People usually look up fox hunting when they’re trying to pin down three things quickly: what it actually involves, what’s legal (and where), and why it still provokes such a fierce argument. The details matter. Laws differ across countries, and the line between pest control and sport can shift depending on the method used and the animal welfare outcomes.
Below is a clear guide to fox hunting as it’s traditionally understood in Britain, how the legal landscape has changed, and how that contrasts with Australia—where the European red fox is an introduced predator managed as a pest, not a quarry for mounted hunts.
What fox hunting is (and what people mean by the term)
Traditional fox hunting, in the British sense, involves riders on horseback following a pack of hounds across farmland and woodland while the hounds follow a fox’s scent. Historically, hunts often ended with the fox being caught and killed by the hounds. In modern Britain, that outcome is central to the legal and ethical debate, because most hunting of wild mammals with dogs is prohibited in England and Wales, and tightly restricted in Scotland.
You’ll also hear related terms that look similar from a distance but are not the same activity:
- Drag hunting: hounds follow an artificial scent trail laid by a human. No live animal is involved.
- Trail hunting: hounds follow a laid trail intended to mimic a live-animal scent; critics argue it can be used to disguise illegal hunting. (The legal status is changing and politically live.)6
- Flushing to guns: dogs flush a fox from cover so it can be shot, under strict conditions in some jurisdictions.2
A brief history: Britain’s mounted hunt and its long shadow
Fox hunting in Britain developed into a formalised mounted tradition over several centuries, with particular growth in the 18th and 19th centuries as rural estates, horse breeding, and organised packs of foxhounds became part of country life. The visual language—horn calls, matched hounds, distinctive coats—comes from that world.
What did not happen, despite what you might read online, is a simple “modernisation” where horses were replaced by vehicles and foxhounds were replaced by beagles. Mounted hunts with foxhounds remain the cultural reference point. Beagles are more commonly associated with hare hunting (where legal) or other organised scent work, rather than replacing foxhounds in mainstream fox hunting.
Why fox hunting is controversial
The argument is not only about tradition versus change. It’s about what happens on the ground: the pursuit of a wild mammal by dogs, the length and intensity of the chase, and the welfare outcome when an animal is caught or cornered.
Supporters commonly describe hunts as part of rural heritage and, in some cases, link them to pest management. Opponents focus on animal welfare concerns and on enforcement—particularly where activities resemble a traditional hunt but are framed as legal alternatives.6
Legal status in the United Kingdom (what the law actually says)
England and Wales
In England and Wales, the Hunting Act 2004 makes it an offence to hunt a wild mammal with dogs unless a tightly defined exemption applies.1 One commonly discussed exemption allows stalking or flushing a wild mammal (including a fox) so that it can be shot, under strict conditions such as limiting the number of dogs.2
The practical dispute, year after year, is often less about the wording of the Act and more about what is happening in the field and what can be proved to the standard required for enforcement. UK Government statements continue to point back to the Act and police enforcement rather than commissioning broad prevalence reviews.7
Scotland
Scotland’s framework changed recently. The Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Act 2023 creates an offence of hunting a wild mammal using a dog unless an exception applies, with significant penalties set out in the Act.3 It also introduced a licensing approach in specific circumstances, which is part of ongoing public debate about how tightly the restrictions operate in practice.3
Australia: foxes are an introduced predator managed as a pest
In Australia, the European red fox is not a native species and is widely managed as an invasive pest due to its impacts on wildlife and agriculture. New South Wales notes foxes were introduced in the 1870s for recreational hunting and are now established across the mainland, contributing to declines and extinctions of native species.8 NSW’s threatened species authorities list fox predation as a key threatening process, reflecting its recognised role in biodiversity loss.9
Australian government guidance focuses on integrated control—coordinated baiting, trapping, shooting, exclusion measures, and monitoring—rather than mounted hunts as a management tool.10
Hunting with dogs: what “legal” tends to mean in Australia
Australia does not have a single national “fox hunting law”. Rules depend on the state or territory, land type (private land, state forest, public land), licensing, and animal welfare requirements. Some jurisdictions regulate the use of dogs for particular kinds of hunting, with detailed conditions (for example, identification and tracking requirements on public land in NSW).5
If you’re trying to work out what’s allowed where you live, the safest approach is to check the current state regulations and codes of practice for:
- where you can hunt (land access and permissions)
- what species can be targeted
- whether dogs can be used, and under what conditions
- firearms and safety requirements
- animal welfare obligations (including humane killing)
Does fox hunting “control” fox numbers?
Claims about fox hunting reducing fox populations are often overstated, especially when presented as a simple percentage reduction. Fox populations respond to food availability, habitat, immigration from surrounding areas, and the intensity and coordination of control methods. In Australia, official programs emphasise integrated control over time and across neighbouring properties because isolated effort is quickly diluted by reinvasion.10
In Britain, even where lethal control occurs under exemptions, the question is not just whether fox numbers shift locally, but whether the method used meets contemporary animal welfare expectations and legal thresholds. That is where much of the argument now sits.
Animals involved: hounds, horses, and welfare considerations
In traditional mounted hunts, hounds do the tracking and pursuit while riders follow across open country. That has unavoidable knock-on effects: pressure on non-target wildlife, risks to livestock and pets if boundaries fail, and risks to horses and riders moving at speed over uneven ground.
In Australia, where fox management is framed as pest control, welfare expectations are generally expressed through requirements for humane methods and limitations on dog use in certain contexts, rather than the continuation of mounted, hound-led pursuit as a sport.5
Alternatives that avoid chasing a live animal
Where people are drawn to the pageantry and riding rather than the killing, the most straightforward alternatives are the ones that remove the live quarry entirely:
- Drag hunting (laid scent, no live animal)
- Riding clubs and cross-country events (the speed and terrain, without hounds)
- Scent work and tracking sports for dogs (structured, controlled scent trails)
These options keep the outdoor skill and movement through country while stepping away from the welfare problems that sit at the centre of the fox hunting debate.
Final thoughts
Fox hunting means different things depending on where you are standing. In Britain it is a tradition reshaped—and constrained—by law, enforcement, and shifting public attitudes to animal welfare.1 In Australia, the fox is an introduced predator and the conversation is more often about coordinated control to protect native wildlife and livestock, under modern animal welfare rules.8, 9, 10
References
- Hunting Act 2004 (England and Wales) – offences and framework (legislation.gov.uk)
- Crown Prosecution Service – Hunting Act 2004 legal guidance (including exemptions)
- Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Act 2023 (legislation.gov.uk)
- Hunting Act 2004 – full text (legislation.gov.uk)
- NSW Department of Primary Industries – hunting rules and regulations (including hunting with dogs)
- Financial Times – UK plan to ban trail hunting in England and Wales (reporting and context)
- UK Parliament – Defra written answer referencing Hunting Act 2004 enforcement (answered 19 March 2025)
- NSW Environment & Heritage – Foxes in NSW (introduced species, impacts, distribution)
- NSW Scientific Committee – listing of fox predation as a Key Threatening Process
- Agriculture Victoria – Integrated fox control (approach and impacts)
Veterinary Advisor, Veterinarian London Area, United Kingdom