Hunt reports and other miscellaneous ramblings that heretofore were laid down between leather bindings. Now, maybe someone else will get a laugh or two out of reading them.
35 degrees at 7:15, but there had been a hard frost last night. Winds were to be out of the SW,with the temps forecast to reach almost 60F. A chilly start, and then a quick warm-up- so much like spring hunting, but we are still in February!
The first fox , found at 8:05am, made a couple turns around the woods where he was roused and then hounds lost him in the cutover. I had most of the pack with me, and I walked them out to Bobby. We tried our next draw in the Dead End woods,walking the hounds in from two directions. I waited on Rap ,watching for a fox to get pushed my way at an intersection of 4 wide dirt lanes in the woods. It was taking a long time to find the next pilot. As I looked in one direction, Rap snapped his head up and looked in another. My bitch, Marilyn, was with me. Bobby was approaching with the other hounds. ( 9 1/2couple out today). I walked Marilyn down the lane where Rap had looked , and she began feathering like mad, first in the lane and then on into the woods downwind. I kept hoping and hoping she would open, but although she did not, she continued to feather, nose to the ground and going deeper into the woods. I asked Bobby to bring the other hounds up to her, explaining my hunch, and no sooner did he put the hounds into the section of woods where Marilyn was, then the pack opened. THANK YOU Rap!! I missed viewing that fox, but my horse sure didnt! And although Marilyn didnt tongue, she did show me where Charles James had gone. It was 8:55.
We were off and running and had a nice chase, albeit the pack split after about 20 minutes. 5 1/2 couple running one red that kept circling round and round the Dead End woods, while the other fox ran a bit further to the west, but never breaking covert, either. It was "hound stero" for Rap and me until the fox with only eight hounds on his/her brush went to ground at around 10:15am. The hounds at the hole were loaded, and harked to the group still running their fox around the Dead End. Not 15 minutes after those hound harked, this fox went to ground in the same hole!
We moved upwind , to draw Johhny Boys thicket. My horse trailer was parked on the east side of that woods ( it was the closest place to put it, and I had a short hack to get to where we had begun the morning.)
By 10:45, hounds were opening on the next fox . Since the pack was running directly across the dirt lane from where I had parked, at 11am I put Rap on the trailer. He was tired, and he had done well. He spent the last hour munching hay and listening to the pack as they ran all through the Johnny Boy woods only a few hundred yards from him. At noon, our last fox went to ground with all hounds on.
NOTE: I always forget to mention that our hounds are akin to a "trencher pack". We have different hounds out all the time. (A core group of "regulars"- Tommy's, Bobby's,and mine that hunt weekdays and weekends. And then other hunters' hounds who only hunt on weekends or occasionally during the week. Yesterday,we had some of both. It might explain why hounds split. And then again, it might not,what do I know, lol!)
Just a quick look at the fox Rap and Marilyn found us:
The long version of the days' events:
I took video when I could with both cameras, and mingled the footage into one 10 minute movie. It is a synopsis of the days' events, as it is all as the day unfolded. I mostly editied out lots of footage of Rap's head bobbing up and down as we went along - that gets really boring. But the video shows when our hounds lost the first fox, how we brought them out of that covert and put them into the next one, where Rap 's fox was found, some video of that fox and also a fleeting view of our last fox of the day. If you arent interested in hound work, most of the video will probably bore you. All of the foxes stayed within the briar-choked woods, so there were no runs in the open. But still, a great day out with hounds!
That's Marilyn on the far left,with pink collar,throwiing tongue
...but Tommy and Bobby have been 78 times so far this season. ( My mom is 84 yo and we spend lots of time in doctors offices).
Today we had 15 1/2 couple enter into the Garden at 7:45am. The temp was 31F degrees,but no frost.The winds were to begin out of the W/NW,and then swing around to the W/SW later in the morning. At 8:01, hounds opened on a very obliging red that took them on a chase that lasted until 9:45am.. At that time, Charles relayed the pack to another red. This fresh fox broke away to the south and headed into new country, where he ran for 40 minutes before crossing a road and heading into the Clay woods - an area we didnt want the hounds to enter. We held the pack up, loaded them and went in search of another pilot .
For these first almost 2 1/2 hours, the pack worked like adream, staying packed up and all on the entire time.
