Since the Hunting Act (2004), The Ludlow Hunt have continued to hunt within the law. The aim of trail hunting is to simulate traditional hunting as practised before the ban. A trail is laid using a fox based scent, this is important because the aim is to keep the hounds focused on the scent of their historical quarry during the time of this ban, something that they have been bred for generations to understand.
The trail is laid both before and during a days ‘hunting’ across the country and typically takes a route that might be taken by a fox – i.e. through hedgerows and woods, along ditches, basically copying the natural movement of a fox across the countryside. It is laid by dragging a scented rag along the ground. This is done from a horse, a quad-bike or on foot.
The less that the Huntsman or the followers know of the trails route, the more the hunting will mimic its realistic and challenging form.
The Ludlow Hunt 