Western foxhounds, Cornwall, UK / Janet Ladner photo For many huntsmen the start of the season can’t come quickly enough. I remember blurting that thought once and the old Master replied, “Don’t wish the summer away, boy.” He was right; there are important things to be done during the summer.
What many members and even some Masters do not fully understand is how important it is for the new entry to enter well. For those unfamiliar with the term, the new entry are the young hounds that have not hunted yet. They are said to have entered once they have been hunting.
The MFHA requires any hound that is registered with them to be an entered hound. New entry are not registered until they are entered into a pack. The preamble to their registered name will become the name of the pack to which they are entered, whether the home pack or a pack to which they may have been drafted.
There are several reasons I want my new entry to enter well. If they enter well then the rest of the season will be fun and exciting for both them and me … and in the right way. I want them to go to their first draw and find a fox or coyote as quickly as possible. That is the best thing that can happen. Dragging green young hounds around at this stage for several hours with no hunting could lead to them getting bored and looking at things they should not!
But I do need them to both see and ignore deer and any other animal that is not their chosen quarry. They also need to get used to horses. I will do my homework and slowly introduced young hounds to my horses to avoid any problems. Huntsmen who have not done so are storing up trouble for themselves that is easily avoided.
I always want about three to four weeks of what I call staff hunting. That means for professional and amateur staff only. Masters may also be present and some packs ask landowners if they want to be out, but it needs to be a small group.
The reasons for this ‘select’ group are many fold. All spring and summer the new entry have mainly been exposed to the huntsman and whippers in. They have become used to the voices and commands of the same. When we then introduce horses to the mix it can be a lot for a young hound to take on. However, as stated earlier, if the ground work has been done quietly and without fuss, then by the time you take your hounds out on their first morning they should be keen, eager, and at ease with a few horses around them.
The problem for the huntsman is when the members start coming out. It is absolutely vital that members are made aware that hounds have right of way at all times, and they must be given time and space to become used to twenty to thirty-five horses suddenly very close at hand. At larger packs the potential for it going wrong are increased by having as many as seventy to eighty riders all looking for a great morning’s hunting!
This is the hounds’ time not the members. Yes the members pay for the privilege of being there but if they want good hunting throughout the season then they must understand that the hounds and particularly the new entry must be allowed the time and space to learn their job. A hound that gets spooked or worse still, trod on or kicked might never hunt again. That is why I like staff hunting time. During August the hounds will be hunted as often as possible, and because there will only be on average around five to six people out, they will have the time to grow confident in every aspect of their job.
Once members come out in September those young hounds are able to cope with most situations and you will see them looking for ways around horses and, to the unknowing, they may appear to be old hands at the job. But again, as the pace picks up through September they still need to be given as much space as possible, and it is really important that Field Masters do not press them from behind when a run is on.
I had a Master, many years ago, who thought it was perfectly okay to go galloping his field around the cornfield the moment we heard hounds strike! The result was hounds were not only trod on they were rode over. Ignorance like that is inexcusable from a Field Master and is totally detrimental to the hounds and good hunting.
Everything we huntsmen do from the end of the last season to the start of the next is to prepare and ready our hounds for the season ahead. If the new entry get a good start from August through September then come the opening meet they will be flying on the right quarry and ignoring everything else. You can then look forward with confidence to a great season ahead.
Sounds easy but it all comes down to how well they enter and everyone being aware of how important that is.
Posted August 10, 2019
The author is huntsman at the Camargo Hunt (OH).