Old Reno jumped the third fox at 10:40. This one ran our hounds behind some chicken houses where there must have been at least a couple more foxes having brunch. The pack split evenly- 8 couple running a fox that continued to head due south, crossing a paved road and going on into a huge, nasty briar bed. We usually try to break them at the road before they get to that briar bed. Bobby and I viewed the fox cross the road.( on video). EVERYONE got to us before the hounds made it to the road. Meanwhile, the other 7 1/2 couple were having a roaring good run around the state-owned ground. Nobody was following that bunch. I thought, "ok. we'll break these and go put them on that other bunch running good country". To me, that sounded like the practical thing to do. ...But no one else suggested it, and all watched as the hounds went over the road right in front of us and into a no-man's land that you cant even walk through on foot.. Wonderful. I heard, "Probably shouldda got them then...". from one of the Monday morning quarterbacks!
After at least two foxes were viewed on the edge of this "covert", the 8 couple came on the fox that was running a straight line across a fallow cornfield , going due south towards the "canal'. I had Marney and Marilyn running in this bunch. Sara and Lark were with the others. Bobby flew down the side of some pivot irrigation, then over the field and somehow got us positioned south of the pack . We got them stopped and loaded all of them ( there were some of everyone's there) - except Marney. She was there when we broke them, but as I was whipping off other hounds, she turned and went back into the briars. I spent the rest of the morning looking for her. ( She gets the shock collar next time, I have to borrow one from Jeff. Ggrrrr. )
The rest of the hounds were harked to the bunch running a couple of miles away. From what I could glean from the talk over the radio, they had a good chase on fox # 4.
It was somewhere around 12:30 when Curtis radioed to me that he saw Marney headed back towards the state owned land. I had been walking and calling her for over an hour. The last chase was over,and all the hounds were accounted for. I went home and had a nice hack on Rap to make sure he will be ok to hunt tomorrow. He felt great! Hunting at 8am tomorrow.
11couple of PMD's trailed a cold line up to a find at 8:10am this morning. It's all nice and clear on the video, and listen to hear the sound of the cry change when the hounds get the fox up! They ran this red until 9:50am. A check occurred, and then the pack switched foxes to one that ran right over a busy road into an area our hosts did not want them to go. Howard and I got the pack stopped at the road, but before Larry and Bobby could get to us, a couple of hounds began to trail back. By the time the guys got these last two hounds stopped and walked out, it was almost 11am. The temp was to soar from the 35 degrees at the draw up to the mid 60's - and it was already getting warm . Since we are all going again tomorrow, we decided to call it a day.
Good chase, with some large PMDs that have been running as often as our little ones have. My bitches will sleep well tonight! (And Sara was one of several lemon hounds out today)
Saturday:
A hard frost coated the fields in white as 12 1/2 couple got their first pilot up and running at 7:29am. At 7:45, I viewed a huge fox break away over a wheat field on the north side of the covert. He made a bee-line for an earth located only a couple of hundred yards away in the middle of the field, and popped right in. It was a pretty view of a bright orange-red fox over the frosty white field, with the rising sun shining brightly on his coat. Nope, didnt get the camera out in time. Meanwhile, the hunted fox ran the pack round and round the gravel pit (now over grown with briars and pines) for 45 minutes before going to ground. As we were walking in to bring hounds out, another fox was viewed running the edge of the woods away from us. Hounds found this one on their own, and pushed him down the branch, across the dirt road at the Party Bridge and on into Gegg's branch. He crossed over the "Delaware field" setting his mask towards the Whitely Woods. Once there, the hounds split for awhile, running the thickly overgrown briars and cutover pines for over an hour. Finally, Charles left the Whitely Woods with all hounds on and made his way back into Gregg's branch. He went to ground in an earth on the south side of the branch at 11 am. Since all hounds were on, and I wanted to get a horse out during the afternoon ( it was warm, 57 degrees, and a cold rain/snow event was being forecast for Sunday), I took my bitches and went home.
Since the Whitely Woods fox did'nt show himself much, Freddy, Bobby and Jeff decided they would go after a fox that Bobby and I had viewed crossing the field behind Mr. Fred's house 2 1/2 hours earlier. Freddy was certain that this one would run in the open, and he was right. The guys' jumped this fox in the "Back Woods" about 10 minutes after I left. That fox ran the open straight away to Collison's and they had to break the hounds when they were headed for "forbidden" country. Their chase was over before I even got home. I was glad I left when I did, as it enabled me to get a 3 hour ride in on Mel .
