[157]. When you hunt a brace of dogs, to speak theoretically, they should traverse a field in opposite directions, but along parallel lines, and the distance between the lines should be regulated by you according as it is a good or a bad scenting day, and according to the excellence of the dogs' noses. Mathematical accuracy is, of course, never to be attained, but the closer you approach the better.
[158]. You should attempt it—on entering the field to leeward, as before directed—by making one dog go straight ahead of you to the distance which you wish the parallel lines to be apart from each other, before you cast him off—say—to the right; then cast off his companion to the left. If the dogs are nearly equal in pace, the one ahead, so long as he does not fancy he winds game, should continue to work on a parallel more advanced than the other.
[159]. Should you not like to relinquish, for the sake of this formal precision, the chance of a find in the neglected right-hand corner of the field, cast off one dog to the right and the other to the left, on entering it, and make the one that soonest approaches his hedge take the widest sweep—turn—and so be placed in the advanced, parallel.
[160]. With regard to hunting more than a brace—when your difficulties wonderfully multiply—your own judgment must determine in what manner to direct their travelling powers to the greatest advantage. Much will depend upon the different speed of the dogs; the number you choose from whim, or otherwise, to hunt; the kind of country you beat; and the quantity and sort of game you expect to find. It is, however, certain you must wish that each dog be observant of the direction in which your face is turned, in order that he may guide his own movements by yours;—that he from time to time look towards you to see if you have any commands; and that he be ever anxious to obey them.
[161]. Herbert writes as follows, in his work on shooting in the United States:[27] his words ought to have influence, for manifestly he is a good sportsman; but I own I cannot quite agree with him as to the facility with which a range can be taught: "It is wonderful how easily dogs which are always shot over by the same man—he being one who knows his business—will learn to cross and re-quarter their ground, turning to the slightest whistle, and following the least gesture of the hand. I have seen old dogs turn their heads to catch their master's eye, if they thought the whistle too long deferred; and I lately lost an old Irish setter, which had been stone deaf for his last two seasons, but which I found no more difficulty in turning than any other dog, so accurately did he know when to look for the signal."
[162]. To beat your ground systematically with three dogs, you should strive to make them cross and recross you each on a different parallel, as just described for two dogs; but each dog must make a proportionally bolder sweep—turn—or,
[163]. If you have plenty of space, you can make one dog take a distinct beat to the right, another a separate beat to the left, and direct the third—which ought to be the dog least confirmed in his range—to traverse the central part,—and so be the only one that shall cross and recross you. If one of your dogs is a slow potterer, and you prefer this method to the one named in [162], give him the middle beat, and let his faster companions take the flanks. In our small English fields you have not space enough, but on our moors, and in many parts of the Continent, it cannot be want of room that will prevent your accomplishing it. To do this well, however, and not interfere with each other's ground, how magnificently must your dogs be broken! In directing their movements, the assistance that would be given you by each dog's acknowledging his own particular whistle, and no other—[275]—is very apparent.
[164]. It is difficult enough to make three dogs traverse across you on tolerably distinct parallels; and at a judicious distance between the parallels you will find it hopeless to attempt it with more than three; and one can hardly imagine a case in which it would be advantageous to uncouple a greater number of good rangers. If, however, the scarcity of game, and the extensiveness of your beat, or any peculiar fancy, induce you habitually to use four dogs, hunt one brace to the right, the other to the left; and, so far as you can, let those which form a brace be of equal speed.[28] Your task will be facilitated by your always keeping the same brace to one flank—I mean, by making one brace constantly hunt to your right hand; the other brace to your left. The same reasoning holds with regard to assigning to each dog a particular side when hunting three, according to the mode described in last paragraph. It should, however, be borne in mind, that constantly hunting a dog in this manner on one and the same flank, tends to make him range very disagreeably whenever employed single-handed.
[165]. If you hunt five dogs, four of them ought to work by braces to the right and left, and the fifth—the dog whose rate of speed most varies from the others—should have a narrow beat assigned him directly in advance of you.
[166]. If three brace are to be used, let the third brace hunt the central ground, as recommended for the fifth dog—or they could be worked in leashes, one on the right of the gun, the other on the left.