CHASE WORLD: Thursday, October 27 Hunt

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A light drizzle , at first

....started out to be questionable. It was raining as I drove in the dark to the meet, and the forecast was for showers all day, winds to be out of the S/SW ( the exact opposite of Tuesday), and mild temps in the mid 60's to low 70's.

I was the first to arrive, and although the heavy rain had abated, it was still drizzling lightly as I took Rap off the trailer. But it was warm, 60 degrees, and no wind. The trees are about at their peak of autumn foliage , and with the heavily overcast sky the color saturation was enhanced. It was really a very pretty morning. And probably the last warm one we would see for a long time.

Which made dressing for the days' activity problematic. I rummaged around and found a black ,waterproof jacket I had purchased at the Devon Horse Show years ago, but had never had the need to wear. It is cut like a show jacket, very lightweight, and the fabric is so waterproof that you can pour a glass of water on the sleeve and it will bead up and roll right off. Arista might be the name of the maker. Have never seen them since the Devon show. Anyway, with my thin Barbour vest and a turtleneck underneath I was confident I'd stay dry and not get too warm. (Unlike when you steam from the *inside* out wearing those damn Barbour waxed jackets -hate them!)

At 7:50 I was mounted, Bobby was ready, and we were pondering the whereabouts of Andy and Howard . A call to Andy revealed that he had an urgent family matter to tend to and would not be hunting. Uh-oh. It was now raining again, we had one hound truck, one person on foot, and one mounted. Undaunted, we called Howard, who lives only minutes away. He was happy and willing to bring his hound truck ( he has no hounds at the moment), and give us a hand. By 8:10am, Howard was with us to road whip, and Bobby and I made the first draw with the now-abbreviated pack of only 5 cple. ( I had left Marney and Lark at home to make it an easy day. Marney can be hard to break, and Lark was sore from Tuesday. We didnt need to be having any hounds not with the pack when it was time to quit on a rainy day)

The farther we walked into the woods, the harder the rain came down.   Almost an hour later, after the draw had encompassed a huge loop through two coverts , a cornfield and alongside two bean fields, Howard met us with the hound truck and we loaded. We had one short burst on a very cold trail and that was all.

It was now  about 9:15. The rain had stopped again and the sun had even poked out for a very brief moment. It was a pretty day. My horse was still fresh. The hounds still eager. And Bobby was really hoping that I was ready to call it a day. Nope. I never want to have to say we had a blank day. Everyone looked at each other as several seconds passed in silence. I must have had a huge grin on my face when Howard piped up with "I've got all day". So then, did I.....and Bobby was out-voted, 2-1.

Howard drove Bobby and the hounds back to Bobby's hound truck, while Rap and I worked our way back through the woods to meet up with them .   Our second cast would be through the woods behind the C & R Center Lodge, and this time, unlike Tuesday, we were expecting to find a fox in this end of the forest. If they werent laying-in where we usually find, then they must be "down this-a-way" !

As we walked the pack through the woods , a nice buck got up about 50 feet in front of us and took off running.  Well, if nothing else happens today, we will at least see how steady our hounds are. We walked them right over the bucks' line , and not a voice spoke.  Only one hound, Repo, lifted his head and looked in the bucks' direction. A quiet "no" was all it took to regain  his attention . We emerged into an open field behind the Center Lodge where Howard was waiting with Bobby's hound truck , ready to load if we needed him .   The walking huntsman (I keep telling him he needs a horse!)  and the mounted one were less than 200 yards from the Lodge discussing where to go for breakfast when.... my Marilyn (!!!) suddenly put her nose down to the ground, then up, as she made a bee-line through some tall weeds for the woods edge. A split second later, the others followed and Howard's voice crackled over the radio: "You got one, didnt ya?!"   They were in full cry, and running back through the woods, away from the Lodge. I turned Rap around and rode the pack while Bobby got to Howards truck.

This fox made a nice run through the woods, staying behind the C & R Center . But by 10:15, the rain started up again not long before our fox decided he would make his way across the dirt road through the forest and on towards the Beagle Cl;ub grounds on the far side of a paved road. If we'd had one more road whip,we would have let them go on. But when they checked at the dirt lane , we opted to hold them up and call it a day.

I was happy! Marilyn had been the first to wind that fox, all the hounds had been steady off the buck, and we had a nice little chase to finish the morning. Considering the weather, it was a good day out with hounds.