Sunday dawned overcast, without a frost. But the temp was 35 degrees , and a cold , damp Northeast wind was to blow 10-20mph. It was a stark contrast to Saturday's weather.
Hounds wasted no time in finding their first pilot behind George's chicken houses at 7:15am. Curtis and I were just pulling up to the meet as Freddy's ,Bobby's and Jeff's hounds opened in the "little branch" behind
George's chicken houses. Curtis drove back to where the others had turned out to hark his hounds. I opted to make haste to George's Lane,and was rewarded with a nice view of the hunted fox as he ran the edge of the woods away from the chicken houses. I harked my bitches from the lane. They had a long hark across a wheat field, catching up with the pack as they broke covert and ran the edge down. (Well done, girls!!!)
Now there were 15 1/2 couple in full cry pushing their fox across the "overgoin' and on into the "Big Branch", where he went to ground after a 70 minute chase . Hounds were loaded and quickly taken to the woods behind Ricky's house. Another fox was roused at about 8:50. This one ran around the woods behind Allen's then crossed over Baker Rd to enter the Big Branch at George's Pond. After a quick swing around the pond,this fox either went in or a switch was made. There was a check lasting for about 2 minutes. When the fox on the video cuts the wheat field, that happened only a few minutes after the check:
We're pretty sure the fox we viewed was not the fox found in Ricky's woods, since this one ran a completely different pattern. Hounds had a lot of trouble footing this one, and were never able to really get up on it hot. ( I think it was a vixen, because the hair on her sides was pulled off-her sides look black in the video, and I dont think she wanted to leave the pond since there is a large den there.) There is a lot of black swamp mud in the branch behind the pond, and this fox just kept creeping back and forth through it. We finally got tired of her game and broke the pack. When the hounds emerged from the swamp, we could barely distinguish them- they were all covered in thick ,black mud!
Loaded once more, and with Freddy determined to find a fox that would stay up, we now headed to the "Back Woods" hoping to find the fox within that had run in the open the previous day. (After I had left for home). Bobby and I walked our hounds in on the east side while Freddy and Jeff walked theirs in on the west end. Within a few seconds, a fox was viewed running the woods' edge . Freddy's hounds began to tongue,and just as we attempted to hark our hounds to his, another fox popped out right behind Bobby and me. This one was FLYING , and headed towards the open wheat fields in the direction of Collisons. No hounds came on him. Our pack was running a fox out the north side of the Back Woods, across Ellwanger rd, and on to Greggs Branch (sheesh-I did NOTwant to end up in that covert again!) But today, the fox stayed within Gregg's woods, never breaking covert and going to ground at 11:15am. By the time we got the last hound in the truck, it was after 11:30am.. Bobby and I had had enough. Freddy, still not satisfied, went back to the gravel pit where we had jumped our first fox yesterday.
At 3pm, Bobby called to tell me that Freddy and Jeff were still hunting hounds. They had jumped a f ox that left the country and ran north clear to the Carter Woods. LOL! I was SO glad I had opted out of that last cast, as I was sitting by the fire, sipping a glass of wine!
Some pictures of the almost- 6 month old puppies during their hound walk today. ( Ryan, Tommy's dog , is not here because Tommy is away) They will go on their first real hunt next week!
The white bitch is my Reilly. the blue dog with the blackest back is Raven, and the other blue tick is Rebel.
Our goal was for the pups to show some interest in this! The fox was sitting on her den as we unloaded the hounds.
...on fox # 1 today. Our regular week day pack of 12 couple ( meaning no party-crashers, lol!) met at 8:00 and drew the woods at the "Sandy Bend". It was relatively mild, 37 Fdegrees, with a west wind that would increase as the morning progressed. Rain showers were due to arrive around noon.
Hound opened at 8:19 on a fox that took them quickly out of the covert, over the open at Corkel's, across Anthony Mill rd and into the Slaughter Woods. Only Tommy and Curtis viewed this foxs' run over the open - and it was a long one! The fox made a large loop on the south side of Almshouse Rd, and Bobby and I caught up with him as he made his return trip from the Slaughter Woods back to Donny Miller's. This red was coming to the road right where we were standing. He saw us, bore back slightly and then ran inside the woods about 30 feet from the road, parallelling it for about 70 yards. Then he crossed over the road, to run through Miller's front yard, passing his Jeep in the driveway. It's all on the video, lol!
