Losing track...

Last week we had a good chase in the rain ( cant remember which day right now), and then I promptly caught a bad cold and missed 2 hunts on , I believe, Monday and Tuesday. (??) We had more rain, but hunted again on Friday. I wasnt 100%, but went because my hounds needed to GET OUT of the kennel. We had a good run with a fox that liked to run the dirt roads. I sprained my ankle while running to get to hounds at an earth.  Saturday it rained AGAIN.  I went and got some arnica for the ankle, and by Sunday morning, the bruising was GONE, and I could walk on it. Amazing stuff!!

Which brings  me today's hunt. Which is freshest in my mind.  We put two foxes to ground around the Cannery woods in the first hour and a half. Neither fox stayed up for more than 15 minutes before running to an earth. Hounds were gathered and we  drew the woods behind Latham's.  A nice -running red got up and hounds pressed this pilot for about 75 minutes before he, too, decided he had had enough and went to ground at the gravel pit.  But before doing so, he made at least 3 circles around the "punchbowl" field (my name for it, as it is a large plot almost completely encircled by woods, with a gravel pit at the one open end.).  Sevral times he crossed over the open, and almost everyone got several good views of him. ( see the video).

I walked out to a hedgerow that cuts across the field and stood in one place as the fox went around me.  At one point, he came right to where I was hiding, but saw me and turned back.  Didnt seem to faze him one bit,as he made another long circle after that,  running in the open for a good part of it.

Not the best hunt report. I needed to catch up, but everything is kind of fuzzy up until  last Friday....  Hounds are very fit, except for Reno and Marilyn who have been in heat.   Reno should be good to go by next week-we needed her on Friday when we had that fox that ran the roads so much!

Scattered  thoughts ...tired...hunting again tomorrow, need to get some sleep!

Reilly's First Fox!!!!

The weather forecast for this weekend is a gloomy one- rain/snow showers today, high of only 37,but light winds.  Sunday, on the other hand, is forecast to be colder, with windy conditions ( gusts over 40mph  expected).  We hunted today, knowing that there is a chance we may not go tomorrow.

Some  rabbit hunters with beagles were already hunting the planned meet location when we arrived, so a last minute change put us walking hounds into Johnny Boys' thicket at 8:35am. 11 1/2 couple spread out through the water-logged woods in search of quarry.  At 8:45, a high-pitched squeak was heard not far from Bobby and me.  And then again, and again, with more conviction.   More of our hounds put in to the high note and then we heard Part Time's booming voice hark. Yep. It was RIGHT!!  And it was REILLY'S  squeaky find!!!!

Within seconds, hounds from all over the covert converged and settled in behind her as the fox was pushed out of the thicket, across some wheat and further west into the "big woods".  After a quick run around that covert, we viewed the fox  crossing a wide expanse of wheat on his way back to the thicket where he was found.  HOunds were'nt far behind, so I  ran forward to the line to await their arrival.  They made a check on the woods' edge , but then recoverd the line and screamed it across the field.   We were being pelted with rain that would quickly change to sleet... but I did'nt care .  We had a hot fox on the move and my puppy was up front!!  (All on the video)

Hounds pressed this fox for 75 minutes before he finally went to ground in  an earth  on the edge of  the big woods. All were on at the muddy opening  of the den.   Raven, Bobby's puppy,  was the last hound to leave the earth, and the front half of his body was covered in black mud.

 By  the time we got all hounds away from the hole it was  sleeting hard;  none of us had to discuss what to do next.  Hounds were called away and everyone headed home.

Good job,  Reilly!!! BTW, her dam, Reno, has been bred again . With  luck, we will have another litter of good pups around mid-April.  (Hunting homes may be needed if she whelps a large litter , so stay tuned if interested!)

Poor Marney!

This will be a short entry- Downton Abbey is on in 45 minutes!
We had a chilly morning with no wind. By the time the hounds moved off at 9:10, the temp  was above freezing , the sun was out ( but didn't stay out for very long), and the iced-over water puddles left from our recent storm were thawing quickly.We had  only 11couple out. (Note to self: mark the calendar -Marilyn is now in heat)

Hounds  ran two foxes, but both must have been vixens, as neither one stayed up for more than 1/2 hour .  The dens are being freshly dug-out as if  the foxes are prepping for imminent arrivals of kits.  It won't be long now...

After the first fox went to ground in a large wood pile, all the hounds came to us except Marney.  The guys were anxious to go find another, so I told them to just go on, and i would walk Marney out and catch up with them.  The pack was moved about a mile upwind  and I was advised not long after  via the radio  that they had , indeed, found another fox.   As I was walking  Marney across a field  in front of the wood pile, I faintly heard the pack in full cry.  Bobby radioed to me that their fox was moving in my direction and jokingly said "sit  tight, he may be coming right to you".   Now  the chances  are slim that the fox would run right to me, right?   I kept walking,quickening my pace, but also keeping my eyes on the fields and covert on the other side of the road that I was approaching. The hounds were sounding closer all the time.  Then- tally-freakin'-ho, here comes a fox, running right towards Marney and me.  I  hit the ground and lassoed Marney with my whip and had enough presence of mind to turn the camera on. 

The camera wasnt on zoom- the fox was no more than a  couple hundred feet from us at his closest  juncture.  Marney had him in her sights and was frantic to get free of my grip - hence, the shaky  camera footage, lol.    After the fox went by us, I stood up and saw the hounds across the road, on the woods' edge.  I was certain that  they must be  coming on this fox, and was looking forward to cutting Marney loose right as they passed us, and getting it on camera.  But, alas, it was not to be.  The fox Marney and I viewed with such anticipation was not the hunted quarry.  I watched in dismay as the pack ran the woods' edge briefly and then ducked back inside the covert.  And then I heard the cry of 10 1/2 couple  quickly fade away.  The hunted fox had turned back towards where it had been found, and the fox Marney and I had viewed had merely been flsuhed out of the covert as hounds flew by. Damn. I dont know which one of us was more bummed out., my  bitch or me.

Anyway, by the time I caught up with the action, the hounds had put this second red  in a hole, too.  One more draw was made in an attempt  to pick up the scent of the  "fly-by fox", but by the time we got the pack to the line, they couldnt find it. 

Not one of our better days, but after the three incredible hunts of last week, we really cant complain.

And I will always remember that moment with Marney -the longing in her eyes was almost palpable!

Tired? who said my hounds were tired?!

...After that hard chase on Wednesday, I was thinking that I might leave my hounds home for the following days' hunt( Thursday, 2/07).But yesterday morning they were  anticipating another day out of the kennel with much enthusiasm.  Who was I to deny them??

It was 29 degrees with a biting north wind when 17 1/2 couple were walked into the Cannery woods at 8:30.  A hard freeze was back on the ground after the brief thaw enjoyed earlier this week.

Pre-dawn, around 6:15am

Hard, frozen ground again! about 7:30 am.

 (Jeff had come down from New Jersey again, and our guests from yesterday were back,too).  A fox was found  at about 8:40, but he didnt stay here long at all !  At 9:15, he made his move out of the country by running  a narrow hedgerow,  crossing  over Parker rd , to  continue on a diagonal across Burrsville rd  to the pistol range briar  bed. But he didnt stay there, either!  This fox set a straight course southwest  through the Taber Woods , crossing Cattail Branch rd on his way to the Hickman Woods. Hounds were held up before they entered that covert.  It was only  9:45 when we broke them about 3 miles from where the fox was roused.

On the video,I arrive at Parker Rd after the fox crossed ( viewed across the road by Olin), and get the camera rolling in anticipation of the hounds. Before they reach the blacktop, however, several deer came FLYING across the road in front of me.  I let the camera roll on and less than a minute later the pack arrives at the road.  You can watch as they check  very briefly on the macadam, and then recover the line into the very, very thick briars on the far side.  You will also see some hounds run down the edge where the deer went, but immediately come back. They were not tonguing.   We had several puppies on the ground, and still no deer chase!  I LOVE OUR HOUNDS!!!! :-)

But I digress....

It was decided to go back and hunt the covert adjacent to the Cannery Woods in keeping with the wind direction.  Another fox got on the move at  about  10:15; well, actually, 3 foxes came out of the Buzzard Swamp woods but all hounds settled on one. For the next hour , this fellow made a couple large swings around Mr. Parkers' field, Tacky Radishes and the clam shell pile and then decided that he, too, had no desire to remain on the east side of Burrsville rd.  He crosses and runs the large expanse of cutover cornfields on his way  westward  to Frog Hollow.  (This is on the video.The time stamp shows him crossing Burrsville rd at 11:20am. ). Again, this fox had a straight-arrow course and  continued due west to the Clay Swamp.  We broke the pack before they got into the swamp.  It was 11:45. Enough!!!  Hounds have hunted 5 of the last 6 days ,now they shall get a rest as the storm arrives Friday. Only rain forecast for us, so we should be good to go on Sunday.

(the short video just showing the fox and the hounds crossing the open)

Burning HOT scent and a dead battery

Holy cow, we had our fastest run this season this morning.   A slight thaw-the temp was 33 degrees when we met at 8:15am. The forecast  promised temps to rise to the upper forties later in the day, and sunshine warmed once-frozen ground quickly.

We had 17 couple out, including 4 couple of guest hounds including several puppies.   Hounds were walked towards the designated covert, but Bobby's and my hounds opened on the edge of the woods , less than 100 yards from the road. They trailed the line into the woods and soon all hounds harked . The best chase of the season was about to unfold.

Seriously, scent must have been very, very good because the hounds FLEW without checking for 2 1/2 hrs until Charles finally presented a puzzle which  the pack just couldn't figure out.  We were pretty much doing all we could to just stay up with the hounds all morning, and therefore, didnt see whether the fox had entered a small covert after crossing a big irrigation ditch, or whether he had, instead, run the  adjacent open wheat field when they finally did check. Curtis, Tommy and Bobby walked in three directions to try to help them recover the line, without success. Hounds' tongues were hanging to the ground, and since another hunt is scheduled for tomorrow, they were walked out to the road.

34 hounds began the chase; only 20 were still on the ground at the loss. Young  puppies and older hounds were being picked up and turned back out  during the latter  hour  and a half when they got too far behind.   3 of my 4 hounds (Reno home, in heat) didnt make it to the end.  Only my puppy, Reilly  stayed on the ground  for the entire chase. And she was always right up there!! I think she lost 3 pounds today, lol!

My camera battery died during the first hour, and the pace was so fast I had trouble getting it focused in time to catch the fox the times I was  able to get a view. And at least twice, I thought I had the camera on, but it wasnt..  So, all of the video you see of the hounds running (hard!!) was taken all within the first hour. The remaining ninety minutes,  as the ground continued to warm up,  was just as good.

I thought Tommy was joking when he stopped me as I was leaving to tell me we are hunting again tomorrow. Rest up, bitches, rest up!!

Sunday and Monday's hunts

The Whitely Woods  at the first draw; 9:15am on Sunday

Conditions improved as the morning  progressed

Sunday was another hunt with the same group as Saturday, minus 2 couple. An  inch or two of  fresh snow covered the landscape as we cast  15 couple into the Whitely Woods at 9:00 am.  There were fresh tracks in the snow everywhere, and it wasnt long before hounds struck a line . But two foxes had been footing the covert, and a  mediocre chase ensued that ended when we broke the hounds at a long check. This wood is so dense with briars that you can't even walk into it, so we decided to leave this area  to hunt the "back woods" behind Freddy's farm, a couple of miles away.

This proved to be a good decision, as a nice-running red was jumped by  Freddy and Tommy while Curtis, Bobby , Jeff and I were extricating my  truck and Curtis' truck out of  a snow covered  mud puddle.

fresh tracks in fresh snow- so pretty!

Curtis gets a backwards pull by Jeff, while Bobby  and I  await my turn.

We got both trucks out within minutes and drove as fast as safely possible ( 15-20mph) over  slick roads to catch up to the action.

Bobby had all of our hounds in his truck except for my puppy, Reilly. She had jumped into Tommy's truck when we broke the pack at the Whitely woods. Hence, she was on the ground running with a bunch of hounds with which she wasnt very familiar .  The motherly instinct  was kicking in, and I wanted to get to her to be sure she was packing up and running.  But of  course, she was.  No worries with that one!

We had a good fox that ran over the open , making two large circles  while  returning to the  covert where he had been  found each time.   By the time he made his third trip back to his starting point, his crafty manuevers over much  ice and water had put him way ahead of the pack.  It was almost noon, so hounds were called in.  Everyone had the Super Bowl on their mind!


On Monday, the weather was cold ( again!) : 26 F degrees  when hounds met at 9:30am.   But there was a cold wind blowing out of the NW at 15-20mph, and overcast skies. It felt much colder than the day before(when the temps had risen all the way up to a balmy 38 f!).  I dont mind the cold. It's the wind that makes it unpleasant.

12 1/2 couple ( our regular weekday pack of Tommy's, Curtis', Bobby's and my hounds) met at the Red Barn.  We were hoping that the deer hunters who had inhabited the surrounding  woods for the past 10 days hadn't shot the good foxes that have been providing us such great  sport here in previous weeks.

This was the second time Charles crossed the road at this same spot.  (He would make his return trip over  the open , crossing  the road right where the red barn used to stand. I could never get there in time to catch him, though)

The first time Charles crossed the road

It took only 9 minutes to have our fears allayed.  We made the draw into the woods next to the dry cow lot and found Charles ready and willing to take our pack on a run that would last until we broke the hounds off his brush at noon. The only checks occurred two times when other foxes not being persued briefly got in the fray.  But both times, with a bit of help , the hounds got back on the scent of their pilot .

3 good chases in 3 days.  Hounds will rest up on Tuesday and  go again on Wednesday.

Ground Hog Day

crossing a frozen beaver dam during our second chase of the day

My Reilly, she's a big girl now! ( Brown headed hound w/ brown lip , centr top)

.....17 couple met at the County House at 9:15am. consisting of hounds belonging to:.Tommy, Bobby, Curtis, Freddy, Jeff, Jim and me. 

I have to admit I was a bit concerned that they might not all pack up together, but  they did!

Hounds chased 2 foxes over the course of 4 hours. The first one ran round and round the County House woods without ever breaking covert.   We all got weary  of that, so hounds were held up and gathered at  about 11:30. (times are probably more accurate on the video-I did those subtitles earlier, and now I am tired and everything is getting fuzzy).

The next pilot was also found in the County House woods, but he more than made up for the seclusive first fellow  even though I never got a view of him.  This fox ran straight-necked through the  covert on the north side of the dirt lane, out the east end, across Dead End Rd, and on into Weber's woods. Once there, he kept going east, towards Burrsville. He did circle back one time, crossing back over Dead End rd to re-enter the woods , but on the south  side of the dirt lane.  He  was moving west now, and he was wasting no strides in doing so.   He kept going- all the way through the woods, across the power line cutover and on into Miller's branch, where most of the water is frozen solid.   It was first  thought that a passing car  had headed  Charles as he was attempting to bust out  of Miller's and across the perimeter rd to continue his trek westward over a wide expanse of open fields.  The pack spilled across the road as Bobby and I pulled up, only to check in the snow-covered open on the other side.

We had seen the car. We knew the hounds were close to the road. It seemed very likely that our pilot had, in fact, been doubled. Bobby, Freddy and Tommy walked the road with hounds in different directions, trying to help them recover the line.  Bobby walked them back down into Millers branch.  Over 15 minutes passed, probably more like 20 .  Freddy chatted with a nearby landowner for a bit.  Meanwhile, I  had noticed several hounds feathering wildly in the field before they were all called back to the trucks waiting at the road.  This fox had been such a great pilot, no one really wanted to see the chase end.  Including me. So I decided to look for the fox tracks in the field.  I walked a good 100 yards out into the open-past where the hounds tracks' had trampled the snow.... and there they were! This fox had gotten across the road ahead of the car, and our hounds had been right all along.

Bobby and Freddy unkennelled  hounds, and walked them to me, and  slowly they picked the (literally) cold line diagonally across the open towards a water-filled ditch. Once there, they again had trouble sorting out which way Charles had gone, but Bobby  guessed correctly that  the fox had tiptoed across  the ditch at a frozen beaver dam. The camera rolled as the hounds picked their way gingerly over the ice, with Bobby following behind.(O- I was SO hoping for some comic relief there, lol!)

Once across, the hounds continued on westward to the huge  woods behind the old Ireland homestead, where they  finally got the line hot again.  Here, they ran fast and hard until the quarry went to ground in an earth in the corner of Jeff Scot's field. All were loaded and we were done at around 1:30.

Most of this is on the video, in one way or another. I am chilled to the bone, and headed for  a hot bath and a glass of wine...

Hunting  again tomorrow ( if we dont get too much snow).  
Note to self :  Remember to leave Reno HOME this time!!!! ( she's in heat).

March in January...

....as in, it felt almost Spring-like today.  The temp was 39F degrees at the 8:30am draw into Johnny-boy's thicket. There was an ethereal mist/fog that lingered until the sun was well above the horizon,  due to the cold ground temperature after our Artic blast  of the past 8 days.. (There was still quite a bit of snow on the ground in the woods, and all of the  standing water was frozen solid.)  Winds were out of the SW, portending a  quick warm-up to almost 60degrees by early afternoon.

The woods we hunted today is to the right. Delaware ( No -can -go due to deer season) is  1/4 mile across this field to the left!

The flooded covert - that is all ice under that snow

At 8:39,  hounds opened in the "big woods", and for the next hour, our 18 couple ran hard and fast in spite of the challenging conditions. The only checks occurred  when the fox led them through a particularly  (frozen) swampy area of this "big woods", and  that only happened twice.

Charles ran back and forth from "the thicket" to the "big woods" more times than I could count, but I was only in position to capture his fleeting silhouette once.( I was upwind watching a road for a good part of the chase. But after Bobby tally-ho'd the 4th time, I told Tommy he would have to take over my point- I wanted to view this pilot, too!)

Not long after I moved to Bobby's position, the wind changed and we could tell that the pack was moving away from us and into a new area that Charles had not been in prior. One of us had to move-and fast. I  wanted to go, but Bobby beat me to it, so I stayed put in case the fox  made a swing back to the thicket again.  Not 2 minutes after Bobby re-positoned himself at the power-line cutover, I heard him tally-ho. Once.  Then,  5 seconds later, "tally-ho -AGAIN!!"   He viewed two foxes pop out into the cutover, then reverse course  and head back to the thicket .   Dang -that should  have been MY view, lol!!

I stayed put, as I should, and  only a couple minutes later I viewed a fox cross the open from the thicket  to the big woods once more.  The hounds came on this fox and it went to ground  less than a minute later in an earth just inside the covert.  My bet is that  the hounds switched from the dog fox to the vixen when Bobby viewed the pair, and the vixen ran straight to her den.  All hounds were on,  but Bobby's two puppies decided to have a little lark as we were walking them out, so it took an extra 15minutes to get them in and loaded. ,Just after 10am, when all hounds were loaded , a brief  discussion ensued as to whether to hunt on.(Delaware deer season is still on, and we have to be careful not to get too close to the state line -but only a few more days and this firearm season will be OVER  in both states for the year!)

The sun was melting the last visage of winter quickly and I decided I'd rather go home and get old Mel out for a nice hack.instead. Tommy jumped on that to add that he had hay to deliver...and that was that!

 We hunt again on Thursday, when  some hounds from New Jersey are to  join us.
.

A brief respite from the cold...

..arrived late today (Sunday), when the temps soared to 36 degrees. The winds were calm, and the sun was a welcomed sight.Tommy and Freddy hunted yesterday and today, but I chose not to take my hounds.  I made the right choice, based upon the report I received.

We plan to hunt tomorrow and  Tuesday since the forecast is for milder, albeit wet, weather.  Winds are to be out of the SW at a steady 10-20mph tomorrow and the meet is the County House woods again, so I am not thrilled.  Dont expect much in the way of videos or photos, because I will be guarding the highway ....

Meanwhile, I have spent much time with the new horse this past week, and I will go out on a limb here and say that I think he will be  very good with the hounds:

Southern Review, aka "Revy", 5yo OTTB, learning his new job

The horn blaring  in his ear, and the whip cracking over his head don't faze him.  but i dont want to jinx it, so I wont say any more for now, lol.

Catching Up

I had kinda made a New Year's  resolution to stop posting my hunt reports to the blog. But that doesnt mean we havent been hunting. After more than a couple of people have mentioned that they hadnt seen any posts since Jan 3, I decided I get back to it, in some way or another.

We had a string of good-weather days right after the New Year, so I took advantage of them to ride the new horse as much as I could, and was able to get 10  solid , consecutive rides in on him before the string of really, really crappy, wet weather hit last week.

The hunts have been just ok, IMO.  I suspect the vixens are getting heavy, because every hunt for the past week or more, we have had foxes run for only a short time before going to ground. Then, the next fox found on the same day would be one that would leave the country post-haste.  Really not bad days, but just not the barn-burners we had been having.  

 Yesterday and today were no different. Saturday,  my hounds and Bobby' hounds jumped the first fox, but before Tommy and Curtis' hounds could hark ( they were quite a distance away , drawing another area of the same large covert), the fox went in a hole in the middle of a field under some power lines. Well, it wasnt just A hole, it was a condominium- 4 openings that I could see.  I was alone with the hounds when they put the fox in, and I got several pics of them at the different holes before I walked them all out to the road.  Our youngsters got a good noseful, with Raven getting himself completely  down inside one of the openings:







The openings were several feet apart



Raven -in



Raven, out!

 

Reilly, getting her noseful at another of the openings.




Our next fox was found about 15 minutes later, and he made a good run in the open across a large wheat field and then into a "branch' ( woods with  a swampy stream running through it. We dont have rocks and firm bottoms -its a quagmire!).  There he ran the length of the branch before busting out into the open and across a road , headed for Delaware. (Shotgun deer season again in DE, so we had to break the hounds).

Today (Sunday) was not a whole lot different, but a whole lot more nerve-wracking for me. We had 14 couple out(same as Saturday), and after a long draw in the County House woods a fox was roused at about 8:15am.  The wind was strong out of the SW-blowing right TO the highway, so everyone on the dirt road within the woods couldnt hear the pack at all. I had resolved that as soon as the pack hit a line, I was boogying right to the highway. I might miss viewing the fox ( during one recent hunt here , the fox crossed back and forth over the  woods road 9 times),but at least I  could guard the highway and would be where I could hear the hounds .  Good thing, too.  Because about 20 minutes into the chase, the damn fox tried to cross over the  higfway - twice.   Hounds were headed right to the roadway .    I must have looked like a crazy woman trying to hold up traffic, while calling for help on the radio and trying to load 14 cple into my little hound truck.  Bobby finally got to me, and we got all but 3 couple loaded. They hit the line again, and ran it parallel to the highway, behind a farmhouse, and then  back towards the highway again, about 1/2mile further east.   We managed to get them stopped before they reached the road again.  But that fox was determined he was going across! 

After it was all said and done, the fellas inquired as to how my blood pressure was holding up....I told them when my adrenaline level returned to normal, I'd be sure to let them know.

Two other foxes had been roused out of the same woodpile, and Tommy wanted to go right back and jump another. REALLY?????  We had sorted hounds, and all of mine were safely ensconced within my own truck. They could hunt wherever they cared to -but mine werent touching the ground again if that was to be the plan.

Instead, a draw was made in Miller's Branch further to the west, and a fox was pushed out the west end, crossing over Anthony Mill Rd   He ran across an open field all the way to Skinny's thicket. From there, he continued  his trip with a turn to the north, crossing over Baker rd. Curtis viewed the fox as he made a trip back over Baker rd, running a good length of the macadam before ducking back into covert.  Hounds were not able to recover the line in the road, and were picked up.

A final draw was made back in the County House wood ( Tommy's plan), and another fox  was roused near that wood pile.  I again went to the highway, while the rest stayed back on the dirt road.After about 40 minutes of sporadic running (lots of water within those woods right now), I viewed the pack emerge into a field on the west end of the woods.  No one else was around (again!).  But the pack was just picking at the line-the fox must have had a good lead on them because I had been watching that side for quite a while and never saw him cross that field.   I radioed  a heads up once more , and  everybody came around and we loaded .  It was now a little after 11am, and we quit since we are hunting again tomorrow.

 I headed home and took the new horse out for his first group trail ride. (He did really well considering the  30mph winds!)

Sunday and Monday hunts ( hunts #50 and 51 for my hounds)

 An almost 4hr hunt on the old man on Sunday ..Mel held up well!.  We had 11 couple on the ground at 8:20 when Twister and  Roscoe got the line straight on a fox that most of the others were trailing back (heel).   All harked to the two ahead, and they settled into a nice chase that lasted until almost noon.  After making a long swing in the open headed west, Charles came back and then stayed in the woods  for the balance of the run.    I viewed two foxes that were not the pilot, but I never did get a view of our hunted fox today.

It was 35  degrees at the draw, and 52 degrees as i headed home at 12:45.  I quickly put the horse up, fed the hounds, and pulled the young horse out of the field for a ride.  What a nice horse he is- gotta love a horse that has a good "whoa"...


Monday  was "heart attack on the highway" for me. Hounds jumped the first fox at 8:35am, and this sucker flew through the covert, across Vorhees field, across the dirt road and on into Weber's branch . From there, he ran east through the  branch, going almost to Burrsville before turning back and running the branch again. But when he got behind Marvel's chicken houses, the damn fox turned and headed  right to the highway.

The wind was out of the NW, so standing on the highway put us upwind of hounds. In addition, Monday morning traffic seemed especially heavy, with many tractor trailers barreling along at a good 60 mph.   As soon as I realized where the fox was headed,  *I* headed right for the highway, as did Bobby. Curtis, Tommy and Olin went to Squirrely Hill to be down wind.

And even though I couldnt hear the pack ( and they were in full cry), all I had to do was watch the old white horse that lives in a paddock alongside the road. This is the exact place where Lark got killed last year. Just when the horses' head began to turn  to the east a bit, I  began to hear the hounds coming towards me. SH*T.  This was NOT good.  Bobby and I positioned our  hound trucks about 200 feet apart, dropped the tailgates, turnd on our flashers, and waited. Within seconds after getting ready, the damn fox popped out into the road right smack between the two trucks.   He stopped for an instant, turned as if to go back, but then turned again and kept on going over the highway. (This all happened in a second -he was flying!)

The pack was right on his brush- only a few seconds behind him.  We tried to hold up the hounds, but it was impossible for just the two of us  to break them when they were so hot on this foxs'  tail. It was safer to just let the pack go on.  Tommy and the others got to us, and we spread out along the roadside.  The chance that this fox would make a quick swing on that side of the road and then come right back over it again were very high. ... And less than 5 minutes later, that is exactly what he did.  He darted out into the road abut 100 feet from me  at the "beer joint". Tommy saw him, too, and within seconds we were all in place to stop traffic so that our hounds could get back across the road safely.  Disaster averted.  But , oh how  my nerves were rattled. The guys know how much I hate that spot, and when the pack followed the fox to a pond behind Marvels,  Tommy and Curtis broke them off the line   I  refused to leave the highway until they let me know that they had gotten the pack stopped.   "That fox needs shootin'" -  and we're all in agreement about that.  It was 10 am.

We headed to Johhny Boy's thicket where  we ran another fox  until just after 11am. This one kept taking the hounds through some very flooded woods, without running in the open at all.  They couldn't press this fox , and he must have gotten way ahead of them. At an especially long check -one of many- the hounds were called in.  Not the best of days, IMO, but still better than a blank one. Note to self : more dye needed to hide the newly-gained gray hairs....

January 3, 2013 -cold!!

..it was cold enough that we delayed the draw until 9:30am.  It was 26 degrees and the ground was frozen .

Jeff joined us with his 4 couple, which made a total of 12 couple for the hunt. (My 2 1/2, Bobby's 3 1/2 and Tommy's well-rested and well-fed 4 couple).

Radio opened on the fox at  9:45am.  For the next two hours, this red fox gave us  a great chase with much of the running in the open. He would bust through the coverts briefly only to emerge to run over the open fields repeatedly. He crossed one wheat field 4 times in almost the exact same place!

This is a healthy, BIG red,and he flew across those fields without ever seeming to tire.    He was so fast that I didnt always get there in time to get the camera on him, but I was always able to get the hounds. 

Reno's cold nose recovered the line when the fox ran a road about a mile away from that wheat field. None of us were there to see where the fox had gone but Bobby and I arrived as the hounds spilled out onto the pavement. Hounds cast themselves all around the road and the grassy areas bordering it. I was able to video  as Reno recovers the line only a couple feet in front of me.It's impressive hound work, but you gotta love watching hounds to appreciate it I guess.  I do! ( Reno, by the way, sustained a fractured leg 2 seasons ago.  I kept her at my kennel that summer for her rehab , and while in my care she came in heat so we bred her to Twister.  When Lark got killed on the road a few months later , Bobby gave Reno to me .  In my book, Reno is one tough , good bitch.!)

Finally, a little before noon, our fox got turned in another open field as he was headed on his 5th trip around the countryside.  He made a sudden change to his path and headed west towards the Maryland state line.  We broke the hounds because we didnt want them getting into that area.  But I wish he had'nt been turned-we would have liked to have seen how many more times he planned  on making that circuit.  Hopefully,we'll find that fox again.

New Years eve and New Years Day hunts

  It's been interesting to watch the  hounds  hunt the past couple of times out. Tommy is away, so  our pack has been reduced in size to only 8 couple.  5 of the 16 hounds are new entry , with Curtis' 2 puppies being the very youngest. 

On New Years' eve, we had a good run on a fox that tried to shake the pack several times by means of running them through a stand of cutover timber that has become completely overgrown with thick, painful briars. One of Curtis' young pups didnt know how to extricate himself from the thorny bushes at the end of the chase, so he simply laid down and cried for help!  My bitches' ears were all torn up, and several hounds emerged bloodied from cuts.  After each run in the open, the fox would take the pack back through those  thorns, thereby increasing his lead on them every time.  The cliche' really is apropos!

Aside from that, it was a wonderful  learning experience for the young ones.

On New Years Day, we had the same number of hounds out, but I left Marney and Marilyn at home  this time ( the day before I had left Marney and  Reno home -hounds have been running hard and often!) .

At 8:10am,  Reno found our sole pilot of the hunt and a chase ensued that would last until we broke the hounds off Reynards' brush at 10:10am as he crossed the road right in front of us..
 
I have to make note that  it was Radios' fox for most of the chase- he had the line ahead of the pack in the beginning ( I tried to hold him up at one point, so they could catch up), and most of the time I saw him in the lead.

It was a chase   lasting exactly two hours to the minute !   There was a  hasty discussion at that time as to whether or not to let hounds go on.... All hounds were on, but we could see that some of the young ones were beginning to tire. .  If we let them continue, chances were good that somebody was going to get left  behind .  Hence, the pack was  held up as they crossed the road -while they were still  all packed up!

I have  made a New Years' resolution to ditch the helmet camera.  Most of the video taken today was useless because the mount kept sliding upwards so that all you can see is gray sky -and since I cant view the video until it is uploaded to the pc, I have no way of knowing this.   What little I got, I uploaded-but even though you hear the audio ( I tall-ho several times),the camera cant pick up the fox.

Hounds will have a day off on 1/2, but will go out again on Thursday 1/3. Tommy's  well-rested  ( and well-fed!) hounds will be out again .
Sara will be happy to see her buddy, Twister!

A co-operative fox on a very windy day

Looking east, over my barn at 7:00am. That is a fox weathervane silhouetted against the sky.

..and looking out my drive to the west, also at 7am.

We had 12 couple out again today - but not the same 12 couple as usual. Tommy is away, so his  4 couple are up in kennels until the first week of January.  Bobby is taking GOOD care of them -making sure they are getting plenty to eat so that they will be nice and FAT by the time  Tommy returns.  ;-)

I am estimating the number of hounds- I didnt get a confirmed  total, and I havent had time to count hounds in the video. It seemed to me to be   a few more than 12 cple. Whatever...

It was  33 degrees when we made the draw at 8:10am. The wind was out of the N/NW, already gusting 20mph. The wind advisory was for winds to be sustained at 25-35 mph. all day.

Three foxes were viewed during the draw, and the hounds settled on one ( thank goodness- no splits with the guests' hounds!) that decided to stay pretty close to home today. This fox stayed within one rather small area for the entire chase, making several circles around me .  I barely moved from one position for the duration of the chase ( about an hour and 20 minutes).   Only downside to that was that I was on the edge of the woods and in the wind. ( you can hear it on the video-wow, did it intensify as the morning progressed!) When the fox gained a sizable lead over the pack, we called them off the line.  It was close to 10am.

We relocated to another covert several ;miles away , and hounds were cast into the gravel pit behind Freddy's  farm.  Reno found a fox within 5 minutes of the cast, and the pack was in full cry headed down the branch towards the "party bridge'.  However, Reynard didn't  run the woods long before breaking covert and making a bee-line for a large earth in the middle of a fallow cornfield. The run didn't last more than 15 minutes!  Hounds were gathered and another draw was made , but by this time it was close to 11am and the wind was getting ridiculous.    When Bobby and  Freddy emerged at the party bridge after drawing the entire length of the branch without a strike, we all agreed it was time to load hounds.  The wind was blowing so hard it almost knocked me over.

4 hours on 4 foxes - December 28

...12 couple met at 8:30am under clearing skies that had dumped over 2 1/2 inches of rain on Boxing Day.  (I dont think any packs on the east coast got out on 12/26.)  

Copious amounts of standing water lay everywhere and  plans to take a horse had to be scrapped.  It would turn out to be a busy day on foot and in the trucks....

We ran 4 foxes in 4 hours.  I am writing this too long afterwards, and the chases are running into one another in my mind.  I recall a long, long run in the open  - on either the first or second pilot- and I was the only one with the hounds to enjoy it.   It was around 10:45 when the best fox of the morning got on the move, however.  This fellow:

must have been visiting  a lady-friend at the pony shed where he was
roused because he left that area in a hurry,taking the pack on a tour of the countryside as he headed south.  He covered an impressive  amount of country in the 90 minutes hounds pressed him.  Twice he threatened to cross Hickman Rd ( a boundary we cant allow hounds to  cross) , and twice the guys were sucessful in heading him back.  But this fellow was determined to get to the Hickman woods ( 2000 acres) and out-foxed  ( pun intended!)  us on his third attempt.  It was now after 12pm, and we had no clue  as to where this fox was headed next.

(I had really hoped to be home by 1pm to keep a 2pm appintment , but that hope  had evaporated when the guys headed this pilot the second time at Hickman rd.  All hounds were on, the fellas knew they couldn't let hounds run on the other side, and yet rather than break them right there at the road, they turned the fox and then let the hounds keep running . Sheesh....)

It was only a matter of time before that fox was going to get across -once a fox decides it wants to go somewhere, it's pretty hard to change his mind!

Diana was looking out for us .   About 15 minutes after they crossed into the Hickman woods, Freddy viewed the fox cross Burrsville road .  He was less than 1/2 mile from busy Rt. 16.  We don't know where that fox was headed next, but there was no discussion this time about what to do with the pack.  I got to Freddy first, grabbed my pistol and ran into the field where he was trying to hold up the hounds alone. Two shots in the air got them stopped . Jeff and Bobby arrived as we were jogging the pack out to the road.  It was12:30, but I  still couldn't make my 2pm appointment- I had cancelled it as soon as that fox got turned the second time, lol!

My camera's battery died as I was trying to capture the hounds as they ran the lane up behind the fox on the video.  I exhausted the memory card, and normally dump minutes of useless footage as the day progresses, but this day was just too  hectic.  So the video here is just a montage of some of the hounds working - and one very beautiful, very cunning fox.

