Hunting on Boxing Day

[GreyMary23]

I've seen numerous reports about Boxing Day hunts going ahead yesterday. What the fuck? I despise hunting anyway - like most decent/sane people - but to allow it to go ahead when so many are spending Christmas alone due to covid is utterly unbelievable. Before anyone says it's because it's outdoors, so is children's sport yet my dc haven't been able to attend rugby or football training in weeks.

How on Earth was this allowed to happen?

Fox hunting is illegal but it still goes on. And it is normally carried out by rich folk. Not an attack on class at all, just fact.

I remember when a bunch of hunters rode through the farm I was working on with their dogs. They calmly admitted that they weren't scent hunting at all, they were after foxes. Because we were on a farm, they thought that me and my fellow workers wouldn't care. What they didn't realise was that it wasn't a working farm. It had been turned into a wildlife rescue centre. As soon as they'd gone, we called the police on them. The rescue centre manager rescued a few of them and was able to provide names.

Pheasant shooting also on yesterday- came across a group of about 30 while out running. Peak Tory that hunting and shooting have somehow managed to wheedle their way into the exemptions re large gatherings 🙄

Yes! You all know hunts that do kill foxes. And you call anyone who knows a hunt that doesn't a liar!

And god forbid anyone relate tales of what hunt sabs have done in the name of the fox!

You only need to look up your local hunt saboteurs to see that illegal fox hunts still happen really regularly, it's disgusting

@Anotherlovelybitofsquirrel

Unless you're in denial or as thick as fuck you'll know that the " trail" and " faux" hunting is a cover for real ILLEGAL fox hunting where they chase and terrier men ( thick scumbag Neanderthals paid by the hunt) often dig out the Fox and they all watch whilst the hounds rip the Fox to pieces whilst alive. Often the cunt sorry hunt will cut the tail of the Fox. Smearing blood on participating children's faces seems popular.

All very well documented and thanks to the recently leaked zoom conference and emails ,it's become public knowledge and has revealed a lot about these monsters .

If you hunt you are a low life piece of shit and that is being generous. It it illegal yet the police ignore it because they hunt themselves and are in the hunts pocket if not.

They also treat their horse and hounds terribly. Often abused, left for dead and shot when no longer useful.

Defend the hunt and show everyone what vermin you are.

All those supporting drag hunts, please read this and actually absorb the information.

Yes... Does that include the sabs that beat the shit out of a 16 year old lady who was laying a scent trail?

Or is anything sabs do acceptable and to be believed without question?

All those saying it doesn't happen because its illegal are either extremely naive or taking the rest of us for idiots.

Foxes maybe do do damage to the land. But they are animals acting instinctively with no concept of right or wrong ffs. This attitude of them somehow then deserving to be ripped apart for entertainment is utterly insane. And disturbing.

As pp have said, fox hunting may be illegal but let's not pretend it doesn't happen 'accidentally'. I genuinely do struggle to get my head around how anyone can gain enjoyment from witnessing this. It makes me feel physically ill.

It carries on because a lot of Police take part - I volunteer for a badger charity and the local hunt is responsible for most of the Wildlife Crime against badgers - they block the setts to stop the fox taking cover. They would not need to do this if they are trail hunting. The trail is not going to hide down a badger sett!!!

Anyone saying it is harmless and based on scent is quite frankly lying

We see Police officers policing hunts and hunt sabs and the next week are taking part in the hunt - not once or twice but lots of times. The Police will say the digging of the sett or the blocking of it is done by organized crime for badger baiting but when 90% of these activities happen within the 24hrs surrounding the hunt being in the immediate vicinity - it is bollocks.

Hunts cause so much more damage to wildlife than just to the foxes

I automatically switch off when posters do that weird thing of "accidentally" spelling names as swear words. Because ploughing through screeds of abusive language is really convincing, isn't it?

I do live in the countryside, don't hunt but the local hunt organises a lot of social events and also does a lot of charity and home help for elderly people who are often quite isolated. tbh it's dying a death because it's mainly run by those in their sixties plus, but they're the most decent bunch of people you could ever meet. I'm pretty sure that the hunt wouldn't go to the trouble of buying and maintaining 6 quad bikes and paying trained marksmen to go around all day shooting with guns and getting runners to lay trails if they had some ultra secret mission.

The real problem is new build housing estates on the edge of villages full of people who drive everywhere at high speed and don't integrate into local life, but thats not as emotive a cause as fluffy foxes.

@FrostyChocolateMilkshake

Safe or not, hunting is despicable. A bunch of posh twats on horseback setting a pack of dogs on a poor fox, to rip it limb from limb for entertainment.

Anyone who agrees with that is as thick as the participants.

100%

If anti hunting were all about cruelty to animals I could understand it but it isn't it's largely about class hatred and resentment towards those with land and/or money. Regrettably there is usually zero cognizance of the countryside economy.

What does hunting contribute to the countryside economy? That’s a genuine question, not snark, btw. I ask because some of the farmers I know around here have repeatedly asked the hunt to keep off their land because they are sick of the damage the hunt causes, the cost of which these farmers have to bear. But to no avail, they just carry on trespassing and damaging crops, fences, etc. So, yes, I suppose this is a class war, as these farmers are really struggling to survive, and the hunt doesn’t give a shit about contributing to those struggles as long as they get their jollies.

