147 



VII. 



THE HUNTED STAG. 



RED DEER are hunted in so different a 

 manner to other animals, that the term 

 hunting scarcely conveys an idea of what 

 takes place. It is a chase, not a hunt in 

 the sense that the fox or the hare is hunted ; 

 a chase which has three stages. There is 

 first the " harbouring," which is finding the 

 deer ; next the " tufting," which is driving 

 him out of the wood with a few selected 

 hounds ; and thirdly, the chase proper, when 

 the pack is laid on. The tufting may occupy 

 only a short time, or it may last an hour or 

 more if the wood is large, and the stag 

 determined not to come out. 



Immediately he has gone away the tufters 



