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Notes from the Field

Showcase Your Great Ideas!

The mission of the Masters of Foxhounds Association is to promote, preserve and protect mounted hunting in North America. To further that effort, the MFHA has launched a shared collection of successful practices of member hunts.

Perhaps you’ve picked up some good ideas for your hunt while chatting with someone from another hunt. Perhaps it happened at a joint meet, an MFHA seminar, on a phone call, or online. However, as incoming MFHA president Penny Denegre says, “There’s a large number of hunts doing smart things that too often go unnoticed.”

Let’s change that!

To help boost the exchange of these ideas and success stories, the MFHA is collecting them in a compendium called Notes from the Field. These are activities that hunts have found useful for:

  • social events
  • hound care
  • safety
  • fundraising
  • landowner and community relations
  • engaging youngsters
  • land preservation
  • whatever helps nurture fox hunting in their area!


The collection will be regularly updated and made available in the newsletter, on the website, and in periodic hard copy versions. Let’s combine our best ideas to promote, preserve and protect the sport we love!

Entries posted with “Notes” are for information and education and represent the views, opinions, conclusions, recommendations and experiences of the submitting parties. Their inclusion does not constitute endorsement or warranty by the MFHA of the accuracy, applicability, fitness or completeness of the postings.

Submit Your Tips

The MFHA will contact hunts for their great ideas, but don’t wait! Contact the MFHA headquarters and they will follow up to learn about and help share your successful practice.

illustration of fox in professor outfit teaching hound who is taking notes

Notes from the Field

The Landowner Seminar

The Hound Challenge is a competition to evaluate hounds in the Woodbrook pack and to engage members in the process. Members can bid on the opportunity to “own” a hound with the hope that it’s judged the best performing hound of the Woodbrook pack for the season. Woodbrook MFH Melody Fleckenstein describes the auction and competition as, “the single best thing we have done to promote the actual sport.” Not only is it a great fundraiser, but it boosts member enthusiasm for, and knowledge of, hound work.
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The Vixens Meet

OCH board member Jane Bishop and co-organizer Emily Hannum jumped on the vixens meet concept when Emily saw its success at another hunt. Jane states: “I’ve worked on many fund-raisers, and have found this is the most easy and fun way to raise funds to supplement hunt subscriptions. It’s also an exciting and super cool way to celebrate women fox hunters!” Here’s how they do it.
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The Hound Challenge

The Hound Challenge is a competition to evaluate hounds in the Woodbrook pack and to engage members in the process. Members can bid on the opportunity to “own” a hound with the hope that it’s judged the best performing hound of the Woodbrook pack for the season. Woodbrook MFH Melody Fleckenstein describes the auction and competition as, “the single best thing we have done to promote the actual sport.” Not only is it a great fundraiser, but it boosts member enthusiasm for, and knowledge of, hound work.
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Triage & Emergency Care of Injured Rider in the Hunting Field

As former MFHA President and Iroquois MFH Jack van Nagell states, “Our protocol is to do everything possible for optimum safe evacuation and recovery of an injured rider.” The protocol is a list of recommendations that Iroquois is making available to all MFHA hunts. Highlights below.
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