Fox Hunting

The Game is Afoot!

The chase is on! Tis the season when the wily fox outsmarts the hounds and hunters galloping across the fields in hot pursuit of their quarry. At the end of the day, riders regale their best stories of jumping a six-bar gate, clearing a stone wall, or miraculously leaping a crafty ditch that sprung up in front of the intrepid rider and trusted steed.

The baying of hounds brings chills to the hunters, who sit regally in their seats, adrenaline pulsing through their veins. The triad of the huntsman, horse, and hound share a respect for each other, having traversed hills, valleys, streams, and mountains together in a time-honored tradition dating back to the 15th century in England, the home of the sport.

Feeling elated from the day’s ride, the huntsman recalls the hounds from the hunt. The hounds, whose breeding and lineage instill an uncanny keen sense for tracking their quarry, possess an unparalleled hereditary drive to keep running until the fox is run aground or the hounds are called off by the huntsman.

Early spring and fall, fox hunting is a sport where the beauty of steeple chase horses with red-coat hunting masters and riders in their club colors are a picturesque scene in the distance, traversing the hills and valleys of sacred fox hunting grounds.

To The Victor

After a hard ride in cool, crisp air that carries the musk of fallen leaves, the wooded forests and sound of thudding hooves are just a memory in the hearts and minds of the intrepid hunters. The rider and horse have conquered the day’s challenges, but the wiley fox remains the victor, having outsmarted the huntsmen yet again!

Today, traditional fox hunting is still enjoyed with the proper kit (clothing). A fox hunt is led by the master huntsman and others may join in at the invitation of the master.

In the United States, fox hunting is also called “fox chasing”, as many hunts do not to actually kill the fox but instead, run the fox underground into a den or out building. Some hunts may not even catch a fox for several seasons.

Hounds, generally 20 to 30 couples in matched pairs, are managed by the master huntsman, or the senior servant of the huntsman. Two or three whippers-in, a professional or honorary member of the hunting staff who assists the huntsman, are tasked with keeping the hounds together in a pack.

When hunting or traveling across land, the Master, huntsman, and whippers-in follow the time honored tradition of priority rank in an event or ceremony over all other riders. Their critical roles are keeping the pack together and preventing the hounds from straying and ‘rioting’, or hunting animals other than the hunted fox–an expert skill acquired through years of handling.

The huntsman controls the hounds or pack by voice or calls, known as cheers. The huntsman may use a copper horn, approximately eight inches long, to produces two notes that travel a long distance to reach all the huntsmen and hounds. Originating from the British, fox hunting in the United States is often seen in regions where the British originally settled.

Watch a hunt and hear the thrilling sounds of the hounds below:

To preserve fox and still enjoy the thrill of a hunt, today hunts may deploy a man instead of a fox as the quarry. To learn more about the preservation of the sport using a fox decoy, enjoy the video below:

Fox Hunting in British Military History

There are numerous accounts of British officers who rallied their troops by the sounds of hunting horns. A well known commander in British history, the Duke of Wellington (portrait below) was known to go fox hunting while commanding his British troops in Spain and Portugal. 

At the start of the Peninsular War in 1808, the Duke of Wellington was sent to the Iberian Peninsula to push Napoleon’s French army out of Portugal. The battle carried on for five years with Wellington’s troops slowly advancing until his troops crossed the great Pyrenees mountains into France. To keep up morale, Wellington began distracting his troops with his hounds. During this time in Portugal, Wellington and his officers indulged in horse racing, shooting, and fox hunting. Wellington, who wore a plain gray coat and a cocked hat, rode in fox hunts dressed in a top hat and the sky-blue-and-black habit of the Salisbury hunt club.

Fox Hunts as Military Reconnoitering

Wellington kept approximately 16 couples of foxhounds and used his hounds to gain a military advantage. To disguise his own military scouts from enemies, Wellington would stage hunting jaunts and use the villa where he kept his hounds for secret meetings. An infamous story of Wellington’s hunting pursuits took place during the battle of Salamanca between the French and British. While the battle was raging, Wellington rode his mount along the line of fire to watch his artillery fleet firing upon the enemy.

While Wellington was conversing with a Spanish general, a rabbit suddenly ran into the ravine between the two armies and was followed by a pack of hounds hot on the scent. Wellington, to the astonishment of his Spanish allies, gave the halloo call and galloped after the hounds and hare in pursuit without being hit by either army’s shells and not stopping until the hounds had run the hare aground. However, due to the poor conditions of war and traveling, his hounds almost never caught the fox.

Ultimately, upon being pressured both on the northern and southern fronts, Napoleon retreated from Portugal and Wellington became the victor.

Recommended Readings:

If you’d like to read a good mystery about fox hunting, I highly recommend Rita Mae Brown’s “Sister Jane” series. You’ll fall in love with her writing style, the characters in her stories, and chuckle at the fox conversations about the hunter’s skills.

For fun, enjoy some fox hunting pictures here on Pinterest: https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ogbl#inbox/WhctKHTKdpPtFmVHpLDGMBKFtxKWFWQxKSnBwvbxMfTQDRWKDzklKVWfxsbpvxLWvFPlSLq

References:

Access Heritage (1995-2020). Hunter, Hero, and Friend
The British Soldier’s Dog in the Napoleonic Wars. Retrieved on May 11, 2025 at: https://www.warof1812.ca/soldier-dog-war.htm

Sports Illustrated, (2024). The Vault. Archives & Galleries. Hound, Horn and View Halloo for Waterloo. Retrieved on May 11, 2025 at: https://vault.si.com/vault/1969/02/03/hound-horn-and-view-halloo-for-waterloo