Black Friday hunt- woohoo!!

Blue Bird skies and light winds out of the SW, with a slight frost as  10 cple were put into the covert at 7:25 am.  At 7:35, hounds struck a fox along the big ditch behind Larrimore's chicken houses and gave our pack a hard run for the next 2  hours. He crossed Cattail Branch Road, to the east of the chicken houses and made a swing through a small covert on the other side.  While the fox and the hounds were in that covert, 3 more foxes were viewed away from the same woods!  I viewed two: one ran south in the open, cutting diagonally across a cutover corn filed, crossing Cattail Branch Rd  1/2mile down from where the hunted fox went over.  This fox gave Rap and me  a beautiful view as he then ran the open wheat fields  all the way to Wyatt's chicken houses.

 I had the helmet cam on, and here's the video, but , as you can see, you cant see the fox.

<iframe width="960" height="380" src="http://contour.com/stories/one-of-the-foxes-iveiwedawaybut-the-camera-didnt-pick-it-up/embed?map=true&width=960px&height=380px" frameborder="0"></iframe>


The second fox that I viewed popped out very close to the one that went away, but he doubled right back into the woods. Its a small covert, probably  about 5acres, and our hunted fox ran it aound then crossed back over to Larrimores side.  Bobby and Freddy viewed  yet another fox, not the hunted one,  come out of that same small wood.
Heres video from the Nikon,the only time I had a chance to pull it out.But  at least you can see the hounds, and you can hear the hound music.  I viewed and heard fox and hounds pretty much like this all morning ,yet the helmet cam doesnt pick up either audio or visuals:

Here's video during the middle of the chase:

<iframe width="960" height="380" src="http://contour.com/stories/black-friday-hunt/embed?map=true&width=960px&height=380px" frameborder="0"></iframe>

For the next two hours, Charlie led our pack on a beautiful run from Larrimores to the 80 acres, crossing Hendricks field at least 4 times, giving everyone a great view of him, and the hounds on his line.Bobby stayed on the highway to the north ,where he had the best vantage point and was downwind. Freddy stayed at the 80 acres and the power line cutover, while I stayed on the south  ( upwind) side. All of us viewed the fox and the pack several times. We had the country surrounded except for the west side.  One time Charlie threatened to go that direction, and came very close to Parker Road,but he turned back and didnt run that way again. During this time, yet another fox,not being chased, was viewed running back and forth across Hendricks field.

At about 9:10am,  our fox decided he'd had enough of running in the open and made a beeline for the highway ..Bobby was with the pack when they crossed over., but when the fox turned towards country we didnt want to get into, he and Freddy  held them up. ALL ON!! even Sara,bless her heart, and RENO, the bitch who I recently weaned ( she was last, but she was there!)

I am learning the limitations of the helmet cam, and hope that I can  eventually get better vids. But it is obvious after todays hunt, that it will never do what I hoped, and that is to get the fox as he makes a great run in the open. Like today.But perhaps the running commentary, and the occasional sound of the pack in full cry will warrantposting to the blog. ( More for my benefit, so I can recall the hunts as I look back).

Since we are hunting tomorrow, Sunday and Monday,  we called it a day. The footing along the fields edges was very soggy and deep.  We've had a lot of heavy rain recently , and I havent seen the fields this wet in a long time.  I'll leave Rap home tomorrow, and probably Sunday ( different fixtures), and then hunt him again on Monday.Rest up hounds!!!

Hunt #27, Monday, 11/21

I hadn't planned on hunting on Monday. The forecast was for  rain all day and I had to have my mother to a doctors appointment at 11:30am. But the radar showed a break in the clouds that was to last for most of the morning, and the meet time was set at 7:30am.  Hmmmm. I could just slip over without my hounds and follow the hunt with no worries. OR I could take my girls and REALLY hunt, and hope that I'd have all of them back in the hound truck by no later than 10:00.

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!)

Sunday, 11/20 , Hunt #26

Sunday- o my.  50 degrees,with a southerly wind and a cloudy sky when everyone gathered @ 7:15am.   21 1/2cple total , and the first  time out this season  for  at least  6 cple.  We knew what to expect, and the day played out pretty much as we thought it might.

During the first draw  hounds split onto two foxes. The larger pack 's fox ran west and after about 20 minutes, was viewed crossing into Maryland from Delaware's Taber woods. Those hounds had to be stopped. Meanwhile, the second fox had Marilyn, Shamrock, Cody and Pearl in pursuit.   At the split as fox #1 continued west, fox #2  looped back eastward. Rap and I had a great view of fox #2 as he ran in the open for about 200 yards before cutting back into the pistol range.  Here is video taken with the helmet cam during that fox's run  in the open:

<iframe width="960" height="540" src="http://contour.com/stories/sunday-1120-hunt/embed?map=false&width=960px&height=540px" frameborder="0"></iframe>

The camera has a fixed, 170mm wide angle lens, which unfortunately, makes everything seem farther away. I could see the fox clearly,but he is not discernable in the video. But the action and the hounds, are still worth posting. The chase on fox # 2  dwindled once he got back into the woods. Ealrier, right before hounds opened at all, Mr.Fred viewed a third  fox leave the pistol range on the south side, cross the paved road and head into the "cemetery".  I was positioned downwind on the north side of the covert when the video was taken and I viewed.  The plan was to bring the larger bunch back around and turn them out behind the 2 cple running fox # 2. But by the time the hounds arrived, that chase  had long ended and in fact, Marilyn and Cody had actually trailed up the big bunch.  I was in Delaware on my horse, and Marilyn was in Maryland and would not load into Curtis' or Jeff's truck.  The fox had gone on into Maryland with one of Mr. Browns'hounds  still chasing it.  If I didnt get around there in a hurry, Marilyn might decide to go with him.

