Hunt reports and other miscellaneous ramblings that heretofore were laid down between leather bindings. Now, maybe someone else will get a laugh or two out of reading them.
Summer refuses to loosen its' grip and the weather remained hot and humid all weekend. Morning lows were in the mid-70's, but tropical moisture from the remants of Hurricane Issacc had the humidity level at near 100%. Heavy rain in the form of thunderstorms stayed at bay until the afternoon hours, fortunately.
Friday, August 31 was hot but skies remained clear allowing us a pretty view of the blue moon as it rose a bove the horizon that evening.. Guests had flown in the day before to hunt with us over the holiday, and I had hoped the conditions would be more fall-like since we planned to run hounds all three days.
The next morning , the full moon was high overhead as 12 couple were cast into the cornfield near Georges Pond at 4:50am. Bobby and I were hunting with Freddy in his home country -it is one of the few places where we are able to go this early in the season. 3 couple of the 12 out belonged to a friend of Freddy's
whom I had not met before.
Less than 3 minutes after hounds entered the corn, Bobby's Part-Time opened on a red fox and hounds were in full cry behind a pilot that would provide great chase for the next 90 minutes. All were on, including the new entry. The hound music resonated in the stillness of the moonlit darkness as Charles made large circles through the corn. We sat on a dirt lane that bisects the field, and although this pilot crossed back and forth over it at least 3 times, my guest and I did not get a view of him -it was just too dark. Later, when it got light enough, Freddy and Jim did view the fox but Bobby, Claire and I had moved and missed it.
Charles popped in the hole at about 6:20 . Bobby got to them first and had most hounds loaded by the time the rest of us arrived only a minute or two later. As soon as we got them sorted ,Bobby and I took ours to the "overgoin" and let our very hot hounds out to cool down drink in the cold water.
The moon was just beginning it's descent towards the horizon as a huge red ball peeked above it to the east. These photos were taken about 15 minutes after the hunt, and at the same time.
If it poured for the following two days, I didnt' care -this mornings' chase could not have gone any better , IMO. I'm really happy that all three pups, Reilly, Rebel and Raven, packed up and ran with hounds that they had never been exposed to before this morning. (I think alot of this success is due to the fact that it was our hounds that found, and the unfamiliar hounds harked).
Saturday night and through the day Sunday, DelMarVa got hit with a barrage of severe thunderstorms. The training storms dumped 4"of rain at my farm, but some areas received as much as 13 1/2". The lightning and thunder lasted all night.
When I arose at 3am, the radar showed that although it was pouring on the east side of the Peninsula, it was dry to the west where we hunt ( at that particular time, at least!). The hunt was on.
Loading the hounds was done in-between bolts of lightning ; the storm cell was directly overhead and the lightning strikes were almost non-stop. The deafening thunder ,however, didnt seem to faze the hounds at all.
It was coming down in buckets as I pulled out my drive.
The temp was 70 degrees with a slight east wind when I arrived at the meet. Pitch black here , but the light show happening over my farm could be seen far off in the distance. We drew Burleigh's field, then alongside George's pond where the corn towered overhead. The tall stalks made it difficult to notice that the lightning was moving closer. Rumbles of thunder gaves us a heads up, and it was quickly decided to load the hounds and get out of that area as we didnt want them to jump a fox and get down into the swamp with a storm approaching.
At that point, it was about 5:30 and I was happy to have my bitches in my own truck. Freddy decided to try and draw the cornfield we hunted yesterday,as it's right behind his house. I guess he figured if the skies opened up he could go home and his hounds would eventually come in on their own, lol.
Bobby, Curtis and I waited while Freddy cast his hounds. Just as they began to trail, the lightning and thunder moved directly overhead. . It was now light enough to see down the dirt lane, and Curtis and I viewed a fox cross the lane. But it wasnt the same fox Freddy's hounds were trailing, so we didnt turn out. After 10 minutes or so, Freddy's trail blew up. It was lightning and thundering in earnest now , and we can see the storm clouds moving in swiftly above us. So what does Bobby decide to do? He turned his hounds out and ran them down the lane to try to pick up the line of the viewed fox. Well now, I couldn't be the only one with hounds not on the ground, so I dropped my tailgate and followed suit. Dumb and Dumber, yes?!
As we were walking in the open on the lane alongside a bean field , it occurred to me that this WAS a pretty stupid idea. A loud crack, and some pretty scary bolts was all it took to convince the other two. When our hounds didnt pick up the scent right away, we hurried them back down the lane and into the safety of the trucks. ( ARE they safe from lightning in the bed of a truck with a hound box on it?? I know one is safe inside a vehicle as long as one doesnt touch any metal, but what about the hounds?? Just curious).
So, we didnt run a fox this morning. And I have to say that I am really not disappointed about that. Hounds got out, and we all came back safe and sound. There's always next time....
(By Sunday afternoon, there was widespread flooding in many areas of the Shore. We received more rain from these storms than we did from Hurricane Irene last summer. In four days, the mosquito population will be exploding.... just in time for my company, dammit).
Leaving the meet togo home, before sunrise. "Red sky in morning, sailor take warning....it POURED later that morning and afternoon.
The video is captioned,so no need to be redundant. But in addition to being very humid and warm, the ground was very dry and dusty . We could use some rain.(Which we did, in fact, receive in copious amounts later in the day -good for tomorrow's scenting!)
10 couple. Reno opened on a line out in the cucumber fields early on, and our hounds ran it back to the branch, where it blew up. Right after that, Freddy's hounds hit this hot line at 5:34am , and all hounds harked.
