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About Our Field Days
The Beagle Club of South Australia is the only Beagle
Club in Australia to conduct structured Field Days and
to award the participating hounds levels of achievement
in the Field. The pursuit of live game is not permitted
and the hounds are trained to follow a ‘drag scent',
consisting of raw meat and tuna oil.
To help understand how the Field Days are structured we
offer the following explanation:
All hounds are divided into ‘grades’ according to
their ability. These consist of:
· Puppy
· Novice
· Intermediate
· Pack
Hound
Puppies:
Open to all puppies under 6 months of age. The ‘runs’ for this
group are very short and the drag is always in view of the
hounds to encourage the chase.
Novices:
For hounds attending their first Field Day, and hounds who
are still new to the sport.
Intermediates:
Hounds are invited into this group when they have
demonstrated their ability to hunt the drag to the satisfaction
of our Master Of Hounds. The ‘runs’ are longer with a greater
degree of difficulty, and the hounds are released only after the
laying of the scent has been completed.
Pack
Hounds:
Intermediate hounds who have, over a number of Field Days,
proved their ability to follow the scent may be invited by our
Master of Hounds to participate with the hounds that have
already qualified as Pack Hounds. If these Intermediate hounds
prove their ability to hunt, then they may qualify as a Pack
Hound. The ‘runs’ for these hounds vary from between three to
five kilometers and the scent is at least 20 minutes old.
Beagles
are bred to be “Pack” hounds. This means that they must ‘hunt’
as a team and not be too independent or competitive. This is
the criteria upon which the Beagle Club of SA assesses their
Field Day achievers. The hounds are not competing in a ‘race’,
so the first home may not necessarily be the ‘winner’, but
rather the hounds are judged on their eagerness, ability to
achieve and their team spirit.
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