During the first draw hounds split onto two foxes. The larger pack 's fox ran west and after about 20 minutes, was viewed crossing into Maryland from Delaware's Taber woods. Those hounds had to be stopped. Meanwhile, the second fox had Marilyn, Shamrock, Cody and Pearl in pursuit. At the split as fox #1 continued west, fox #2 looped back eastward. Rap and I had a great view of fox #2 as he ran in the open for about 200 yards before cutting back into the pistol range. Here is video taken with the helmet cam during that fox's run in the open:
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The camera has a fixed, 170mm wide angle lens, which unfortunately, makes everything seem farther away. I could see the fox clearly,but he is not discernable in the video. But the action and the hounds, are still worth posting. The chase on fox # 2 dwindled once he got back into the woods. Ealrier, right before hounds opened at all, Mr.Fred viewed a third fox leave the pistol range on the south side, cross the paved road and head into the "cemetery". I was positioned downwind on the north side of the covert when the video was taken and I viewed. The plan was to bring the larger bunch back around and turn them out behind the 2 cple running fox # 2. But by the time the hounds arrived, that chase had long ended and in fact, Marilyn and Cody had actually trailed up the big bunch. I was in Delaware on my horse, and Marilyn was in Maryland and would not load into Curtis' or Jeff's truck. The fox had gone on into Maryland with one of Mr. Browns'hounds still chasing it. If I didnt get around there in a hurry, Marilyn might decide to go with him.
The ground was saturated from recent heavy rain, andt he country has a network of very nasty irrigation ditches that makes negotiating it on a horse a challenge, even when one knows the country backwards and forwards, which I do. My mind flew into overdrive: Bobby''s truck was sitting on the road about 1/2 mile away from me, with Mr.Fred sitting in Freddy's truck very near it. Lightbulb moment: Get THERE fast, hop off horse, jump in Bobby's truck and get around to Marilyn before she could get into country where we cant go. I asked Mr. Fred ( over 80yo and slightly impaired from a stroke) if he thought he could hold my horse ( ball of fire that Rap is, lol) on the road for me. He obliged, and I was back with Marilyn in the truck no more than 10minutes later . It would have taken me almost that long to get to her on the horse, assuming she didnt move. As I knew he would be, Rap was standing in the road in the exact same spot, in the exact same position as when I left him. Mr. Fred was impressed: : " He didnt move at all!". Good boy, Rap!
By now, the others had turned out on the fox Mr. Fred had viewed about a half hour or more earlier. I hopped back on Rap and rode to cry. This fox was running the state ground behind Wyatt's chicken houses.
This entire area is cut with the same sort of ditches, and I knew I'd have to choose my course very carefully around all of the country. The ditchbanks which are anywhere between 15 and 25 feet wide ( not the ditches themselves,many of those are bigger and wider-so much so that some are referred to as ''canals" ), are only mowed by the state every other year. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, this is NOT the year. I was to find out that although some sections aren't too bad, most are totally overun with the worst briars and sticker bushes I've seen. In additon, there are quite a few trees down over the paths,probably due to the recent hurricane and nor'easters. To put it bluntly, it was a mess.
For about a half hour, I was on the wrong side of one of the "canals", but I was downwind and I could hear the pack as it moved back and forth, north/south. I followed the music as best I could, sometimes running the ditchbank,and sometimes having to run the edges of the very soggy fields. Rap was being a trouper about plowing through the thorn bushes, but when we encountered a downed tree crown blocking our path along the ditch, the briar beds around it were a roadblock. I had no choice but to dismount and try to create a gap in the crown of the tree that Rap could get over. I managed to break away some of the thinner branches, but the main stem of the top of the tree was about 6 inches in diameter with several large spikes of broken, brnaches jutting straight up in the air.It was laying about 2 feet above the ground. I couldnt get enough of the other branches cleared away to get a hole big enough to jump over it. But I wasnt about to turn around (we had only about 100 yrds more of the bad stuff!)and since I couldnt take him on either side, I wasgoing to have to find a way to help him over. I climbed up on the stem , andbegan jumping up and down on it to try to get it low enough that his belly wouldclear the spikes. That worked at first, and as I balanced on the wet and slippery branch, I tried to pull Rap over. He got both front feet over, but as I was pulling him, I lost my balance and fell, causing the branch to fly up and hit him in the belly. One of the spikes cut high up on the inside of his left hind leg. Now he had front feet one one side, and back feet on the other side of the tree. with spikes of broken branches perilously close to his belly. He didnt move. I couldnt jump up and down on the tree limb now that he was straddling it. Finally, I got back on the tree and gave one hard weight-bearing jump as I pulled him over. Phew, he was clear!.. Onward ho!
Despite this delay ( sorry I didnt have the helmet cam on for this, but it never occurred to me at the time ), I wasnt out of the chase. Here is some video of some of that chase:
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Again, the hounds werent far in front of me before and at that hedgerow ( they were to my left at the hedgerow), but they look like white specks in the video. My Nikon Coolpix8100 would have done a much better job, but I wouldnt have been able to hold on to it!
This fox went to ground shortly before 11am about 150 feet from the paved road. It had been a hard 3 1/2 hrs for Rap- not only did he have to contend with chest high briars and weeds, but the corn stubble has been left unusually high ( about 24") in many of the fields. The farmers are trying out a new cover crop- a variety of radish that they will allow to rot back into the ground., but I dont know if that has anything to do with why the corn stubble is so high. Whatever, it makes for hard going over the cutover fields! (We also wondered how the radish cover would affect scent, but that obviously was not an issue. Good thing, cause the damn radishes are everywhere.) :
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Postscript: the issue with the fisheye wide angle lens is not the only problem with this camera. It is a waterproof camera, but the mic hole is covered with some of the waterproofing seal, not a mistake, as the manufacturer has acknowledged the problem, and there are many,many complaints logged regarding it. And although you can hear my voice , ambient sound, including the hounds' cry, is inaudible . Therefore, although the concept of this camera, and the basic design is good, there are several bugs that need to be removed before it would satisfy me. There is a more expensive model, that is NOT waterproof, has a 135 mm lens( not as wide), and also has GPS capability. Does one sacrifice protection from the elements for better video and, assumingly, better sound?? Or should I just send it back for a refund,and stick with the Nikon point and shoot. I mean, really, how many times do ya need to see the horses head???
Back home: the end \of a well-deserved bare-naked roll
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