Paintball with human "fox" as target

In an attempt to satisfy hunters left wanting due to hunting bans in parts of England, UK Paintball is now offering a "fox hunt" where participants target a human dressed in a fox suit. (I just hope this doesn't turn into open season on furries.) Does the idea remind you of Richard Connell's 1924 short story "The Most Dangerous Game," about a rich man who hunts human prey on his private island? Turns out, the two gents who invented paintball in 1976 were inspired by Connell's story! UK Paintball's "Fox Hunt" (via Metro.co.uk)

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http://ae4rv.com/ royaltrux

The shooter doesn’t seem to be much of a shot.
Brainspore

It’s just not the same without the hounds and horses and silly outfits.
- satn
  
  This is the commonors version. The rich people still use all those, but hire marathon sprinters to wear the fox suit for their entertainment.
  - Brainspore
    
    Do the rich guys get real horses and hounds or are those just people in fursuits too?
    - satn
      
      What you call “real” horses and hounds are actually cheap copies of the actual animals used by those above your scurrying little world. Also they’re monogramed.
http://ae4rv.com/ royaltrux

Maximum load tester at the adult diaper factory just got a rival for worst job ever.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_XDXCHOC3MSV5MBEOPV76POG7EE Jonathan

That’s one of the worst fursuits I’ve ever seen. :)
Rossi

That was awfully nice of Wil Wheaton to go over there and do that for them.
Mister44

1) The guy wasn’t actually shooting paintballs. Just shooting air.

2) This has to be a joke, especially with the audio of the horns and dogs. LOL

3) Back in the day, we played fun games like ‘down pilot’, ‘infection’, and ‘foot ball’. The game had a much more fun variety than just your basic “capture the flag” that the game sort of degenerated into.

4) ETA – Didn’t the dogs just rip the fox apart on fox hunts? They didn’t shoot them, did they? Now THAT I would pay to see – 5 or 6 furries in dog outfits chasing a fox. Good times.
- Rich Keller
  
  #4 would be a hilarious Improv Everywhere / flashmob event.
  - Antinous / Moderator
    
    Or porn movie.
    - Bersl
      
      How about a furry porn story? I’m recalling this particular one written in 1995, which I read maybe some time in 2000. Taught me the word “debonair”. Went on to use it in a poetry assignment for English class (wrote a villanelle; wish I still had the poem). Who said porn couldn’t be educational?
- http://twitter.com/james4765 Jim Nelson
  
  Burning Man. Enough said.
  
  Actually did see that with a lion and a pack of zebras there last year…
- SomeGuyNamedMark
  
  #4: Plus I know you can get people to be the horses. No (nonhuman) animals required at all.
hymenopterid

The frightened body language was a nice touch. It’s important to make the hunter feel like a big man.
- http://www.facebook.com/postelwait Cameron Postelwait
  
  extra long and girthy paint ball guns should be an option.
http://twitter.com/chrisjimson chris jimson

Yeah. . . but you just don’t get the full fox hunt experience unless a pack of dogs rips apart the “fox” at the end. (Please tell me they do in this version!)
Anaerin

I think Top Gear had the better option: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aA8Cu2CutS8
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1145421702 Maggi Beagles

There was an episode of Northern Exposure that had a similar subplot. Maurice is trying to impress an English princess and enlists Ed to act as prey for their hunt.
SomeGuyNamedMark

Reminds me of the golf driving ranges where the kid in the ball collecting tractor would immediately become the target for everyone.
mattcornell

Furries already have their own foxhunts, and they sound way more fun.

http://www.laweekly.com/2010-07-01/la-life/giddyup/
- http://pulse.yahoo.com/_XDXCHOC3MSV5MBEOPV76POG7EE Jonathan
  
  Pony/Pup Play != Furry
  There are, as you would expect, overlaps, but they are very different.
swlabr

There’s a pretty messed up version of this concept in Ken Russell’s movie ‘The Devils’.
JoshP

It seems like I remember reading that the hounds would be managed by a gamekeeper (or whatever) to maximize the enjoyment for the plutocrats in the silly outfits. A gamekeeper with firm thighs and large mannish hands, smouldering dark pits for eyes, etc.
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  Hmm.
http://theladyfingers.blogspot.com/ Ladyfingers

“I just hope this doesn’t turn into open season on furries.”

Why?
ZA_SF

It’s a good joke now. But when that thrill is gone, how long before the culture that sells you “Bum Fight” DVDs will seek darker profits?
DevinC

This is why we can’t have nice things.
eerd

Hunting foxes isn’t banned in England, I went and saw one start on Boxing Day. I think the hunts have to try and not let the dogs rip the fox apart – so provide other means of killing it, for instance with a gun.