The ground was saturated from recent heavy rain, andt he country has a network of very  nasty irrigation ditches that makes negotiating  it on a  horse  a challenge, even when one knows the country backwards and forwards, which I do.  My mind flew into overdrive: Bobby''s truck was sitting on the road about 1/2 mile away from me, with Mr.Fred sitting in Freddy's truck  very near it.  Lightbulb moment: Get  THERE fast, hop off horse, jump in Bobby's truck and get around to Marilyn before she could get into country where we cant go.  I asked Mr. Fred  ( over 80yo and slightly impaired from a stroke) if he thought he could  hold my horse ( ball of fire that Rap is, lol) on the road  for me. He obliged, and I was back with Marilyn in the truck no more than 10minutes later . It would have taken me almost that long to get to her on the horse, assuming she didnt move. As I knew he would be, Rap was standing in the road in the exact same spot, in the exact same position as when I  left him. Mr. Fred  was impressed: : " He didnt move at all!".  Good boy, Rap!

By now, the others had turned out on  the fox Mr. Fred had viewed about a half hour or more earlier. I hopped back on Rap and rode to cry.  This fox was running the state ground behind Wyatt's chicken houses.
This entire area is cut with the same sort of ditches, and I knew I'd have to choose my course very carefully around all of the country.  The ditchbanks which are  anywhere between 15 and 25 feet wide  ( not the ditches themselves,many of those are   bigger and wider-so much so that some are referred to as ''canals" ), are only mowed by the state every other year. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, this is NOT the year. I was to find out that although some sections aren't too bad, most are totally overun with the worst briars and sticker bushes I've seen. In additon, there are quite a few trees down over the paths,probably due to the recent hurricane and nor'easters. To put it bluntly, it was a mess.

For about a half hour, I was on the wrong side of one of the "canals", but I was downwind and I could hear the pack as it moved back and forth, north/south.   I followed the music as best I could, sometimes running the ditchbank,and sometimes having to run the edges of the very soggy fields.  Rap was being a trouper about plowing through the thorn bushes, but when we encountered a downed tree crown blocking our path along the ditch,  the briar beds around it were a roadblock.  I had no choice but to dismount  and try to create a gap in the crown of the tree that Rap could get over. I managed to break away some of the thinner branches, but the main stem of the top of the tree was about  6 inches in diameter with several large spikes of broken, brnaches jutting straight up in the air.It was laying about 2 feet above the ground.  I couldnt get enough of the other branches cleared away to get a hole big enough to jump over it.  But I wasnt about to turn around (we had only about 100 yrds  more of the bad stuff!)and since I couldnt take him on either side, I wasgoing to have to find a way to help him over. I climbed up on the stem , andbegan jumping up and down on it to try to get it low enough that his belly wouldclear the spikes.  That worked at first, and as I balanced on the wet and slippery branch, I tried to pull Rap over.  He got both front feet over, but as I was pulling him, I lost my balance and fell, causing the branch to fly up and hit him in the belly.  One of the spikes cut  high up on the inside of his left hind leg. Now he had front feet one one side, and back feet on the other side of the tree. with spikes of broken branches perilously close to his belly. He didnt move. I couldnt jump up and down on the tree limb now that he was straddling it.  Finally, I got back on the tree and gave one hard weight-bearing jump as I  pulled him over.  Phew, he was clear!.. Onward ho!

Despite this delay ( sorry I didnt have the helmet cam on for this, but it never occurred to me at the time ), I wasnt out of the chase.  Here is some video of some of that chase:

<iframe width="960" height="540" src="http://contour.com/stories/last-run-on-sunday-1120-3-12-hrs-into-the-morning/embed?map=false&width=960px&height=540px" frameborder="0"></iframe>

Again, the hounds werent far in front of me before and at that hedgerow ( they were to my left at the hedgerow), but they look like white specks in the video.  My Nikon Coolpix8100 would have done a much better job, but I  wouldnt have been able to hold on to it!