If anti hunting were all about cruelty to animals I could understand it but it isn't it's largely about class hatred and resentment towards those with land and/or money. Regrettably there is usually zero cognizance of the countryside economy.

I went to school with people who were involved with the local hunt, they were not posh and I don't have that association of it being a class thing. Against it on animal cruelty grounds.

And my old local hunt were notorious for "accidentally" killing foxes.

(And the whole what foxes do to chickens is a crap argument. The fox is acting on instinct, humans make a choice to act cruelly.)

I loathe fox hunting and I know that it still goes on despite it supposed to be illegal now. They just pretend that it’s drag hunting and the foxes are killed by accident. I also realise that foxes may need to be culled to protect farm animals ( I have lost geese and chickens to foxes myself). BUT dressing it up a sport and enjoying it is absolutely sick and I loathe anyone who would do it, whatever their class or financial position
However, it seems to be both legal and permitted under the Covid guidelines in Tiers 2 and 3

Most of the people I know who have horses are working class and scrimp and save and do extra jobs to afford their beloved horse, not Tory voting toffs and there's nothing more fun than blowing the cobwebs away on Boxing Day. No one I know agrees with fox hunting so if their drag hunt was one of the ones that did break the rules (I know it happens albeit it not common at all) they wouldn't attend. It's bloody hard/impossible not to socially distance up on a horse and outside is with all that space risk is virtually non existent and of course it won't be happening in high tier areas so YABVU on all counts. Let people enjoy what they can!

I was raised in the countryside and when I was younger the local hunt was very active. I'm in NI and tbh I didn't know anyone who wasn't wealthy that joined the hunt. It's not like kids from the local estate could just rock up and borrow a horse. It was a fairly exclusive clique. That's not "class warfare" it's just fact. Most were wealthy farmers but also members of the professional classes.
I'm always somewhat confused about the arguments put forward to support hunting; countryside management, keeping people in jobs, etc. The local hunt employed 2 men who looked after the dogs, after that it was volunteers. Hardly a massive employment opportunity. Killing one fox is not going to stop chickens getting killed, it really isn't. I really can't get my head around anyone being pro-hunting based on all the available information out there.
The local hunt I'm referring to is long gone thankfully but hunting with hounds is still legal in NI but hopefully a private members Bill will help put an end to it here.

@FrostyChocolateMilkshake

Safe or not, hunting is despicable. A bunch of posh twats on horseback setting a pack of dogs on a poor fox, to rip it limb from limb for entertainment.

Anyone who agrees with that is as thick as the participants.

Completely agree.

A friend lives in Belvoir, fox hunting is alive and well.

Bloodhounds trail hunt. A human runner lays the scent and they follow. They have never hunted live quarry.

I don't have horses anymore but I've been out on Boxing Day when I did. Just a glorified hack to a pub really.

My experience of hunting was also that it very much tended to be middle / upper class people. There were some exceptions, but the vast majority were in those categories.

There was a hunt down here two weeks ago. On the surface it was drag hunting but they still had a terrier man.

Drag hunting is v different to trail hunting.. animals are safe from the drag hunts, trail hunts. .not so much

www.league.org.uk/trail-hunting

Bloodhounds trail hunt. A human runner lays the scent and they follow. They have never hunted live quarry.

Exactly- a bloodhound wouldn't have the first clue how to hunt a fox or what to with one if they did happen upon one.

Midnightstar66 - talk to you local badger group to find the truth about all hunts. Noone trail hunting needs to block or dig out a badger sett but this happens virtually every time a hunt goes near a sett.

I think there's a bit of misinformation on this thread.

OP, you're right to be disgusted. Boxing Day Hunts did gather yesterday - it was Tier 4 they weren't able to.

Drag hunting is entirely legal - bloodhounds are used along with a runner. This is clean boot hunting.

Fox hunting is now also known as trail hunting. Most hunts that trail hunt use the trail as a cover - trails (if laid at all) will be laid around gorses and copses and areas where foxes will be known to live. Accidents can then happen...

There is plenty of evidence online, it is just very hard to prove recklessness within the Hunting Act - you have to prove the huntsman urged the hounds on and the kill wasn't an accident. This is a deliberate loophole.

Recently, there were leaked webinars - you can google mass criminality and watch them for yourself - Hunt Masters from all over the country including retired police talking about how to provide a smokescreen - how to pretend to trail hunt but actually fox hunt without getting caught.

This has been covered on the news and led to the NT, Forestry Commission, and UU revoking licences for hunting on their land

ITV News just last night showed footage of a hunt urging hounds on to kill a fox - he then fed it to the hounds.

Trail hunting generally doesn't exist. The hunt employ terriermen with terriers in boxes ready to dig out foxes that "go to ground", they'll call them fence fixers, but last time I checked, terriers weren't too great and fixing fences 😉

Happy to answer any questions.

Just to add, yesterday, the local hunt had over 100 people gathered to watch the hunt, all in one field, not a mask between them.

You can bet your bottom dollar, had that gathering been on a housing estate, the police would have been advising them to leave...