Was fox hunting ever popular in America?

32 comments

1. Fox hunting as in dressing funny and riding horses was never really a thing here. Maybe it was when we were still a colony? But as far as game animals we have so many better options than what they have in Britain that I’m guessing it didn’t catch on.

   I believe *trapping* foxes is how most people “hunt” them. I’ve never done it, so I could be very wrong. I have a fox that hangs around my area. I like him. He’s gorgeous.

2. Hunting is popular in rural areas. I don’t recall many people hunting specifically for foxes though.

3. Fox hunting and trapping still exists, but it’s not dressing up in costumes and riding around on horses

4. It existed historically and number of Foxes were actually imported from europe/Eurasia. its called fox chasing here now. they typically just capture the fox

5. There are a few hunt clubs here in New Jersey. Usually up north.

6. [in a way I suppose. This was on my rural mail carrier route in 1982 thru 1988](https://zionsvillemonthlymagazine.com/traders-point-hunt-club-imagine-yourself-in-the-hunt/)

   They would block the gravel road and try to charge me every year. I’d tell them get out of my way because staying the mail is a felony. Worked

   Northwest far side of Indianapolis

7. Used to be fairly popular around here, but not like English aristocrats do.

8. It exists in the US, red jackets, dogs, horns and all but it isn’t common. Chester County in Pennsylvania previously was known for the sport, but now that Philadelphian suburban sprawl has mostly devoured the rural character of this area, I doubt they can still do it.

   Also, I seem to recall that they traditionally don’t kill the fox in the US version.

9. Im going to say “probably not”- there are a lot of necessary social conventions for fox hunting (landed gentry, the general ability to chase a fox across miles of countryside without anyone objecting, etc) that the US doesn’t have.

10. If it exists anywhere, it’s probably in super-rich WASPy areas like Greenwich, CT. The fact that foxhounds- which are basically just large beagles in looks and temperament- are among the rarest breeds of dog in the US and have been for years, kind of goes to show that fox-hunting was never much of a thing here.

11. Well its illegal, so my guess is that it used to be huge

12. It definitely was a popular activity that people did in the DC, Maryland, and Virginia region (the DMV). There are still hunting clubs around. I thought this article was pretty interesting: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/style/wp/2018/02/22/feature/will-a-new-generation-save-fox-hunting/

13. For dressing funny and heading out into the woods… We took golf instead.

14. It was once reasonably popular with Southern Planters and Eastern Elites in some places (Pennsylvania, Connecticut) It has since fallen into decline with increased suburbanization of the eastern United States. My understanding is in the American tradition if the fox goes to ground they generally don’t dig it out and kill it. Consequently they rarely kill the foxes and its not a politically charged issue.

    Side-note: North America generally doesn’t have freedom to roam legislation so you can’t really engage in hunt saboteuring without going to jail for trespassing.

15. Fox hunting was huge in colonial Virginia, and it’s still decently popular in some circles.

16. [Fox hunters in Britain](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/6185424ba30a1414325a0400485c9a8e75c85504/0_69_3500_2101/master/3500.jpg?width=1200&height=900&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&s=bf880ca8587cf56958e3024405b2f4a7)

    [Fox hunters in America](https://animguy1.tripod.com/amospics/amoshowl.jpg)

17. Using dogs to chase animals you’re hunting is still a thing. Not common, but it’s around.

    A bunch of people on horses with dogs chasing one fox has never been common in the US to my knowledge.

    Most foxes are killed because they are seen as varmits or trapped and then skinned out when the price of pelts is high enough to justify it.

    Hunting in general in the US has never been aristocratic or high brow like Europe. There was never a king that default owned all the wild game, instead it was considered everyone’s. Hunting is very working class here, much less pomp and circumstance around it.

18. Not foxes

19. It’s popular in the Tidewater & Southern PA. I was at a point to point race the other week that was put on by a fox hunting club & they had there hounds out running around. I don’t think they kill the foxes, it’s just a dog/horse sport thing for very rich people.

20. The hunt that still thrills: 160 foxhunting clubs still exist in US and Canada – although many have to chase coyotes rather than red foxes

21. Hunting and trapping foxes for furs used to be big in what is now the mid-west. Now, not so much. Foxes are protected in many areas and have a very limited hunting season, if at all. It’s only legal to hunt fox in Missouri, for example, from Nov 15 through Jan 31

    There’s still a limited market for fox fur. Most who hunt fox around here want it stuffed and mounted for a trophy. A few places still preserve the furs for you, though and there’s a few places that will buy them. Same with beaver and other fur species.

    You have to get a license and a permit to hunt in Missouri and you must get a specific license for each animal, each season. Since there isn’t much call for fox fur and they aren’t much for meat, there aren’t many who still hunt for foxes around here. It’s a lot of effort for little gain.

22. Oscar Wilde said of it:

    The unspeakable in hot pursuit of the inedible.

23. Yeah, it’s a thing that stupidly wealthy people do here. With the horses, dogs, and red coats. It costs almost 2 grand to join the hunt club. Plus you need the horse, the attire, the tack, the truck, and the trailer. https://geneseevalleyhunt.org/

24. If it was popular, it was probably popular in the New England area with the wealthy

25. Parents used to go fox hunting on Long Island in the 50’s & 60’s.

26. I live in a rural area in Maryland and yes, there are fox hunts complete with red coats, horses and hounds. They occasionally come down the easement that borders our property.

    Fox hunting was popular in Maryland in the 19th and 20th centuries. Local bars and restaurants in horse country will often have paintings of fox hunts hanging on the walls as well as other horse memorabilia – jockey silks, bridles, Preakness posters, etc.

27. Earlier in the nation’s history. But trapping fox for their fur was the most popular.

    fur trapping was a pivotal factor in starting the seven years war. A large portion of early US exploration was for trapping skins.

    The legendary mountain men of our nations history spent their lives searching for pelts.

28. No. There really is no nobility and most of the time in the 1700s-1800s the upper crust was way more interested in making money.

29. In America they use minimum wage workers instead of foxes.

30. I think they still do it in Virginia. I don’t think it caught on in the nobility or upper class sense with dogs and horses and special outfits. I bet there are some groups that now cater to English gentility now that it’s banned in the UK. People mostly use trapping and shooting when neutralizing some problem foxes and for fur people mostly set up farms to produce it in greater numbers.

31. Forgetting that this refers to the fancypants kind, I first thought of the practical kind. Subsistence farmers ages ago would gather to hunt foxes with hounds at night, specifically after livestock had been killed by a fox.

    [Hunter’s Horn](https://archive.org/details/huntershorn00arno/page/n7/mode/1up) is a neglected American classic by Harriet Arnow that prominently features this kind of fox hunting.

32. It’s fairly popular with the upper class in Central Virginia. There are hunt clubs that coordinate the hunts and host plenty of social events surrounding it.