An educated theologist with a master of arts in educational administration and policy, Stephen Scarff currently serves as a chaplain with Compassus in North Andover, Massachusetts, and provides fly fishing instruction and sales assistance with Orvis in Manchester, Vermont. Outside of the professional arena, Stephen Scarff is an avid hunter who enjoys beagling –a classic British tradition.
Beagling is a conventional hunting sport of the English countryside that involves using a small pack of beagles (ideally 16 inches in height and less than 13 years in age) to track small game such as rabbit or foxes. Unlike other forms of British hunting that position hunters on horseback, beagling involves following behind a pack of hounds on foot. Although beagling generally takes place from mid-October to March, hunters also practice the sport in the spring and summer months.
Americans have adopted the traditional British sport of beagling and the American Kennel Club (AKC) has been sponsoring beagle field trails for more than a century. The AKC divides its beagling competitions into four basic categories: brace trails (which use just two or three beagles), small pack option trails (beagles in packs of seven), large pack trails (packs of up to 25 beagles), and gundog brace trails (in which judges assess pairs of beagles to determine how well they search).
