George Whyte-Melville declared that the best of his fun he owed to horse and hound. For me, I remove the equine element and replace it with ‘wading staff’.
As a teenager, mink hunting, above all other fieldsports, was my passion. The thrilling intimacy of watching hound work at close quarters, the frisson of danger found in wading breast deep through dark river pools and the heart-bursting moment when you alone view the varmint and rally hounds with your best “view ho”. Oh, mink hunting, you were indeed the best of my fun.
The Hunting Act affected many. Thousands forfeited their liberties, a few of us our livelihoods. I laid off staff, lost my house, business and a yard full of smart young hunters. For all that, in hindsight, it was losing mink hunting that struck me hardest. Never
