Hunting the clean boot

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Hunting the clean boot, also called clean boot hunting, is a term that has been used in the United Kingdom to refer to the use of packs of bloodhounds to follow a natural human scent trail.

The term 'clean boot' refers to the absence of either an artificial scent such as aniseed, as used in drag hunting, or animal urine, as used in trail hunting.Brian Lowe, Hunting the clean boot: The working bloodhound, Blandford Press, Poole, 1981, {{ISBN|0-7137-0950-2}}.{{Cite web |title=What is clean boot hunting? - Protect the Wild |url=https://protectthewild.org.uk/what-is-clean-boot-hunting/ |access-date=2024-08-06 |website=protectthewild.org.uk |language=en-GB}}{{Cite web |title=Team Fox - Hunting the Clean Boot |url=https://teamfox.org.uk/about/32-why-choose-us/153-hare-hunting-3 |access-date=2024-08-06 |website=teamfox.org.uk}} Whilst today the term has become synonymous with the use of bloodhound packs, most breeds of dog can be taught the skill individually with varying degrees of success.L.C.R Cameron, Minor field sports: Including hunting, dogs, ferreting, hawking, trapping, shooting, fishing and other miscellaneous activities, G. Routledge & Sons, London, 1920.

Typically, clean boot hunts are run along similar lines to fox hunting (now prohibited in Great Britain), with a field of mounted riders following a pack of bloodhounds which trails the scent of a runner. Like other forms of mounted hunting with hounds, hunting the clean boot usually occurs in the autumn, winter and early spring.Nicholas Goddard and John Martin, "Drag hunting", Encyclopedia of traditional British rural sports, Tony Collins, John Martin and Wray Vamplew (eds), Routledge, Abingdon, 2005, {{ISBN|0-415-35224-X}}.

In order to improve the speed, agility and pack hunting instincts of the bloodhound, the Dumfriesshire Hound was used by several packs as an outcross.