We heard Rebel open for the first time!!
All were on, including all new entry, when the fox popped into a hole at about 5:55am. Hounds were panting like crazy, and very hot. It was enough, since we will go again tomorrow.
..8 couple of PMD's were cast into the cornfields across from Mr. Fred's farm at 4:50am. It was 62 degrees, with a starry but moonless night overhead as we walked the hounds along a wide,shallow ditch that splits the cornfield in two. A dirt lane that runs back to the irrigation pump intersects this ditch, relevant later in this tale. The weeds were waist high and very,very wet. It was not until 5:34 am before hounds opened "with authority" (!) and settled into a good chase behind a red fox . This fox was found on the south side of Ellwanger road, an infrequently used dirt road that runs behind Mr.Fred's farm. Hounds were running well, but just as this fox was about to cross over Ellwanger to enter the corn on the north side, the lights of a tractor trailer could be seen turning off Knife Box rd onto Ellwanger. What the???? We hardly EVER see a tractor trailer on this road during daylight, so it was the last thing I would have expected to encounter before 6am. The big rig turned the fox, and I was glad of that- rather have the fox get headed than have HIM get across, and the hounds spill out into the lane in front of that huge rig. It was a tense few seconds as there was no way we could have gotten there in time.
Charles ran back and forth on that side of the dirt road for a couple of turns before surprising us by crossing Ellwanger about 1/2 mile away,not far from Mr. Fred's back lane. Bobby got there in time to see the hounds cross in the pre-dawn light. All on, and flying. The video gives you an earful of a few seconds of the almost hour-long chase.
It came to an abrupt end at around 6:20,when the fox popped out onto that irrigation lane. Curtis viewed him ( it was light enough to see by this time) run the lane down a few hundred feet and then pop back into the same side from which he emerged. Hounds checked, and in spite of all of our efforts to encourage (Curits wasnt real clear as to WHERE exactly the fox came out), could not recover the line. The chase was over sooner than we wanted, but was really just enough for the hounds' first run of the season. All were loaded by 6:30.
I had left Sara and Marilyn at home, both in heat. Reilly ( my puppy), Marney and old Reno did super -a very good start to the season.
The irrigation lane where hounds checked- trying to help them recover the line ( hounds are in the corn).
..we've gotten about 2"of rain here at my farm over the past 4 days. Everything is green . Mel got a belly ache 3 nights ago because I let him stay out on the pasture for 3 hours without a muzzle. Which means the grasss is growing again. .. and the bugs are out.
But Freddy took his hounds out this past Sunday morning at 5 am. Another foxhunter, whom shall remain nameless, was already in the cornfield that Freddy was to draw, only this fella had no hounds. Thanks to him, it took Freddy's hounds almost an hour to find the fox , and once they got him up, Charles ran right straight to the hole. A run lasting no more than 5 minutes. (Sure glad I didnt get up at 3am for THAT!)
Bobby and I will go with Freddy this Sunday for certain, and perhaps Saturday, also, if it's cool enough. (Forecast is for 66 for the low on Sunday morning, not quite that cool for Saturday's low.) Humidity and dewpoint is key. ...
.... kept hounds in kennel this past Sunday. 80 degrees and 90% humidity. We hunt the cornfields around Freddy's farm this early in the season. Freddy ran his beagles on Saturday and had to break them after only 15 minutes because they got overheated that fast. He called off the fox chase Saturday night- it was still 88 degrees at 9pm!
As soon as the thermometer dips below 70*F, we will go- regardless of what day of the week. However, the first day that is forecast to happen is not until this Sunday. And even then, , the low will be 69.
Right now, we have corn and soybeans planted in all of our hunt country. We cant let the hounds get into the beans, so we have to try and keep the fox in the corn. But the air inside the cornfields is stifling ,and even when we do go this time of year, the chases will be short- about an hour- unless we get a really cool night. (That's an hour from the time they jump their pilot before we hold them up). Of course, things dont always go as planned, but we've always been able to get to them and stop them in under 90 minutes.
Might get a call to hunt during the week this week, but only if the humidity lets up, since the lows forecast all week are in the 70's.
Today is August 1st, the start of another season. It has been very hot and very dry here all summer (as in most parts of the country), and any crops that are not irrigated are looking like a loss.
Several mid -day storms did blow through the peninsula today, a phenomonan (sp?) not seen a single day in July. (storms usually roll through late in the day). A few miles away, a cell dumped 3" of rain locally, while my farm received a light shower that lasted all of a couple of minutes. It's been like that all summer. The ground here is like cement ( I have a band of rare clay that runs through my property, so I dont have the normal sandy soil everyone else has). Which is one reason why I hack my horses at the state forest, 5 miles away -very sandy, soft footing there.
Anyway, the activity in the tropics is heating up, so perhaps this first full August moon ( there will be another this month) portends a change to a wetter, cooler weather pattern.
And then again, maybe not: Temps are to be in the 90's into the weekend. We expect to have our first hunt this coming Sunday. The low temps will not fall beneath the 70's. All we can hope is that the humidity lets up a bit. It will be a short hunt, but all the hounds will need.
This early in the season it is usually only Freddy, Bobby and me hunting. No one else is willing to get up for a 5:00am meet, lol! Freddy has 1 cple of new entry, Bobby has 1 cple, and I have one young bitch to enter. Tommy has the 4th littermate to Reilly, Rebel and Raven, but that dog wont be seen until Tom starts to join us in late September or October....
