Fox Hunting

House Committee Approves Protections for Hunting on Public Lands

Legislation ensuring sportsmen’s access to federal lands cleared its first hurdle this week as the House Natural Resources Committee voted 28-15 in favor of H.R. 1825. Known as the Recreational Fishing and Hunting Heritage and Opportunities Act, H.R. 1825 is the most significant legislation protecting sportsmen’s access in 16 years, according to the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance (USSA).

The bill shuts the door on lawsuits brought by anti-hunting groups aimed at pushing sportsmen and women off federal lands. H.R. 1825 spells out in plain language that fishing, hunting and recreational shooting are legitimate and important activities on National Forests and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands. The key provision of the bill is the “Open Until Closed” language, which mandates that U.S. Forest Service and BLM lands are open to hunting, fishing and recreational shooting unless specific steps are taken to close those lands for necessary and demonstrable reasons.

According to the USSA, the “Open Until Closed” provision is a “game changer” for the future of hunting, fishing and recreational shooting on public land. The USSA led the charge for similar 1997 legislation that protects sportsmen’s access to National Wildlife Refuge land that has resulted in new refuges open to hunting all across America.

“We urge Congress to move this critical legislation quickly,” said Bill Horn, director of federal affairs for the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance. Click for more details.

Posted June 14, 2013

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New Regs for Training Preserves in Virginia

Norman Fine

Tighter regulations governing wildlife training preserves, also known as fox pens, were approved by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. Animal welfare groups urged that such facilities be closed, but sportsmen working with wildlife officials agreed on new rules to improve the safety of penned foxes.

Among the new regulations: one hundred acres minimum for a preserve; no training for one week after restocking; a limit of one hound per ten acres from eight to fourteen days after restocking; a limit of one hound per acre after that; one man-made dog-proof escape structure for every twenty acres; all fence corners to be rounded to prevent a fox from being trapped in a corner by hounds; all hounds to be vaccinated for rabies; no monetary prizes during special events.

The changes will affect the less than forty foxhound training preserves that operate in Virginia.

Posted June 14, 2013

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English Judge Deviates from Politically-Correct Line; Is Criticized

Norman Fine

An English judge who questioned the “staggering” amount of money spent by the RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) to prosecute a case against the Heythrop Hunt was criticized by his superiors. Although Justice Secretary Chris Grayling ruled out disciplinary action against District Judge Tim Pattinson, he recommended that the judge be given “informal advice” about expressing his “personal opinions” in court.

As reported in Foxhunting Life last December, the Heythrop Hunt, its former Master, and its former huntsman all pleaded guilty to charges of unlawful hunting after the court was shown film taken by anti-hunt monitors during the 2011/2012 season. The hunt was fined £4,000, Barnsfield £1,000, and Sumner £1,800. The court also ordered the hunt to pay £15,000 towards the RSPCA’s legal costs.

Considering that the RSPCA expended £330,000 to prosecute the case and that their funds are derived from public contributions, Judge Pattinson told the court he thought the charity’s resources might have been more “usefully employed.” Many believed the case to have been politically motivated to embarrass Prime Minister David Cameron who hunted with the Heythrop hunt before the ban.

After the hearing, Tory MPs accused the RSPCA of using prosecutions for “political campaigns.” But the judge’s comments infuriated animal rights protesters. RSCPA chief executive Gavin Grant defended the hunt’s prosecution and suggested that foxhunters should be jailed for up to five years, a sentence equivalent to killing a person by driving dangerously.

A spokeswoman for the judiciary said that, while the judge was entitled to make observations about the level of costs involved in the prosecution, comments about how RSPCA funds should or should not be used were personal and should not have been expressed.

Click to read John Bingham’s complete article in The Telegraph.

Posted June 12, 2013

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Betty Davis, ex-MFH, Dead at Ninety

betty davis Mrs. Putnam (Betty) Davis, ex-MFH of the Rombout Hunt and the Stone Valley Hunt (NY) for over thirty years, passed away peacefully on Sunday, June 2, 2013. She was ninety years old. A passionate foxhunter, she also served on the MFHA Board of Directors for her district.

