Since Tommy and Curtis' are just starting their hounds , I knew the hunt wouldn't last much more than an hour and a half at most (if the guys had any control over it, lol!). So at 6:30, I loaded my four into the hound truck and had a quick talking to with Marney, "don't get dragged, and BE THERE when I need to quit." If a hound can give you the "evil grin" , the look on her face was it.
There had been quite a bit of rain overnight. The temp was 53 degrees with slight wind out of the S/SE. The cloud cover was heavy and low to the ground when we put the hounds into the covert next to the "dry cow lot" at 7:35.
The foxes must had been lying-in, and it wasn't until 8:04 that hounds opened . We had a combined pack of 13cple, but most of Bobby's and 2 of mine had followed us back out of the covert before the first fox was found. We loaded them and only minutes later the others opened and were headed from behind the grain tanks towards the Red Barn . We thought our best option would be to hark ours on the red barn side. But this fox covered a lot of country in a short amount of time, and we didnt get there in time. Charlie ran from the red barn, through the "80 acres" and began his trip back towards the grain tanks via "Johnson's Thicket'.
Charlie had swung all the way around in a counter-clockwise circle, and was now headed towards Dwayne's house. They flew through the covert next to Dwaynes, crossed the road and continued west into the "Buzzard Swamp",. We were able to hark the hounds in the truck there:
Now Charlie was pressed even harder, and continued heading west out of the Buzzard swamp , past the clam shell pile, and on to the Church on Burrsville Rd. He made a turn in the open there , over some newly planted green winter wheat, and I watched as the pack made a swing frighteningly close towards more grain tanks on highway 14. They turned back, thank goodness, and made a run along the woods parallel to the highway, eventually ending up back in the Buzzard Swamp. Here we had a split onto 2 foxes. One ran around the Buzzard Swamp, to the cannery, on to the clam pile shed and back to the woods behind the church. The other fox stayed in the Buzzard Swamp for about 20 minutes , then broke covert and made a bee- line back across Parker Rd and into the woods next to Dwayne's. Bobby, Tommy and I were at the road when the hounds running that fox crossed Parker Rd. . We loaded them- they were VERY hot hounds. Panting like crazy. All of mine were there except for.....guess who?!
There were only about 4 cple running the other fox, and Tommy and Curtis were with them. Their pilot went in not too far behind the clam pile shed and they loaded all except.... guess who??!! She was there, but she hadnt seen Tommy or Curtis' trucks since last spring, so she didnt want to jump in either one . I wasnt far away, but by the time I pulled up to the shed, Tommy said Marney had headed back into the woods. (Remember that devious smile?!) .... I had only walked a few hundred feet into covert , blowing and calling for her, when Tommy radioed that she was back at the trucks again and " I've got my hands on her". And I thought : " just WAIT until I get MY hands on her !", lol.
It was around 9:30. All hounds were loaded. All hounds were panting and very hot. . It had been a fast morning and hounds ran hard.
I made it home by 10:15. And as I unloaded the hounds into the kennel I could have sworn I heard Marney chuckle ....
(postscript: a third fox was jumped behind Dwayne's house also, but only 1 1/2 cple got on that one, and we put a stop to that real quick!)
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