As soon as the hare is found, if they shape well for the run don’t let them go at once; but as soon as the hare has got so far ahead in the run that they can’t see her, send them along.
For if the huntsman slips good-looking, plucky runners close to the hare, the sight of her will cause them to strain themselves and crack, since their bodies are not yet firm. So she should be very careful about this.
But if they are poor runners there is no reason why he should not let them go, for as they have no hope of catching the hare from the first, they will not meet with this accident. On the other hand, let the youngsters follow the track of the hare on the run until they catch her; and when she is caught, give her to them to break up.Not to eat. Some hunters object more or less strongly to this injunction; but Beckford (Thoughts on Hunting), quoted by Blane, goes so far as to say, I think it but reasonable to give the hounds a hare sometimes. I always gave mine the last they killed, if I thought they deserved her.
As soon as they show reluctance to stick to it and begin scattering, call then in, until they grow accustomed to keep on till they find the hare, lest if they get into the way of misbehaving when they seek her, they end by becoming skirters—a vile habit.
Give them their food near the purse-nets so long as they are young, while the nets are being taken up, so that if they have gone astray in the hunting ground, through inexperience, they may come back safe for their meal. This will be discontinued when they come to regard the game as an enemy; they will be too intent on that to worry about their food.
As a rule when they are hungry the master should feed the hounds himself; for when they are not hungry they do not know to whom that is due; but when they want food and get it, they love the giver.
Track the hare when it snows so hard that the ground is covered; but if there are black spaces, she will be hard to find. When it is cloudy and the wind is in the north, the tracks lie plain on the surface for a long time, because they melt slowly; but only for a short time if the wind is south and the sun shines, since they soon melt away.
But when it snows without stopping, don’t attempt it, since the tracks are covered; nor when there is a high wind, since they are buried in the snowdrifts it causes.
On no account have the hounds out with you for this kind of sport, for the snow freezes their noses and feet, and destroys the scent of the hare owing to the hard frost. But take the hayes, and go with a companion to the mountains, passing over the cultivated land, and as soon as the tracks are found, follow them.
If they are complicated, go back from the same ones to the same place and work round in circles and examine them, trying to find where they lead. The hare roams about uncertain where to rest, and, moreover, it is her habit to be tricky in her movements, because she is constantly being pursued in this manner.
As soon as the track is clear, push straight ahead. It will lead either to a thickly wooded spot or to a steep declivity. For the gusts of wind carry the snow over such places; consequently many resting-places are left, and she looks for one of these.
As soon as the tracks lead to such a place, don’t go near, or she will move off, but go round and explore.The object is to make sure whether the track really does end there or not. If it does, he is to go on to seek another hare. My father used to relate that in his student days an old forester on his brother-in-law’s estate, when he wanted to make sure of supplying a hare for his master’s visitors, would surround the hare’s form in the early morning, and the hare would not leave her form for hours. A. Korte (Hermes, 1918, p. 317). For she is probably there, and there will be no doubt about the matter, since the tracks will nowhere run out from such places.
As soon as it is evident that she is there, leave her—for she will not stir—and look for another before the tracks become obscure, and take care, in case you find others, that you will have enough daylight left to surround them with nets.
When the time has come, stretch the hayes round each of them in the same way as in places where no snow lies, enclosing anything she may be near, and as soon as they are up, approach and start her.
If she wriggles out of the hayes, run after her along the tracks. She will make for other places of the same sort, unless indeed she squeezes herself into the snow itself. Wherever she may be, mark the place and surround it; or, if she doesn’t wait, continue the pursuit. For she will be caught even without the hayes; for she soon tires owing to the depth of the snow, and because large lumps of it cling to the bottom of her hairy feet.
For hunting fawns and deerThe red deer is meant. Hunting the calves immediately after their birth seems a poor game; but no doubt they were good eating. use IndianThibet dogs, called by Grattius (159) Seres. hounds; for they are strong, big, speedy and plucky, and these qualities render them capable of hard work. Hunt the calves in spring, since they are born at that season.
First go to the meadows and reconnoitre, to discover where hinds are most plentiful. Wherever they are, let the keeper of the houndsThe Keeper of hounds has not been mentioned in connection with hare hunting. Apparently he is the person to whom all these instructions are addressed. go with the hounds and javelins to this place before daybreak and tie up the dogs to trees some distance off, so that they may not catch sight of the hinds and bark, and let him watch from a coign of vantage.
At daybreak he will see every dam leading her fawn to the place where she means to lay it. When they have put them down, suckled them, and looked about to make sure that they are not seen, they move away into the offing and watch their calves.
On seeing this, let him loose the dogs, and taking the javelins approach the spot where he saw the nearest fawn laid, carefully observing the positions so as not to make a mistake, since they look quite different when approached from what they seemed to be at a distance.
As soon as he sees the fawn, let him go close up to it. It will keep still, squeezing its body tight against the ground, and will let itself be lifted, bleating loudly, unless it is wet through, in which case it will not stay, since the rapid condensation of the moisture in its body by the cold causes it to make off.
But it will be caught by the hounds if hotly pursued. Having taken it, let him give it to the net-keeper. It will cry out; and the sight and the sound between them will bring the hind running up to the holder, in her anxiety to rescue it.
