(Copyright by R. F. Lees, Blackpool).
To face p. 102.
Early, or late in the season, when the weather is boisterous and the water cold, it pays to hold up a few couples of hounds, reserving them until the working pack has had about enough of it. Then at the right moment, throw in your reserves and make a quick finish. This plan is especially applicable to lake hunting, when hounds are continually swimming in deep water.
When hounds are on a drag, or have put down their otter, the huntsman should encourage them, cheering them on to any particular hound which has made a hit, and the same when they mark solidly at a root. There is no need to be noisy, but hounds work all the better for encouragement, and a bit of excitement at a holt teaches young hounds to mark their otter. To make a success of otter-hunting, or any other kind of hunting for that matter, a man must use his brains, and to some extent call on his powers of imagination.
A chapter on hunting is hardly complete without some mention of that elusive mystery called scent, so a few words will be devoted to it here. You get good and bad scenting days in otter-hunting just as you do when hunting fox or hare, but the chase of the otter has the advantage of being conducted both on land and water, and if scent is bad on the latter, it may be quite the reverse if your otter takes to terra firma. Sometimes it is good on both, though it may happen that an otter which has been hustled about the woods or across country apparently gives off little scent when he returns to the water. A bitch otter in cub, or one with a young family, appears to often give off little or no scent, and where hunting takes place on a river polluted by oil, or other foreign matter, scent is generally conspicuous by its absence. Scent varies too at different times of day. In the early morning, before the sun has dispelled the dew, it is generally good, but dies away as the atmosphere becomes warmer. When the sun begins to sink and the air becomes damp again, scent is likely to freshen; while a shower of rain may affect it in the same way. The vagaries of scent are impossible to foretell with anything like certainty, and perhaps it is as well so, otherwise sport would become too cut and dried, and would lose much of its interest on that account.
Occasionally an otter takes refuge behind weiring or in some other retreat, that necessitates pulling down a certain amount of the obstruction before he can be evicted. In this case, permission from the owner or tenant of the place should be obtained before beginning operations. In the same way, should the owner or tenant object to the presence of hounds on his land, always be civil, no matter what he says, and take hounds away without any argument. The life of the sport depends upon the existence of amicable relations between the Hunt and the owners of the land which they cross. Although terriers can as a rule bolt an otter if they can get to him, ferrets have been used for the same purpose before to-day. Both otters and foxes have on occasion been bolted from rabbit burrows during ferreting operations. In some countries artificial drains or holts have been constructed for the use of otters, but there is usually a good deal of uncertainty as to whether the otters will take to such abodes. Where old drains run a long way into the land, with possibly a number of branch drains, it is often wise to place iron gratings at some distance from the mouth, in order to facilitate matters when it comes to bolting an otter. As the great charm about otter-hunting is its freedom from artificiality, made holts or drains need hardly be encouraged, except perhaps in extreme cases where there is no suitable lying-up place for otters over a long stretch of water.
When hunting hounds, the Master will be assisted in the field by two whippers-in, which may consist of the paid kennelman, and an amateur. Their job is to keep hounds in check when necessary, prevent rioting, if any, and keep in touch with the pack should hounds go off across country with a screaming scent. Taking it for granted that the paid hand knows his job, the amateur should be equally proficient. He must keep a keen look out as he goes for signs of otters, as well as hidden drains, etc., and he must know the names of all the hounds and their individual idiosyncrasies, so as to tell instantly if they are inclined to riot, or they show an inclination to mark at roots, or take a line away from the river. Speaking broadly, the whippers-in prevent hounds going too fast and outpacing the Master and the field, but it should be remembered that hounds can be kept too much in check, and by so doing they are balked in their desire to hunt, as well as drive on when scenting conditions are good. In fox or hare hunting, the huntsman's place is with his hounds, whether they are drawing or running, and there appears to be no good reason why an otter-huntsman should not "get a move on" when his hounds push ahead on a hot drag, or drive along across country. It is quite as necessary to run, and often run hard, with otterhounds, as to ride hard with foxhounds, and the huntsman who takes his own time whilst his whipper-in is bursting himself across country is surely lacking in keenness.
Although otter-hunting does not call for as much quickness on the part of the huntsman as fox-hunting, we still must confess we like to see a huntsman of otterhounds show some agility when his hounds run fast. This particularly applies to hunting in the north, where otters so often cross steep watersheds. A great deal of valuable time is frequently lost, simply because the huntsman prefers to take his own time, instead of attempting to keep in close touch with hounds, and thus be on the spot should they momentarily require his assistance. As far as the field are concerned, it is their own fault if they are left behind when hounds run. When travelling with hounds on the highway, however, the huntsman and whippers-in should go at a reasonable pace, so as to give the field a chance—particularly the ladies—to be there when hounds are put to water. Racing ahead with hounds on the roads gets the pack into the habit of pushing on when there is really no need for it, so a reasonable walking pace should be aimed at.
When hounds have put their otter down, or "hit him abroad," to use an old expression, and are swimming him, the huntsman should keep on the shallow side of the river, more particularly if the farther bank is thickly overgrown with willows or other cover. From the shallow side he has a clear view of what his hounds are doing, and if it is necessary to pole the farther bank if an otter persists in hanging there, he should ask one of his whippers-in, or some experienced member of the field to do it for him.