FOXES FOXHOUNDS & FOX-HUNTING 



Now that the " hunt to ride " brigade form so 

 large a portion of the field, they have to be catered 

 for, because when all is said and done they are 

 subscribers, and without subscriptions a Hunt 

 cannot carry on nowadays in the style expected 

 in the Shires. Many people who hunt are apt 

 to describe a day as " rotten," when perhaps the 

 work of hounds and huntsman has been of the 

 greatest interest to those of the field who under- 

 stand such matters. We all appreciate a scream- 

 ing run when it comes off, but those who expect 

 to do nothing but gallop and jump their hardest 

 every day they go out, should associate themselves 

 with draghounds rather than the legitimate chase. 



The increase of foxes in the Midlands has led 

 to a certain amount of emulation and jealousy in 

 the total of kills for the season, and big bags of 

 foxes are the result. The latter act in the nature 

 of an advertisement, just as do the shooting 

 man's on the moor or in covert. Every Master 

 and huntsman of course likes to account for a 

 fair percentage of foxes found and chased, but 

 to-day it would be better if followers hunted 

 more for sport in the strict sense of the term, and 

 a smaller stock of genuine wild foxes was there 

 to provide it. 



In the old days people only shot when there 

 was a cessation of hunting owing to frost, whereas 

 to-day the shooting man and the shooting syn- 

 dicate are a power in the land. There is often 

 a certain amount of antagonism between hunting 

 and shooting interests, particularly as regards 

 the stock of foxes. Game and foxes can be 

 reared together — as has been proved over and 

 over again — without loss of sport to either side, 

 if a tactful attitude is adopted by the devotees of 

 each pursuit. With foxes thick on the ground, 



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