Hunting

HUNTING, the pursuit of game and wild animals, for profit or sport; equivalent to "chase" (like "catch," from Lat. captare, Fr. Chasse, Ital. caccia). The circumstances which render neces sary the habitual pursuit of wild animals, either as a means of subsistence or for self-defence, generally accompany a phase of human progress distinctly inferior to the pastoral and agricul tural stages. Resorted to as a recreation, however, the practice of the chase in most cases indicates a considerable degree of civilization, and sometimes ultimately becomes the almost dis tinctive employment of the classes which are possessed of most leisure and wealth. It is in some of its latter aspects, viz., as a "sport," pursued on fixed rules and principles, that hunting is dealt with here. (See also GAME LAWS.) Stag Hunting.—At an early period stag hunting was a fa vourite recreation with English royalty. It seems probable that in the reign of Henry VIII. the royal pack of buckhounds was kennelled at Swinley, where, in the reign of Charles II. (1684), a deer was found that went away to Lord Petre's seat in Essex; only five got to the end of this 70m. run, one being the king's brother, the duke of York. George III. was a great stag hunter, and met the royal pack as often as possible. In The Chase of the Wild Red Deer, Collyns says that the earliest record of a pack of staghounds in the Exmoor district is in 1J98, when Hugh Pollard, Queen Elizabeth's ranger, kept one at Simonsbath. The succeeding rangers of Exmoor forest kept up the pack until some 200 years ago, the hounds subsequently passing into the possession of Mr. Walter of Stevenstone, an ancestor of the Rolle family. Successive masters continued the sport until 1825, when the fine pack, descended probably from the bloodhound crossed with the old southern hound, was sold in London. In 1827 Sir Arthur Chichester got a pack together again. Stag hunting begins on Aug. 12, and ends on Oct. 8; it begins again about Ladyday, and lasts till May io. The mode of hunting with the Devon and Somerset hounds is briefly this : the whereabouts of a warrantable stag is communicated to the master by that im portant functionary the harbourer ; a few couple of steady hounds called tufters are then thrown into cover, and, having singled out a warrantable deer, follow him until he is forced to make for the open, when the body of the pack are laid on. Very often a con siderable period elapses before the stag breaks, but a run over the wild country fully atones for the delay.

Hare and Otter Hunting.

Hare hunting, which must not be confounded with Coursing (q.v.), is an excellent school both for men and for horses. It is cheaper than any other kind, and does not need so large an area of country. Hare hunting requires considerable skill. Beckford even goes so far as to say : "There is more of true hunting with harriers than with any other descrip tion of hounds. . . . In the first place, a hare, when found, generally describes a circle in her course which naturally brings her upon her foil, which is the greatest trial for hounds. Sec ondly, the scent of the hare is weaker than that of any other ani mal we hunt, and, unlike some, it is always the worse the nearer she is to her end." Hare hunting is essentially a quiet amuse ment ; no hallooing at hounds nor whip-cracking should be per mitted ; nor should the field make any noise when a hare is found, for, being a timid animal, she might be headed into the hounds' mouths. Capital exercise and much useful knowledge are to be derived by running with a pack of beagles. There are the same difficulties to be contended with as in hunting with the ordinary harrier, and a very few days' running will teach the youthful sportsman that he cannot run at the same pace over sound ground and over a deep ploughed field, up hill and down, or along and across furrows.

Otter hunting, which is less practised now than formerly, be gins just as all other hunting is drawing to a close. When the waterside is reached an attempt is made to hit upon the track by which the otter passed to his "couch," which is generally a hole communicating with the river, into which the otter often dives on first hearing the hounds. When the otter "vents," or comes to the surface to breathe, his muzzle only appears above water, and when he is viewed or traced by the mud he stirs up, or by air bubbles, the hounds are laid on. Notwithstanding the strong scent of the otter, he often escapes the hounds, and then a cast has to be made. Otter hunting can claim to have been a royal sport, being mentioned in the reign of king Henry II. Roughly speaking, the season begins in April and extends into October, though, as in foxhunting, the weather has to be taken into con sideration. The modern method of hunting otters differs from that employed in bygone days when the spear and net were used, for to-day the work is largely left to the hounds and terriers. There were in 1926 18 packs of otterhounds.

Fox Hunting.

