Hares and hare coursing

The hare is slightly larger than the rabbit.the  hare having  longer legs and is much faster. Their speed and agility when being chased by a dog, it is quite a sight. They are absolutely fascinating-so quick!

I've found, being a gamekeeper, that we do get poachers-we call them the dog men. They come in with their greyhounds and they walk all over the land. Some are fine. They'll close the gates after them and if they find a piece of wood missing, they'll even put it back.
Others are quite violent and not very nice.

However, I haven't had much to do with that type of poacher. The poachers that I’ve dealt with have always been understanding.  When I've had my partridge down they haven't hare-coursed. As a result, I even let them have a few days after the season.
With hare-coursing there is usually just one dog and one hare. The dog is often a cross between a greyhound, a saluki and a collie-this is otherwise known as a lurcher.   

The greyhound is for its speed, the saluki for its fitness and the sheepdog for its brains. Because of this there are many crosses on lurchers and nine times out of ten they will be fast.

Between one hare and one dog, the hare will outrun the dog eight times out of ten. Unfortunately, many poachers will get two or three dogs on to one hare. Despite his weaving in and out, running for everything, it is inevitable that he will be caught.

I don't think there are as many dog men now since the ‘hunting with dogs’ laws began to change. Yet there are still many people with lurchers who like their hare coursing-myself included-though I no longer own a lurcher. But with the new laws and farmers helping the police, there are several arrests now occuring. My personal opinion, however, is that poaching can never be bought to a complete stop.
For the past few years I have been going to Altcar, where they hold the Waterloo cup for greyhound hare coursing. If you enjoy field sport, then this is a good day out. But you must get up early morning to catch the first race, around 9am.

The keepers have beaters that walk in a line over the fields and push the hares towards the running ground field,  where a slip man is waiting with two dogs. From this point, the field becomes wider. The hares pass a shelter where the slip man is waiting with the two dogs on slip leads. (These are a quick release lead, designed to release the dogs quickly and safely.)

The slip man waits until the hares are 75 yards or more away before he slips the dogs. The dogs then take chase after the hare. At the end of the field there are man made pipe holes, where the hare can run down to safety.

Last time we attended the Waterloo Cup, I only saw one hare killed. They are very fit hares, and in my opinion this hare must have had a health problem to actually be caught. However the statistics at the Waterloo Cup say as many as 8 or 10 hares could be caught on the day I personally only saw one. There will be a 2005 Waterloo Cup. The 14th 15th 16th of feb at Altcar Nr Southport.