Some excellent hound work follows, as the pack emerges onto the blacktop. Bobby decides the hounds need help and begins to walk them down the road to the point where the fox crossed over to Miller's. But the hounds recover the line in the woods without any help from us. Meanwhile, about 3 dozen deer are viewed leaving the same woods,but several hundred yards behind where the fox brokeaway. It 's all on here:
This pilot went to ground after a roaring good chase of just under an hour. He went to ground in the Coal Woods not far from the huge wood pile where hounds had denned one a few weeks ago. All hounds were on, and it only took a few minutes to load them and drive about 5 miles away for the next draw. ( Farmers were beginning to spread lime over all of the surrounding fields in anticipation of the rain. Plus, chain saws were buzzing in an adjacent woods).
Our second fox was found at 9:50. IMO, this fox was one of the best running reds we have had all season. He loved to run roads-he ran the middle of four different roads during the course of the chase, and he covered more hunt country than any other fox so far . We spent most of the time trying to catch up with the pack. I viewed this pilot only one time during the 95 minute run. But I've got lots of video of hounds in the roads, lol! When he ran a dirt lane for over a hundred yards and hounds checked for several minutes, it was 11:30. Only Part-Time was not with the pack. Hounds were not having much luck ,and none of us had viewed where this fox had gone. Light rain was beginning to fall; it was a good time to get them. Some very tired hounds were readily loading into three trucks when old Reno, with Pearl and Twister at her side , began to tongue down the middle of the road in front of us .It was very tempting to drop the tailgate again....
But the hounds had obviously had enough, and the rain was beginning to get a little more serious.
Tommy leaves for a two week vacation tomorrow. His hounds had a good last day of running before a two-week lay up and some" feeding -up" while his brother cares for them. . Sibling rivalry.... Hound folk will know of what I speak, LOL!
37 degrees at 8am, winds out of the NW at 10-20mph. The temps were to rise back into the mid 50's today. Our 10 1/2 couple jumped their first pilot at 8:24am in Walton Willis' woods. My friend, Shirley, back from her 6 week vacation in Florida joined us on her 22-yo Morgan gelding, General. I rode Mel.
This first pilot gave our hounds a nice run through the Walton Willis' woods, over Squirrely Hill, into Webers' branch and back to Willis' via the Dead End woods for 90 minutes. He made this circuit three times before going to ground at the edge of Weber's branch just before 10am. Shirley and I got 3 views of him, and the first one was the best: a close encounter near "Billy's first pond". Charles was running the edge of the field next to Dead End Road, on his way to the pond. Shirley and I were at the pond. We watched as the fox came directly towards us, oblivious to our presence. He came within 50 feet of us, then continued on his route up a driveway next to the pond. From there, he cut a corner of another field and ducked into the Dead End woods. The helmet camera was on and captured the fox and hounds, but they look so much farther away than they really were, it's too bad.. This was a gorgeous red with a big white tip on his brush.
When Charles went to ground, all hounds were on, and we were right with them. From there, hounds were loaded and taken to Danny's Pond .( Getting on and off Mel ,at 17.2h ,to help load hounds is a bit more of a challenge than doing it on Rap because I dont let anyone give me a leg up. I want my next hunt horse to be under 15.2h, lol!)
Another fox was jumped at 10:10, and our second chase shifted into a higher gear. For the next hour, this one ran around Danny's Pond and the "14 acres" before breaking covert and crossing Wilhelm rd. From there, he ran to Frog Hollow and back over Wilhelm rd. When he headed away to Miller's, I knew that it would be best to get the horses back to the trailer asap and hop into the hound truck.. They had been out for over 3 hours and we were about two miles from the rig, which was in the opposite direction from where the hounds were headed. General has had 6 weeks off and Mel isnt exactly hunting fit, either. No point in pushing them, as we learned that the fox went to ground in an earth behind Bobby's mothers house on the outskirts of Denton as we were hacking back to the trailer. Good call-we saved our horses, and didnt miss a whole lot. All hounds were on , save for one bitch of Olin's. Bobby and Tommy had all of mine and theirs loaded . Time for lunch! ( Muffeletta,with chocolate truffles and *good* coffee for dessert).
Both horses did great. General isnt clipped, and Shirley must have had fun cleaning him up when she got him home-he was lathered and soaked.
