The temperatures nose dived as the cold front that prompted the rain moved eastward Wednesday night. . At 8pm last evening, it was 73F at my farm. At around 9pm, the wind began to blow with gusts close to 50mph, and by dawn the mercury was reading 34 degrees. Brrr...a cold slap of reality.
13 couple had a quick start when they found their pilot at 8:32am.( We had started the draw at 8:15). This is the fox on the video. For the first hour, hounds did well staying up with their pilot as Charlie seemed to like running in the open. However, it wasnt long before the fox figured out that he could foil his pursuers by staying within the water-logged woods. For the rest of the morning, both foxhounds and foxhunters alike became increasingly frustrated. The standing water, sudden quick drop in temperature, and high winds were hampering the hounds' attempts to press their pilots to break covert. At least, we all liked to blame it on the conditions! But when you view the video, you will see the hounds splashing through the water in the field,and it was so much worse than that in the woods.
The last two foxes that were found both had the itch ( mange), and both stayed up for less than 5 minutes before going to ground. They need catchin'....( we dont use terriers or stop earths' here).
When all hounds were together after the last fox denned, it was almost noon.. Enough already, we loaded and went home.
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