HARE-HUNTING 259 



If foot-beagles kill a hare I think they deserve 

 to have it, and dead ones are not very expensive 

 to buy. Harriers kill much oftener, and the 

 entrails may be sufficient to satisfy their appetite 

 for blood. Many people think it is unnecessary 

 to give hounds the body, but I am quite certain 

 it makes them work better, and that they are all 

 the keener for it. 



I have said that in most instances it is advisable 

 to make a forward cast, but I do not wish to infer 

 that the hare generally goes on. It is her usual 

 custom to turn short one way or the other, run 

 her foil and try various dodges to evade hounds ; 

 but by casting forward you will hit her line where 

 she has gone on again, and the cry of beagles 

 behind is nearly certain to make her complete 

 the double. Unless you are running directly 

 behind the pack they will be quite ready at a 

 check to try back, and you will get a pretty good 

 hint from them of what the hare has done. 



When a hare that is being hunted runs either a 

 road or a path, she will, in nine cases out of ten, 

 turn back and run her foil before she makes off 

 sideways. If you see a trustworthy old hound 

 running back on the line he has come, do not 



