152 FOX-HUNTING 



no attention to what people may say about the 

 ground being too hard or the weather too dry. 

 If you have given hounds plenty of road-work 

 during the summer their feet won't suffer, and 

 there is very often the best scent in exceptionally 

 dry weather. In cub-hunting you need never 

 consult the wishes of your field, and all you have 

 to think of is what will be the best for hounds. 



The first morning you take out the young 

 entry, go straight to a covert where you are certain 

 there is a litter, and if you know of one in a small 

 spinney that is not a regular draw in the season, 

 it is the very thing you want. You must use 

 every means in your power to catch a cub, and 

 do whatever you think most likely to attain that 

 end. Do not sicken the young hounds by giving 

 them a long morning to start with, but take them 

 home directly they have killed a fox. If you 

 have plenty of country, they would be all the 

 better to be hunted every other day, instead of 

 a long hard day twice a week. 



You must remember that if you kill a fox in 

 a small covert, you cannot expect to find a really 

 wild one there for at least two months afterwards. 

 Therefore, in your anxiety to get hold of a cub 