I got a new horn! Well, not brand new, but a good S & A that has a nicer tone than my other horn. All of Bobby's and my hounds are used to it now ( first day, when I blew it while the hounds were out, they totally ignored it, lol!).
I took some pics of the hounds during exercise today, just to compare how they look now with later in the year. Marilyn is so fat!!!!
Marilyn
Rebel, Repo and Reilly
same trio
Part-Time ("Party") in foreground, Raven in back
3 of my 2 1/2cple: Marney (front), Marilyn (l), and Reno (r)
That's Raven (l), Rebel (c), and Party (r), with Radio's white head in bottom left of pic
Reno
Pearly Girl
..and off by herself because she just came in heat, Sara. (Here is where she let me know that fact, lol!)
There should be 6 cple:
Raven, Reilly Rebel - new entry
MArilyn, Marney, Sara, Pearl, Reno, Radio, Repo, Part-Time, Roscoe
Freddy will have 3 1/2 cple, for a combined pack of 9 1/2 couple to start off cubbing.
..that Shamrock died 6/15/2012.She was six. It was a very fast-spreading cancer.She will be sorely missed, as she was a very steady hound. During early season hunting , if a hound opened and Shamrock didn't hark, there was a good chance that the hound throwing tongue wasn't right.
Her only vice was that she was mouthy in the hound truck. Bobby was always trying to shut her up by swerving the truck or hitting the brakes,lol. Never worked.
So, that's Shamrock and Lark gone this year. Hopefully, Reilly, Rebel and Raven will turn out to be as good as they. And Ryan- now renamed T-Bone ( sigh) by Tommy. Their sire is Tommy's Twister, out of Bobby's bitch, Reno. Both very good strike hounds. Reno now resides in my kennel, not sure how I feel about that. But the day Lark died, right after we buried her at the Ireland homestead ( the family has kennelled hounds there for decades) , Bobby turned to me and blurted out " take Reno home with you". Before I could even answer, he had her loaded into my hound truck. . Not sure if he just wanted her to go so he'd have one less mouth to feed, or because he knew how I would feel when I went into my kennel to feed, and would see one less eager face staring up at me.. Regardless, she is no trouble -I kept her while she was pregnant and until the pups were weaned last summer. Actually, I took her after she had broken her RF leg ( non-displaced fracture) and had been in solitary confinement for 3 months while it healed. When the time came for her to begin to get some exercise, I offered Bobby to let me take her so she could get out every day at my place. Two weeks later, she came in heat.
Whatever. She seems to really thrive here. I catch her playing like a puppy with her daughter, Reilly, when they are out in the exercise yard. So, I guess she's mine now. But I would have liked a younger bitch. I still have room for one more....
Here is a picture of Shamrock, taken out in the field during a hunt:
I didnt make 100 hunts-but the other fellows all did-they ended with around 109. I missed some due to unavoidable circumstances, and I missed some because I thought it best for my hounds to stay in kennels. No regrets there! The season prior, I managed 108 times out. Who knows what will happen in 2012-13.
All I know is, right now it's mid- June and horse and hound exercise will continue until we begin our cubbing season on or around August 1. Sooner if it's cool enough, hopefully not later because of drought and hot weather.
Here's a pic from my hack out with Mel today:
We've had mostly coool temps this Spring -except for last weekend when I took Mel up for a hunter pace at Amwell Valley Hounds in New Jersey. It was hot and humid and just plain nasty. But the big horse did super over a nice course of about 8 miles. We looked too gawd-awful to pose for any pics afterwards. All I wanted to do was get my horse to his overnight digs and get him hosed down and cooled off. .But dontcha know, the temps cooled off that night and it was very pleasant for their hound walk the next morning:
Amwell Valley Hounds huntsman, Steve Farrin, and his lovely pack of English Foxhounds.
So, that's all for now. Basically, I'm allcaught up with recent events. But stay tuned - some exciting things to come by late summer!
...we had 2" of rain the week before, and another nice rain shower overnight. But by the time hounds moved off at 6:15am, the showers had moved off the coast and a slight ground fog had formed. It was 45 degrees, with winds to be out of the north. but calm at dawn. Couldnt ask for more perfect hunting weather!
We had 9 1/2 couple out- Bobby and I emptied our kennels, to make 6 1/2 couple, thrown in with Freddy's 3 couple. Freddy cast his hounds into the swamp of Georges Branch from the north side, while Bobby and I walked ours in from the south side. My Sara found the line of the first fox, which ran for a short 35 minutes before going to ground on high ground on the edge of the woods. A second fox was found, and we had a good chase that lasted for almost 2 hours with this pilot staying in the bottom of the swamp the entire time. There was a brief split, but we were powerless to do anything about it ( just cant get to the hounds in that quagmire!). During the split, we listened as the foxes passed each other, travelling in oppostie directions, 3 times. Finally, on the fourth pass, the two packs must have run head-long into each other because they all got together for the last 1/2 hour of the chase, which ended with that fox denning in a field on the north side of the swamp. (First fox went to ground on the south side).
I was thrilled that Sara was the hound that got the line sorted during the first find- you can see and hear it all on the video. My internet was down for 2 days, and already the details of the hunt are fading- but the video was uploaded right after the hunt, so everything is accurate on it.