The helmet cam started the beeping routine after only about 20 minutes of video, so I gave it to Bobby to put in his truck for safe-keeping. ( I guess I forgot to re-format the memory card after last use) Shirley carried the Nikon in her pocket ,and it got left on in video mode, so all of the memory got used up, save for these few still shots:
Miss Shirley and General, back after a 6 week holiday
Fat, but SOUND!!!!
22 yo General still showing some spunk on the hack back to the trailer
The well-rested and tanned lady of leisure. I didnt want to hear any complaints from her about having to get up early for the meet!
Is drafted. But the helmet cam got left in Bobby's truck when I took it off my riding helmet after it started beeping again. However, it did capture another close encounter with pilot #1 as he ran towards my friend, Shirley, and I on our horses. I'll add the video to the hunt report and post it later. Stay tuned!
Hunting this morning at 8am.
We didn't hunt yesterday. Sunday's temps did not get above freezing all day, and the WIND was incredible. 20-30mph,with 40 +mph gusts. Since this was forecast well in advance, we didnt even plan on hunting , therefore, everyone had enough notice to plan on doing something else. I planned on doing some house cleaning....
I baked Raspberry Cream Cheese brownies and then went to PetSmart to buy the incontinent old Lakie, Emmett, a "Male Sanitary Wrap", instead. . ( Not to be confused with a Doggie Diaper, which, apparently is best suited for bitches.) The "MSW " worked great, except he soaked through it within an hour of putting it on him. (Husband : "But I JUST had him OUT"...) But I digress....
Our meet time today was moved back to 10am to allow the ground to loosen and the temps to rise from the low 20's F. The forecast was for a high of 44F , 12 degrees warmer than the preceding day. Winds were to blow out of the S/SW at 10-20mph. It was pretty windy when we weren't in the woods.
SOMEONE invited the guests from Delaware back. I never got a chance to find out how many hounds were out altogether, since the guests never leave their hound trucks . They wait for us to find the fox(es), and then dump out. But it should have been 14 couple, unless somebody has a bitch in heat I dont know about.
Reno opened on the first fox at 10:20 am. All hounds harked -some from the woods and some from two trucks -(sic )and ran this fox to ground in 35 minutes. Charles denned in a hole in the middle of a cutover corn field, underneath the power lines, several hundred yards from the nearest road.
By the time Bobby and I caught up with Curtis and Tommy, they had walked some of the hounds out to the road , but most of the pack was beginning to drift back down the powerline towards the covert where the fox had been jumped. Bobby headed back to where our hounds had begun the cast ( via the roads) . Meanwhile, I walked across the field, through a nasty briar bed and on down the powerline cutover. Ran, actually. Now, I have always been a slow, long distance runner (slow twitch muscles!), and I gotta tell ya', these not-so- short sprints through tall grass and boggy ground "aint' easy"! Crap, why didnt I bring the horse today??! ) But I digress again....
I encountered about 6 couple of hounds in the cutover. I had been blowing the horn and Sara, Marilyn and Lark were coming to me, as were a couple of Tommy's. The rest were "visiting" hounds that chose to ignore me, which was ok by me. Bobby had called his back to his truck, along with my white bitch (Marney). Tommy and Curtis had most of theirs. So... since nothing else was paying attention to me, I jogged my girls the 3/4 mile to the road, where they were loaded.
Two hounds were still unaccounted for, one each of Curtis' and Tommy's, and it was decided that Bobby and I would draw the (upwind) Johnny Boy woods. If we got a fox, that couple should hark The plan worked like a charm and at 11:20 am, Part Time opened , all of *our* hounds harked, and we heard the tailgates of our visitors drop. (again!). This fox chose to stay in the Johnny Boy woods for the next 2 hours, running round and round and round and... well, you get it. The covert is full of water and briars and although the pack ran this fox steadily, they could only get up hard on him when he would cross back and forth over a small clearing in its' midst. I was never in the right place today to catch the sucker with my camera. Viewed him twice, but since the hounds werent able to burn his butt, I didnt bother much trying to video:
At about the two hour mark, we hatched another plan: Bobby,Curtis and I would walk into the covert from different directions and attempt to head the fox towards Tommy . If it worked, the fox should cross a wide , watery path only a few hundred feet in from a dirt road where the others waited -(in their trucks, of course).
Well, "Plan your hunt and Hunt your plan" - it worked!!! Except two foxes came out, about 200 feet apart.
