Cross country with horse and hound . ultation of war and at the covert-side, andat the meet as well as at the hunt dinner in his social aspects. Of the huntsman it has been said that from the foxhe learns cunning, from the hounds sagacity, which indi-cates the combination of qualities necessary in him. Occa-sionally a Master hunts his own hounds, but more often asalaried huntsman is employed, one whose long years ofexperience as whipper-in make him a past master in theart. His qualifications, like those of the hounds that assisthim and the horse that carries him, are of a high plays a
Cross country with horse and hound . ultation of war and at the covert-side, andat the meet as well as at the hunt dinner in his social aspects. Of the huntsman it has been said that from the foxhe learns cunning, from the hounds sagacity, which indi-cates the combination of qualities necessary in him. Occa-sionally a Master hunts his own hounds, but more often asalaried huntsman is employed, one whose long years ofexperience as whipper-in make him a past master in theart. His qualifications, like those of the hounds that assisthim and the horse that carries him, are of a high plays against the craftiest and longest-headed animal offield or forest. Every plot of cunning Renard to elude hispursuers the huntsman must meet with a must have the woodcraft, the ear and nose, of an Indian. Most huntsmen, we believe, prefer to approach covertdown-wind, for two reasons: first, since no sportsmanwishes to have a fox chopped in covert, to give thefox timely warning ; second, because, while a fox is a very m. o OCD 2 o officers and Hunt Assistants 265 timid animal and almost anything turns his course oncehe is on the way, he hates to break covert, and will oftenreturn to it even if he has to run among the riders and thehounds themselves to accomplish his purpose. In theformer case, of course our huntsman has sent the firstwhipper-in ahead to take up a position on the oppositeside of the covert in the best position attainable to view afox away when he breaks. Approaching covert down-wind also affords him an opportunity to go away in theother direction,— up-wind,— which, giving him moretimely warning of approaching danger, is his natural wayof travelling. Leaving very little scent behind him whenhe begins to travel and when sleeping quietly, the foxseems to know that hounds may fairly run over him with-out detecting him, and the huntsman finds it very impor-tant to make the best of a light scent on a day when scentis likely to be poor. In such cases t
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpublishernewyo, bookyear1902
