Foxhounds uninvited appearance

But do you need to ? Are these walked up or driven ? Are they wild or reared ? Think like a anti.
Most hunts are there worst enemy , but would I ban it no, hunted all over England and Wales on foot and horse back, so probably biased.
As to getting my words mixed up, I was talking as a anti would think, they don,t care if you can justify it or not.
The trouble with threads like this is they divide field sports, who generally are there worst enemies.
As to being a old chap ! Mind your tongue nipper.😉
 
Isn't it the huntsman's job to keep the hounds under some sort of control and on land where they're meant to be? I bet he knew exactly where they were and weren't allowed to hunt. Anyone who's running dogs loose in the countryside ought to be able to keep them under control and recall them when required. End of.
Sorry, not end off at all. I've shot on Open Spaniel and retriever trials where the dogs have gone 'deaf' and gone and done their own thing. They're dogs, not robots! If your dogs do exactly what you want 100% of the time then I suggest that you pass on your secret because it will make you a millionaire!
Antis don't help either by also blowing a horn to try to 'steal' the hounds from the huntsmen. I'm not a hunter and never have been. I do however know dogs a little bit and I'm also a realist!
 
Vss , go to a driven shoot and see some of the guns / beaters dogs, when the blood is up there’s no stopping them, as for a certain person off this forums deer tracking dog don,t even go there, ran for about three miles 😂
 
There are some say that having hounds through woods AT THIS TIME IN THE SEASON that hold pheasant is, somehow or actually, a benefit in that the pheasant will actually now flush better when the wood is driven for shooting. I don't know. But some hold to that theory.

What is however true is that also at this time in the season natural food is often scarce to find and pheasants needing to eat WILL come back to where the food you have put down is to be found. So as others say I am sure these birds will be back by end of the same day.
 
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If you (hypothetically) won the euromillions and decided to buy a large estate full of deer, possibly also great for pheasant and partridge, would you permit the local hunt to ride on your land, whether or not they had done so with permission of previous owner?
After a discussion and certain agreements undoubtedly. Unless it was one particular pack.
 
You perhaps don't realise how true that is. I'm younger than most on here and the common feel certainly among my own circle of outdoor-minded folk who go out stalking and shooting is that fox hunting is not to be defended - too many callous aspects of it and difficult to justify it's existence as "pest control". My fear is that while it exists, in it's death throws it may take other activities with it. And yes, you can a similar spin on pheasant shooting too. Not necessarily the small syndicates or small, local game days but big commercial outfits releasing thousands and thousands of birds a season definitely
Lot's of us involved in the country pursuits feel just the same as your good self. But when hunting finally falls, and the anti-hunting/shooting mob may turn their attentions to large commercial shoots, what will be the next target they set their sights on? United we stand, divided we fall, it's simple warfare tactics!
 
Sorry, not end off at all. I've shot on Open Spaniel and retriever trials where the dogs have gone 'deaf' and gone and done their own thing. They're dogs, not robots! If your dogs do exactly what you want 100% of the time then I suggest that you pass on your secret because it will make you a millionaire!
Antis don't help either by also blowing a horn to try to 'steal' the hounds from the huntsmen. I'm not a hunter and never have been. I do however know dogs a little bit and I'm also a realist!
I train sheepdogs, and no of course they don't always do exactly what I want them to. But they most certainly don't cross the boundary and start rounding up other people's sheep! Any sheepdog that did that wouldn't last very long.
And I most certainly wouldn't be letting a dog loose anywhere other than in the confines of my own training fields until I was 100% confident I could recall that animal under any circumstances. Same should apply to hounds and gundogs.
Seems to me that the average pikey lamping deer is a better dog handler than any master of foxhounds I've ever had dealings with. (And equally legitimate in many cases, it would appear!).
 
A great deal depends upon your relationship with the hunt. When I was keepering, the local hunt and myself got on really well, even to the extent of comparing shoot/meet days before the season so that there was no clash. That relationship worked really well and we never had a problem.
Many years ago I was doing some work on the shoot and the hounds came through the large wood I was in, it was very interesting to see how the birds reacted, in the main, they either just ran off or flew a very short distance. Within an hour all was back to normal, something, to be honest, I wouldn't have expected.
It's very sad to hear that in some areas the hunt and shoots don't get on, we are all in the countryside and especially in these difficult times surely it pays for anyone involved in country sports to get on, there are enough antis giving us grief without the locals falling out!


I'd echo this i used to shoot a lot with a gun pack and it would often be invited to shoots at end of summer aug/sept time and hunt the main woods out.

And it really is surprising to see how few birds are flushed/moved when the hounds come throu and u know there is a decent number of birds in there.

