258 HARE-HUNTING 



nor the hound ; but the wild hare that lives in a 

 grazing* district of small holdings, where every 

 farmer keeps a sheep-dog and where ' velveteens ' 

 is unknown, is a quarry worthy of being hunted. 

 The sheep-dog will speedily snap up the weak, 

 and none but the strong will survive. In this 

 way you hunt an animal that is really wild, and 

 you also find it in excellent condition. 



There is no sport in shooting a hare — or I 

 might say more than one — and no skill is required, 

 so that it is always a wonder to me why they 

 should be preserved in such large numbers on 

 several estates. Where there are a brace at least in 

 every field, it is a farce trying to hunt them with 

 foot-beagles, and you will very seldom get a run. 

 If you can get the consent of the occupiers to 

 hunt over a country where there are no hares at 

 all, you can very soon stock it sufficiently well 

 for your purpose. Buy your hares in the spring, 

 and ask the farmers when you turn them down 

 not to shoot them in the summer, then by the 

 following winter there will be plenty to hunt. 

 You ought always to make it a rule when you 

 kill to send a hare to the farmer on whose land 

 you find. 



