Thousands of fox hunting supporters are meeting for the first day of the new season - the first since a ban on using dogs in England and Wales.
The Countryside Alliance said around 200 hunts were taking place, some using birds of prey and others following a scent trail to exercise their hounds. Hunt opponents are also out, after a League Against Cruel Sports report found 40% of hunts had broken the law.
The Countryside Alliance dismissed the report's "vague language".
The Alliance said meets were aiming to be as normal as possible, while still staying within the law.
"It will look the same, feel the same and smell the same, but it will not quite be the same," said Richard Dodd, the Alliance's north east regional director.
Numerous loop-holes in the law exist - hounds can still chase a trail, and there is no ban on killing rats or rabbits.
At the Cheshire Forest Hunt an eight-month-old Harris hawk, named Alice, joined 36 riders and 31 hounds on a meet.
It is thought at least 50 hunts have adopted this practice since the ban took effect in February.
"The hounds are not hunting, but they are flushing for the hawk to hunt. It is one of the ways we are testing the legislation," Hunt Joint Master Peter Heaton said.
Joint Master Richard de Prez said no anti-hunt campaigners had been seen so far.
"I expect we will see some as they have said they are going to monitor our activities. They are welcome to do so because we do not intend to break the law."
Nigel Maidment, secretary of the Duke of Beaufort's Hunt, which is using a scent trial, said: "We are determined to keep our community and the bloodline of the hounds intact until we can get this law reversed or changed and get back to wildlife management."
He said the ban was proving unworkable, but the RSPCA said the law was vital for animal protection.
A Devon huntsman became the first to face court in England accused of breaking the ban, after a League Against Cruel Sports launched a private prosecution.
Tony Wright, of the Exmoor Foxhounds, faces a charge of "hounding foxes with dogs". He is expected to appear before a magistrate later this month.
'Law broken'
The League report released on Saturday said there were 157 allegations of illegal hunting against 79 hunts since the ban was introduced in February.
Information was gathered from hunt monitors, press articles and tip-offs.
The findings are based on evidence relating to 132 of the 317 official hunts in England and Wales.
League chief executive Douglas Batchelor said its evidence and intelligence had been passed to the police and the government.
"The report shows that many hunts appear to have gone far beyond what the law now allows in their desire to keep on hunting," he said.
A Countryside Alliance spokeswoman said: "If their claims were true, they would not talk about hunts 'appearing to be' breaking the law."
It has released its own findings that suggest support for the ban has fallen.
A survey of 1,005 people, conducted in late October across Britain, showed 45% of those interviewed supported the ban.
The Alliance said a July 1999 survey found 63% of those questioned supported a ban.