Only Twister and a few visiting hounds were running the one closest to the dirt road. Bobby, Curtis and I had enough time from the tallyo to get in position to break the main pack. They were easy to break and I really think it's because they were probably getting bored with this fox, too.
All hounds were loaded and I was on my way home by 1:45 . Not a barn burner, but a steady fox that chose to stay tight today.
Although it never snowed at my farm until late in the day, by the time I drove 20 miles inland on the way to the meet, it was coming down heavily at 7:30 am. The temp was 37 degrees at my farm, and was probably hovering around same when hounds moved off at 8am. ( It CAN snow when the temp is above 32 degrees F!)
The white stuff was comng down in heavy, big, wet flakes.You can hear it !:
Several times hound opened and trailed briefly during the first two hours. It kept snowing harder and harder, and I was beginning to think that we might be about to experience our first blank day in ??? I dont know how long. Personally, I would'nt blame the foxes for staying holed up in that weather...
Finally, hounds found at 10:15 am. They chased this red fox for the next hour and forty five minutes and the longer they ran, the hotter they got up on him. Charles was viewed crossing over the dirt road in the video 6 times. Everyone got at least one view of him, except for me! Once, as I was watching one direction where he had come over during his previous loop, that sly sucker crossed right behind me. When Curtis and Bobby, who were standing 200 feet away, tally-ho'ed him and told me how close the fox had been to me, I thought they were joking. I had to find the fox tracks to convince myself that they weren't teasing me. They were not! Darn...but I was able to get up close and personal with the pack as they made that trip over the road, lol!
At about 11:30, our fox tired of this circuitous path and bolted out the south side of the woods to end up over at the "14 acres". Several times, he threatened to cross over a paved road that has several blind curves and we had to spread ourselves out to slow traffic. Just before noon, as I was watching one of those curves, Tommy and Curtis viewed the fox cross over a dirt drive, only a few hundred feet in from the blacktop road. Since the weather was beginning to change for the worse ( it had stopped snowing for awhile, but now the temperature was dropping, the wind was picking up, and it was starting to sleet),they held the pack up at the drive. All were on, and as Bobby and I raced to help them we could see the hounds FLYING. Both of us thought that there would be no stopping them, and we both were kinda hoping that Tommy and Curtis would fail in their attempt. But as we pulled into the lane, they were loading their hounds. I jumped out to get Marney before ANY hound decided to open and take off again. It was the sensible thing to do, I guess.
Considering the lousy weather, and the slow start, the day ended up with "all on" running a very hot fox. We'll be back for that one ...
Our first cast at 8:05am yielded two foxes from the get-go. Both were found in the "pony shed woods".One took most of the 10couple across the open, over Parker rd and on into the woods on the other side. From there, this fox continued his straight-necked ,downwind run , crossing over High Stump Rd, and going to ground in an earth on the other side. He did not want to play. Meanwhile, Part-Time, Reno and a couple of others were running their fox around the covert where they jumped it. Tommy and I wasted no time loading the hounds at the earth and getting them around to where Bobby was following this chase.
By 8:40, all hounds were on and running their pilot around the "Garden" and "Tacky Radishes".(Gawd, I never tire of these names,lol!) The wind was already gusting 15-20mph out of the NW. Temps were in the mid to high 30's. It felt colder. At around 9:15, Charles went to ground in the woods behind a church. THAT fox didnt want to play, either.Hounds were gathered and we headed over to Andrew Stafford's place for the next draw. It took awhile, but the pack finally jumped fox #3 in the woods behind Gallo's field.
This is the fox in the video. We had a brief split when 2 1/2couple took another fox out Chris Wyatt's driveway and headed east over Cattail Branch rd. Tommy stayed with them and broke them near my
ex- brother-in-laws' farm on Gallo rd. He harked those hounds to the others that were till running behind Wyatt's, and once again hounds were all on.
The wind was really blowing now, and hearing the pack was proving to be a challenge unless one was directly downwind. While we positioned ourselves thusly on the south side of the covert, the fox pulled a sneaky move and bolted east, running over Cattail Branch road. We caught up with the pack as they were running parallel to the road in a cutover cornfield. The fox had run a shallow ditch that parallels the road 100 yards in from the blacktop. When the pack made a sudden turn back towards the road, it was clear that Charles had flipped back over and had to have made a long run over a large wheat field , heading west to return to thw woods where he had been roused .. It was now almost 12:30, and the guys felt it was the opportune time to pick up hounds. We held the pack up at the raod, and all hounds were on save for two of Tommy's, which came up behind the others only a few minutes later.
