Coursing

Coursing by humans is the pursuit and capture of game or other animals by dogs—chiefly greyhounds and other sighthounds—that outrun their prey, tracking it by sight rather than scent. Coursing was once a common hunting technique, practised by the nobility, the landed, and the wealthy, as well as by commoners with sighthounds and lurchers. In its oldest recorded form in the Western world, as described by Arrian, it was a sport practised by all levels of society, and it remained so until Carolingian period forest law appropriated hunting grounds, or commons, for the king, the nobility, and other landowners. It then became a formalised competition, specifically on hare in Britain, practised under rules, the Laws of the Leash. As a zoological term, coursing refers to predation by the running down of prey over long distances, as opposed to stalking, in which a stealthy approach is followed by a short burst of sprinting, or ambush, the sudden capture by surprise of unsuspecting prey. Though humans still course prey, the term is normally reserved for predation by non-human predators.

]] Coursing by humans is the pursuit and capture of game or other animals by dogs—chiefly greyhounds and other sighthounds—that outrun their prey, tracking it by sight rather than scent. Coursing was once a common hunting technique, practised by the nobility, the landed, and the wealthy, as well as by commoners with sighthounds and lurchers. In its oldest recorded form in the Western world, as described by Arrian, it was a sport practised by all levels of society, and it remained so until Carolingian period forest law appropriated hunting grounds, or commons, for the king, the nobility, and other landowners. It then became a formalised competition, specifically on hare in Britain, practised under rules, the Laws of the Leash. As a zoological term, coursing refers to predation by the running down of prey over long distances, as opposed to stalking, in which a stealthy approach is followed by a short burst of sprinting, or ambush, the sudden capture by surprise of unsuspecting prey. Though humans still course prey, the term is normally reserved for predation by non-human predators.

See also

Hare coursing Greyhound racing Lure coursing Cheetah and Caracal – two feline species also historically used in similar hunting practices Courser (disambiguation)

References

Further reading

Blanning, Charles. The Greyhound and the Hare: A History of the Breed and the Sport. The National Coursing Club, 2018. Blanning, Charles. Twenty Two Waterloo Cups 1981-2005. Charles Blanning, Fullerton Press in association with the National Coursing Club, 2022. Cox, Harding Edward de Fonblanque. Coursing and falconry 1899 *Copold, Steve. Hounds Hares & Other Creatures: The Complete Book of Coursing 1977/1996 Dansey, William. Arrian On Coursing: the Cynegeticus London: J. Bohn, 1831 Macpherson, H. A. The hare 1896 *Phillips A.A. & Willcock M.M. Xenophon & Arrian On Hunting with hounds 1999 Grant-Rennick. Coursing, The Pursuit of Game with Gazehounds 1976 [https://web.archive.org/web/20110927132538/http://www.dogsincanada.com/book-learning-coursing-the-pursuit-of-game-with-gazehounds M. H. Salmon ("Dutch"). Gazehounds & Coursing: The History, Art, and Sport of Hunting with Sighthounds, Rev. and expanded 2nd ed. Silver City, N.M.: High-Lonesome Books, 1999. . Stable, Owen QC, & Stuttard, R.M. A Review of Coursing British Field Sports Society, London 1971 Turbervile (Gascoigne), George. The Noble Art of Venerie or Hunting 1576. See page 246 "A short observation ... concerning coursing" [https://archive.org/details/turbervilesbooke00turb Walsh, Edward G. Longdogs by Day 1990

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