96 THE RED DEER OF EX MOOR. 



October. It was the day when two Hfeboats were 

 lost with all hands off Southport. The storm was so 

 bad that a deer broke over the Stowey Road between 

 the Master and the present writer, who were stationed 

 not three hundred yards apart, without being seen, 

 and it was not till a tufter (old Romulus) came up on 

 his line that anyone knew a deer had gone away, and 

 it was only by slotting him on the Stowey Road that 

 the Master could tell it was a good stag. This stag 

 led us the whole length of the Ouantock Hills in the 

 face of the storm, and crossing the Beacon above St. 

 Andries it was a difficulty to keep a horse on his legs. 



These were extreme cases, but many of the biggest 

 runs will be found to have been up wind. A secure 

 shelter, water that he knows, and, above all, fresh 

 deer are the factors which in all probability have 

 most to do in determining which way a deer will go. 



Going up the wind must presumably give some 

 slight advantage to the hounds^ especially when scent 

 is bad, but when there is a fair hunting scent it is so 

 lasting, and lies so long, that it is doubtful if the 

 direction of the wind has any appreciable effect as 

 far as hounds are concerned. 



The effect of the wind upon the existence of scent 

 is quite another question, and upon this point opinions 

 differ, but most people are agreed that any wind is 

 better than no wind, and that due south or due north 

 winds are less favourable to sport than any others. 



One of the greatest enemies to staghunting on 

 Exmoor is fog. It does not often assail us in the 