This fox went to ground  shortly before 11am about 150 feet from the paved road. It had been a hard 3 1/2 hrs  for Rap- not only did he have to contend with chest high briars and weeds, but the corn stubble has been left unusually high ( about 24") in many of the fields.  The farmers are trying out a new cover crop- a variety of radish that  they will allow to rot back into the ground., but I dont know if that has anything to do with why the corn stubble is so high.  Whatever, it makes for hard going over the cutover fields!  (We also wondered how the radish cover would affect scent, but that obviously was not an issue.  Good thing, cause the damn radishes are everywhere.) :

<iframe width="960" height="380" src="http://contour.com/stories/the-cornstubble-and-radish-crop-i-describe-in-my-blog/embed?map=true&width=960px&height=380px" frameborder="0"></iframe>


Postscript:  the issue with the fisheye wide angle lens is not the only problem with this camera.  It is a waterproof camera, but  the mic hole is covered with some of the waterproofing seal, not a mistake, as the manufacturer has acknowledged the problem, and there are many,many complaints logged regarding it.  And although you can hear my voice , ambient sound, including the hounds' cry, is inaudible .  Therefore, although the concept of this camera, and the basic design is good, there are several bugs that need to be removed before it would satisfy me.  There is a more expensive model, that is NOT waterproof, has a 135 mm lens( not as wide), and also has GPS capability.   Does one sacrifice protection from the elements for better video and, assumingly, better sound?? Or should I just send it back for a refund,and stick with the Nikon point and shoot. I mean, really, how many times do ya need to see the horses head???

                                     Back home:  the end \of a well-deserved bare-naked roll

3 to Ground,Sunday Nov. 13, 2011

The day began as a gorgeous morning with the waning  full moon setting as the first rays of sunlight hit the trees in a blaze of glory. This pic was taken at 7:15am, just  a few minutes before we began our hunt with 13 couple.  Hounds were walked down a path in the middle of the covert shown in the picture.  As Tommy, Bobby,Freddy and I walked the hounds in, I turned around after the hounds had been on the ground for only  seconds -I didnt see my Marney or Marilyn.  I  turned around quickly to be sure they werent back on the edge,and before I could get back down the 150 feet in the woods where the others were, Marney opened.  Part-time honored her immediately. They were both ahead of the others ,but only by about 100 feet. It was just 7:25am, and we had walked no  more than 30 seconds into the woods. That alone was pretty cool, but having Marney make the find with Tommy's and Freddys' hounds being out in addition to our regular little week day pack made it even sweeter...

The chase was on as this fox ran up Georges' branch, then made a return trip back down, but on the opposite side of the stream.  Wind was out of the S/SE at about 15mph, but we were upwind and had t o fly around to Knife Box Road  to hear them.   There is a small farm with Charlevoix cattle between the branch and the road, and Charles took advantage of the cows by running right through them. We watched as the pack had trouble-not smelling through the cattle yard-but finding their way through the nasty wire fence enclosure.    The result :  some hounds went to the road and ran the road down to pick the line up  again in the field ( pretty amazing to watch, as they had no human help). Others turned back into the woods, still tonguing. We now had two foxes up. One entered  the woods behind Ricky's house.  Bobby, Freddy and I stayed with that bunch, while Tommy and Curtis went with the others.

Our fox ran  Burleigh's open fields all the way to a small covert next to a highway. Freddy watched as the fox came right to the edge of the road, then doubled back behind a small doe.  Seconds later, the doe kept on into the woods,while the fox ran west across the open farmland shown in the video.  It was a pretty run, and I wish I had gotten there in time to see the fox. Freddy and his dad saw it all, and I managed to get the hounds running the open for about 1/2mile.  When I stopped the camera, the hounds were still runing the open, then they passed through a small covert next to Baker rd.  The fox crossed Baker rd and continued on in the open for another mile to return to where he had been found. 

Meannwhile, Marney ( Sara,Marilyn AND Lark were in the other bunch) and  the others were still busy running  their fox up and down Georges branch.  Tommy and Curtis, hearing everone's hollering  about  the long run in the open  decided to come and see what all the excitement was about. This left no one riding Marney's bunch! I  left and went to find them, knowing I was about to miss out on some great views. But Marney- I had to know where she was.  I went downwind to Knife Box rd, but  couldnt hear anything. So I went 90 degrees, onto a road to be parallel with the covert and about 3/4 of a mile  up that road, I finally heard them.They were travelling west,. headed for Garland Lake-and a gravel pit not too far from town. I got to the bridge at Garland road and could hear the hounds coming towards me. I prayed  that the fox would turn away and not cross Garland Road because I  knew I would have trouble holding them up alone-Marney is notoriously hard to break off a fox. My prayer was answered, and this fox turned back to run  the entire length of  the branch again.

(ignore the first few seconds-the fox is out of focus. I tried to edit it out,but the edited version would not upload).
 By now, the other fox had gone to ground and hounds had been gathered..  Curtis had joined me, and we could hear hounds running not far from the 'overgoin'. The rest of the hounds were unkennelled  and  the reunited pack ran this fox to ground about 1/2 mile away.  But Marney and her little bunch  had been running this one the entire time we had been following  the other hounds . Curtis and I  viewed the third fox as he was leaving the same covert  where hounds had just denned. . The pack was  quickly  brought to the view and everyone watched as this fox ran straight to the same earth.

It was now 9:35, and the wind was just beginning to get serious. The forecast was for sustained breezes of 25-30 mph, and  it was amazing how fast it came up.  We had trouble hearing  when the wind was barely blowing, so it was a unanimous decision to call it quits while we had  all of our hounds accounted for.

