Our first chase of the morning was the best run over the most open country we have had this season. It started when hounds opened @ 7:39am when they found two foxes mating in the woods behind the Foxhuinters Clubhouse. For a few minutes, we had the pack split, but the vixen went to ground after only 10 minutes' running. and all hounds quickly settled on the dog fox. Charles ran the woods round for only a few minutes more( guess he wanted to be certain he had lured ALL of the hounds away from his lady friend!) and then he broke covert on the north side to begin a cross country journey the likes of which I havent seen in a long time.
There are A LOT of open fields north of the drawn covert, and this fox chose to run all of it, even though he had the option of ducking into woods that ringed the fields, if he so desired. ( Before I got a glimpse of him, I was beginning to think that perhaps we were experiencing our first -ever coyote chase).
But our pilot was viewed several times by others , and it was a red.
I pulled the Nikon point and shoot out only a couple of times, but the views you will see are NOT the distorted view of a wide angle lens (like on the helmet cam). When you see the hounds cross a road and continue on across wide open wheat fields, ,that was shot after he had already been running in the open for over 30 minutes.,with two other road crossings behind him.
The sad thing, is , had he not been turned by a carfollower and his f$%@*&@ cur dog at the very next road, , this fox was in country, and was headed for more country, in which we could let him roll on. But when he got headed,, he turned towards territory in which that was NOT the case. GODDAMYOUTIPPY.
So, we loaded the pack after a breath-taking chase lasting 70+ minutes . And I filmed our valiant pilot as he made good his escape to forebidden country. He had been dealt an unsportsman-like disadvantage and deserved the escape, IMO. . Hope we find that one another day....
We then returned to the Clubhouse woods and drew an area much further west than where the hounds had previously found. It took a little longer ( temps were soaring!) , but our cold-nosed PMD's succeeded and by 9:25 another chase was in progress. This time the fox didnt leave the covert, and our hounds ran him round and round the big woods for over an hour. At around 10:45, with the temps nearing 65 already, and a south wind steady at 15-20 mph, we whipped the pack off. All were there except my Sara and Marilyn. (Marney was in kennels). But both came to my horn within a couple of minutes. They were so tired!!!
We hunt again tomorrow @7:30 ,still in Delaware ( it's deer season in MD). I expect to take all of my hounds and the horse, unless one of the bitches tells me otherwise. (I open the kennel gate, and if anyone doesnt come out, I leave'im home! That's why Marney stayed home today- she wouldnt even come out of the dog box this morning!)
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