Harper Asprey Wildlife Rescue encouaging through knowledge a natural balance

Autumn Hunt or Cubbing

Early in the morning a Hunt of mounted riders quietly surround a thicket they know to contain a family of foxes. The female fox or vixen hears the movement but will not leave her cover as she has cubs to protect. The huntsmen surrounds the thicket, they slap their saddles, hollar and shout to prevent the fox and her cubs leaving the thicket. They want to have their fun.
The hounds are sent in and the vixen comes out to protect her cubs, she Young fox cubs do not have the skills and knowledge of their parents, they are playful and trusting and unlikely to flee danger. Their inquisitive nature ensures they investigate anything new.

Autumn Hunting refers to the period formerly known as "cubbing". Traditionally this was the time when the new entry of hounds learnt how to hunt their quarry. Meets were held early in the morning and the field were present to help "hold up" covert (i.e. prevent a fox from leaving the area). The dress code is different from formal hunting dress and is often referred to as "ratcatcher", "Ratcatcher" refers to the tweed jackets that are worn. http://www.clandchunt.co.uk/AboutUs/the_hunting_code.htm
During a hunting season 21,000-25,000 foxes are killed between 8,400- 10,000 of these are cubs. These cubs will not see their first birthday.

The registered packs are estimated to kill some 21,000-25,000 foxes a year. About 40% of the foxes killed by the registered packs are killed in the autumn/cub hunting season. In Wales and other upland areas, a high proportion of foxes are dug out, using terriers, and shot. Outside the registered packs, many more foxes are dug out and shot or are killed by people using lurchers or other "long dogs". Some of these activities are carried out by farmers, landowners and gamekeepers. www.huntinginquiry.gov.uk

"Never lose sight of the fact that one really well-beaten cub killed fair and square is worth half a dozen fresh ones killed the moment they are found without hounds having to set themselves to the task. It is essential that hounds should have their blood up and learn to be savage with their fox before he is killed."

Cubing as described in an extract from Fox hunting by the late Duke of Beaufort, Master of Fox Hounds, published by David & Charles, 1980.

For more that two decades Clifford Pellow served as a huntsman. This is an account of Cubing by a professional Huntsman who served with several packs of fox hounds in England and Wales. http://www.huntinginquiry.gov.uk/evidence/pellow.htm
This is his Clifford Pellows account of cubbing
The aspect of his hunting career that, today, causes the most remorse is his participation in “cubing” – the annual hunting and destruction of foxes aged no more that 5-7 months, with the aim of teaching their family group as well as the new entry of hounds a suitable lesson.
“It is a barbaric, hideous business in which the victims are still completely and utterly inexperienced and still dependent on their mothers.

It works like this the huntsman who knows his salt knows there is a vixen in a particular covert and there are five cubs with her. He goes into the covert and soon the hounds pick up the vixens scent and speak to her. They rattled around a bit. She will try to warn them off and when the going gets tough puts her cubs to what she considerers to be safety underground in the earth.    
She will them break cover to take the hounds away from the cubs. She will run across the fields when she decides to go ,she will go, never mind that there are 50 frightfully people out there making noises and shouting. The hounds will come out and chase her a bit.

This is a good thing. That enables young hounds to know what happens when you’re hunting across a field. After a field or filed and a half the huntsman will call them back. Now they go to earth where the cubs are and dig them out. They don’t kill one or two or three but every one of them, after which they congratulate themselves on the beautiful mornings cubing.

Sometime the cubs themselves break cover. I remember seeing one no bigger than a 10 inch ball of fluff up at the Lamerton (Devon) when he saw all these people shouting at him he stopped. Looked at the hounds in a clump of bramble a distance away and thought

“ Oh well I am safe here’ and sat down. He was no more that 10 feet away. And of course the hounds came and he never moved. The master a chap called Robbins said to me” committed suicide that one.” When a second cub came out the same happened to her.

At the other end of the hunting season in March many vixens are already nursing their newborn cubs or at least heavily pregnant.
“At the Tredegar, my last hunt, we had a vixen to ground.

We just happened to come across her hiding, if you like.
One of the bitches slipped away and started to mark the ground the master said “we haven’t had a kill so we’ll have this one”. When we got to it I said to the master
“whoops the vixen in cub sir” And he said “That don’t matter we’ll still have her”

“We carried on digging out by now my blood is boiling for this is against all etiquette. And, now he said
“ Don’t bother to shoot it just fire into the ground and we’ll leave her to the hounds”
But I couldn’t I did shoot her. But I couldn’t be bother to go thorough the ritual of holding her up. I just threw her and the hounds ripped her to pieces and as they ripped her there were four little baby foxes not yet with hair. They were naked or bald or call it what you like.
And the master went along and just screwed them into the ground with his feet.”  

For the full Clifford Pellow account read here. warning .It may haunt you

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