What is drag hunting?
Drag hunting is the sport of using hounds to follow an artificial scent that is dragged along the ground by a trail layer. The Bolebroke Beagles use aniseed as our target scent.
In drag hunting the trail does not contain an animal-based scent, is never laid in areas likely to have foxes or hares and those controlling the hounds always know where the trail has been laid.
The term is more commonly associated with mounted packs with riders following the hounds over a fast and furious set trail but we use the term to distinguish what we do from Trail Hunting, which uses a scent based on the original quarry species.
Join us at a Bolebroke meet
A Bolebroke meet typically starts with a Whisky Mack, a sausage roll, and a lot of excited chatter as the hounds and followers arrive.
The trail layer gets a head start and will jog with the drag through farmland, marshes, woodland, and anywhere else we’ve been invited for 10 kilometers or more, usually in several separate lines. Only the trail layer and hunt staff know where the route goes, so the followers must rely on the hounds’ noses to find the end.
Followers can be as active as they wish to be; some will jog to keep up with the hounds, some choose a tactical route to see the most action for the least walking, and others will find a nice vantage point to watch hounds work from a distance.
At the end of a meet, everyone is welcome to share in hot tea, home made cakes, and stories of the day.
We’re a social bunch and welcome anyone and everyone who has an interest in working beagles. As well as drag hunting days, we hold casual walks, BBQs, quiz nights, and other social events throughout the year.
The Bolebroke hounds exclusively follow aniseed trails and we are always focused on the welfare of our hounds and the wildlife we interact with.
Beagling is ideally suited to anyone who enjoys being out in the British countryside, appreciates nature and is interested in working hounds.
Perhaps the greatest master was Phil Burrows of the Bolebroke in Kent, under whom Martin Letts learnt his trade as a huntsman before moving to the College Valley in Northumberland. From 1934 to 1974 Burrows was master and bred his pack, arguing against the fashion of breeding a beagle too big or to be a miniature foxhound.
Each hunt will have a Master or a number of joint masters, who are responsible for the day-to-day aspects of running the hunt. One of the masters of a beagle pack is often also the huntsman. He is responsible for hunting the hounds on a hunting day. He will be assisted by a number of whippers-in and others. If you are a newcomer, introduce yourself, hunt officials are usually very friendly!
The pack of hounds is taken from a meet to hunt in the surrounding country. Traditionally they hunt the hare but since the 2004 Hunting Act, the hunted ‘quarry’ has been a ‘trail’, an artificial scent or rabbits.
A brief History
The Bolebroke Beagles were established in 1925 when the former Master, Mr Percy Mann, bought the Basted Beagles and renamed them after his residence in Hartfield, Bolebroke Castle.
The first meet was at 6 am on 11th September 1925 – in the pouring rain – and Phil Burrows wast there with his sister Mary, the family having moved from Lancashire to Kent.
9 years later, Percy Mann gracefully bowed out and Phil Burrows became the Master of the Bolebroke Beagles. He moved them to his home in Kemsing and they were to remain his for the next forty years.
Many other well-known huntsmen learned their trade under Phil Burrows before moving to other packs, including Martin Letts, and pack and their Masters were held in high esteem.
The hounds are now kennels on the North Kent Marshes near Rochester where they have been since 1999, at the home of their current Master and huntsman, Ben Wright.
The Bolebroke Beagles at Eastborough Farm Buildings, Nr Cooling, Kent, England.
Comments from Beagles and Beagling by Douglas and Carol Appleton:
“Tha pack are seeking for a scent in a nearby ditch. The amateur huntsman Martin Letts is shown on the left and the Master, Philips Burrows, MH, assisting the hounds to the right. This is typical winter scne in Britain as the snow thaws and scent should begin to rise. It recalls days when one went home, britches frozen to the legs.
Date: About 1960-1970
BOLEBROKE BEAGLES 