Fox hunting

Fox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase, and sometimes killing of a fox, traditionally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds, and a group of unarmed followers led by a master of foxhounds, who follow the hounds on foot or on horseback.

Fox hunting originated in the 16th century in the form which was practised legally until 2005 in Great Britain, but it also takes place all over the world, including in Australia, Canada, France, Ireland, Italy, and the United States. In Australia, the term also refers to the hunting of foxes with firearms, similar to spotlighting or deer hunting. In much of the world hunting in general is understood to relate to any game animals or weapons (e.g., deer hunting with bow and arrow); in Britain and Ireland, "hunting" without qualification implies fox hunting (or other forms of hunting with hounds—beagling, stag hunting, mink hunting, drag hunting, or hunting the clean boot) as described here.

The sport is controversial, particularly in the UK, where its traditional form was banned in Scotland in 2002, and in England and Wales in November 2004 (law enforced from February 2005), although certain modified forms of hunting foxes with hounds are still within the law, and shooting foxes as vermin also remains lawful.

Fox hunting (disambiguation)

Fox hunting or fox hunt or similar can mean: