The following is a generalised account of a pre-ban fox hunt

Prior to a hunt the Master or huntsman would usually contact farmers and landowners in the area to agree where the hunt could go. The night before, or early on the day of the hunt, efforts were made to block up the entrances to fox earths, badger setts and places such as drains to prevent foxes going underground once the hunt has started. The Protection of Badgers Act 1992 had permitted “soft” stopping of badger setts, although this is now illegal.

Usually, riders, hounds and followers met at about 11:00 am. The huntsman, hunt staff and hounds would go to the agreed starting point. The mounted field led by the Field Master, would follow at a distance. Followers would set off, in vehicles and on foot, to watch the hunt.

The hounds would be encouraged to search for a fox in coverts, woods or rough ground. Once the hounds found a scent they would bark excitedly and follow the scent trail. Sometimes the hounds would catch a fox quickly and kill it before it could run. Other times, the hounds would pursue the fox. Often, the hounds would lose the scent so they might have to search in order to find it again. If the hounds were successful in their pursuit they would catch it, kill it and tear it apart. Some chases took just a couple of minutes whilst others could last half an hour or more. After a kill the huntsman or woman would call off the hounds, and then the tail of the fox, and sometimes its feet, would be removed and given to the followers.

Several sessions of trying to search, pursue and kill foxes would be carried out during the hunting day.

Often the fox would go underground, commonly referred to as ‘going to ground’. It might be dug out by a terrierman and killed if the farmer or landowner had requested this. It was not considered good practice for a fox to be hunted again after being dug out. However, it was not unusual for a fox to be bolted from its underground refuge and hunted again by placing a terrier below ground.

Some hunts operated on foot, particularly in areas where the terrain was unsuitable for riding. These hunts operated in generally the same way as described above except that there would be no riders and the hounds could be much further away from the huntsman.

Cub hunting would take place in August or September. The huntsman and others on foot or horseback would surround a covert or other place where foxes might be found. Hounds would be sent in to either kill the young foxes or flush them out and pursue them. Those surrounding the covert would try and stop the foxes from escaping by making noise. The purpose of cub hunting included the training of young, inexperienced hounds.