I hunt, following river around eastern French land after backtracking (8)
I believe the answer is:
ferreter
'i hunt' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.
'following river around eastern french land after backtracking' is the wordplay.
'following river' becomes 'fr' (this might be a standard abbreviation I've not previously seen).
'around' is an insertion indicator.
'eastern' becomes 'e'.
'french land' becomes 'terre' (I've seen this in another clue).
'after backtracking' says the letters should be written backwards.
'e'+'terre'='eterre'
'eterre' written backwards gives 'errete'.
'fr' enclosing 'errete' is 'FERRETER'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for ferreter that I've seen is " Hunter".)