Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-12-11
4 Real Fox Hunt in
the Kentucky Hills
Night the Woods Makes Following the Hounds Impossible
but the Old Timer Traces the Course Accurately
by the Cries of the Pack
l.. in

THE other fellows sport is fool
ishness to those who do not take
part in il. The man who does
not enjoy fishing can't understand
how any one gets pleasure out OF
catching a bass. To him there isn't
an excitement in 150-pound man
landing a two-pound fish. The fei-
low who doesn't play golf thinks 1t
silly for an intelligent man to knock
a small rubber ball all over pas
ture. And the party who has never
been inoculated with the foX-hunt-
ing germ smiles when he hears peo-
pie talking about the sport of seeing
half q dozen hounds chasing a fox
through the fields.
But to the fox hunter-well, there
is nothing this side of heaven more
glorious than the chase. lie Will go
out by himself at night and endure
the cold and rain for hours while
listening to the hounds give mouth
as they chase the fox over the coun-
try. He understands the chase, now
ever far it may be from where he is
standing. He knows the relative dis
tance between the dogs and the fox
he can tell that by the way the
hounds yelp. He can locate every
hound; knows exactly which is lead
ing and which is in the rear lie
will explain it to you in whispers As
it proceeds-and urge the dogs on
in an undertone when they are a
mile away from him.
The kentucky Expert
The Kentucky fox hunter is a DIFF
ferent individual from the fox hunt
ers of other regions-especially is
he different from the English fox
1NI. n. 4 Nr-it -
the hounds; the Kentuckian makes
no attempt to keep up with the chase,
contenting himself with the music of
the dogs. Where one rides to the
hounds, he must hunt during the day;
the Kentuckian prefers to hunt the
fox by night, when there are fewer
noises to interfere with the music,
when the air is cool and soft and
carries the sounds better. He sell
dom sees the hounds during the
chase, and practically never sees the
fox.
Usually when go to Kentucky for
my annual hunt ! take a party of
friends with me, and of course take
them fox hunting. Always they en-
joy the fox hunter more than they
do the fox chase. They take more
interest in studying him, and in TAX
ing note of his enthusiasm, than
they do in the chase itselfs This last
visit to Kentucky was no exception; !;
my guests are still talking about the
fox hunter who accompanied us, but
they may have forgotten much of
the chase.
We had promised to come OUT
upon a certain evening to take part
in the chase. In the afternoon our
fox hunter host sent word for us
mot to fail to come" and that he
expected us in time for supper-and
we didn't disappoint him. We got
to his home n little before dark
and found him waiting for us. He
lhad seven hounds locked up in their
kennels. lest they take it into their
heads to go hunting on their own
account before we got there, as
hounds frequently do. So after a
splendid supper, the kennel was un-
enthusiasm.
The Hounds Eager
AS they came winding out it re-
minded one of great string of
sausages linked together. and when
the horn was blown for the assem-
bly, they twisted and yelped and
Jumped about the feet of the fox
hunter as If insane from excitement.
But scarcely had we left the yard
when every one or them disappeared
into the woods and were seen no
more until the chase was on.
The hunt was to be back on the
hills" couple of miles from the
home of our host and after a hard,
slippery climb we reached an emil
uence of considerable height. We
were walking this time: usually we
go on horses. but the chase was to
be in the hills where there were no
paths. so we had to walk.
But we got there none too soon.
for there was considerable mouthing
from the dogs by the time we reached
the designated place. They had struck
a trail and were working 1T OUT
as the host explained. He could tell
from the way the hounds were yelp-
ing that a fox had been hunting in
the briars some time before. jumping
about here and there, and creeping
along slowly i'm hope of surprising n
rabbit So the hounds were having