Fox Hunting.

The unspeakable in pursuit of the uneatable.

The phrase "the unspeakable in pursuit of the uneatable" is a famous quote by Oscar Wilde, referring to fox hunting. He used this phrase to criticize the sport, particularly the concept of a wealthy person, the "unspeakable" (often a country gentleman), chasing a fox, which he considered "uneatable". 

Now have you ever shot a fox? They are very clever animals. foxes will go for cover behind hedges. Also the odd time you do see a fox, you often are not armed and have a very short time to bring a rifle/shotgun to bear on a fox. It is more humane to kill a fox outright with hounds than it is to wound an animal and have it die in a borough. You would know this if you ever handled a fire arm.

Deer are the same it is not often you get to see a deer when you are carrying a firearm. Then deer are very smart and know you cannot fire at them near a vehicle. Also the department of justice are making it harder to get a fire arms license for law abiding citizens.

Yep, re-itroduce wolves by all means. But you will need to depopulate Leinster or Munster.

Oh, and bring all the "Woofies" and the "Trixies with you.

Populations of wolves have returned to some European countries this century, after a long absence. By natural migration, not introduction. Belgium and Holland with much higher human population densities than Ireland have small numbers of wolves now. Ireland, Cyprus and Malta and the only EU countries with no wolves.

The idea of hunts on horseback following hounds is that the hounds kill the fox. Carrying guns on horseback would not be easy, even if it is allowed? There is another tradition, where locals follow the hounds on foot. This has no link to the upper classes / aristocracy. Dogs finding a hare to hunt would just be as likely as finding a fox.

You are correct. Can people who have never rode a horse or fired a gun other than playing "Red dead Redemption", please refrain from commenting. You are more likely to kill yourself, a horse or fellow hunter than a fox in real life.

You could not steady a horse to get an accurate shot, a horse would bolt with a sound that loud. Running dogs with guns is also a recipie for disaster where you might shoot your own dogs.

A fox being chased by horses or hounds is fair game. The fox can hear them coming a mile off. There is plenty of scope for the fox to get away unless it is sick or old.

That a huge leap of assumptions you are making there. I was saying they need to be culled with guns and dogs. But you went all left wing/right wing. The problem is that there are extreme ends of the "with dogs" spectrum that you didn't get in my message.

Are you sure that mounting hounds on the back of horses as tail gunners is the best approach. Much like the film "Out of Africa", it will be all right until we want to collect the guns from the dogs. I am particularly worried about my St. Bernard packing a Sig Sauer P266.

Listen, not against hunting, against animal cruelty, and wilful destruction of nature. Pest species have to be controlled humanely, if a dog can do that, without destroying everything else, that moves, fine. Too many deer, lots of meat. Win win.

But that doesn't mean I want badger baiting, dog fighting, hare coursing, or someone shooting otters or sparrow hawks etc etc etc.

Also, separate topic ... I'm confused as what qualifies as hunting. If I use a drone technology, AI, Robocop ... is that hunting ?

People will make all sorts of arguments for hunting.

The fact is that those people enjoy killing. Sometimes there's sense in their arguments, sometimes they're quite reasonable and practical. However, from my point of view, the validity of their case is not important. As soon as they establish that they are pro-hunting in any form I know I'm talking to somebody who gets pleasure from killing small animals.

And that's all I need to know about them.

I assume you are vegan so?

Is it the deer who mitched the survival classes, that jump in front of the moving cars instead of standing near them so they won't be shot

So you would have no problem with being a furrier and processing artic foxes, mink, otter, beaver pelts.

Just because someone hunts does not mean they enjoy killing. It is a necessary part of our eco system. Deer have no predators, so need to be culled. Any hunter I know does not enjoy killing, but it needs to be done, added bonus is some of the finest and healthiest meat you can get.

Foxes are a menace to farmers, in particular in lambing season. Ask any chicken farmer how much damage a fox will do. Again, no predators, so need to be culled. However it is the duty of all hunters to kill the quarry as quickly and humanely as possible.