Taken right after the first fox went to ground
It was definitely worth getting up at 3:45 am! All the puppies did great- well, Rebel got left ( you will hear it on the video, lol!),but my Reilly and Bobby's Raven stayed right with the pack all morning,came right to my horn when I blew, nd jumped into their resp;ective hound trucks readily. That makes hunt #6 for my Reilly. She's gonna be a good huntin' hound!!!
All the hounds were covered with thick , black swamp mud- when I got home, I let my bitches out into the exercise yard for 2 hours, hoping they would roll around in the grass to clean off. That mud is still stuck to them!
Violets growingamidst the skunk cabbage in the swamp bottom
Drawing the skunk cabbage in the dried-up swamp @ 6:30am.
...at 6:30 am on April15. It's so very, very dry. and warm- 59F degrees at the draw in the "swamp"- which isnt much of a swamp these days. We walked right through the "branch" and barely got our boots wet. Not good.
13 1/2 couple out today. Freddys' and Jeffs' hounds joined up with Bobby's, Tommy's and mine. At 7:10am, freddy's hounds opened on a fox that was viewed crossing the County House Rd. The rest of our hounds, which had been working the other side of the road, but further west, harked. We got a decent chase going, with surprisingly good hound music in light of the conditions. Unfortunately, we have a car follower that comes out with his cur dog always along for the ride. And something happened..... ( watch the video)...which caused the chase to blow up 40 minutes later.. Hounds were loaded and we headed for the only other wet spot around, Georges' Branch, located about 2 miles away. A second pilot was found down in this boggy bottom, and hounds ran him well for 45 minutes.
Since I had scheduled to ride in a fund-raising event in the afternoon, I departed the hunt at 9 am, without taking part in the second chase. ( No regrets, there!) I did stick around long enough to get hound music from that chase, also. I only post a few seconds of the hound music from each chase on the video-although I could listen to it for hours,I doubt most folks could!
Most excellent ride on the big guy later in the day, followed by a good dinner, and champagne with dark chocolate and strawberries as I write this and upload the video. Not a bad day!
Curtis brought his 10week old pups out for a ride in his hound truck
Hounds casting themselves after their fox got headed by a car follower. None of the hunters viewed where the fox had gone
Marilyn, Sara and Reno, trying to recover the line of their fox at the road.
...which didnt happen until we got all the way back to that woods' edge in the background. The fields are just too dry.
...was a tradition on the Eastern Shore for generations of foxhunters. Up until the turn of this centruy , people would come from Pennsylvania, Maryland's western shore, New Jersey, and who knows where else to watch as upwards of 50 couple of hounds would be set loose on the red fox population of Kent Island, Kent County and surrounding areas. It wasn't unusual to have 30 or more car followers and 15 or more hound trucks watching the combined pack of PennMarydel foxhounds run from just after sun up until the last few hounds gave out. It was a tough ,but friendly competition, amongst a breed of houndmen that are now virtually extinct. Toby Calloway, one of the few remaining, passed away on Saturday at the age of 94.
I moved here 20 years ago from Pennsylvania, and was fortunate to witness some of these hunts while there was still enough country to run that many hounds. But, sadly, Kent Island is now full of condos and marinas and housing developments have surrounded the quaint old towns of Centreville , Chestertown , Easton, et. al.
...And so , our Easter Monday Hunt today consisted of just our regular little pack, diminished in size slightly due to the fact that the winds were to blow upwards of 45 MPH. I left Marney and Reilly home,after seriously considering leaving them ALL at home. I have been doing this huntin' stuff long enough now that I must learn to trust my instincts. Sigh.
The meet was moved up to 7 am, in an attempt to be ahead of the heaviest wind gusts. ( Here on the Shore, the wind usually cranks up right about 10am- almost always!). I hemmed and hawed long enough before leaving the farm to make me 10 minutes late. (I called ahead and told them not to wait for my hounds. In a way, I was hoping that they would find a fox and be running upon my arrival - and I could just turn out behind them.)
We have only Tagglers Gate or the County House woods left to hunt this time of year when the wind is blowing this hard. Tagglers Gate in no where near a highway,and therefore, our choice again today. (Holiday traffic going home from the beaches would most likely be crowding the main roads).
As I was headed towards Tagglers, and only about a mile from where the others had begun their draw, a HUGE red fox came flying across the road right in front of my truck. He was exiting some state-owned forestry that is currently being harvested , via a cutover cornfield. The loggers must begin operations at 7am, and the start-up of their heavy, HUGE, equipment ( relevant later in this tale) must have flushed Reynard. He was running west, straight upwind, and towards the covert where Bobby, Curtis and Tommy were hunting. I grabbed my radio and tally-ho'd . They had their hounds on the ground, but had not yet found a fox. I was instructed to stop and turn my three bitches (Marilyn, Sara and Reno) out behind the fox.
My mind raced- Reno and Sara have deep voices, but Marilyn- she's not exactly a squeaker, but she's no basso , either. All of the other hounds would be upwind. Would they even HEAR mine?? On the other hand, the fox was running right towards them - somebody's hounds should hark.
Me: "Bobby, are you sure??!"
He: "YEAH , go ahead. I'll load mine and be right around to you."
I flew out of the truck, dropped the tail gate, and in less than 10 seconds SARA (!!!) , followed by Reno, and then Marilyn, struck the line. They were off in a flash, running the edge of another cornfield back to an old cutover woods their fox had entered less than 30 seconds ahead. Being downwind, I got a good earful of the music 3 PMD's can make when they are up on top of a hot fox.
Sadly, it didnt last. I listened as they ran this fox left-handed, moving in a counter-clockwise circle. I was wishing, at that point, that I had brought all five of my bitches. Wow- these 3 were really sounding great! That wish went out the window rather fast, BECAUSE : the fox crossed back over the road, about 100 yards from where he had come over. I viewed him fly over the blacktop, and go on into the cornfield on the other side. He was heading right towards the loggers, and even though that equipment was downwind of me, it was incredibly loud. I turned my back to it and the fox -my hounds were coming to the road.
WHERE THE HELL IS EVERYBODY??? I radioed to Bobby, not in those exact words. None of the guys could hear my hounds, and they were in the same woods, just upwind. And their hounds weren't harking, which meant they couldn't hear mine , either. Bobby told me he was still loading his hounds. I told him he'd never get here in time, and I wanted to hold mine up at the road until more hounds got to me.
First, he said, "ok". Then he shouted, "NO, don't break them! Let 'em go, we'll get ours right to ya."
Now, Reynard was crafty, and he had put some distance between himself and his pursuers when he ran them through that cutover mess, but he still wasn't more than a minute ahead of them when he crossed the road. But when my bitches hit the pavement, they couldn't smell him. The wind was cranking up, and it was only about 7:25am. I tried to help them pick up the scent, and all three were trying, heads down, sterns going like mad. But the ground was too dry. Scent was gone. I took them into the cornfield and walked them all the way through it and back to the woods' edge ( another , oh, 200 yards, at least). Encouraging them and trying to talk to Bobby on my cell phone at the same time. ( I didnt grab my radio).
Me: "They can't find it, I'm gonna load them.... JUMP, RENO. Yoyoyooyyoyo...Marilyn ,Hoick!'
He: " I'm almost there"
Me: " The equipment is making so much noise over here and the wind is howling and it's just too dry....JUMP, RENO!"
....and then:
RENO hollered: "FOUND IT!!!"
Followed in a nano-second by:
MARILYN and SARA asserting: "YEP, HERE IT IS!!"
One of the few times in my foxhunting life that I have regretted hearing hounds open on a fox.
The little pack of 1 1/2 couple recovered the line at the woods'edge and disappeared into the thicket. They were headed in the general direction of the logging equipment. Briefly, they made a swing due south and away from the loggers. I ran the edge of the woods to try to stay in earshot , while making yet another call on my cell to Bobby. He informed me that he had arrived at my hound truck in the road, and had his hounds on the ground. Jeez.... we both were UPWIND. I was more than 200 yards closer than he, and already I could no longer hear anything. Wonderful. A shotgun start was quickly turning into a mess.
Several minutes passed before I caught sight of his hounds' sterns- they were going to pick up the scent exactly where my bitches had found it: right at the woods' edge. At that moment, I caught the sound of my girls tonguing - they were going away from me and towards the loggers, and I only caught a brief note. Bobby's 2 1/2 couple were tonguing now, but they were so far behind that they would never make my hounds. Great. We had two small bunches running downwind from us, and perilously close to the moving timber cutters.
[Sidebar: Have you ever seen this logging equipment?? It's 2 stories high, and has a big sign plastered down the side of it that reads : STAY BACK 300 FEET. It sounds as "bad " as it looks. Bad, in the slang sense of the word, that is.]
I, as my Dad used to say, was not a happy camper. In fact, I was kinda ticked off. Shoulda, woulda... next time, I will follow my gut instinct. But no time for regrets- I had a situation, and I had to deal with it. Once I saw Bobby coming towards the woods, I turned around and began to run back to my truck. No point in two of us being upwind. And Tommy and Curtis had yet to appear...
For the next hour, we hunted those hounds. I must have walked/ran 5 miles. I drove around to the downwind side of the covert and walked in from there,blowing my horn and calling. I could hear nothing.
I got back to my truck, and drove around to where the logging trucks exit the woods onto the road, parked and walked in the woods from that side. I would be upwind, but if I blew my horn, and those hounds were in there, they should hear me. IF they could hear above the din of the loggers.
Last fall, I spent several hours clearing out a boundary trail in that woods for me and my horse. It took the loggers less than that to block it with the crowns of the cut trees that they had raped. But I was able to find my way, climbing over downed branches thick with pine needles. O, the ticks....
I kept getting closer and closer to that monster machine that plows down the trees and it was moving straight towards me. I was WAY less than the 300 feet that the thing warns one to stay clear, and it was really kind of scary. For me. And then it occurred to me, how scary must it be for these timid foxhounds? I was concerned that a tree branch could easily fall on one of them. I kept calling and blowing, and to my relief, turned to see Marilyn coming up behind me. The others had to be somewhere in here , too.
Apparently, the foxes had become acccustomed to the loggers' presence already. There is a well-used earth in the field located only 150 feet from where the loaded tractor trailers exit the woods, and I had the opportunity to check it as I went by. There were fresh tracks all over it. Reynard had chosen to take my hounds through the work area, obviously with hopes of foiling them. He succeeded.
I kept navigating the blocked trail down to its' end at a"canal", hollering and blowing the entire time. And, thank the Lord, just as I emerged onto the ditch, I saw all 3 couple of the missing hounds coming to me. It was a long walk to get them back to a hound truck, and once loaded, I resolved that mine would not be on the ground again until they got home. It was only 9am, but I knew this was a bad idea from the start, and I had had enough.
During this search,Tommy and Curtis had decided to move further south and draw the Big Pine woods. Really??? Bobby's and my hounds would never hear theirs to hark, should their hounds find. Once we got our hounds sorted, Bobby and I went around to see what was happening. Not much. They viewed a fox. They tried to put hounds on it. The hounds picked at it for awhile and then the hunt blew up. Gee, no surprise, there. Winds howling and ground dry as a bone. It took them awhile to round up their hounds, also. The hunt was over. And maybe, if we dont get any rain to speak of soon, this may be it for the season.
Sara, Reno and Marilyn trying to recover the line after the fox crossed back over the road . Notice how hard they are panting already- and they had only been running about 15 minutes
....were not barn burners, but Friday's hunt, #95, was another "puppy hunt", with 3 of the pups and 4 mentor, older hounds.
We haven't had any rain to speak of in weeks, and everything is dry and crispy. The ground in the fields is like hardpan. Most of the many ditches are almost dry, save for the very wide and deep "canals". You know it's dry when the farmers resort to irrigating the winter wheat! Pivot irrigation is rarely needed during Spring...
The puppy hunt was a good exercise. A long draw of over 70 minutes finally yielded a luke warm trail that eventually got a bit warmer The older hounds opened seriously at 9:10, and the little pack stayed with their fox through the swamp for 40 minutes. Their pilot, however, was way ahead of them, and when the hounds came to the road, we broke them. It was never going to be a hot chase, and since the hound s were headed into an area where it would be really difficult to get to them, we played it safe and loaded at the road . We had begun the draw at 8am, and we were done by 10 am. It was enough for the pups, since they would be going out to hunt with the regular pack the next day.
...Saturday, hunt 96:
The cast at 7:30am, after the initial outburst on the cold trail ( pics below), I didnt mess with the camera
The warm spell has ended, and the temps are really where they should be for this time of year . It was 37 F when 12 1/2 couple were cast into the hedgerow alongside Gallo's field at 7:30 am.
A beautiful full moon was setting in a cloudless sky as I drove to the meet. I always think this portends a slow hunt, and today this proved to be the case. The foxes must have been out carousing all night. Part Time hit a cold line right at the cast, and trailed it into the woods, a distance of a couple of hundred yards. Once in the woods, the hounds picked at this line for a good half hour. Finally, they began to tongue "with some authority" as the locals say (love that expression!), and they ran this red for 40 minutes until it went to ground. Another fox was viewed running Gallos field only minutes later, but by the time we could get hounds forward to the line, scent had evaporated. They could not find it. The view came from a car follower on the road and his description wasn't precise enough , especially with the wind now blowing at 20-30 mph. The hounds would have to be right on top of the line to smell it.
Hounds were gathered, although we had several scattered throughout the Big Pine Woods, I headed to Fisher's Bridge to get downwind in an attempt to locate the 6 or 7 still unaccounted for. As I passed the Big Piine woods, I viewed a fox running the blacktop road in front of me . He popped back into the Big Pine Woods and about a minute later Tommy's dog, Joe, wandered out into the road not far from where the fox went in. Joe was leaving the covert that the fox had just entered, but about 100 yards away. I tried to get Joe to find, but he just couldnt smell anything. Once we finally had all hounds loaded, we called it a day.
We need this wind to stop blowing, and we need some serious rain. The forecast for our Easter Monday hunt: windy ( 20 -30mph sustained , AGAIN) with 20% humidity - just a carbon copy of the last several days. ( Now THAT is an expression that is totally obsolete, lol!)
PS - all puppies did very well again. Reilly went off with the others at the cast and never looked back. And when Bobby emerged from the woods after the one short chase, she was right with him.
Reilly, my puppy, asking, "are we there yet?" At least she's used to riding in the truck now- no slobbering anymore!
12 1/2 couple today- including the 2 couple of new entry hunting for their 4th time. But this is the first hunt where all four pups hunted with all the other hounds. (Tommy's puppy, T-Bone hunted with the regular pack on April 1).
It was 47 degrees at 7:30, but the day was to warm up quickly to a forecast high of 74 ( it is 77 as I write this!). We wanted to get a short, tidy chase in , and be done before 11am. But with Part Time and Marney out, along with new entry, I was ready for anything and cleared my schedule for the entire afternoon.
I should have more faith in our hounds, because before 10 am, we were seated in the restaurant ordering our post -hunt breakfast.
We chose to go back to Taggler's Gate ( we are losing hunt country because the farmers are getting into the fields in some places,and they have begun logging a large section of one of the state woods),. We have found a fox there before that stays close, and runs large loops around the woods that encircle the gate and the dirt lane that leads up to it. A good fox for our puppies to run, if we are lucky enough to find him.
Hounds were unkennelled at 7:35 and at 7:44, they opened on a nice, big red . Just before we let the hounds out, we had viewed about 10 deer leaving the covert we planned to draw. The fox must have moved the deer, and he moved out behind them. Our hounds had to trail him up, and it took a good 15 minutes from the time they began to trail until they really began to run.
All of the puppies packed right up and went with the older hounds. As soon as I i heard the first few notes of the strike hounds, I ran out of the covert and back to my hound truck. We wanted to ride this pack tight today, and we had only 3 hound trucks. The wind was coming out of the north, and although it seemed calm, the road we needed to guard closely was upwind and ,therefore, hearing the pack wasn't easy.
This fox was a road runner- he ran the paved road, which turns into a dirt road, 4 times. Each time he did this, the hounds would check on the road giving Reynard a bigger lead. At about 9:00, he made his 3 rd trip down the road, running it about 100 yards. It was the dirt portion, and we knew that the pack would have a hard time picking up the scent. It was a good time to pick up the puppies. We positioned ourselves where the fox was viewed when he ducked back into the woods. In the video , you'll see the hounds running right at the camera- we were all waiting so we could hold up the puppies and get them loaded. They had had 75 minutes' running, and the temperatures were rising quickly. That was all they needed for this time out. All the pups had stayed with the pack, especially during the previous 2 checks in the road. They didnt know what it was that they were doing, but they were sure having a ton of fun doing it!!
You'll see the older hounds having trouble finding the line-mainly because Bobby mis-judged slightly where he saw the fox pop back into the covert. But the hounds get it straightened out, and once they recover , the fox made one more big swing around Tagglers gate via the road (again!). Tommy wanted to let them run, so we did not try to break them. At 9:20, however, the pack shut up cold behind the gate. Bobby and I ran the 100yards around the bend to find all the hounds on the edge of a wheat field. The fox had gotten so far ahead of them by this time, that they just couldnt stay with him. They were hot hounds, and there had been no water where they could refresh themselves with a drink during the chase. It didnt take much effort on our part to call them out to us. By 9:30, all hounds were loaded and we were headed for breakfast.
... at 5:15am, as I was having my coffee,a sudden noise and shudder rocked the house that lasted about 5-6 seconds. It sounded like a train, but it was a single gust of wind. One huge blow that actually shook the windows! Since the weather forecast showed 20-30 mph sustained winds already in some local areas, I determinded right then that Reilly would not be hunting today. A quick phone conference between Tommy,Bobby and I confirmed that all puppies would remain in kennels . Their next time out will have to wait until Wednesday.
All the way to the meet, the sky was dark and ominous and the wind was gusting-so unusual here before sunrise.
A gloomy, windy morning as I sorted hounds
This is at 6:30 am
And these two were taken right before sunrise.Looking west here.
..And looking east , here. A heavy , low bank of clouds!
However, once we got into the woods for the first draw and subsquent chase , the wind wasnt much of a problem. The fox was jumped by Reno and Sara (she is feeling much better this week!) at 8:31, and ran for just over an hour before going to ground . All 12 couple were on at the hole located on the edge of the woods on the upwind side. But it was clear as we loaded the hounds that the wind was, indeed, going to be an issue for the rest of the morning.
Our second draw yielded another handsome red at about 10:10. This one preferred to run in the open quite a bit, and I missed getting to see two long runs over open fields because I had guessed incorrectly as to where this fox would head. Tommy radioed to me that Sara was running second over the open!!! She's definitely responding to the Doxy treatment for Lyme's. ( And I've got a big bottle on hand, because the ticks are the worst I've seen in a long time, and no doubt I'll be treating another hound or two before the summer is out.) . At about 10:45, as I was heading towards cry , I almost ran over a mangy fox as he crossed the road in front of me. Hounds were coming on this one- a tag-team manuever by the quarry had been executed.
By now, the wind was getting ridiculous.I have video of the hounds running the fox I viewed as they crossed the road and ran downwind of us across some open cornfields. But the wind is so deafening that I didnt bother posting it. At 11 am, we dsecided we would break the pack at the first opportunity, while all hounds were still together. At 11:10, Bobby and I managed to get into position ahead of the pack- without viewing the fox-and got them stopped. All were on. Phew, thank goodness for that! Looking for a wayward hound in that roaring wind would not be fun.
Yep, no regrets leaving a horse and puppies at home for this one!
This video has some footage of Bobby and my hounds making the find, and our first fox on the move:
The bottom video is just the fox, for those not interested in watching the hounds
Tommy's puppy, T-Bone, after the hunt this morning - one tired pup!
Today our hunt consisted of a small pack of only 7 1/2 couple, including Tommy's puppy,T-Bone. Bobby could not join us because a ball game took priority, and when he called me mid-\morning to ask how the hunt went, I could not resist an April Fool's prank:
Our actual hunt:
We began the draw at 7:45am, and it took until 8:35 for the hounds to get their fox to leave the covert where he had been tiptoeing around them for close to an hour. Hounds trailed him around the small covert the entire time. The hounds ran this fox well for another hour until their pilot ran a large swing in the open and back to a woods adjacent to a large den at the edge of a field. I think the fox was attempting a hand-off, but only 2 couple of hounds fell for the ruse. The others continued to pursue the original fox. My hounds and Tommy's pup were with with the larger bunch that stayed true to the first fox. (T-Bone had gotten a breather at one point earlier in the chase , when the fox crossed a road and Tommy loaded the puppy at the road . Later, when the fox crossed another road, Tommy let T-Bone back out again.)
At about 10:15, when the fox was making a run over yet another road, headed back to the covert where he had been jumped, all hounds were picked up. ( We are hunting again tomorrow, and I know they were thinking about Bobby's hounds being fresh from a day off! lol!) T-Bone did super! But he was ready to fall asleep only moments after he got back inside the hound truck.
Now, what I told Bobby:
He: "So, how did your hunt go?"
Me: "WOW, SUPER!!!! You Should have BEEN here!!! Tommy and I brought our puppies . We got a hot fox and the puppies were running 4th and 5th - they ran for over 2 hours!!"
He: "REALly?"
Me: " Yeah, and at one point, they were even running him BY SIGHT!!! Ran him by sight right to the hole! They got a really good noseful at the den-Reilly was in up to her butt! And then... you're not gonna believe this..."