Foggy,Foggy Morning

The entire drive to the meet was in fog with less than 1/4 mile visibility

At the meet, 8am, waiting for the fog to lift

video is self explanatory, lol!
 

 Well, I typed a long accounting of the days events, and then hit a mystery key. POOF! it was all gone. I didnt know that could happen with this blogpage.  Damn.

So , short version:
Foggy as hell at 7:30am, so we were forced to wait an hour and a half. Hounds didnt get on the ground until 9:10am. 10cple, still foggy, SEwind,  as we drew the woods.T emp was 38 @ 7:15am, and was still in the low 40s when we began. 

By 11am when we were done,  the temp had risen to  70 degrees.  I had begun the morning wearing 4 layers on top, and by the time we finished, I was down to one.  And I was very glad I had clipped both of my horses the day before. (Full body clip on Mel, just Rap's belly and chest, as he keeps a short coat ).



Part Time opened a couple of times, then shut up.  My Marney opened a couple times, then she shut up.  I  rode forward to find the two of them with 3 of Larry's hounds, feathering but not saying anything. I  followed them for  a couple hundred yards as they left the woods and tried to trail along a cutover corn field., but when they got close to a marshy area and it didnt look promising , I turned them back  to the others still in the woods.   As I rode back towards the covert being drawn, I saw  3 cple  running the edge of the woods down towards a culvert. My Sara  ( the only lemon hound) was in front,but not saying anything.  All of them had sterns going a mile a minute,and moments later Larry's hound running right behind Sara began to tongue. She joined in, followed by the other 4.   I watched as they trailed into the woods by the culvert and  before I could finish  my sentence, "they're about to go runnin' !" over the radio, the rest of the pack was harking.  



 What followed was  a blur.  Three foxes were roused at the same time, with the pack splitting thusly:  2 1/2 on  one, 6 1/2 cple on the second, and one couple on the third. All three foxes ran west, all three crossed over the same paved  road,but at different   places. One fox ran down  the  middle of  the road  for at least a hundred yards before ducking towards some chicken houses.



Two of  the three foxes came back and hounds were gathered at the road.. The last two hounds, which turned out to be my Marilyn and Marney running the third fox,came to my horn running  from behind the chicken houses, across a field and to where I waited on the road.  Hounds were hot, I was hot (I had shed layers along the road,, throwing them to trucks as I went by, lol!).It was enough for everyone.  I had a loonnggg hack back to my trailer, where hounds were sorted.   Rap was wonderful, crossing  a rickety wooden bridge  ( he HATES bridges).  Good boy!

My Sara is the only lemon hound

following the 3 cple right before they hit




Using 30 yo , very heavy clippers,  here is Mel during the Tuesday clipping session only halfway done. Rap is awaiting his turn, on the left.  My arms, hands, &  shoulders ached afterwards, I'm  getting too old for this !

 



Sunday, Nov 6 Hunt

I'm so tired that I'l llet the video clip set the scene re:weather .

10  1/2 couple were put into the covert at 7:45am, and by 7:49 they had a fox up and  on the move. A quick start thanks to a beautiful red fox with a big white tip on his brush. It happened so fast that all I go twith the camera  was a few seconds of the hound music only moments after they got him up. . This fox made a quick swing through the woods behind a small pond and then headed south towards a paved road that marks the southern boundary of the hunt country.  There he parallelled the paved road for a few hundred yards before making a swing back north, then a  turn east in the direction of chicken houses that border the east side of the country. Reynard ran alongside that road briefly, then darted across it and hounds had to be stopped.

The run lasted only 55 minutes and all were on save Shamrock.  She could be heard tonguing back by the pond. so I went to try to catch up with her while the hounds were brought back to the meet.  I was able to stay with her as she picked her way on a cold  line through some brambly woods,( much to Raps dismay!) but by the time the pack got close enough to hark them to her,  she had given it up.  It was now just after 9am, and our plan  from the onset had been to be done by 9:30 . (" Plan your hunt and hunt your plan!")  But a short hunt is better than no hunt, so we loaded Shamrock and that was it.

Rap had an easy day and  I had plenty of time to get home, put hounds and horse up, and take Mel to Redden  State Forest for an afternoon hack.

The only pics I got were of these  two young, handsome bucks. I was walking through the woods on the way back to  my trailer at the end of the hunt and noticed the two standing only 100 feet off the trail .  They were frozen long enough for me to stop, turn Rap around, dig out the camera, and snap off about 20 shots.

And here are the pumpkin pie croissants that the guys scarfed up ! New recipe,very fast and super easy:

PUMPKIN PIE CROISSANTS
2 packages of   refrigerated Crescent roll  dough

PUMPKIN PIE FILLING:
1/2  block cream cheese ( I used low fat)
1 cup of canned  pure pumpkin ( NOT  pumpkin pie filling)
3 TBs of sugar or Splenda
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

For the filling:
Mix cream cheese, pumpkin,. sugar and pumpkin pie spice until smooth  and creamy.

