Rabies is endemic in the US; if you're afield and a fox (or any other critter) exhibits a lack of fear of you (and other symptoms), you don't fool with it. You either call a professional or deal with it yourself. Then the brain is examined.

Coyotes, kydogs, cats, and other mammals have all been found rabid. The situation here is in that regard different from that in the UK and Europe. That said, I still don't like fox hunting.

A friend and I, years back, were driving along backroads one night when we hit a fox. Bob stopped the car, reversed, and we found the animal thrashing in the ditch, its lower back obviously broken and also obviously in considerable pain. We had a .38 revolver with us (for reasons we need not go into except to say that they were not illegal) and we shot the fox. It died instantly and I swear that I heard it thank us. A gorgeous animal.

If you need to hunt foxes, why not just shoot them or trap them and then kill them? I honestly don't see the need to run them down from horseback and never have. (And use the pelts!)

As for hunting with spears -- well, there's a small group of folks that do just that, but in most states it's against the law. So I like those who use traditional archery equipment, shotguns, muzzleloaders, or single-shot rifles, all without telescopic sights. You have to get close enough for the shot to count WITHOUT spooking the game, and that takes skill on many levels.

Drinking ALWAYS takes place AFTER the hunt, not before or during. ALWAYS. And you don't hunt with a hangover. Believe me you don't. Hunting under the influence should be treated as driving is, at least.
But I'll say this: in better than 40 years of going afield for the purpose of taking game, I've never yet hunted with a drunk or even seen one out hunting. I'm sure they exist, but they've never come onto MY scope. (God, I hate to think what Hangin' Dave would sentence a drunk hunter to!)