CHAPTER XV 



WHERE TO HUNT 



Play the good husband at home. 



The Taming of the Shrew. 



The great question with many sportsmen as the 

 season approaches is, " Where shall I hunt ? " and 

 the fitting answer to most of them is, " Hunt from 

 home." The young man's fancy, if his purse be 

 long and his courage be high, lightly turns to 

 thoughts of the Shires, and that he should wish 

 to have a season or two in the galloping countries 

 of the Midlands when in the heyday of youth is 

 only natural. Nor is there any reason why he 

 should not have his season or two in the Cream of 

 the Shires, and pit himself and his horses against the 

 best horsemen that the country or, for the matter 

 of that, that the world can produce. But as a 

 man's responsibilities increase it becomes his duty 

 to hunt in the neighbourhood of his own home if 

 any decent hunting can be got there, and this for 

 many reasons. To begin with, an ounce of practice 

 is worth a pound of theory, and if those whose 

 stake and interest is in a country go elsewhere 

 for their fox-hunting, preserve game strictly at 

 home, and don't care very much about the show 

 of foxes on their estate, they are doing infinite 



