Why should farmers accommodate any new demand for draghunting?
Farmers obtain two important services from quarry hunts: vermin control and fallen stock collection. Draghunts do not control foxes. With their smaller need for hounds, draghunts cannot be expected to collect dead livestock and dispose of it by feeding to hounds with the efficiency that farmers need. The draghunters themselves are worried about the pressures increased numbers of followers would put on their existing facilities. Sir John Aird, Joint Master of the Farmers Bloodhounds says: “We are welcomed by farmers over whose land we hunt because we only come once a year with a small field. If we were to come several times a year with a much larger field, the farmers’ attitude towards us would be very different”. Most foxhunts hunt at least twice a week, with a number hunting four times.