Unroll crescent dough and separate .  Slice each piece of pastry lengthwise in half. ( So if there are 8 rolls in a tube, then you will end up with 16 pieces out of one package).

Place about 1 TBS of the filling along each piece of crescent roll  and roll it up.

Mix 4 TBS of  turbinado  surgar( or regular sugar, if that's all you have), and another  1TBS, of the pumpkin pie spice together and roll each pumpkin pie croissant in the sugar/spicemix.  Bake @ 375 F  for about 15-18 minutes.

I drizzled them with a confectioners sugar glaze while they were still slightly warm.: mix  a few TBS  of 10x sugar with water, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract  and 1 tbs melted butter to make glaze. (Glaze makes them shiny, but you can skip this step).

Nov 4 , Hunt #21

The weather conditions this morningwere totally different from Tuesday.  The low never got below 44 F overnight, which made it 14 degrees warmer.  A very heavy fog enveloped me during the entire drive in the dark - not a fun drive. But by the time I drove inland 30miles, the fog lifted, and the wind was relatively calm but out of the N/NE.  Not a good direction for following hounds , and by late morning it was to be blowing a steady 25-30mph.  I was hoping we'd be finished our hunt before that happened....

At  7:55am,  Gail viewed a fox away on the west side of the hunt country.  The hounds were walked to the view and by 8am the pack was running.  Unfortunately, this fox didnt stay up for very long and went to ground after only  20 minutes.  Before  anyone could get to the hole,  a couple hounds opened north of the earth and in moments the rest of them harked. This second pilot  showed us great sport for the next  2 hours , running large circles through the woods , and running  a dirt road  for a good distance on three separate occasions.When the fox ran the woods, I was up with the pack most of the time.  When he ran the roads, all of the guys got to view him.  I never viewed the fox, as I was always right behind the pack. But that NE wind was making it difficult for the others to hear the hounds at times, and I was able to keep them informed of the packs' whereabouts.

By 9:30, the wind was already beginning to blow quite hard. The only  video I had time to try to take was when the pack came out of the woods and ran a path  right alongside it.  I was galloping Rap right behind them  and trying to hold the camera.  But we were in the open, and you will be able to hear just how bad that wind was blowing.  Not long after, this fox went to ground also.  All hounds were on, and by 10 am, it was over. Thank goodness, because the wind was howling by then!

It was a great chase, all the guys got several views of  our very obliging pilot, and Rap and I spent most of the time right behind the hounds. But I;ve decided a helmet cam is a necessity, as trying to hold the reins, a radio ,my whip,  and operate a point and shoot camera  is crazy on a fast day!

At the start ofthis clip,hounds had justmade a check in the woods after running the open milo fields.  They picked it up again only moments later,and came out of the woods to run along the edge .

Hunt # 20, Nov. 2 .Marney Finds!!

 It should be illegal to have this much fun, lol:

Sunrise, 7:40am

Heavy Frost!!

Frost burned off quickly in areas where the sun hit early.

11 cple met @ 7:45 am. A  hoar frost  covered the brush with a thick coating of white The temp was 30 degrees, wind to be out of the NE, but calm at sunrise.

At 7:50, there was a quick burst of tonguing on the woods' edge, then silence pierced by  infrequent   voices calling out as the hounds feathered madly in the tall  weeds.  They trailed this line for about 10minutes before Part Time and Reno ( the bitch that I just weaned the pups from 2 weeks ago, she didnt last too long, lol!) began to tongue way ahead of the others.  At 8:05, Gail viewed the fox away, heading north towards the ditch where Radio had gotten stuck in the pipe last week.  I headed down the ditchline, and stopped  after only 50 yards -I could hear Part time and Reno heading my way, but the rest of the pack were way behind. I was on the opposite side of the ditch ,had the lead  hounds in sight, and ran behind them as they made their way towards the dirt lane.  The two were having trouble smelling this fox,but they perservered and it appeared as if they may cross the road and head towards some chicken houses on the far side.  I got to the lane to hold them up, but it wasnt necessary, as they made a long check only a few yards in,which  gave the others time to catch up.  Everyone was on the lane to watch as the hounds tried their darnedest to follow this fox over the frost covered  woods' floor.  PArt Time and Reno emerged first, and a long check followed on the lane.  Did Charles run the lane south? I know he didnt run it north, and I suspected that he crossed over the lane and into  the very tall stand of frosty weeds shown in the first photo.  Sure enough, after severa l minutes, the pack trailed into those  weeds and Bobby, Howard and I  began to walk in with them.  The plan was to walk them through the weeds and into the woods towards  those chicken houses on the other side. Maybe Charles had gone for some breakfast....

But no, hounds stayed within this plot of tall grass, looping back and forth with no sucess until they opened once more. But after only a couple seconds, it was clear that they were running heel  towards the dirt road.  I got to them and turned them back towards the guys, then hurried back to continue on with the draw.
Not much was happening save for  some subdued notes from the hounds as they walked over the now-cold line of their pilot.  However.... just as I rode up, I happened to see Marney, away from the pack in a section of the weeds where no hound had yet been.....and she was feathering madly.   Could she?  Will she??  Rap and I followed her, leaving Bobby and Howard as they continued on towards the woods.

