Trail hunting did not exist before the Hunting Act 2004. When the Act came into force, the Masters of Draghounds and Bloodhounds Association were particularly concerned that illegal hunting, under the guise of hunting an artificial scent trail, would have a detrimental effect on the sport of drag hunting. To prevent their sport being brought into disrepute, the Masters of Draghounds and Bloodhounds Association insisted that the term drag hunting remained their exclusive property; which is why the organisations that hunted live quarry invented the term trail hunting.

Trail hunting should involve the pursuit of an artificial or animal based scent by a pack of dogs and a mounted field of riders. The trail should be laid by someone in front of the hunt with a ‘duster’ such as a scented sock tied to the end of a whip.

Measures which can be taken to avoid illegal hunting
Traditional hunts have had since November 2004, the point at which they were certain the pursuit of a wild mammal would be illegal, to retrain their hounds to follow an artificial scent, as opposed to a live quarry. However hunts claim that they are trying to replicate pre-ban hunting as closely as possible. Many did not want to convert to drag hunting as they wanted their dogs to retain the scenting ability for wild quarry in the hope that the Hunting Act would be repealed. If a hunt is taking reasonable steps to avoid hunting a live quarry they should be able to show that they have retrained their hounds to follow an artificial scent. The introduction of young hounds over the past few seasons has given them the opportunity to train them to follow a non-fox scent.

The Master of Drag hounds and Bloodhounds Association has stated that if the intention is to trail hunt, there are a number of measures that can easily be taken to prevent any "accidents", namely the hunting of live quarry, from occurring. First, foxes spend most of the day lying up in dense cover, and so it is easy to lay scent trails that avoid those areas most likely to be used by foxes as shelter. Secondly, when hunting live quarry, the trail is unpredictable, and the animal may run anywhere. With trail hunting, the exact route is known, and so it is very easy to position hunt servants and/or hunt supporters at key positions so that they can: (i) watch the hunt; and (ii) help stop hounds if they change to live quarry, or inform the huntsman if the hounds have changed to live quarry, so that the hunt can be ended promptly.

Scenting
It is also important to consider the properties of scent. There is considerable debate about how long after it has been laid that a scent trail can be followed by a pack of hounds. A wide range of variables, in particular climatic conditions and the substrate on which the scent is laid, heavily influences the persistence of a scent trail.

Scent trails are very variable and can be lost quickly under a variety of conditions so a pack of hounds needs to be following a fresh trail. In addition, the longer the hunt has been in progress, the weaker the scent becomes.

The late Duke of Beaufort was the most experienced fox hunter in Britain, and he describes the problems that hounds have following a fox's scent trail: he explains that this is easily lost, or confused, and stresses the importance of a huntsman keeping "as close to his hounds as possible" to help ensure they do not lose the scent.

When laying artificial scents, drag hunts have generally tried to improve the persistence of the scent trail by mixing an odoriferous substance with a oil. For instance, a runner is used to lay a scent about 20 minutes in advance of the hunt. In their evidence to the Burns Inquiry, the Masters of Draghounds and Bloodhounds Association stated that their artificial scent trails are generally oil-based and are laid "perhaps half an hour" ahead of the hunt.

Whilst these artificial scents may last longer than the natural scents produced by foxes, they still behave in the same way as natural scents, and climate and other conditions reduce the time they persist. Hence, to be able to follow the scent and provide a reasonably fast hunt, hounds need to be laid on to the scent within half an hour of it being laid. These artificial scents can be followed later than this, but the hounds have to work much more slowly and methodically to find and follow an old scent trail. Hunting a weaker scent trail would also affect the way that the hounds work: with a fresh trail the hounds run much faster, with their heads held high, and vocalise excitedly. With an old scent trail, the hounds would work much more slowly and methodically, with their noses held much closer to the ground, and make much less noise.

For further information see: http://www.huntinginquiry.gov.uk/evidence/mfha.htm

 

Useful Links | Privacy Statement | Contact Us