Thursday, October 27 Hunt

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A light drizzle , at first

....started out to be questionable.  It was raining as I drove in the dark to the meet, and the forecast was for showers all day, winds to be out of the S/SW ( the exact opposite of Tuesday), and mild temps  in the mid 60's to low 70's.

I was the first to arrive, and although the heavy rain had abated, it was still drizzling lightly as I took Rap off the trailer. But it was warm, 60 degrees, and no wind.  The trees are about at their peak of autumn foliage , and with the heavily overcast sky the color saturation was enhanced.  It  was really a very pretty morning. And probably the last warm one we would see for a long time.

Which made dressing for the days' activity  problematic. I rummaged around and found a black ,waterproof  jacket I had purchased at the Devon Horse Show years ago, but had never had the need to wear. It is cut like a show jacket, very lightweight, and the fabric is so waterproof that you can pour a glass of water on the sleeve and it will bead up and roll right  off. Arista might  be the name of the maker. Have never seen them since the Devon show. Anyway, with my thin Barbour vest and a turtleneck underneath I was confident I'd stay dry and not get too warm. (Unlike when you steam from the *inside* out wearing those damn Barbour waxed jackets -hate them!)

At 7:50 I was mounted, Bobby was ready, and we were pondering the whereabouts  of Andy and Howard .  A call to Andy revealed that he had an urgent family matter to tend to and would not be hunting. Uh-oh. It was now raining again, we had one hound truck, one person on foot, and one mounted. Undaunted, we called Howard, who lives only minutes away. He was happy and willing to bring his hound truck ( he has no hounds at the moment), and give us a hand.  By 8:10am, Howard was with us to road whip, and Bobby and I made the first draw with the now-abbreviated pack of only 5 cple.  ( I had left Marney and Lark at home to make it an easy day. Marney can be hard to break, and Lark was sore from Tuesday. We didnt need to be having any hounds not with the pack when it was time to quit on a rainy day)

The farther we walked into the woods, the harder the rain came down.   Almost an hour later, after the draw had encompassed a huge loop through two coverts , a cornfield and alongside two bean fields,  Howard met us with the hound truck and we loaded.  We had one short burst on a very cold trail and that was all.

It was now  about 9:15.  The rain had stopped again and the sun had even poked out for a very brief moment.  It was a pretty day.  My horse was still fresh. The hounds still eager. And Bobby was really hoping that I was ready to call it a day. Nope.  I never want to have to say we had a blank day. Everyone looked at each other as several seconds passed  in silence.  I must have had a huge grin on my face when  Howard piped up with  "I've got all day".  So then, did I.....and Bobby was out-voted, 2-1.

Howard drove Bobby and the hounds back to  Bobby's hound truck, while Rap and I worked our way back through the woods to meet up with them .   Our second cast would be through the woods behind the C & R Center Lodge,  and this time, unlike Tuesday, we were expecting to find a fox in this end of the forest. If they werent laying-in where we usually find, then they must be "down this-a-way" !

As we  walked the pack through the woods , a nice buck got up about 50 feet in front of us and took off running.  Well, if nothing else happens today, we will at least see how steady our hounds are.  We walked them right over the bucks' line , and not a voice spoke.  Only one hound, Repo, lifted his head and looked in the bucks' direction. A quiet "no" was all it took to regain  his attention  . We emerged into an open field behind the Center Lodge  where Howard was waiting with Bobby's hound truck , ready to load if we needed him .   The walking huntsman (I  keep telling him he needs a horse!)  and the mounted one  were less than 200 yards from the Lodge discussing where to go for breakfast  when....  my Marilyn (!!!) suddenly put her nose down to the ground, then up, as she made a bee-line through some tall weeds  for the woods edge. A split second later, the others followed and  Howard's voice crackled over the radio: "You got one, didnt ya?!"   They were in full cry, and running back through the woods, away from the Lodge.  I turned Rap around and rode the pack while Bobby got to Howards truck.

This fox made a nice run through the woods,  staying  behind the C & R Center  .  But by  10:15, the rain  started up again not long before our fox decided he would make his way  across the dirt road through the forest and on towards the Beagle Cl;ub grounds on the far side of a paved road.  If we'd had one more  road whip,we would have let them go on.  But when they checked at the dirt lane ,  we opted to hold them up and call it a day. 



I  was happy! Marilyn had been the first to wind that fox, all the hounds had been steady off the buck, and we had a nice little chase to finish the morning. Considering the weather, it was a good day out with hounds.



Raining, at the start of the first draw



the one and only moment when the sun peeked out

Hound stuck in a drain pipe!

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

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

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

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

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



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

 

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



Hunt # 16 : Hounds hit the ground running!

...Well, almost. :

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

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

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

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

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

cornfields between it and the covert.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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



Video of a chase from Last March 20,2011

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

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

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

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

Sunday,October 9 hunt

Rap, ready to go

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

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

Before the dawn, waiting  to release the hounds

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Finally Fall

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

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

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

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

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