Then... yes, she can!!!! Marney opened, softly at first, with her high-pitched note that is unmistakable. As she continued to tongue, the other hounds honored her and came flying through the weeds. It was so cool to be right there to see her, as the weeds are chest high on the horse. If I hadnt noticed her feathering, and hadnt  followed her, I would have missed seeing her find. 

Our first pilot had given the slip to the pack, but this fresh one was ready and willing to run. And run he did.
First he went south, towards the southern perimeter gate, then he made a swing back north , running close to the aformentioned chicken houses .  By now the pack was in full cry and flying .  They went through the  weeds where they had lost their first pilot, gathering  steam as they stayed in the woods running parallel to the dirt lane.  I galloped north on the road while Bobby and Howard were still making their way out of the field.
I could hear the pack swinging  west, and as Rap and I rounded a turn they flew out into the road only 100 feet in front of us.  When they hit that lane,  all of them kicked it up another gear.  I was the only one with the pack, and at that moment I was about to find out if my little QH was up to the task of staying with them.
Surprise, surprise!  I didnt have to ask much, as Rap is pretty keen to his job.  There is nothing more fun than riding right behind a pack in full cry.... and being the only one there!

Hounds ran the road down for about 1/2 mile before turning back east and into the woods. It appeared that he was now setting his sights towards  the  old Beagle Club grounds on Rabbit Run Rd. Andy and Gail were already headed that way.  They viewed the fox cross the road  close to the Beagle Club gates, and it was obvious that this fellow had no intentions of swinging back to the state land-he was headed out of the country .  When he crossed over Fire Tower road about 15 minutes later, we had to break them.  9 1/2 cple jumped into Andy's hound truck, and only 1  1/2 cple jumped into Bobby's. It didnt matter, all were on, and all were accounted for. I had a long hack back to my horse trailer,and en route, bumped into a rabbit hunter ( oops, his hounds decided to follow my horse until a crack of the whip discouraged that)  and two fellows on motocross cycles ( which are illegal in the state land). But one cyclist  had a helmet cam!  A brief discussion ensued as to which type of camera is better.

 We sorted hounds back at my trailer, and Gail was kind enough to cool my horse out while I loaded mine.
By 10 am, we were on our way to breakfast, and the temperature had climbed 25 degrees.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/AVU3wRrQp0k"

This is during  the time the hounds came to a loss on the first fox.. They had trouble running him from the start, due to the heavy frost.  The loss came on the other side of the road, where the sun had yet to melt the frost. It is there, also that Marney opened on the second fox. No time for the video camera after this short clip!

Thursday, October 27 Hunt

<><><><><><><><><><>

<>

<><><><><><><><><><>

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.



Raining, at the start of the first draw



the one and only moment when the sun peeked out

Hound stuck in a drain pipe!

Tuesday,October 25.  Another beautiful morning,  49 degrees and calm winds when we began the draw @ 8am.  Larry, his uncle, Andy, and Howard were out with us. 12 cple cold-trailed a fox through the woods for about 20minutes. I was positioned on a ditch bank and was waiting as the hounds  made their way towards me. A large tree had fallen over the ditch  which is easily 15 feet wide and the same, or more depth, with about 2 feet of water at the bottom. Hounds trailed the fox to the ditch and over the downed tree to my side.(with a few hounds getting a nice dunk in the water!)  I turned the camera on as they began to feather furiously along the side of the ditch. . Their fox was actually in a drain pipe which ran underneath where my horse and I were standing, and exited into the woods off to the left..  I  turned the camera off, and a few seconds later was surprised by Reynard bolting  out the woods side of the drain pipe..  Some of the smaller hounds followed him through the pipe, while others came overtop, right in front of me ..  I was about to follow them on, when I heard a hound in obvious distress, howling.  It took me a minute to find where the drain  opening was, I jumped off my horse and had to climb down an embankment about 6 feet into some thick brush.  There was Radio, one of Bobby's hounds, stuck in the pipe! The pipe was bent inward, crimped, about 3" with a sharp pointed edge, and this was preventing Radio from getting through. it .  I have no idea how the camera captured this, as I had to have had one hand on the radio, one hand pulling on the dog, so??? The camera was around my neck. There are  a few seconds of blackness, and then the camera must have flipped around and captured me pulling poor Radio out!

..."we know he's in there,!" ..hounds have got their fox inside the drain pipe and he's about to bolt out the other end. 

Hounds ran this fox for almost an hour before denning him in an earth near the old farmstead where we put one in last week here.  All but three hounds were gathered, and we spent the next hour trying to locate them. Farting around, they were.  Finally, we decided the best thing to do would be to make another draw, get another fox, and have those 3 outlaws hark to the pack. Well,  Diana must have been  with us, as not 2 minutes after hounds were put back in covert, they jumped another fox. This one ran no more than 10 minutes before going to ground., But the plan worked! All hounds were accounted for this time!!   Larry's hounds had only been out once or twice this season, and he never turned back out. By the time we got all hounds loaded it was almost 11am.