It is only within comparatively recent times that the fox has come to be considered as an animal of the higher chase. William Twici, indeed, who was huntsman-in-chief to Edward II., and who wrote in Norman French a treatise on hunting, mentions the fox as a beast of venery, but obviously as an altogether inferior object of sport. The precise date of the establishment of the first English pack of hounds kept entirely for fox hunting cannot be accurately fixed. In any case, since fox hunting began, the system of the sport has been much changed. In our great-grandfathers' time the hounds met early, and found the fox by the drag, that is, by the line he took to his kennel on his return from a foraging expedition. Hunting the drag was doubtless a great test of nose, but many good runs must have been lost thereby, for the fox must often have heard the hounds upwind, and have moved off before they could get on good terms with him. The woodlands are neither so large nor so numerous as they formerly were, while there are many more gorse covers; therefore, instead of hunting the drag up to it, a much quicker way of getting to work is to find a fox in his ken nel; and, the hour of the meeting being later, the fox is not likely to be gorged with food, and so unable to take care of him self at the pace at which the modern foxhound travels.

Cub hunting, carried out on a proper principle, is one of the secrets of a successful season. To the man who cares for hunt ing, as distinct from riding, September and October are not the least enjoyable months of the whole hunting season. As soon as the young entry have recovered from the operation of "round ing," arrangements for cub hunting begin. The hounds must have first of all walking, then trotting and fast exercise, so that their feet may be hardened, and all superfluous fat worked off by the last week in August. So far as the hounds are concerned, the object of cub hunting is to teach them their duty; it is a dress rehearsal of the November business. In company with a certain proportion of old hounds, the youngsters learn to stick to the scent of a fox, in spite of the fondness they have acquired for that of a hare when at walk. When cub hunting begins, a start is made at an early hour, and then the system is adopted of track ing the cub by his drag. A certain amount of blood is of course indispensable for hounds, but it should never be forgotten that a fox cub of seven or eight months old, though tolerably cunning, is not very strong; the huntsman should not therefore, be over eager in bringing to hand every cub he can find.

Modern Developments.

The years immediately preceding the World War were in many ways the golden age of this great English sport. Money was plentiful and it was noticeable that newcomers to the country-side were inclined to favour hunting rather than shooting. Increased facilities for transport enabled people to hunt from towns. Horse-breeding and hound-breeding had been placed on a sound basis, and hunting, generally, had been organized and stabilized under the supreme authority of the Mas ters of Foxhounds Association. Then came the war. The drain on horses was tremendous; subscription lists dropped to practi cally nothing; and, worst of all, at the height of the submarine menace, the feeding of hounds became an almost insoluble prob lem. The expense was enormous and there was a considerable outcry to the effect that hounds should be suppressed altogether as useless animals which consumed useful food. In 1917-18 hunt ing very nearly ceased altogether, and had it once come to an end it is extremely improbable that it would have been revived. The Association of M.F.H., however, in collaboration with Sir William Burton, tackled the problem. All over the country the number of hounds was reduced, the reduction being effected partly by killing off hounds, but mainly by drafting large numbers out of the country, notably to America, and by breeding fewer.

These drastic measures had their reward. Not only was hunt ing saved, but it was far easier for the staffs, greatly depleted by the war, to deal efficiently with these reduced packs. Further, half a century of hound shows had given the general breeder a very sound idea at what to aim ; so that, in spite of these re ductions, not only was the total number of hounds in England in 1925 very nearly up to the pre-war strength, but the quality of English hounds was as high as ever. Not a single well-known hunt ceased to exist.

Post-war Developments.

The end of the war by no means put an end to the difficulties which faced hunting. Judicious reductions, compensated for by breeding on sound lines, settled the hound difficulty. The question of horses largely answered it self by the release of an enormous number of animals from the army. After the war, too, whether as a direct result or not it is impossible to say, there was a decided improvement in the quality of the horses; this has been accentuated by the judgments given at horse shows. Before the war the show animal and the hunter were two distinct types ; the animal that won prizes was not always likely to prove of much use across country and vice versa. But after the war the show animal was displaced by the real hunter, who is quite capable of winning a prize in the show ring in the summer and a point-to-point in the spring, the ideal at which to aim. The subscriber difficulty was also automatically solved by the return of the armies and, at any rate immediately after the armistice, there were more people hunting than before the war.

Speaking generally, then, fox-hunting recovered in a surpris ing way from the direct consequences of the war. But an indi rect consequence still had a great and adverse effect on the sport, namely, the change in the social and territorial conditions of rural England. This began before 1914, but was enormously ac centuated by the war. In the old days rural England was largely in the hands of the great landowners, who were probably hunting men themselves, or at any rate supporters of hunting, and their tenant farmers, who took their cue from their landlord. Then came the extensive sales of landed property, due to the heavy taxation of the war period and after with its adverse effects on the sport.

