TRACKING DEER BY SLOT. 143 



or " tufters," are put at once on the trail ; 

 this is "feathering." The harbourer likes 

 to " feather " to set the hounds direct on 

 the trail. 



When that is difficult the tufters work 

 the wood up the wind, which carries the 

 scent of the deer down towards them ; a 

 hound will sometimes throw up his head, 

 having caught the scent, a hundred yards 

 before getting to the place where the stag 

 is lying. But even when they have the 

 scent the tufting is often only begun. A 

 stag, if he finds that only one or two hounds 

 are approaching his " bed," will sometimes 

 refuse to move ; he will face them with his 

 antlers, and rather than run in upon these 

 weapons, the hounds will pass him and seek 

 another. Though pressed by all the tufters, 

 the stag will seldom break cover at once, but 

 resorts to every artifice rather than leave 

 it. He leads them to and fro the wood ; 