After I pulled Radio out, I hopped back on the horse and took off to try to catch up with the pack.. They were swinging right towards the dirt road I had left earlier. While galloping down that road,, my radio popped out of its case ( didnt know it, of course).  Later, after realizing it was gone, I thought perhaps I had forgotten to pick it up off the ground after i pulled the hound out. When the hunt was over, I went back to look for it and took some pics of the drain pipe that show the bent edge. Someone else found the radio on the road....

that crimp in the pipe had a sharp edge facing inward, which is why the hound didnt want to come out. I was afraid to pull him at first, thinking he might slice his side up . But once he cleared his shoulders, I knew I'd be able to pull him out



The drain pipe runs under this path separating the ditch, off to the right, and the woods on the left.

 

the end of the drain pipe that empties into the ditch. It was quite a feat for hounds to get into it, actually,as there is alot of air underneath it!



Hunt # 16 : Hounds hit the ground running!

...Well, almost. :

Tuesday, October 18,  Bobby and I took our little pack of 5 1/2 cple to  the C& R Center in Delaware. Deer laws in Maryland and Delaware are hampering everyone's foxhunting pursuits during the month of October. This week, we can't run hounds  in Maryland, but we can  hunt in Delaware any day except Friday and Saturday. ( should clarify that we hunt a trencher type private pack and during the week only a few of us are getting out this early. By November, our combined pack will increase to anywhere from 15 cple during the week to upwards of 20 or more cple on weekends)

Tuesday was a beautiful fall morning. The temp was 51 degrees when we pulled up to the state-owned forest and the winds were calm at 7:45am.  This was to be our second time hunting this country and although the corn was standing during our first visit, it had been partially harvested and the equipment was sitting in the fields when we pulled up to Cye Haines' gate. We knew we had but a few hours to get in a chase before the harvest was to begin again.

The wind was to blow out of the N/NE, so we left Cy Haines' and drove into the forest via the only dirt road that cuts through it. Our plan: we would draw around the small pond here:

there's a small pond right in front  of this tall grass, it cant be seen, as it's in a low spot

and  head through those woods.  The old Cy Haines homestead lay about  a mile on the other side, with

cornfields between it and the covert.

We unkennelled the hounds and walked no more than 50 yards when the entire pack opened in unison.

In a flash they were off  in full cry.  The time: 7:52. They walked right on top of a hot trail that began towards the right side of this photo. Reynard must have been visiting the pond  for a froggy breakfast !

Although a third hunter was suposed to join us, he had not yet made an appearance  and it appeared as if  Bobby and I would  have to stay on top of the pack ourselves.  I headed out the forest lane to position myself on a bad bend in a paved road that would put me downwind of  cry . Bobby headed through Cy Haines' gate and  past the homestead to position himself as close to the pack as he could. get .  As I stood on the road taking in the sound of 11 Pennmarydel voices screaming behind their pilot,  Donny , our third hunter, finally pulled up.  "Hurry, drive down Cy Haines' lane and you can get your hounds in!"  .... But, alas, he had brought none.  Too bad, but at least we now had another pair of eyes and ears to keep the roads covered.

Donny was wishing he had his hounds as he listened to ours run this fox through the still-standing corn, making one wide swing towards the road I was on, but down a good mile from where I had sat at the bend.

I was able to stay alongside of them until they bore back from the road and into the woods behind the Center Lodge.  From there our fox made a run alongside a ditch until he found an earth  about 80 yards from the old farmhouse ruins.  Our chase lasted 40 minutes. Not as long as we had wanted, but all hounds were on and we felt fortunate to have had the chance to run them in this last stand of corn.  But we werent ready to call it a day just yet!

Heck, we had an extra person to  road whip!   We knew we needed to move farther into the state forest and draw away from the corn.  Halfway along the dirt lane there is a  bridle path, albeit a very soggy one, that leads through another covert and into some fields behind the Center Lodge. Bobby  would start the draw from the dirt lane and walk the pack through the woods, while I headed around to the Lodge. We both knew that this cast would probably be blank, as we never , ever jump a fox in this area. But, there's always a first time! And if nothing else, we would get the hounds out for a bit more exercise.

 We had sent Donny to sit at the locked gate in front of the Lodge. I waited a few minutes where we turned out and then headed that way, too.  I unlocked the gate and positioned my hound truck as far back behind the Lodge as I could get it. It was only a few minutes before we could hear Bobby coming through the woods and into the clearing behind the lodge. Not  a peep out of a hound, but then, hey, we kinda expected that!   By 9:30, all hounds were back in the trucks  and the only decision left was where to have breakfast.

Next Tuesday we will have at least 2 other hunters joining us when we return here, and that means I will be able to hunt mounted. The state of Delaware only mows the ditch banks every other year, and unfortunately, this is NOT the year. I had  been reminded of that fact  last Sunday when I hunted Rap at Taber Woods. The weeds and brush were chest high on my horse there, and the ditches here dont look any different. Fortunately, the chiggers seem to have abated for the season. Regardless, it's gonna be great hunting this country on a horse again!



