The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1907-08-22

Tlounus lOSe ana recover tNe irall.
Fallen Leaves as Help to the
Hunted Fox.
II there is one thing more than an
other than has vexed the minds of
sportsmen through countless centur-
les, 1t is the question of scent" -
that remarkable commodity which is
so necessary to the success OF the
hunter And yet even in this twen-
tieth century, says the London Daily
Mail, with all the accumulated know
ledge of successive generations at our
disposal, 1t is doubtful whether we
know much more about the mysteries
Of scent than did Nimrod, who, so far
as we know, was the mightiest hun
ter Of early days
As to Nimrod and his methods of
hunting we are actually told but little
for he is only referred to twice in all
the writings of ancient days that are
given to us, and no mention Is made
OF his hounds. But we have records
OF one Marri-who is held by many
old time writers TO be one and the
same as the mighty hunter of Genesis
and ,he certainly hunted with hounds
the latter being invariably mention.
ed with his name.
At that very remote period, there
fore, the usefulness of the hound as n
tracker of wild beasts had been rec
ognized and doubtless everything was
done then, as 1t is to this day, 10 en-
courage the natural instinct of the
canine race in this particular with a
view to aiding man in the chase. Yet
after all these days there is not an NJ.
f. II. in the land, or huntsman
either, who can tell you why it is
that under precisely similar meteoro-
logical conditions hounds can run on
burning scent all day on the Mon.
day. and can scarcely raise whim-
per on the tuesday, though the fox
b. but half field ahead of thief.
Many theories have been advanced
20 explain the vagaries of scent, but
none Of them is entirely satisfactory.
Some no doubt still pin their faith to
the words of the poet who declared
that
A soLtherly wini and cloudy sky.
FROG aim hunting morning.
But as a matter of fact neither the
one nor the other will make scent
''hang" II so be that Providence Wills
Il otherwise. You cannot indeed lay
down any hard and fast rule concern
ing so variable and Intangible o thing
rs scent. which is generally at Its
best when you least expect It
Country folk will frequently tell you
that scent Is never good during the
fall of the leaf In autumn or. in
decd until the fallen leaves have be-
come rotten The reason given In
support Of this argument is that the
fox while running turns over the
leaves as he goes along-accidentally
Of oourse!-and so conceals his tracks
as It were, behind him.
It must be careful COX that could
accomplish this slight OF foot with
any degree Of accuracy and poor nos
ed pack of hounds that come not own
his scent through the shallow density
of withered leaf. But the yokel is
quite right UP to q certain point in his
argument. Scent very often IL at its
worst during tie leaf fall but tina. Is
because the smell Of deoayinS leaves
themselves Is so pugent that 1t
battles the noses Of the pack unless
the fox carry a very pronounced
odor of his own. Perhaps II is be-
cause. like the countryman, we some
times forget side issues OF this des-
criptton that we are often puzzled by
the mysteries Of scent.
One point in particular In regard to
scent seems impossible Of solution. A
tox slips away on one side OF a COW
ert while hounds are drawing on lhe
other. Somebody sees him and shouts
view halo! Along comes the hunts.
man at his best speed and lays on his
hounds at the spot where the afore-
said person swears that the fox left
the wood, but not hound in the
pack will own the line; never whim-
per breaks in upon the eXpectant sill
ence of the eager field. Cast after
cast is made but to no purpose, and
eventually the huntsman moves of
TO resume his draw, futtering to him
self that he don't believe there
weren't no fox at ALL"
For all that, twenty minutes later,
when hounds happen again to be pass
Ing that way toward the next covert,
suddenly there is a whimper here and
another there, and away they go like
pack possessed right across the field
and through the very gap in yonder
hedge that had been pointed out
TO the unbelieving huntsman. We'll,
! never!" remarks that worthy. "and
SO old Mr., Stiggins was right after
all"
Scent certainly at times hangs well
N n high wind, Just as certainly as
on very still day 1t will unaccounta-
Oily disappear all of a sudden. But
there are days when the wind Is high
hA n Ii l.