Shooting Times & Country Magazine
Steady? Lepus prey…
To a dog, the brown hare must look like a giant rabbit; how could even the best gundog resist that temptation, asks David Tomlinson
OF ALL THE QUARRY species we have in Britain, none creates more challenges for our dogs than the brown hare. To a dog, a hare must look like a giant rabbit, while the fact that it doesn’t disappear down the nearest hole makes it all the more attractive. There can be very few serious gundog handlers who have not had a dog chase a hare. Those that haven’t must live in hare-free zones. The fact that there are great swathes of the country where hares are absent makes it difficult for many of us to get our dogs used to Lepus lepus.
I lived in Kent for many years, and though there were a few hares locally, my spaniels never once saw one on a shooting day. They only ever encountered them on our annual rough shooting expeditions to Northamptonshire, where hares were plentiful. I do recall the odd chase, but the hares were fit and fast, and soon left the spaniel — or spaniels — far behind.
I once shot a hare there. It carried on running after I had fired, only to drop dead at the far side of a large field. A passing tractor driver sportingly picked it up and put it in his cab, so there was no need for an exhausting long-distance retrieve.
I cannot remember any of my spaniels ever retrieving a hare, as they simply never had the opportunity. Even after moving to Suffolk, where hares are numerous, there was still no hare retrieving, as all of the shoots we picked-up on had a “no ground game” policy. Hares often
44 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE came galloping through the line before running perilously close to the picking-up dogs. They always created excitement, but the dogs soon learned that they weren’t to be pursued.
Dread
Hares are often shot in field trials, providing a major challenge for dogs and handlers with little or no experience of them. A leading trialler confided that everyone dreads encountering a hare, as even the steadiest dog in the world can be seduced into pursuit.
I once watched an Irish setter course and catch a leveret during an autumn field trial in Norfolk, while during a spring pointer trial I saw a former winner of the Champion Stake enjoy a fine course at Six Mile Bottom, totally ignoring its handler’s stop whistle.
I witnessed a hare cause a cocker bitch to be put out of an open trial. The dog was running well and looked like a potential winner, which would
“Great swathes of the country are absent of hares so it’s difficult to get our dogs used to