British Hound Sports Association and The Blankney Hunt to host National Trail-Hunting Day in Navenby
In a bid to show how their sport is practiced, trail hunters are inviting the public to see how they operate next month.
The British Hound Sports Association and The Blankney Hunt are hosting a National Trail-Hunting Day in Navenby on Saturday September 14, inviting people to come and see how trail hunting is conducted in a bid to dispel popular myths about the sport.
The Hunting Act 2004 criminalised the hunting of wild mammals with dogs in England and Wales, including hare coursing and fox hunting.
Trail hunting sees members laying a trail of an ethically sourced animal scent, usually via an sock or cloth soaked in the scent dragged along the ground, prior to the event.
The trail is occasionally lifted for a distance and dropped again, allowing the hounds to search for the scent if they lose it - and members then follow the hounds on the scent, either on foot, on horseback, or in a car.
The British Hound Sports Association states that if the scent of foxes, deer, hares, rabbits, birds, or other wildlife is picked up, the huntsman and other members of hunt staff stop the hounds as soon as they are made aware that the hounds are no longer following a trail that has been laid.
Graham Royce, Honorary Secretary of the Blankney Hunt, said: “If the hounds pick up the scent of live prey, the members put them off and stop them, and they do. We’ve never had any issues.”
Graham said that the purpose of the event is to educate and demonstrate that trail-hunting is a properly managed, legal and ethical sporting activity that follows a strict set of protocols and rules.
The Blankney Hunt’s National Trail-Hunting Day on September 14 will take place at Temple Grange, Navenby Heath, with people invited to attend from 11am for a 11.30am start.
There will be an opportunity to discuss different scents, terrains and trail laying techniques to demonstrate the different conditions that Hunts have to deal with, and ask questions about the sport.
Refreshments will be provided on the day.