Hunting countries whose borders extend up to the limits of towns are in danger of losing portions of their territory, and in some hunts this has already taken place. The great increase in poultry farms and the advent of the smallholder is not in the in terests of hunting, though up to the present matters in general have been amicably arranged by the aid of the poultry fund and tact and good-feeling. The various outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease affected hunting for the time being, and helped to bring about that depression in agriculture which became so marked in 1927. One of the least of the evils of the failure of so many farmers to make headway owing to the difficulties of the social and political situation has been the fact that far fewer are able to follow hounds than was the case, say, before the war, though the good feeling towards the chase has in no wise diminished. The fact that the farmer, who has in the great majority of cases been a staunch supporter of hunting, has fallen upon evil times has naturally inclined masters to come to his succour as much as possible. Even in fashionable countries followers are requested to avoid doing unnecessary damage, and not to jump fences when hounds are not running, while, in order to assist farmers and to prevent stock straying, all followers of hounds are particularly requested to shut gates and also to instruct their second horsemen to do the same, both when following the hunt and on the way home.

Hunting is still as popular as ever, though the difficulties of carrying on have increased, largely owing to the expenditure, which has doubled and even trebled in places. The fact that large estates in this country have in very many cases been sold and subdivided has naturally affected hunting in various ways. In far too many cases the earth stopping is not done anything like as systematically as it used to be, and this may in the future have serious effects. Another drawback that hunting has to face is that in making roads suitable for motor traffic the slippery nature of the surfaces adopted has rendered riding on roads unusually dangerous.

The increasing use of barbed wire should be noted, though in most countries there is an arrangement to take it down during the hunting season and replace it at the end, or at least to have the obstacle properly marked ; but the real trouble is what may be termed the forgotten strand in a hedge, which has been the cause of several serious accidents.

Packs.

When railways were first started in England dismal prophecies were made that the end of hunting would speedily be brought about. Much the same was predicted about the motor-car. But on the whole results have been the reverse. While in some counties the sport has suffered, townsmen who formerly would have been too far from a meet can now secure transport for themselves and their horses in all directions; and as a con sequence, meets of certain packs are not advertised because of the number of strangers who would be induced to attend. The sport was never so vigorously pursued as at the beginning of the aoth century, 19 packs of staghounds being kept in England and four in Ireland, over 17o packs of foxhounds in England, ten in Scotland and 23 in Ireland, with packs of harriers and beagles too numerous to be counted. The chase of the wild stag is carried on in the west country by the Devon and Somerset hounds, which hunt three or four days a week from kennels at Exf ord ; by the Quantock; and by a few other local packs.

Packs of foxhounds vary, from large establishments in the "Shires," the meets of which are attended by hundreds of horse men, some of whom keep large stables of hunters in constant work, to small kennels in the north of England, where the field follow on foot. The "Shires" is a recognized term, but is never theless somewhat vague. The three counties included in the ex pression are Leicestershire, Rutlandshire and Northamptonshire. Several packs which hunt within these limits are not supposed, however, to belong to the "Shires," whereas a district of the Bel voir country is in Lincolnshire, and to hunt with the Belvoir is certainly understood to be hunting in the "Shires." The Shire hounds include the Belvoir, the Cottesmore, the Quorn, the Fernie and the Pytchleys; for besides the Pytchley proper there is a pack distinguished as the Woodland. It is generally con sidered that the cream of the sport lies there, but with many of the packs which are generally described as "provincial" equally good hunting may be obtained. Round about London a man who is bent on the pursuit of fox or stag may gratify his desire in many directions. The Essex and the Essex Union, the Old Sur rey and Burstow and the Surrey Union, the Old Berkeley, the West Kent, the Hertfordshire, the Crawley and Horsham, the Puckeridge are amongst the foxhounds ; and as regards stag hounds there are the Berks and Bucks, which was substituted for the Royal Buckhounds, within easy reach of the capital.

Modern Horses and Hounds.—Questions are constantly raised as to whether horse and hounds have improved or deterio rated in modern times. It is probable that the introduction of scientific agriculture has brought about an increase of pace. Hounds hunt as well as ever they did, are probably faster on the whole, and in the principal hunts more thoroughbred horses are employed. For pace and endurance no hunter approaches the English thoroughbred ; and for a bold man who "means going," a steeplechase horse is often the best animal that could be ob tained, for when he has become too slow to win races "between the flags," he can always gallop much faster, and usually lasts much longer, than animals who have not his advantage of blood. The quondam "chaser" is, however, usually apt to be some what impetuous at his fences. But it must by no means be sup posed that every man who goes out hunting desires to gallop at a great pace and to jump formidable obstacles, or, indeed, any obstacles at all. A large proportion of men who follow hounds are quite content to do so passively through gates and gaps, with a canter along the road whenever one is available. A few of the principal packs hunt five days a week, and sometimes even six, and for such an establishment between 6o and 75 couples of hounds are requisite. A pack which hunts four days a week will be well supplied with anything between 5o and 6o couples— some hunts do with less,—and for two days a week from 20 to 30 will suffice. The young hound begins cub-hunting when he is some 18 months old, and as a rule is found to improve until his third or fourth season, though some last longer than this. Often, however, when a hound is five or six years old he begins to lack speed. Exceptional animals naturally do exceptional things, and a famous hound called Potentate is recorded by the 8th duke of Beaufort to have done notable service in the hunting field for 11 seasons.

