Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-01-14
SPORT OF DEER CHASING
ROYAL PAsTFME HAS BECOME 4
THING OF THE PAST.
Hunting the White-Tni!ed Buck in
the SOS With GrcyhOunds in
the Indian Nations.
From the Chicago Tribune.

From the Chicago Tribune.
Among the less popula- or less commonly
used sporting dogs is that really grand ami
NAL. the greyhound one of the most an
Client of the sporting breeds and one with
traditions dating back to royalty. This
slim and graceful. yet powerful and
courageous creature was alike the pet of
the DANES and the compa nion of the cava-
lierS in the times of the kings forests and
the chase of the royal stag. Later the
breed. whose first and dominant character
istic is that of speed, came to be used in
the chase of lesser creatures which were
possessed of speed. and from deer dog
the greyhound became rabbit or hare
dog Coursing the hare developed into
an artificial sport. and the ancient breed
MAS bred that it lost many Of its Origi-
nal qualities.
Usefulness of Good Hounds.
Tie ranchmen Of the west have for a
long time recognized the usefulness of a
pack of good hounds to keep down the
wolves which prey upon the young cattle,
and in many parts of the COW country. be
sides the packs kept by the professional
wolfers, nearly every ranch had its own
pack of hounds mostly large and powerful
fellows. Outbred little from the fine Eng
ilSn RreNnplln1, Dnt Tor the MOST part re-
tanning great speed as well as staying
quality and courage. And II takes courage
to go into big buffalo wolf, with his
scissors-likc cutting jaws No pack that
ever service on the wolf range escaped
InultifpId scars and wounds and deaths
among its numbers. Yet this slender and
not too strongly built animal the type of
pure running machine, has pluck and
lighting courage not surpassed by any bull
dog strain on earth. y good pack, accus-
toned To hunt together and to work to-
geth@r. will go at anything upon which they
are started ! have known a bunch Of
greyhounds to set out after n cow which
stscy saw indstinctly through the grass,
run into her. throw her and have her half
killed before they could be stopped
pack with which | once hunted in Kansas
and 1.-THE Indian nations one time tackled a
iwo-year-old bear; and the way in which
they strung him out was a lesson in accu-
racy and swirtnesS-
II is the fashion of a pack of good work
ing hounds to string OUT their prey.
They will pull up coyote or even big
gray wolf by the four corners, when they
have once gotten their hold, and lift it clean
off the ground. In that situation the quarry
is entirely helpless, as the dogs well know.
Usually each pack has a lead dog. which
Is the first to close in and pin the game.
Sometimes this dog, If he does not at the
instant of striking the game get just the
hold he wants. will content himself by run
ming fun breast against the game and
knocking 1t over. Before ii rises II is apt
lead dog will catch its game by the side of
the neck and hold it till the others can
seize Often IN good ranch pack there
will b. one or two smaller dogs Of the hare
coursing type, perhaps bought from some
noted winning strain in the coursing meets.
which swifter than the larger and
heavier dogs. These lightfeet soon learn
the risk Of closing in too near. and when
they find themselves UP with the game
and ahead of the pack they often will con-
tent themselves with nippng at leg or
twitching AT q side hold well back Often
they can throw an animal in this way,
though they do not close and hold to it,
but dart off with the indescribably swift
and agile movement which can be attained
only by this breed.
Trail Principally by Sight.
The greyhound is running dog, and he
is nothing else. He does not seem to have
much affection nor any too much brains
His usual demeanor is one of Indifference
or dullish apathy. He is thought to run by
sight alone, though this is not strictly the
case. for L have seen pack trail by scent
surely as lot of foxh6unds when hunt
ing in cover after deer. At this, however,
they lose their gait. of course. and soon
lose all sense of the hunt, and slow down
and finally quit trying. So long they can
see their game. and it makes little differ
ence what it is, So long it is running
away from them they will go after it like
lightning. and never stop till 1t gets out of
sight OF until they have 1t down. l have no
doubt they would chase an elk just as free
ly as they would antelope if they saw
it run from them. | never heard of pack
being laid after an elk, for the conditions
making that possible are rare. and, per-
haps, today. entirely impossible. | have.
however, known one Kansas pack to kill
eleven antelope one hunt, there being
six dogs In the pack; this in spite of the
repeated assertion that no animal can over
take the antelope in the open country.
hat a i
been known to run down antelope IN
fail chase, though this must be most *
ceptiOnal case. In the antelope hunt above
referred to the results We're largely due to
the cunning of one old blue greyhound
called Mike, who had some of the nGnt-
ing instincts of the wolf in him. He would
lie on tine top Of A little knoll and let the
other dogs do the hard running. being TOO
aristocratic to work that hard himself. If
the chase by anv chance was turn ID his
way. and there Is all reason to believe the
others Of the pack did try to turn the game
toward this more brainy leader, the old
fellow would wait till the anteloDe came
within hundred yards or SO, when he
would burst off his crouch!ng attitude with
such flight OF speed as no living creature
could withstand. He would usually run
into his game at an angle and nail 1t in
side the first squirt of speed. If he missed
he had sense enough to stop and go back
to some other waiting place for he knew
he could not keep that speed for long. II
is doubtful II he caught his breath NJ all in
these sharp SDurtS. de seemed TO rely on
his intense momentary energy.
Chasing the White-TaIied Deer.
A yet grander game which l have seen
cOursed by the greyhound is the white
tailed deer As IT would be now almost
impossible TO find a place where an elk
could be run with hounds at sight, so would
it perhaps be difficult to find a region where
the tailed deer could be so hunted.
Yet so recently the year 1886 at least
there existed a considerable region in he
Indian nations where could not only
start deer and run them with the SIGHT
hounds but could really kill them. Onr
hunting ground was in the old Cherokee
Strip. near the Cimarron river, AMI south
of the old COW town OF Ktowa. The dogs
We used were the pack above alluded to as
successfully used on antelope, the pack
owned at that time by NJ E. Allison of
Hutchinson. Kan. and the combined packs
OF a couple of COW ranches down In :he
Strip the latter showing some good dogs,
though some OF them Were better fitted for
wolf coursing than for this high Searcl
work of running of the fieetest % all
four-footed animals.
We had to hunt over a most beautirul
country a kind which near the river and
along the swamps was timbered closely
IL. cob 4ac " n.k hIlt u q