Ancient Sport of Fox Hunting Still Flourishes : Kansas: Nattily dressed equestrians and their hounds usually chase wily coyotes, not foxes. This is the Midwest, after all. And no animal is killed, aficionados say; thrill is in the chase.

The day is crisp, the horses are saddled, and the hounds are yelping in the hills. Tallyho, fox-hunt fans, and tally one for tradition.

At this historic old northeast Kansas Army post, itself an American relic, the ancient sport of fox hunting flourishes with all its quaint customs.

On a sunny Wednesday recently, 17 men and women clad in riding jackets, hard hats, breeches and riding boots mounted up to follow their hounds, as others have done here since the 1920s.

They’re off. Huntmaster Dave Drummond of the Ft. Leavenworth Hunt Club blows a small huntsman’s horn and shouts clipped commands to lead 25 registered foxhounds through the woods on the western edge of the fort.

A few riders peel off to serve as “whippers-in,” or whips. They position themselves on the outer borders of the areas the hounds are hunting to see that none stray. The rest of the riders make up the “field,” and a field master leads them to areas where they can watch the dogs hunt. When they sniff out a quarry, dogs and riders give chase. Most likely the quarry will be not a fox but a coyote. This is Kansas.

“That is how it works in theory, when humans are in charge of the hunt,” Drummond said with a laugh. “When the dogs spot a coyote, the coyote is in charge of the hunt. We go where it goes.”

Most of the 124 members of the hunt club are either soldiers or civilians who work at the post. A few, like Laura Kahl, have no Army connection. She was one of the whips for this hunt.

“I love the chance to ride and to work the hounds,” Kahl said. “You get attached to the animals, and my horse really enjoys it.”

As whip, Kahl tries to keep the foxhounds together when they stop during the hunt. She, Drummond and all the other whips know the names and characteristics of each hound.

“It’s just like a kindergarten class,” Kahl said, keeping an eye on the hounds milling around. “You call out the same names over and over. Most of the time they hear you, but sometimes they try to ignore you.”

The club hunts on the fort grounds on Wednesdays but uses an area near Easton in Leavenworth County on Saturdays. Members wear the traditional hunting jackets (called pink coats even though they are red) only for Saturday hunts. On Wednesdays they wear high shiny black boots, breeches, round black hard hats and riding jackets. The men wear ties.

The hunts began in mid-October and will continue through early April. They are open for public viewing.

During the summer, club members train new puppies and work with the hounds on their hunting techniques.

Although the hounds are kept on the fort grounds, the hunt club is not supported by taxpayers, Drummond said. Club members pay dues, build their own jumps and clean the trails. Trustees from the U.S. Army Disciplinary Barracks at the fort care for the hounds and are paid a minimal amount from the club’s budget.

Fox hunts began in Europe in the early 1700s and gained the most popularity in England, which had a serious problem with overpopulation of foxes, Drummond said. Colonial settlers in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania brought the sport to America.

The Ft. Leavenworth hunt began in 1926 and continued until 1943, during World War II. It was reorganized in 1962 and has continued since then. It is one of 162 recognized hunts in the United States and abroad, according to Drummond.

On this day at Ft. Leavenworth, the hounds don’t spot a coyote. They do, however, flush something--their cries grow increasingly high-pitched, a telltale sign even to the uninitiated to know they’re on a chase.

It’s a deer.

Drummond rushes to a clearing in the woods and blows furiously on the huntsman’s horn. The yelping calms. The pack eventually stops near Drummond’s horse.

The deer crashes through the forest, dashes across the clearing, jumps a fence and gets away. The hounds stay put.

The quarry always wins in these hunts. If the hounds take after a deer, they are stopped. Coyotes and foxes need no help to get away.

“Nothing has ever been killed during our hunts,” Drummond said. We go for the thrill of the chase, for the hunt, and to get a chance to ride our horses.”

Drummond spoke of the time he watched the hounds chase a coyote across the ridge of a hill. At one point, he said, the coyote stopped and waited for the hounds to catch up before starting to run again.

“True story, I swear,” he said.