Hunt Servants.—Servants necessary for a pack include the huntsman, the duties of whose office a master sometimes fulfils himself ; two whippers-in, and often a kennel huntsman, though the 18th Lord Willoughby de Broke (d. 1902), a great authority, laid it down that "the man who hunts the hounds should always feed them." In all but the largest establishments the kennel huntsman is generally called the "feeder." It is his business to look after the pack which is not hunting, to walk them out, to prepare the food for the hunting pack so that it is ready when they return, and in the spring to attend to the wants of the matrons and whelps. A kennel huntsman proper may be de scribed as the man who does duty when the master hunts his own hounds, undertaking all the responsibilities of the huntsman ex cept actually hunting the pack. It may be said that the first duty of a huntsman is to obtain the confidence of his hounds, to under stand them and to make himself understood; and the intelligence of hounds is remarkable. If, for example, it is the habit of the hunts man to give a single note on his horn when hounds are drawing a covert, and a double note when a fox is found, the pack speedily understand the significance. The problems of scent are certainly no better comprehended now than they were more than a hundred years ago when Peter Beckford wrote his Thoughts on Hunting. The subject of scent is full of mysteries. The great authority al ready quoted, the 8th duke of Beaufort, noted as a very extraordi nary but well known fact for example, "that in nine cases out of ten if a fox is coursed by a dog during a run all scent ceases afterwards, even when you get your hounds to the line of the fox beyond where the dog has been." This is one of many phenomena which have always remained inexplicable. The duties of the whipper-in are to a great extent explained by his title. Whilst the huntsman is drawing the covert the whipper-in is stationed at the spot from which he .can best see what is going on, in order to view the fox away ; and it is his business to keep the hounds together when they have found and got away after the fox. There are many ways in which a whipper-in who is not intelligent and alert may spoil sport ; indeed the duke of Beaufort went so far as to de clare that "in his experience, with very few exceptions, nine days out of ten that the whipper-in goes out hunting he does more harm than good." In woodland countries, however, a good whip per-in is really of almost as much importance as the huntsman himself ; if he is not alert the hounds are likely to divide, as when running a little wide they are apt to put up a fresh fox. The earth stopper "stops out" and "puts to"—the first expression signify ing blocking, during the night, earths and drains to which foxes resort, the second performing the same duties in the morning so as to prevent the fox from getting to ground when he has been found. In the interests of humanity care should be taken that the earth-stopper always has with Him a small terrier, as it is often necessary to "stop-out" permanently; and unless a dog is run through the drain some unfortunate creature in it, a fox, cat or rabbit, may be imprisoned and starved to death. This business is frequently performed by a gamekeeper, a sum being paid him for any litter of cubs or fox found on his beat.

Cost of Hunting.

With regard to the expenses of hunting, it was calculated before the war that a master of hounds should be prepared to spend at the rate of L500 a year for every day in the week that his hounds are supposed to hunt. This is prob ably rather under than over the mark, and the cost of hunting three days a week, if the thing be really properly done, will most likely be nearer £2,000 than .1,500. The expenses to the individ ual naturally vary so much that no figures can be given. As long ago as 1826, 27 hunters and hacks were sold for 7,500 guineas, an average of over £290; and when Lord Stamford ceased to hunt the Quorn in 73 of his horses fetched at auction an average of close on 1200. Early in the 19th century, when on the whole horses were much cheaper than they are at present, 700 and Boo guineas are prices recorded as having been occasion ally paid for hunters of special repute. A man may see some sport on an animal that cost him 140; others may consider it necessary to keep an expensive establishment at Melton Mow bray or elsewhere in the shires, with a dozen or more 500-guinea hunters and a corresponding staff of servants. Few people realize what enormous sums of money are annually distributed in connection with hunting. At least ten million pounds change hands every season, and numbers of the population in a good hunting season may expect to benefit by the sport. Horses must be fed ; the wages of grooms and helpers be paid ; saddlery, clothing, shoeing, etc., are items; farmers, innkeepers, railway companies, fly-men and innumerable others benefit more or less directly. (A. E. T. W.; X.)