves, those employed in work relating to the hunt such as farriers, feed
merchants and saddlers and the riders that follow the hunt spend considerable sums of
money on their horses, including vet bills, stabling, clothing, social events and transport.
The roots of steeplechasing originate from fox hunting and the significance of the horse
racing industry to the national economy stretches to billions of pounds.
Modern fox hunting developed in Britain in the late 18 th century and involves a wild fox
being pursued by a hunt (a group of people on horseback) and a pack of foxhounds.
The leader responsible for the hunt is known as the Master of Foxhounds; there is great
skill involved in working with the pack of hounds and the assistant that helps with the
discipline is called the Whipper-in. Field Masters follow the field listening for signs of a
fox and are responsible for the field (riders), keeping them in position so that they do not
interfere with the line of the fox. Hounds possess an acute sense of smell that enables
them to follow the scent of a fox and over the years the foxhound has been bred to
improve its ability to pursue and then quickly kill the foxes outright above ground. They
are kept in hunt kennels, enabling the master to choose the hounds that make up a pack
for a given day as they all have different scenting abilities. The fox hunting season runs
from 1st November – 1st May.
Hunts have their own defined territory, each of which offers a different riding experience.
In Scotland there are ten hunts and most are based in the South of the country, the
oldest one is believed to be the Berwickshire Hunt which has records dating back to the
1740’s. There are four 4 mounted packs in the Borders, the Duke of Buccleuch,
Lauderdale, Jedforest & Berwickshire fox hounds.
In 2002 Scotland became the first part of the UK to ban fox hunting with hounds and it is
now a criminal offence to kill a wild mammal with a dog. During the final debate in
parliament, which took over 6 hours, in the Borders (where half of the mounted hunts
are based) Kelso racecourse was the venue where people, horses and hound packs
gathered to demonstrate. However, it remains legal to use a dog (under control) to stalk
a wild mammal or to flush it from cover, the difference is that the hounds can no longer
kill the fox and once the mammal emerges it must be shot or killed with a bird of prey.
For this reason, fox hunting continues in Scotland, it just operates under different rules
and during the season, in the Scottish Borders for example, it is possible to hunt or
follow a hunt on foot on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.
Fox hunting today remains a very controversial law for a number of reasons such as the
difficulty in enforcing it and the effect it has on the rural economy and many
organisations continue to fight for a repeal.
Further Information
The Scottish Countryside Alliance: www.scottishcountrysidealliance.org
Master of Foxhounds Association: www.mfha.org.uk
The Lauderdale Hunt: www.lauderdalehunt.com
The Buccleuch Hunt: www.buccleuchhunt.co.uk
The Jedforest Hunt: www.jedforesthunt.co.uk
The Berwickshire Hunt: www.berwickshire-hunt.co.uk
Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust: www.gwct.org.uk
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