Procedure

The hunt is often the setting for many social rituals, but the hunting itself begins when hounds are cast or put into rough or brushy areas called coverts, where foxes often lay up during daylight hours. If the pack manages to pick up the scent of a fox, they will track it for as long as they are able. Scenting can be affected by temperature, humidity, and other factors. The hounds pursue the trail of the fox and the riders follow, by the most direct route possible. Since this may involve very athletic skill on the part of horse and rider alike, fox hunting is the origin of traditional equestrian sports including steeplechase and point to point racing.The hunt continues until either the fox evades the hounds, goes to ground that is takes refuge in an underground burrow or den or is overtaken and usually killed by the hounds. In the case of Scottish hill packs or the gun packs of Wales and upland areas of England, the fox is flushed to guns. Foxhound packs in the Cumbrian fells and other upland areas are followed by supporters on foot rather than on horseback. In the UK, where the fox goes to ground, terriers may be entered into the earth to locate the fox so that it can be dug down to and killed, and this is carried out as a form of pest control.