Betty was raised in New York City, spending her childhood summers in Lake Placid. She graduated Vassar College in 1945.

She married Putnam Davis in 1968, the same year she became MFH of the Rombout Hunt. Betty owned and operated Talisman Farm in Clinton, NY, where her husband served for a time as Town Magistrate.

She was an avid skier, favoring Aspen and Vail, Colorado, and traveled widely with film maker John Jay’s Ski Films.

Betty rode both English and Western. She spent many years visiting the E/L Ranch in Greenough, Montana and the Elkhorn Ranch in Tucson, Arizona. She was former president of the Stone Valley Trail Riding Association, and she continued to ride until just three weeks before her death.

Per Betty's wishes she requested the following statement be issued: Betty is survived by her dear friend Norma Dolan and many valued and loved extended family members and innumerable very dedicated and close friends.

Betty was predeceased by her dear lifelong friend, Betty "Brown Betty" DuPont of Missoula, Montana. There will be no calling hours. In keeping with her wishes, cremation has taken place.

A memorial celebration of Betty's life will take place at a future date. Her ashes will be interred alongside her husband in the family plot in Pleasant Plains Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Community Foundations of the Hudson Valley, Elizabeth C. Davis Memorial Fund, 80 Washington Street, Suite 201, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601. The funds for the Community Foundation will be used for activities and projects that Betty supported for the benefit of the Town of Clinton.

Arrangements are under the direction of Sweet's Funeral Home, Inc., Rte. 9, Hyde Park.
To send an online condolence, *click here* to connect with the funeral home.

Posted June 5, 2013

http://www.sweetsfuneralhome.com

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VA Hound Show Weekend Features NSL Book Fair, Hunt Country Stable Tour

Norman Fine

Visitors in town for the Virginia Foxhound Show will be able to attend the third annual Book Fair at the National Sporting Library and Museum in Middleburg, Virginia on Saturday, May 25, 2013 from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. A part of the annual Hunt Country Stable Tour, the Book Fair is open to the public, free of charge. Authors Rita Mae Brown, Charles de Kunffy, Jan Neuharth, and Dorothy Ours will speak and sign books.

The Hunt Country Stable Tour centered in Upperville is another excellent diversion for out-of-town visitors. The stable tour runs on both Saturday and Sunday (May 25–26) and offers an inside view of many of the very best and most beautiful farms and training facilities in the region.

This year’s tour features Ardarra Farm, Hickory House Farm, Salem Stable, Windsor Farm, and Peace & Plenty at Bollingbrook among more than a dozen stops. Many of the farms on the tour will provide demonstrations of equestrian activities ranging from show jumping to foxhunting to Civil War re-enactments.

Visitors will be welcomed with coffee and donuts from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. at the Middleburg Training Track on Saturday only, to watch local racehorses workout.

Tickets for the tour at $30.00 for adults are available during tour hours from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. each day at the Trinity Episcopal Church in Upperville. Proceeds benefit the church’s charities and non-profit programs. Maps, directions, and descriptions for all the tour stops are provided for self-touring.

For complete information, call 540-592-3711 or visit www.trinityupperville.org/hunt-country-stable-tour.

Posted May 24, 2013

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Brian Ferrell Is New MFH at Blue Ridge

Norman Fine

brian ferrell.kleck Brian Ferrell is new MFH at Blue Ridge. / Nancy Kleck photoBrian Ferrell has been appointed MFH at the Blue Ridge Hunt (VA), joining Masters Linda Armbrust and Anne McIntosh in a team of three. Ferrell, who is dead serious in his commitment to the hunt and to the sport, is nevertheless somewhat bemused.

“I don’t really fit the mold,” he says with a faint grin, the most you can expect from this soft-spoken, reserved, yet very popular member of the hunt. “I don’t come from a hunting background, and a Mastership was never my goal. I started taking riding lessons because my kids were riding. I picked it up reasonably well because I’ve always been pretty athletic.”

