A Handbook for Hares

Haring is the most vital responsibility that can be entrusted to a hasher. It takes planning, insight, creativity, and yes, some panache to loll an exciting trail and establish the conditions for a great ON-ON afterward.

This handbook is written based on the traditions of many hash chapter and loads of hard lessons learned over the past countless years of hashing in and around the world. You might think that the detail contained in this handbook may seem to be a bit overboard for a group which essentially has no rules, but there's a good reason for it. Everything contained herein will help you, the hare; avert the known and avoidable pitfalls associated with haring.

I've seen nearly every one of the things summarized in this handbook go wrong at one time or another, either here or elsewhere. Simply put, no hare should be condemned to repeat the mistakes of others. It is in this spirit that the Hangman’s Hashing Handbook for Hares is written. Please read carefully before you hare the next time. In a feeble attempt at organization, this guidebook is divided into the following sections.

A reminder for virgin (first time) hares: You ought to have a veteran co-hare! There's no substitute for experience - you can learn much from your grizzled old partner. If you don't arrange for a suitably experienced co-hare yourself, the GM will appoint one for you.

Scheduling the Hash

The primary mode of hashing is the Hare where the entire trail is lay a few hours before the start of the hash. The Hare provides the opportunity for people of all fit abilities to run the trail and also allows time to construct a more elaborate system of checks.

There should be enough parking spaces at the start for everyone expected to show up. Also, make sure that it's all right to park there. If there isn't sufficient parking space and you simply must use this location, you'll have to gather at another spot where parking is adequate. This adds a degree of complexity to the hash which isn't recommended under normal circumstances.

If ending the hash On-On at a public establishment (restaurant or pub, etc.), coordinate your TIME with your co-hare(s) well in advance.

Planning the Trail

Explore your trail early. This means actually running or walking the trail several times to get a good feel of its viability in terms of length, difficulty and opportunities for pleasant surprises. You can't scout a good trail from a car or off a topographic map, but both can be useful support items. Trail should normally be in the 5KM to 8KM range but surely in no way more than 10KM or so. Evaluate your trail in terms of length. This is a simple courtesy to give the hounds some idea of what they're up against and can serve to head off later complaints about the trail. Don't cross private land without permission.

Do not use the hash to demonstrate your SUPERB physical fitness. The point of the hash is for both hares and hounds to have FUN. As a hound, getting your dick knocked into the dirt simply isn't fun, no matter how amused it the hare is about it all. They are three important things not to loose sight of: (1) Actual weather conditions on the day of your hash can wreck havoc with the best laid plans. (2) Once the hash starts, it's no longer in your control. (3) Every hare has a trail that will not work.
Before laying the trail, make sure that both you and your co-hare(s) are all using the same paper. Otherwise you just may confuse the hounds, get them lost and into an ugly mood. Don't screw with the pack by making the trail difficult to find; screw with the pack by where the trail goes. It's far better to lay a trail that's easy to find and a son of a bitch to traverse, than vice-versa. Assigning segments of the trail to different co-hares to lay independently is a sure recipe for disaster. The only guaranteed way to ensure a logical trail is for all hares to lay the trail together.

Trail should use lots of paper. This can't be emphasized enough. Ideally, hounds should be able to see the next paper from the last. When bushwhacking, make paper very close together. Checks keep packs together and Front Running Bastards confused. On the other hand, too many checks can be quite annoying. In this matter, trail laying is more of an art than a science.
Unfortunately, you can only learn the appropriate balance from experience, both as hare and hound.