"Hunting the clean boot", is exactly what it says on the tin - it involves hounds hunting human runners that neither wear nor drag any form of artificial scent enhancement. There are two forms of this sport - an activity where owners of pure bred bloodhounds use their hounds, singly or in pairs, on foot to hunt the scent of a single human runner that has set off between 1 and 24 hours in front of the hounds. Usually, the hounds are hunted on leads, but at an advanced level, they can be off leads.  This is a 'field trial' activity that has no mounted followers, although spectators are permitted.  However, this is not the activity we are dealing with here.

 

The Clean Boot Hunting Association (CBHA) has been set up to support and promote clean boot hunting by packs of hounds/hunts.  The CBHA is NOT and does not pretend to be, a 'governing body', but will only accept membership from hunts that follow CBHA "Format and Protocols" (F&P).  

 

This sport should not be confused with Draghunting, which follows a similar, but slightly different F&P, or Trailhunting, which follows a completely different F&P. Currently, all mounted clean boot packs use cross bred bloodhounds to hunt human runners, known as Quarries, across ground over which permission has been sought and granted by the landowners and farmers. Masters of Bloodhounds will then look for, and set a route on a map and again, get this cleared with the landowner/farmer.  In some case this route will be as tight as a few metres wide, or  the full width of a field or wood, the latter giving the Quarries room to twist and turn and try to throw the hounds off their scent, because this is very much a 'hound work' sport, which also offers their mounted followers a good ride across countryside they wouldn't otherwise have access to.