That is the moment to set the hounds on her, and ply the javelms. Having settled this one, let him proceed to tackle the rest, hunting them in the same manner.
Young fawns are caught by this method; but big ones are difficult to catch. For they graze with their dams and other deer; and when pursued they make off in the midst of them, or sometimes in front, but rarely in the rear.
The hinds trample on the hounds in their efforts to defend their fawns; consequently it is not easy to catch them, unless a man gets amongst them at onceThe author has omitted to explain how this is to be done. and scatters them, so that one of the fawns is isolated.
The result of this strain on the hounds is that they are left behind in the first run; for the absence of the hinds fills the creature with terror, and the speed of fawns at that age is without parallel. But they are soon caught in the second or third run, since their bodies are still too young to stand the work.
Caltrops are set for deer in the mountains, about meadows and streams and glades, in alleys and cultivated lands that they frequent.
The caltrops should be made of plaited yew, stripped of the bark, so as not to rot. They should have circular crowns, and the nails should be of iron and wood alternately, plaited into the rim,The rim (an unsatisfactory rendering) is the same thing as the crown. the iron nails being the longer, so that the wooden ones will yield to the foot and the others hurt it.
The noose of the cord to be laid on the crown and the cord itself should be of woven esparto,Yates (Textrinum Antiquorum) believes that the plant meant is Spanish broom (Genista). But it is indeed the grass esparto, Stipa tenacissima. since this is rot-proof. The noose itself and the cord must be strong; and the clog attached must be of common or evergreen oak, twenty-seven inches long, not stripped of the bark, and three inches thick.
To set the caltrops make a round hole in the ground fifteen inches deep, of the same size at the top as the crowns of the traps, but tapering towards the bottom. Make shallow drills in the ground for the cord and the clog to lie in.
Having done this lay the caltrop on the hole a little below the surface, and level, and put the noose of the cord round the top. Having laid the cord and the clog in their places, lay spindle-wood twigs on the top, not letting them stick out beyond the circle, and on these any light leaves in season.
Next throw some earth on them, beginning with the surface soil taken from the holes, and on top of this some unbroken soil from a distance, in order that the position may be completely concealed from the deer. Remove any earth remaining over to a place some distance from the caltrop; for if the deer smells earth recently disturbed, it shies; and it is not slow to smell it.
Accompanied by the hounds, inspect the traps set in the mountains, preferably at daybreak (but it should be done also at other times during the day), in the cultivated lands early. For in the mountains deer may be caught in the daytime as well as at night owing to the solitude; but on cultivated land only at night, because they are afraid of human beings in the daytime.
On coming across a caltrop upset, slip the hounds, give them a hark-forward, and follow along the track of the clog, noticing which way it runs. That will be clear enough for the most part: for the stones will be displaced and the trail of the clog will be obvious in the cultivated ground; and if the deer crosses rough places, there will be fragments of bark torn from the clog on the rocks, and the pursuit will be all the easier.
If the deer is caught by the fore-foot it will soon be taken, as it hits every part of its body and its face with the clog during the run; or if by the hindleg, the dragging of the clog hampers the whole body; and sometimes it dashes into forked branches of trees, and unless it breaks the cord, is caught on the spot.
But, whether you catch it in this way or by wearing it out, don’t go near it; for it will butt, if it’s a stag, and kick, and if it’s a hind, it will kick. So throw javelins at it from a distance.
In the summer months they are also caught by pursuit without the aid of a caltrop; for they get dead beat, so that they are hit standing. When hard pressed, they will even plunge into the sea and into pools in their bewilderment; and occasionally they drop from want of breath.
For hunting the wild boar provide yourself with Indian, Cretan, Locrian and Laconiani.e., Laconian hounds of the Castorian variety; see 3.5. hounds, boar nets, javelins, spears and caltrops. In the first place the hounds of each breed must be of high quality, that they may be qualified to fight the beast.
The nets must be made of the same flax as those used for hares, of forty-five threads woven in three strands, each strand containing fifteen threads. The height should be ten knots, counted from the top,This means, I believe, ten meshes, so that the net would be about 150 inches high. Otto Manns (Uber die Jagd bei den Grieschen), however, thinks that the net was five feet high only, i.e., four meshes (cf. 4.5); but (1) it is hard to see how four meshes can be got out of ten knots, and (2) the bosom (see 7) requires a considerably greater height than five feet. and the depths of the meshes fifteen inches. The ropes at top and bottom must be half as thick again as the nets. There must be metal rings at the elbows, and the ropes must be inserted under the meshes, and their ends must pass out through the rings.The ends of the upper ropes appear to have been used for fastening the nets together. Fifteen nets are sufficient.It is strange that the author does not state the length of the nets.
The javelins must be of every variety, the blades broad and keen, and the shafts strong. The spears must have blades fifteen inches long, and stout teeth at the middle of the socket, forged in one piece but standing out; and their shafts must be of cornel wood, as thick as a military spear. The caltrops must be similar to those used in hunting deer. There must be several huntsmen, for the task of capturing the beast is no light one even for a large number of men. I will now explain how to use each portion of the outfit in hunting.
First then, when the company reach the place where they suppose the game to lurk, let them slip one of the Laconian hounds, and taking the others in leash, go round the place with the hound.