Sunday,Oct. 14 Hunt in MD

The "overgoin" where our hunted fox got doubled  is in the shadows behind the hounds

It was 22 degrees warmer this morning than yesterday morning , when  many areas of DelMarVa  experienced the  first frost of the season.  But the warmer temps were ushered in on a brisk S/SW wind   which  would  later turn into a gale by mid-afternoon.

It was a pretty dawn- 50degrees, light breezes, and a brief ground fog that dissipated quickly as the sun snuck above the horizon and rose into a sapphire sky.We cast the hounds  down the path behind George's Pond at 6:50am. It wasnt until 7:20 that the hounds opened on a fox that I had heard chattering in the swamp a few hundred feet from where I was positioned  (behind a tree, lol!) in the woods. There were two- and I wonder if perhaps the chattering was one fox warning the other of impending danger.  Whatever, the hounds split briefly right at the spot where I had heard the baby-like cry. The bigger bunch ran NW towards the overgoin, while the smaller bunch ran up onto higher ground in the woods.  The smaller group   ran right towards Bobby and Freddy, and they got them stopped and harked to the others.

Unfortunately, two truck followers may have turned our pilot right at the water crossing, as a truck sat on each side of the "overgoin."  Neither person saw a fox cross  at the water.  Charles had  turned back  and gone down  into the mud of the swamp.   For the next  20 minutes, we listened as the pack tried to stay with their quarry.  But it was touch and go- dry ground held little scent, and  the mucky swamp bottom wasnt making it easy for the hounds, either.   Bobby and I crossed over the overgoin to be downwind of the pack, and minutes later Ricky, Freddy's brother, tally-ho'd a red as it broke the covert hounds were in,crossed the lane, and headed towards the "little branch".

It was quickly decided that we would break the hounds - Bobby and I were close to them, and they werent having much luck staying up with their fox.  It took less than a minute from the time I started blowing them in to the time we had them loading into the truck.  Even  PART-TIME was  right there!  We got all 9 cple loaded, including all of Freddy's, and quickly headed back over the overgoin to Ricky's view.  Hounds were unkennelled  and  at 8:06 they picked up the scent along the edge of the soybean field and ran it all the way back to the woods of the little branch.  Once within this covert, our fox stayed there- tip-toeing round and 'round for about 20 minutes more,with allhounds on his brush.   Suddenly, a big red fox busted out of this same woods, about 100 yards east of where we good hear the pack in full cry. "AWESOME : it's about to get GOOD", I thought. And so did everyone else!  We all stood and watched as this fox made a beautiful run in the open as he headed across the cutover cornfields on his way back to the covert where we had begun the morning. Watch the video full screen, the fox is running from right to left- I try to zoom in after a few seconds and a keen eye will make him out!

Now, I could lie to you and tell you that this was the fox our pack was running. And I could tell you that they ran him hard back to that covert and put him to ground.   I could. But that would be a lie.  And since this blog is kept as a hunt journal for my own personal reference, it would serve no purpose to tell tales here.

So, even though I have this  foxs' run in the open on video, I cant show you a pack of 9 cple running him up. Because that's not what happened.  What happened was:  this fox had merely been scared  out of the woods by the chase taking place within.  We allowed just enough time to elapse to ascertain that this was the case, and then Bobby and I hauled a$$ around to the upwind side of the covert. And although we were now upwind, we could hear hounds tonguing behind Towers' chicken houses.   When we arrived behind same, the pack  was digging and barking frantically at  the base of an old shed.  Darn.  This fox had had enough and had ducked  underneath  the old structure.

Now we had to quickly get them away  from the shed, load them back into Bobby's truck ( again!) and run them over a  mile back  to where the "gone away fox"  had crossed the dirt lane.  Most of the hounds came readily to our call once more .However, Rebel, one of Bobby's new entry, had managed to get himself stuck between two sheets of old metal that were leaning up against the shed . His  yelps for help kept dragging  Reilly and Raven ( his littermates) and a couple of the others  back to him.  I convinced  him to scramble backwards to get out of his  predicament, and everyone calmed down and jumped into the truck to  hitch the ride.

By this time,  15 minutes had elapsed and that SW wind was blowing 20-25mph.  Even our cold nosed PMD's failed to pick up the scent over the dry, sandy ground. And they tried  really hard as they caste themselves all over that field.  When they failed to pick it up back at the woods edge, it was decided to call it a day. It was around 9:15 am.  Disappointing that we didnt have a hot chase. However, hounds did have to work hard on their own in difficult conditions  to find their hunted fox and gave their best effort at trying to stay with him.  All the new entry packed up and ran.  All hounds (even Freddy's)  came to my horn (!!!))  And all hounds were on when their  fox dove under the shed.   Not so bad, really....

Hunting back in Delaware this coming Tuesday and Wednesday!!!