264 STAG-HUNTING 



the impossible hills of Scotland they always 

 escaped extinction, and now that deer-stalking 

 has become popular their numbers have again 

 increased. 



The fallow deer still run wild in the New 

 Forest and afford there some very pretty sport 

 with hounds. In England the wild red stag has 

 found a home amongst the coombes and wooded 

 valleys that surround Exmoor. Here the land- 

 owners, assisted by loyal and sporting farmers, 

 preserve them for the Devon and Somerset 

 hounds to hunt. This pack is made up of drafts 

 from foxhound kennels that have been parted 

 with on account of size, and stand from twenty- 

 five to twenty-six inches. A large hound is a 

 necessity in going through the heather, but he 

 must also be built on the right lines to stand the 

 work over such a rough country, with perhaps a 

 run of twenty miles and a like distance back to 

 kennels. 



Though Exmoor is a very beautiful country, it is 

 not an ideal one to ride over or to follow hounds, 

 for this reason, that they are more often than not 

 out of sight, and your only chance is to ride for 

 certain points. Were any one to attempt riding 



