The Unwritten Law^s of 

 Foxhunting 



Personal 



It has been said that he who hunts the wild fox 

 goes out in the true spirit of sport — he rides to hunt 

 — but he who rides after the drag hounds, hunts to 

 ride and for excitement's sake. 



As much as it hurts to acknowledge it, we 

 Americans are woefully superficial in our sporting 

 knowledge. Unfortunately we have little custom 

 or precedent to guide — hunting cannot be main- 

 tained or improved in the future unless hunting 

 people realize their responsibilities and their relation 

 to the landowner — the relation of guest to host. 

 It is pathetic to think of the asinine actions that 

 have been from time to time perpetrated by both 

 ignorant and selfish hunting people. Townspeople 

 are prone to imagine that the broad fields of the 

 country belong to no one because no one is in sight — 

 they too frequently forget that their hunting is 

 made possible only through the courteous hospitality 

 and sporting spirit of landholders who have often 

 never seen them and that every fence that is knocked 

 down must be replaced by someone. Landowners 

 while standing in their own fields have been cursed 

 and threatened for no vital reason, fences have been 

 broken and fat cattle turned loose without a word 

 of apology, while at times when protests have been 

 made patronizing answers have been forthcoming. 



Few Americans know and few stop to realize 

 that it costs from ten to fifteen thousand dollars an- 

 nually to properly maintain a three or four day a 

 week country and support a fencing and panelling 



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