NOTE: video subtitle says this is the second fox of the morning, but it was actually the third and last fox of the day.
During the first draw, right before our hounds found.
The open hardwoods!! Cant wait to hunt here on the horse!!
A lovely day for February: 37 F degrees at 7:15 am, sunny,with wind out of the W/SW. Highs temps were to reach the high 50's by early afternoon.
.. Tommy, Bobby and I were invited to bring our hounds to a meet in Sudlersville, Md, located about 40 minutes north of our regular hunt country. Our hosts, Mr. Buck Clough and Dale Kinnamon unkenneled 5 couple of hounds into the covert next to Mr. Clough's farmhouse at 9:15 am. Our visiting hounds numbered 6 1/2couple. A novice car follower viewed a fox away and across the road he was parked along, but his tallyho over the radio left us all puzzled as to exactly which way the fox travelled. A long cast ensued with hounds failing to find this fox . The woods here are very large, open, hardwood stands and the surrounding fields -mostly planted in winter wheat- have a slight roll to them ( hey, we have pancake-flat terrain with briar-choked, cutover softwoods, so this was a big deal to us !). 4 couple began to cold trail out of the woods and up into a field. All of mine were a part of that bunch, so I stayed with them. When nothing came of this, I brought these hounds back into the woods and caught up with Bobby. We had all of our hounds with us, while Tommy and Dale were about 200 yards deeper in the forest with all of theirs.
Minutes later, our hounds opened : old Reno first,and then the rest of ours honoring her in a unified chorus. In an instant, they were off and running with Tommys' and Dales' harking. It was 9:55am.
This fox made a quick swing through the woods, then was gone away over the same wheat field where I had been watching those 4couple trail earlier. Reynard ran the open for at least a 1/2 mile, crossed a paved road and entered a woods on the other side. From there, he headed east through that covert, crossing another paved road at a church,and continued on through yet another large covert before breaking into the open behind a farmhouse. Here, he ran hundreds of acres of cutover cornfields before going to ground at a large earth in the middle of one of them. It was a fast chase, ,covering a lot of open ground in only 35 minutes. Yikes, this was going to be an interesting day if this was any indication!
Bobby and I hiked the 3/4 mile to the earth from the nearest road but by the time we arrived about 5 couple had drifted into surrounding woods. ( The road was downwind from the hole, so blowing and calling was pretty much an exercise in futility until we got within a few hundred feet of it ) . Bobby walked out with the hounds we had, while I went after the others. My Marilyn had been at the hole as we approached it, but by the time we got there she had followed the others into the woods. The rest of my bitches walked out with Bobby. It took 15 minutes to coax the other hounds out of the woods. ( Our hosts' hounds didn't ' know me and didnt want to follow me out. ) All were accounted for save Marilyn and Bobby's Repo by 10:45am
The others left to go draw another covert about a mile further downwind. Since Marilyn and Repo would not be able to hear the pack and hark, I stayed behind and walked the country around that fox den for the next 1/2 hour until Marilyn decided to appear. There was no sign of Repo anywhere. Bobby and I hurried over to where the other hounds were running the second pilot of the day. We had all of our hounds (save for Repo) in the truck and were eager to get them turned back out.. Just as we drove up to a culvert where the other hunters were sitting, Reynard II popped out into the road right in front of us! How convenient! The pack made a check in the road , we let ours out, and they were back in the chase ( and after our hounds had caught quite a breather while Bobby and I were searching for Marilyn and Repo.) The thought occurred to me that might not sit too well with our hosts, but I was relieved to find it didnt matter to them at all, thank goodness!
All hounds were now on ( except for Repo),and they chased this pretty red fox acxross open wheat fields and into and through several large woods. ( There is alot of country here!!) At around noon, as we were positioned downwind of a covert where the pack was running, we viewed two foxes breaking away over the open and coming right at us . The first fox , although headed twice, perservered and crossed over the road where we sat, running in front of Tommy's truck ( the green truck in the video- you have to loook hard through the dirty windshield to catch a glimpse of him ) . The second fox was not as bold. It turned away and ran back towards the covert, running the side down until we lost sight of him. Hounds were coming on, but then hit the line of the retreating fox alongside the woods, thereby cutting off the loop this fox had made in the field in front of us. By the time we got "around the block" (one big-ass block!) to catch up with the pack,they were once again checked in the middle of a road. ( According to our hosts', their foxes are known for running the middle of the pavement. ) Hounds were not able to follow the scent down the blacktop and after a long check it was decided to load them and put them on the fox that had bravely crossed the road in front of us at least 20 minutes earlier.