Video of a chase from Last March 20,2011

iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ao2LED19j-Y?hl=en&fs=1" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></ifra

. Since the foxhounds must remain in kennels the rest of this week while the deer hunters do their thing, i decided to go back through my videos from last season and post some of them here. 

Our hounds had just put a vixen to ground on the far side of this field. I had sat on this point and watched her cross this cornfield three times.  I was about to head towards the earth when I spied this big, yellow dog fox coming at me. He was heading away from the earth and was so intent on drawing the hounds attention away from his mate that he failed to notice my horse and me directly in his path.

He came within 100feet, maybe less,  of us,and was closest to me when you see him stop and look back..
He never bolted, but just continued on his jog towards the woods. I galloped  across the field to get to Tommy and Bobby and the pack to  lift them to the line. Charlie  had a good 10 minute lead on them before they struck him right at the point where heslipped into the woods.  Hounds had much trouble smelling him over the fallow field, but scent obviously improved as soon as they got to the woods.

My horse stood stone still, but I was shaking with excitment, so please excuse the wobbly camera at times.

Sunday,October 9 hunt

Rap, ready to go

a few mintues later,  when it got a bit lighter, I took another shot.The horse hadnt moved a muscle.

so, what's in this pic, taken from atop Rap?

Before the dawn, waiting  to release the hounds

We are in the midst of a gorgeous Indian Summer-like weekend here on DelMarva, although it cant actually be called that since we have yet to have a frost.
Cool nights, with lows in the high 40's give way to warm afternoons and temps soaring upwards of 30+ degrees. The humidity has been vanquished by cool, crisp nights that dawn into cloudless blue sky days. Perfect cubbing weather, as long as you get hounds on the ground not long after sunrise.

Which we did this morning. A small pack, only Bobby's 3 1/2 cple and my 2cple, drew the cornfield at Taber Woods at 7:30am. It was 46 degrees, a heavy dew, and dead calm.
I could see Raps' breath as he stood perfectly still waiting for the hounds to be unkenneled.

The corn has been planted right up to the hedgerows and I had to keep ducking my head to avoid being smacked by branches. Good thing I left the 17.2 h horse at home, and chose to ride my little 16.1h QH.

At 7:40, hounds opened briefly in the field to my left but then shut up again within seconds.
A few moments of silence were then followed by a lone voice way off in the next cornfield, to the right of the hedgerow. Who was that??? Not Part Time, known to strike off a bit from the others at times, but often the first to find. SARA?? MY Sara?? What the heck is she doing way over there?! I waited, and saw Part Time and a couple others cross tnrough the hedgerow and hark to her. By 7:45,all hounds had honored her (FIRST EVER!!) find and we had a nice little chase going through the corn, across a ditch and on into a very nasty cutover we call the Pistol Range. ( although there is no such thing remaining, there probably was one, o maybe 50 years ago, lol!)

The sides of the ditches are overgrown with thick weeds that came up chest high on Rap as he pushed through them to get back to the road. The hounds were running the dense cutover of the pistol range, but headed right for Burrsville Rd. As we hit the pavement, i looked up to see a truck follower riding the macadam. And the cry of the pack was right alongside him.
Damn. Our fox got doubled. But as the hounds spilled out onto the road i was overjoyed to see Sara in the lead with Part Time by her side. WOOHOO!! Regardless of what happens the rest of the morning, she has made my day!

And that WAS to be the highlight of the hunt because hounds could not recover the line. Charlie gave them the slip in the mess of the overgrown and boggy cutover.
We tried for over an hour, but hounds were unsucessful in finding their pilot. We had a few promising-sounding moments as the pack cold trailed through the Pistol Range, across another ditch, and on into the woods behind Tagglers Gate. There things deteriorated as the pack
busted up inside the woods. We had 3 bunches headed in different directions. 3000 acres, one mounted hunter, one on foot, and the afore-mentioned truck follower.

AND, the temp was rising as rapidly as the sun. I had on a long sleeved polo, quilted vest, and Barber jacket. I could feel the sweat sliding in rivelets down my back, Rap was steaming, and it was now high tea for the mosquitoes. And although they swarmed in clouds around us , at least my clothes were protecting me from becoming their feast. But yeah, it was time to get these suckers and call it a day.

The last 3 hounds were loaded around 9:30am. Cant say I regret not keeping on. My horse had had enough of slogging through deep going alongside fresh plough and thick weeds and briars. He did super for his first hunt of the season.

And Sara found her first fox, ever. THAT, alone, was worth getting up at 4am!

Finally Fall

... and as soon as the weather breaks,  the blanket business gets slammed with folkswho proscrastinated getting their horse blankets done until they felt the first chilly night. 

And I had to take my mom to the ER last Friday.  Shes out of hospital, but far from being well.  Awaiting test results to explain severe anemia and reduced kidney function. But at least she is home. Not -so -good news.

New employee to handle the sewing is doing super. Good news!

My farrier,after being trampled by a 2 yo stallion, is back to work and both horses have new shoes,ready to go with borium tipped nails and/or studs. (3 broken ribs, a lacerated kidney and had to have  his spleen removed).  Very Good News!

AND THE BEST NEWS: Hunting  HERE tomorrow @ 8am: