 In explaining his descriptions of hunting, he said it was hard to decide how a hound with non-human scenting ability interprets and responds to scents while tracking another animal.The last chapter of the novel, covering Copper's last hunt of Tod, was based on the story of Boston, a fourteen-month-old bloodhound–foxhound mix, and Old Baldy, a red fox known by hunters for having outrun numerous packs of hounds put on his trail.Mannix originally read the story in a "Recreation" magazine article, which stated that in December 1887, near the James River in Virginia, Boston hunted a fox referred to as Baldy for a day and a half, covering of terrain.