The South Devon Hunt conducts its activities within the confines of the Hunting Act 2004, and has successfully done so since it came into force in February 2005.

The traditional hunting of foxes for which our hounds have been carefully bred for centuries is now banned, but trail hunting allows us to legally simulate it as closely as possible.

We lay multiple ethically sourced animal-based scent trails across our country, which our hounds then find and follow throughout each day’s hunting.  By kind permission of landowners and farmers, our Trail Layers operate throughout the day on foot, horseback, ATVs or a combination of all three.  They lay trails to best replicate the challenges and excitement of the traditional hunting of live quarry, including in woodland and gorse, over, along and through hedgerows, banks and stone walls, into farm yards, across rivers, bogs, ditches and minor roads, and over fields and open moorland.  The term for competing scents that might confuse hounds is “foil”.  Good trails make the hounds work hard, and the hounds’ ability to follow these trails depends on a number of environmental factors known as scenting conditions.

Though the Huntsman and his Staff know where the Hunt has permission to operate, they do not know the precise routes taken by the Trail Layers.  Using his voice and hunting horn, the Huntsman “draws” known start points, referred to as “coverts”, encouraging his hounds to find and follow the trail, whilst the Whippers-In use their voices and very occasionally the sound of their whips to help keep the hounds safe and under control.  The hounds also use their voices, known as “speaking”, “giving cry” or “giving tongue” when they find and follow the scent.  If hounds lose the scent, known as having “checked”, they are encouraged to “cast”, that is to fan out and relocate the line.

On the rare occasion that hounds find and follow the scent of a live fox, the Huntsman and Whippers-In will stop the hounds as soon as they are made aware.  Other than that, the sights and sounds of legal trail hunting today are barely distinguishable from those of traditional hunting that took place in South Devon for 200 years before ceasing in 2005.  Trail hunting is just one of multiple legal hound sports approved and regulated by the British Hound Sports Association and Hound Sports Regulatory Authority.