HARE-HUNTING 235 



In all hunting there should be slight odds in 

 favour of the animal pursued — that is taking an 

 average of the season and not any particular good 

 or bad scenting-day. I should put the odds at 

 three to one on the fox in an ordinary country 

 with a good pack of hounds and a fair huntsman. 

 This is a standard which I should like to see hare- 

 hunters carry in their minds when they are making 

 preparations for the pursuit of puss. A fox-hunter 

 having the odds against him feels he has a right 

 to take every advantage he can of the fox within 

 certain bounds, but beyond these he will not pass 

 if he is a good sportsman at heart. 



With a smart pack of harriers of twenty inches 

 that have nose as well as pace, I should put the 

 odds at five to one against the hare. To balance 

 things more evenly, you should not give hounds a 

 view at the start, hardly any assistance at a check, 

 and never lift them to a halloa. 



You will have gathered from the foregoing 

 remarks that hunting the hare with harriers bred 

 from foxhounds is not a sport which I admire, 

 and you will therefore forgive me not dwelling 

 long on the subject. My argument is that if 

 twelve-inch beagles can kill a hare in reasonable 



