HUNTING NOTES

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 4 July 1925, Page 11

HUNTING NOTES

(“By Yoicks Over.”) A .huntsman once u»u.u a yOKei, ' 'mu you see ihe 'iuia," «as uie rel j i.. , "cnoac yj l uiuu'i, t oom t n..me oil l. Oi itiwimou saw un pass tins gate a lortiiigni, agone. - ' .'u air. *> . ri . » acKins’ mtei on .siumuay :a,sl me iieiu were localed u> ini- spectacle ot a June swimming across a. l.nge iaive sonic acres in extent- wiu. me juiumts sHiinimng in pursuit, it not Oe_.ng Hitogecner an aquatic garnering ; meniteis enose to moke a detour lounu vue niive in a manner more dcuniug me occasion. in isacuruay’ ictn mst. tile annual puitiL-io-poxiiL stcepiecnases ot tne oxg.nom,- >v allgailUl -VLoUL W;:Ub Will tie lieiu m w avericy. j licse steep ice liases drew ..ii ge or tile public last year, miu, given niie u earner, trie ciuo expects a larger garnering than ever lor -nis season's event. -»j.essrs Lup ton's and Dickie's country wi-l again be avauibie. me lull on tne property commands a hue view ox tne course, some .*i- miles round, and the finishing post is directly in iront ot tins natural grands uuiu. mue are four -steep.-e----ciiases, toe hugest mice miles and the shortest tvvo. ine tong ’cliase rs over seventeen ingots ot natural jumps, comprising uitco and names, post and rail, and lull'd,es at wire. lences.

it was pleasant to hunt members at Mr. J. F. .-Stevenson’s meet to hear his praise oi tne c uu s present method ol transporting toe nounds, namely, by motor-lorry. Air. Stevenson said lie did not know it tne cause were tile elimination oi miles or jigging along -hard roads by hounds, but certainly hounds were hunting better this season than lie remembered seeing them previously hunt. An eminent authority on hare-hunt-ing says: “id are-hunt mg is essentially a quiet amusement; no hallooing at hounds, no whip cracking should be permited; nor should the field make any noise when a Imre is found, for, being a timed animal, she might be headed into tne hounds’ mouths.” Had that autnoritv hunted i n South Taranaki he nngnt very well have added, •'or into a boxthorn hedge.” Hare-h uniting requires considerable skill. It is not all .the art of sticking on a horse as it plunges over the fence It is the science of hunting xo catch a hare by means of a horse, .hound, and born. The horse is to follow the hounds with the horn to control the hounds, and the hare is the game. This surely is elementary. How ise-ldom, however, does one see these elemetary principles regarded? The fences are not the onlyobstacles in the way of successful harehunting. Rockford say.s: “There is more of true hunting with harriers than with any other description of houndis. . . .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. Secondly, the scent of the hare is weaker than that of any other animal we hunt, and, unlike some, it is alway’s the 1 worse the nearer sihe is to her end.” From, this one easily deduces never to lift running hounds giving tongue no Matter what for the moment may be the view of the ha-re. Hounds were recently lifted ait a local hunt when running round a haystack in full cry, a beautiful, sight witJi the field in close attendance standing in their stirrups and all in eager expectation of the run. However, .somebody -s-a-w the bare passthrough a, gate-way ahead, and hound-s perforce must be lifted. What happened? The scent- was cold when hounds) lat last found the lie —they made three or four casts before picking it "tip in the trampled gate-wav — and inevitably hounds faulted. Meantime there was no longer any view of the hare. Mother Beoha.m, and she was not a huntswoman, warned u<s yeans ago : “First catch your hare.” Natural instinct to catch one’s bare ;a<s soon as viewed must be restrained jn the bunting field when hound-s which follow by nose -and not by eye are the catchers. One of the canons in the hunting field is that hounds, when hunting should be interfered with no more than is absolutely necessary. How necessary is always a point requiring fine and matured judgment. The representatives of the late Air. James Higgle have kept the- lately departed gentleman’s word, and his £lO fine of himself for being late at the last annual general meeting of the club duly appears as m prize in the point-to-point Steeplechase meeting.

At Mr. J. Russell’s hunt there was following on foot Miss J. Mitchell, of Christchurch, a daughter of the late Mr. J. T). Mtohe-11. whom old members will well remember as a keen follower and sportsman of a few years back. Miss Mitchell- tells me she is still very keenly interested in hunting. The president, Mr. J. E. Palmer, and the secretary. Mr. W. Ma-ofa-rlane. are the local club’s delegates- at the annual hunt club conference in Wellington. The Nul%giaru hunt last- week has been described by deputy-master D. Li up-ton as the best hunt he ha.s. been to this sea,son. Week bv week we hear Ibis-. Tt is gratifying that hounds are apparently getting over'the effects of that dread skin scourge- which visitedthem three or four yeans- ago- and left its mark -so terribly on the pack.