Today we have mixed attitudes about hunting for sport. In Victorian times, however, hunting was quite literally the sport of kings. Queen Victoria writes about her hunting excursions in Scotland in her diary (see the Royalty section). In Britain and Europe, hunting was definitely the privilege of the upper classes. (It wasn't that the lower classes didn't do it; it was just that when they did, it was called "poaching.") Sportsmen lived for "the season." Nor was the hunt just about bagging trophies (though for many it was); many a British huntsman went out in the evening to shoot a rabbit or a partridge for the pot. (Lower classes did this as well; it was still called "poaching.")

Deer Stalking in the Highlands (Godey's, 1833)

Hunting & Fishing (Illustrated London Almanack, 1845)

A seasonal overview of hunting and fishing sports: Angling; Hare Hunting, Wild Duck Shooting, Fly Fishing, Otter Hunting, Deer-Stalking, Grouse Shooting, Partridge Shooting, Stag Hunting, Pheasant Shooting, Fox Hunting.

English and French Sport: Hunting (Illustrated London Almanack, 1880)

Foxes and Fox-Hunting (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

My First Stag (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

Hunting with the Chetah, by J. Fortune Nott (Century Magazine, 1894A)

Hunting with cheetahs was a dying sport in India, but still practised in a few Indian courts; hunting with cheetahs in Windsor Park, England, was a decided failure!

Rock-Fowling and Its Dangers, by Clifford Cordley Chums, 1895)

Hunting from Melton, by Henry H.S. Pearse (Windsor Magazine, 1896A)

Highland Deer-Stalking, by Rockwood (English Illustrated Magazine, 1899A)

With Rifle and Hounds, by W. Blew (English Illustrated Magazine, 1899A)

A look at a variety of types of hunting, including fox-hunting, chamois hunting, and boar hunting.

See also

• Hunting in America

• Big Game Hunting Around the World

• Fishing