He: " what, what, you took your puppies when i 'm not there, huh."
Me (ignoring his comment): "THEN, the fox bolted out another hole in the den and Tommy's puppy almost ran right into it! He and the fox made eye contact!!"'
HE: "Damn. " Long silence.... then: "I'm bringing both my pups tomorrow".
It was all I could do not to bust out laughing and fess up that it was an April Fool joke. But he fell for it, totally. So as soon as I hung up , I called Tommy and asked him to go along with it.
As far as I know, Bobby still thinks I took Reilly. I guess his mind was so much on umpiring , that he didnt even realize the date Tommy and I will get an earful tomorrow, I'm sure.
And I am going to take Reilly, because I know all of the other puppies will be there...
First, I must own up to something: During the puppy hunt on Thrusday, while waiting for Tommy's hounds to find a fox during the second draw , I had a bit of a mishap. There were two very large, downed trees ( about 24" diameter oaks-no small pines were they!) laying on the ground. One was laying slightly overtop of the other one. The bark was stripped, and the trunks were as smooth and as hard as a baseball bat ( only an 24" diameter baseball bat!) Well, as I stood on the top tree, it moved. My feet went out from under me and I came down on that trunk straddled as if I were sitting on a horse. And I came down hard. So very, very hard. Very hard. Did I mention, I hit it HARD??? Holy cow. I jumped up and ,of course, acted like nothing had happened. "Fine, yeah, I'm fine."... No really, I'm ok." .... "I'M OK". But inside, sheesh, I was seeing stars, lol! Couldnt barely move by Thursday night. Went to bed with an ice pack situated in an area where no one wants to have to put an ice pack....
The next morning, I was surprised that I wasnt as stiff and sore as I thought I would be. But I had no desire to sit a horse...
...and hadnt really planned on taking one today. But at the last moment, I decided to throw Rap ( he was the cleanest) on the trailer, loaded the hounds in the back and pulled my LeChameau rubber riding boots on overtop of my jeans. ....WHAT WAS I THINKING??!!! Clearly, I wasnt thinking at all about the bruises on my seat bones and surrounding body parts!
Our meet was set for 7:45am, and although it was raining at 5am, by the time I arrived it had stopped. The temp was a cool 47 degrees, and the wind was to blow out of the NE ( off the ocean, but the hunt country is about 35 miles inland). A damp, but not cold morning. At least it didnt feel that way to me as I mounted Rap. (But then, I didnt feel much right at that moment because when my seat hit that saddle -those first 5 or 6 trot posts were torture, lol!!!) Hounds were in the covert, and I had a big field to cross to get to them. I just remember thinking as I moved Rap up into a pain-relieving canter, "will I be able to stand this for 3 hours??" Did I mention that the 20 yo Berney Bros saddle I use on Rap has a flatter, harder seat than the more padded one I use on Mel? Had I remembered, I would have been riding a dirty horse, instead.
Hounds got a fox on the run at 8:10am, and as soon as they began to sing, my mind focused on the chase and I forgot about everything else. (Well, every once in a while, I would get a reminder of sorts! Like ,when I had to jump off and get Raps' leg untangled from a vine. Getting back on, and having to stretch that left leg up to reach the stirrup... holey,moley.) But,back to the hunt...
13cple gave this fox a good run for two solid hours. There were no splits, and no switching of foxes. Everyone had several good views during the chase as this pilot ran in the open over large expanses of wheatfields and fallow cornfields several times. He was roused in a mess of cutover ( where Rap got himself hung up), and eventually, at 10:30 went to ground.
My Nikon wouldn't record, and I thought I was getting the fox as he ran right to Rap and me, and then later, as he crossed in the open in front of us. Nope, it wasnt there when I uploaded . But the helmet cam did capture the fox as he ran to us, although he looks small. And the hounds in full cry.
A fun day, with good hound work. Trying to reach 100 hunts for the season. Last year my hounds went out 108 times, but I dont expect to best that total this season. Hunting again Sunday and Monday- we're gonna try!!
The puppies' entry into the pack could not have gone better on Thursday, March, 29.
We had a small pack of 8 1/2 couple, including 2 couple of new entry. It was already very windy at the first draw, and the gusts were to be in excess of 40mph again by afternoon.
We met at 8:30am, and had hoped to find a fox and put him to ground before 11am.
It almost didn't work out that way because it took 3 casts and 2 hours to find a fox that was above ground!
Finally, at 10:30, a fox was found in Miller's branch. Bobby's and my hounds were on the ground at the draw, and all of them opened at one time. They must have run right into the fox! Tommy harked his, but not before I got a great view of the strike hounds as they crossed over a clearing. Wes had viewed the fox , but I didnt get there in time. No matter, all I cared about was getting a view of the puppies.
This fox ran for only 20minutes, but he/she covered alot of open copuntry before going to ground in the Little Cole Woods. Bobby got another view of the hounds a few minutes before the fox went in. He said that all were on, but Reilly and Raven were last coming across the wheat and trying as hard as they could to keep up! Wish I could have seen that! Bobby was laughing as he described how hard those two were trying their best to stay up with the others.
When we got to the woods, all hounds came right to us as we called them away from the hole , and Reilly was the first one to jump into Bobby's hound truck ( again!!).
The first draws, although blank, were excellent experiences for the puppies. Reilly went away from me and went right with Bobby as he made the first draw-that was great. She wants to hunt!!!
All of the puppies performed well, no problems with any of them. Now I just wish I had one more bitch from that litter....
