The Bagley Rat Hounds had been reduced in number. Young Carol had taken half the pack with her, leaving only 10-year-old terrier Honey. Here, if you can stand it, is her latest saga.
I was carefully crossing a deep and wide ditch, with its attendant barbed wire, and Honey was nosing in the dead reeds and other vegetation. Her vibrating tail told me something was about and I was hoping she would rouse one of those well-nourished rats that wander down from the abattoir. On the other hand, it might only be a moorhen.
My leg was across a strand of rusty barbed wire when out of a thick tussock ambled a big hare. ‘Ambled’ ALA is the word, for she appeared to be in no great hurry. “Seeho!” I yelled, giving the archaic hare hunters’ holloa. “Seeho, Sally!” Honey got the message but was not nearly as excited as I was, struggling to free my trousers from a vicious barb and ripping them badly in the attempt.
Witch hare
The hare lolloped for a couple of hundred yards and then sat down and looked around at us. Nor was Honey very interested in the chase, even when I snapped at her that she was slipping, losing her touch, grown beyond it and so on. Perhaps this was one of those scentless hares about which beagles have so much to say: or she may have been a witch hare and didn’t really exist at all.
This story is from the November 25, 2020 edition of Shooting Times & Country.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the November 25, 2020 edition of Shooting Times & Country.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
United we stand
Following United Utilities' decision to end grouse shooting on its land, Lindsay Waddell asks what will happen if we ignore our vital moors
Serious matters
An old gamebook prompts a contemplation on punt-gunning
They're not always as easy as they seem
While coneys of the furry variety don't pose a problem for Blue Zulu, he's left frustrated once again by bolting bunnies of the clay sort
Debutant gundogs
There's lots to think about when it comes to making the decision about when to introduce your dog to shooting
When the going gets rough
Al Gabriel returns to the West London Shooting School to brush up on his rough shooting technique
The Field Guide To British Deer - BDS 60th Anniversary Edition
In this excerpt from the 60th anniversary edition of the BDS's Field Guide To British Deer, Charles Smith-Jones considers the noise they make
A step too far?
Simon Garnham wonders whether a new dog, a new gun and two different fields in need of protection might have been asking too much for one afternoon's work
Two bucks before breakfast
A journey from old South London to rural Hertfordshire to stalk muntjac suggests that the two aren't as far detached as they might seem
Stalking Diary
Stalkers can be a sentimental bunch, and they often carry a huge attachment to their hill
Gamekeeper
Alan Edwards believes unique, private experiences can help keepers become more competent and passionate custodians of the countryside