Just the clip of the fox running towards me


And here is the montage :

A Christmas Eve view for you!

From one of our red foxes!  Tommy, Bobby and I met at 8am with 9  couple . Our hope was  to have a nice chase of about an hours' duration before heading off to distribute gifts to our landowners.

At 8:26 Twister bellowed that he had found a likely prospect, and within seconds the entire pack was in full cry. This fox gave us a good run for just shy of an hour before he went to ground not far from where Twister had made his discovery. All hounds were on, and all came readily to our calls.  I missed at least 3 good views of this fox, but  I managed to be in the right place for the best view of the entire chase. 

So, I hope y'all enjoy this video of a very clever red fox and the hounds only seconds behind him. ( I never turned thecamera off, and didnt edit any of the blurry stuff so that you can see exactly what I saw. )
Merry Christmas!

December 23, 2012 -nice fox 'til he headed towards the highway

It was a chilly 28 degrees when Curtis, Tommy and I met at 8:25 am.  Winds were much calmer than yesterday , and were to blow out of the SW this time at 10-15 mph.  Far better conditions than yesterday! 

We split up- Curtis was going to draw one side of the covert  with his 3 1/2 couple while Tommy and I would come in from the other side with our 6 couple.  Just after Tommy and I unkenneled our hounds, Curtis radioed and tally-ho'd a fox. Tommy and I quickly loaded ours back up ( GOOD HOUNDS!!), and hurried to join up with Curtis' just as they opened on the viewed fox.   It was 8:35am.

This fox ran circles for close to an hour and a half but threatened to break his pattern and run to the highway at around 9:30. But it was a false alarm that left me jittery for the remainder of the run- and justifyably so. (The guys think I panic too soon,lol!)  Because at just about 10am, the fox pointed his mask towards the highway again- and this time he meant to cross.  Charles got turned by a car right at the side of the road, but his scent was swept downwind right into the road. (Tommy viewed the fox going back, but the hounds ran right smack into the roadway. Fortunately, he was right there to stop traffic.) We loaded all the hounds and quit for the day.  (Bobby's hounds werent out today, and we are all hunting tomorrow. None of us want to go up against his fresh hounds with tired ones on a Christmas eve hunt !!)

Hunt #40 for my hounds - A fox that ran the open in the WIND!

Charles James

Look to the far left- that's Marilyn getting it figured out!!!!

38 degrees at the 8am draw. Winds were forecast to be steady at 25-30mph with gusts up to 50 mph - and the weatherman wasnt lying!

12 1/2 couple of hounds  (my puppy, Reilly is out of heat finally!!)  found their fox at 8:05 in the woods north of High Stump road.  This red tried all morning to slip the hounds by running in the open- downwind, upwind, every which way he could!  After 2  1/2 hours of some impressive hound work, our fox finally resorted to enlisting the aid of a second fox at 10:30.  Perhaps a tag-team manuever had been the foxs'  intention.  Instead, the pack got busted up  and the chase came to a halt in almost the exact same area where Charles had been roused. You can't tell me these foxes don't enjoy this!  We rounded them up ( Lily and Marney decided to hang out in the woods for awhile, lol!) and called it a day. 

The video pretty much sums it all up. 

Another day at Wye Island

Looking east again going onto the Island - the clouds cleared off within a half hour of our first draw. The tide is IN this time!.

...on Wednesday, December 19th. We were blessed with almost the exact same weather as our day here last Friday. But the tide was IN today -high tide was to be at 11am.   This time,  I had my  2 couple of bitches, Bobby had Repo, Rebel, Pearl, and Roscoe and Curtis joined us with his 2 couple: Annie, Hustler, Chase ( new entry wearing the GPS collar) and Jack.

We jumped a fox at about 9:20 ,but he went to ground within 15 minutes.   Our second fox was found about 10minutes later and Tommy D.and I both viewed him run the road for a couple hundred yards before ducking in toward the schoolhouse woods.  Hounds ran him until they lost him  in a water-logged field only 20 minutes later. As hounds were being gathered, Tommy D. viewed yet another fox leave the schoolhouse woods  and run parallel to the dirt road to the Holly tree thicket.  Bobby walked the hounds to the view and you will see Marilyn hit the line.  This fox went in at the Holly tree and hounds either picked his line back up within those thick briars or they jumped yet another one. This fox ran the west side of the road and then  crossed over the dirt lane up at the point of the island - right before the "no-mans land" of private property right at the very point.  Bobby and Curtis drove to the border  in one truck to break the hounds, while I stayed away.  As I waited, Curtis' dad and I viewed 3 more foxes leave the covert.  My bitch Marney, who got spooked when Bobby cracked his whip, disappeared to be heard 15 minutes later running yet another fox.

By now it was almost noon, and we decided to call it aday. (I was feeling sicker with a stomach virus  as the morning progressed - it was not an enjoyable ride today!)

We did hunt Monday, 12/17 . We had 11 1/2couple out, and they ran a fox clear across the Marshy Hope canal ( we watched, helpless, as the hounds swam it) and into a hot-wired enclosure full of hogs,where their fox went to ground in a big woodpile. O-and the landowner had raccoon traps set everywhere.THAT was fun. (NOT!)