Books and Magazine articles dealing with the Chase and the habits of the Red deer, are so many and so excellent that I feel diffident about attempting to say anything on a subject that has been so thoroughly thrashed out. In old days, or at any rate twenty-five years ago, very few people wended their way Westward in the months of August and September, to see what has now become such a popular sport. The crowds at the present time are now enormous, often worse than the Quorn fields, and the riders all full of zeal and desperately anxious not to miss anything from find to finish, thus often causing the Master no little anxiety, and trying his patience sadly.
In case my readers are not acquainted with the method in which stag-hunting is conducted, I will try to give a brief history of a day's sport. In the first place the deer must be harboured, that is "slotted" or tracked into covert, and this requires great knowledge of woodcraft on the part of him to whom the business is entrusted. The harbourer's business is to find out that his deer is a warrantable, i.e., a runnable, stag, which he can tell by the size of the slot, or footprint on the ground, and he must also make sure that his quarry has not passed through the covert. To do this he must search carefully for a slot leading out of the wood, or if the covert be too large he must make good as many of the paths round where he thinks his deer is lying, as he can. The difference between the slot of a hind and a stag is almost imperceptible to the ordinary eye, but if closely observed it will be noticed that the slot of a stag is larger and has a wider heel and blunter toes, also that an old heavy deer has his toes frequently uneven in length, while a hind's toe is pointed, and she has a narrow heel. In an old deer there is generally also a little space open between her toes. The harbourer can tell whether a stag or hind has been feeding, and though the signs believed in by some are disputed, one infallible test is whether the ash shoots have been nibbled or not. For while the hinds and young deer do not affect them, stags have a perfect passion for them, and the delicacy seems to be as irresistible to them as oysters and caviare are to a human gourmet.
The harbourer generally goes to the scene of action the day before the meet, and gleans what information he can from those whose knowledge he can rely on. With regard however to the feeding ground of the deer, he will do well to depend entirely on his own eyes, and to form his own conclusions. Next morning he must be afoot in the small hours, and look for any fresh slot pointing towards the covert, made by the deer returning from feeding. Should he see what he thinks belongs to a warrantable deer, he must next make sure the animal has not gone through the covert, and if the woods be very large, he must try and localise him as much as possible. The late Miles, who was the harbourer in the Devon and Somerset country for so many years, was a marvel in doing this, for he seemed to know the habits of the deer as well as they did themselves. His loss to the hunt was irreparable, for apart from the harbouring, he was of unbounded assistance during the run, and often when the deer seemed hopelessly lost, and Master and huntsman were in despair, have I heard Miles's whistle and his cheery holloa, saving the day at the eleventh hour.
For the business of tufting, as finding the deer is called, four or five couples of the strongest hounds are required, as they will have to run with the pack afterwards. Also, it is well to select those hounds most inclined to throw their tongues, as their deep notes are more than welcome in the big coverts, where they get out of sight. If the deer has been well harboured and is inclined to leave covert quickly, so much the better, but patience is often sorely wanted in stag hunting, when a cunning old deer will double back into covert time after time, and turn out his younger relations to try and get hounds off his line. We will suppose, however, that the deer has chosen to break covert quickly, and the welcome sound of Anthony's horn means that the body of the pack, till now kennelled in a convenient barn or stable, will be laid on. If the deer has chosen a good line, that is over the forest, we must pull ourselves together and save our horses wherever possible, knowing that we may gallop for eighteen or twenty miles or more.
It is wonderful how two or three miles over holding ground will steady a field, and weed them to within reasonable bounds. I consider Exmoor the worst possible country for a stranger to take his own line, the best man to hounds on earth cannot tell some of the crossings by instinct, many of the combes having only one even decent crossing, and that has to be negotiated with care. Most people, however, seem to come down with the idea that Exmoor is one vast bog, which is all nonsense, for most of it is quite rideable, or at any rate you can pick your way over it. The crossings are the worst drawbacks to riding straight to hounds. A large majority of the field ride to points, and most annoying it is, after you have galloped your hardest at the tail of hounds, to see a batch of tourists who have been piloted by someone who knows every inch of the country, and who has guessed the stag's point, with comparatively fresh horses, while your own, no matter how carefully you have nursed him, has pretty nearly had enough.
A deer will nearly always soil once, if not oftener during a run, and it is marvellous how a plunge in one of the many streams, or a roll in a peat hole, will refresh him. Stags, especially the older and fatter ones, generally lie down after they have run for a time if not pressed, that is if hounds are not laid on at once, and the master generally gives a big heavy deer a little law. A fresh find is a beautiful sight, and the tricks and dodges of a wily old stag would fill many chapters. To anyone fond of seeing hounds work, and not only anxious for a gallop, the sight of hounds trying to pick out the line of their deer, when he has gone up or down stream, is alone worth going out for. It is extraordinary how long a deer's scent will hold on the moor. It is no uncommon thing for hounds to hunt up to, and kill their stag, after he has been two hours ahead of them.
HOUNDS OF THE DEVON AND SOMERSET PACK.
(From a Picture in the possession of C. H. Basset, Esq., of Watermouth Castle.)