There’s a typical Ferrell understatement. As a high school state regional tennis finalist and a third-ranked regional giant slalom skier in Middle School, he was indeed a top athlete in his boyhood.

Ferrell grew up in Waterford, Virginia. His dad—also a good athlete—rode a little, but neither the family nor Brian ever had thoughts or aspirations of foxhunting. That came from his children, Emily and Charlotte. His wife Clare is from Devon, England and also rides.

Ferrell has no illusions about the prestige of Mastership. “Everyone at Blue Ridge has to work and contribute," he said. "I’m willing to put the time in and do the work, and I think I can provide a balance to the team of Masters through my own business experience and understanding of the need for teamwork. In the end I just want everyone to go out and have fun.”

Posted May 20, 2013

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Huntsman Dennis Downing Moves to Saxonburg

Norman Fine

downing.dennis.karen m Karen Myers photo

Huntsman Dennis Downing has moved from the Montreal Hunt (QC) to take up the horn at the Saxonburg Hunt (PA). That position became available when former Saxonburg huntsman Hugh Robards decided to make a move of his own.

Downing has been at Montreal for just one season after having hunted hounds at the Blue Ridge Hunt (VA) for eleven seasons. His current move is of special significance to him as both he and his wife Sue are now U.S. citizens.

“I’m very pleased to return to the States as a citizen,” said Downing. “And I’m happy to be working with a smaller hunt, but one with a very enthusiastic membership.”

The British-born and -trained huntsman has been in professional hunt service for forty-one years. Starting in 1972 as second horseman to the North Cotswold, Downing went on—as is the custom in English hunt service—to whip-in to six hunts over a ten-year period: the Croome, East Sussex, Llangibby, High Peak, Pendle Forest and Craven, and Meynell.

He carried the horn for fifteen years in England for the Llangibby, South Tetcott, and Croome, before moving to the U.S. as huntsman to the Mooreland Hunt (AL). There he discovered a new quarry—the coyote! He remained at Mooreland for three years after which he moved to the Blue Ridge.

Downing is no stranger to Saxonburg MFH Floyd Wine. “I’ve known Dennis for ten years,” said Wine. “He sent me drafts from the Blue Ridge. I know he’s a solid individual and a good man for hound breeding.”

Posted May 20, 2013

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Hunting with Dogs in New York City

Norman Fine

An unregistered pack of dogs is hunting in New York City according to Fox News.

The Ryders Alley Trencher-fed Society has been meeting weekly at promising fixtures throughout the city for about ten years. Recently they met near City Hall on a couple of nights to draw the nearby alleys with two Border Terriers, a Jack Russell Terrier cross, a wire-haired dachshund, a Patterdale Terrier, a cairn terrier, and a feist (a type bred in the American South that hunts squirrels).

As most foxhunters know, a trencher-fed pack is one where privately-owned dogs (or hounds) come together with their owners for a day’s (or night’s) hunting as a pack. This was common practice among foxhunters in the old South going back to Colonial times.

The Ryders Alley Trencher-fed Society’s quarry is rats, if you haven’t yet figured it out from their acronym. At their best, the dogs will work as a pack, each to a particular role. One will sniff out the quarry and speak; another will flush it out; and others will wait to catch it when it flees.

“Tally ho,” yelled one owner. After a bite, a shake, and a kill, the dog trots back with the rat in its mouth and relinquishes it to the owner. In one recent night, thirteen rats were accounted for inside of a half hour.

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has expressed its outrage, but Richard Reynolds, a New Jersey businessman and un-titled Master of the group, argues that rats that consume poison die more slowly and painfully.

In the nineteenth century, ratcatchers worked the streets of London with terriers and ferrets. The attire worn by foxhunters during the informal foxhunting season has its roots in the garb worn by these vermin-control practitioners.

Read the complete article by the Associated Press in Fox News.

Posted May 1, 2013

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