Trumpeting while backpacking?
Do not see a problem with it, but please remain considerate of others. Hunting horns have been in use for centuries and are still in use in certain countries. It is a tradition.
Nevertheless, one should be respectful of trumpeting in and around campsite, where others may get annoyed easily. Many hikers and campers appreciate the silence of the woods.
If you are backpacking in an isolated area with no one around, then I would see no problem with it at all.
Can not tell you how many times I have seen guitars playing around campfires while backpacking!
While hiking in ”Bear Country” it is encouraged to make noise while hiking, so it would be great in these areas. It could be somewhat hazardous to play while walking on rough trails.
Remember, horns and fox hunting have been a tradition for centuries.
Surely, one of the thrills of the foxhunting field is the sound of the huntsman’s horn. When huntsman and hounds are out of sight, the horn keeps the knowledgeable foxhunter informed as to the progress of the hunt.
When the huntsman doubles it in covert, that’s a good time to check your girth. When you hear the Gone Away, you watch your Field Master and anticipate that moment when the saddle tosses you standing in your stirrups and dancing to that seductive three-beat rhythm. The knowledgeable foxhunter can distinguish when the huntsman is blowing Gone to Ground to celebrate a successful conclusion, or simply collecting hounds after a loss. But have you ever tried to blow the thing yourself? Not easy!
The original hunting horn was curved, actually that from an animal, and could only sound a single note. The straight horn became the vogue around the end of the seventeenth century shortly after the fox was elevated to the front ranks of beasts of the chase. That led to what Cameron calls the “decline of Horn-music almost to the vanishing point.” The faster pace of hunting across the open undoubtedly had much to do with the diminishment of the horn music.
The twenty-five horn calls, fully detailed on the musical staves in the booklet are: On Leaving Kennels, On Moving Off to Draw, On Throwing Off (uncoupling at covertside), On Throwing Off (modern), The Seek (used in stag, hare, and otter hunting), When Drawing On (moving from one covert to another), To Call Away Hounds, When All Away (modern), The Veline (rousing the quarry or marking an otter), The Gone Away, Breaking Covert, Tally Ho, Back (followed by a crack of the thong), On a Scent, Doubling the Horn, Gone to Ground (if to dig), Call for the Terriers at an Earth, To Call Away (if not to dig), the Death of a Fox, The Mort of a Buck, The Taking of a Stag, At the Worry of an Otter, At the Killing of a Hare, The Rattle (modern), The Recheat (above), and To Notify the Field that Hounds are Going Home.
If one has a brass horn with valves, and wants to play the Fanfare of the Duc de Chartres’ Hunt at Chantilly, that’s included as a bonus! What I find missing is the horn call for the whipper-in, which has the rhythmic cadence of ‘Whip to me, whip to me.’ That must be a more modern call. -How to Blow the Hunting Horn
Fox hunting, the chase of a fox by horsemen with a pack of hounds. The use of horns is commonplace.
The huntsman controls hounds by voice, his or her calls being known as cheers, and by a horn - a copper tube about 8 inches (20 cm) long that produces two notes of great carrying and penetrating quality.
If one prefers not to go trumpeting while backpacking, that is fine! One might consider foraging for trumpet mushrooms (Pleurotus eryngii) instead.
