CHAPTER IV 



STAGS 



Hunting wild stags on Exmoor has become of 

 late years extremely popular, and with the 

 increase in the pulDlic taste for the sport, a 

 corresponding increase has fortunately taken place 

 in the number of wild red-deer, chiefly owing to 

 the estimation in which they are held, and the 

 decrease in poaching which formerly took place. 

 So much have they increased that though at one 

 time it looked possible that even the famous 

 Devon and Somerset Staghounds might have to 

 be given up through lack of deer, there are now 

 three packs in addition, the Quantock, Sir John 

 Amory's, and the Barnstaple, each of which find 

 ample game to hunt. 



There is a glamour about wild stag-hunting that 

 appeals to the heart of most, savouring as it does 

 of a knowledge of woodcraft that at any rate, if 

 required, is not so much in evidence in other 

 forms of hunting in the British Isles. The 

 method pursued is now pretty generally under- 

 stood. The harbourer, a picturesque figure in 

 the mind of the public, has to be up betimes that 

 he may, if possible, view the stags as they return 

 to covert after feeding ; but should he be un- 