It could well make a difference the number of hounds, this gun pack only generally ran 3-5 couple at a time and they were steady to birds/stock/deer and didn't even give them a second look, possibly with a larger pack and if lss steady it could be more of an issue.

I once had a lost hound from the mounted pack come down the feed ride just after i had whistled the birds in, was a slight panick from the birds but after i got the hound in the back of landy and went up the feed ride the birds were feeding just as normal ( again early season)

Also these shoots weren't massive in numbers, and early on before season started so birds less jumpy/wise, but they still came up throu the season too and hunted on sundays and shoots generally welcomed them as they done a good job.

I know at this time of year birds are getting scarce anyway and quite wild and jumpy so it will be hard to tell exactly wot damage has been done, but i doubt it will be as bad as u fear and definately far less than u driving the birds out the wood and then chasing them about where they land as u pick up.


But the hunt should still not have been anywhere near he land either, i know it won't be easy to keep a pack of hounds inline thou.

With the english hunting law being the way its been for so long now, will most hounds not now be only used to hunting the scent lines rather than live foxes or even when trained on fake scent will they always draw on a live fox scent?
I've only really been invloved with hunts/hounds in scotland where still normal/legal to hunt the fox as long as its shot, works quite well as a tool with dealing with difficult foxes/places
 
I train sheepdogs, and no of course they don't always do exactly what I want them to. But they most certainly don't cross the boundary and start rounding up other people's sheep! Any sheepdog that did that wouldn't last very long.
And I most certainly wouldn't be letting a dog loose anywhere other than in the confines of my own training fields until I was 100% confident I could recall that animal under any circumstances. Same should apply to hounds and gundogs.
Seems to me that the average pikey lamping deer is a better dog handler than any master of foxhounds I've ever had dealings with. (And equally legitimate in many cases, it would appear!).
SorryTim but I've seen two first-class and mature sheep dogs from two different farms get together at night ,( You wouldn't believe their ingenuity in getting out) and kill sheep on other farms. As regards Pikeys and their dogs, an awful lot are left running about. Perhaps MFH's of Welsh packs are not user friendly but the ones I have met on the high ground up there have always been sound. You are unfortunately not very happy regarding hunting or commercial shooting and criticize both regularly, have a little tolerance man, after all your daughter is working for "If it's brown it's down, day or night" some of us do not like that attitude to deer.
 
I train sheepdogs, and no of course they don't always do exactly what I want them to. But they most certainly don't cross the boundary and start rounding up other people's sheep! Any sheepdog that did that wouldn't last very long.
And I most certainly wouldn't be letting a dog loose anywhere other than in the confines of my own training fields until I was 100% confident I could recall that animal under any circumstances. Same should apply to hounds and gundogs.
Seems to me that the average pikey lamping deer is a better dog handler than any master of foxhounds I've ever had dealings with. (And equally legitimate in many cases, it would appear!).
Sorry Tim but both of the dogs that went deaf were open dogs. The spaniel was being run by a guy who has judged the Championship. They had each won a novice trial and were good dogs. I don't believe that you have never had a dog stick it's fingers up to you at any time I'm afraid.
You're probably aware that us guys down here have a good relationship with the local Master of the fox hounds who is a very good man who not only lets us stalk his land but does more for underprivileged children than any of us could ever hope to do. They're not all the same I can assure you!
 
Put in a hefty bill for lost birds, that will do the trick, We as shooters must also think without the Hunts around the country, and there are many, who will the antis target next ??? Worth a thought maybe
 
The case rests me ludd
TBF, the fence wire cutting that I've had was the work of people on mountain bikes who carved their own tracks wherever they liked and cut fences that were in their way.
The issues with the hunt was kennel staff coming out ahead of a meet and cutting holes in hedgerows with silky saws. Where they didn't have formal permission to hunt they couldn't erect a hunt jump to cross awkward hedges so they would creep out and cut a hole. Sometimes they'd stuff the cut brush back into the hole to be easily removed again on the day, hoping no one would notice. But they hadn't reckoned on a vermin shooter out on foot with night vision....
Once they cut a hole right next to a spot where I would regularly sit to snipe rabbits with my .222 I spotted it immediately.
 
Speaking for myself, I wouldn't want to see it banned, I would want to see more ownership on the actions they take (as we have had problems with ruined cover crop etc before)
However for me personally I couldn't justify it (this us different to foxing for pest control purposes)
 
Lost managed birds, they were bought or bred on the Estate

But once out of the release pen ( which is even then a grey area if they are owned/livestock) they are classed as 'wild' so belong to who evers land they are on, even if shot from ur land and land dead across the boundry they then belong to ur nieghbour.

Just as he is entitled to stand on his ground and shoot any birds driven from ur woods if they fly over his ground.
 
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