They struck right away, as the video shows. But this fox had a good 1/2 hour lead and when the pack emerged on the far side of the woods after crossing the field in the video, they emerged into another cornfield and could not pick up the scent over that stubble. There was an irrigation lane bisecting the open. On one side was this corn stubble. The other side was planted in wheat. The hounds were trailing over the corn stubble, headed right for the lane. It was now after 1pm.
A short discussion went sort of like this:
Bobby: "should we get'em?"
Me: " He's too far ahead.and they cant smell him over that corn...."
Bobby:," yeeaaahhhh, but..."
Me: " If they hit that wheat and they get up on it better... then ????....."
Bobby: " yeah, we'll let'em go on then.."
[Lead hounds cross over the lane, cant smell any better on the wheat. they all trail back over into the corn stubble. Milling around, slowly moving back toward the lane]
Bobby: " hhmmmmmm, I dunno know..."
Me:: "They're not getting it.. Sh*t or get off the pot, Ireland. They're almost TO THE LANE . [Once they hit that wheat,we wouldn't be able to get in front of them] Whatcha gonna do ??? "
Bobby: "OK! LET"S BREAK"EM!!!"
( drives like a maniac down the lane in an attempt to get to hounds before they hit the wheat field again)
Me: " Blow the [ truck's] horn, BLOW THE HORN!!!!"
Which succeeded in getting hounds' heads'up.
And with much hilarity, mission accomplished.
End of story.
(We got invited back next week!!)
Some video to help illustrate the days' events :
I went back to the church after the hunt to look at some very old headstones in the cemetary.This was especially sad:
(Two sisters, aged 16 and 20, died 4 days apart in November, 1875.)
This headstone was carved in 1865, but look how clear the writing is...
Sunday was hunt #60 for my hounds so far this season!!!
Sunday was cold, mid -30's all morning but a NE wind blowing 10-15MPH made it feel much worse. I am so glad I hunted mounted on Saturday,when it was more pleasant.
Video from Sunday:( you cant get any closer to a fox chase than this!!)
This is Sunday's second fox of the day. We had three, total. ALL three went to ground in the same hole, even though the foxes were jumped in coverts miles apart.
Here's some video from Saturday's hunt: ( 4 hours total on Rap!):
Hunt reports will be added later.- lots of information to sort out !!
14couple, including our friend from New Jersey's hounds. A showery but warm morning ( 52 F) at the start. I snapped this picture of a rare morning rainbow at 7:15am while driving west to the meet. We had a bit of rain for the first hour of the hunt, then it cleared out, the sun came out and the temps warmed quickly to the low 60's before the day concluded.
Our first two foxes each ran for a short hour, and the hounds worked well ( see video for a great bit of houndwork as they recover a line on fox # 2. A truck follower had viewed a fox gone away from the covert we were drawing. I positioned Rap in the field adjacent to the covert, close to where Olin said the fox had crossed. The hounds failed to find in the woods, but as they emerged onto the edge some hounds opened and began to trail in another direction, 90 degrees from where the viewed fox ran. There had been two foxes, and our hounds settled on the one not seen. The first part of the video picks up right after the find.
Hounds were loaded after they denned this fox and driven about a mile away for another cast . I arrived at the covert to find hounds trailing a fox , but not doing much. When the pack broke covert and trailed across a wheat field headed towards a barn where we know foxes like to den in a drain pipe, it was quickly decided to break them . This fox was most likely ensconced deep within that pipe...
Now it was after 11am. . Jeff had driven 3 hours to join us, and all of us wanted MORE. Another draw was made at yet another covert about a mile further north. This time, hounds quickly found a fox that wanted to run. For the next 55 minutes this red gave chase all over the countryside, leaving Delaware and running west over the open for a good 1/2 mile into Maryland. There, Charles continued to cover an unusual amount of territory. So much so, that I would have thought it might be a coyote except for the fact that Tommy viewed him away. And there were NO checks -this was no swapping of foxes today! At 12:15, Charles ran a paved road for about 100 yards, thereby causing the pack to finally check for about 2 minutes. They recovered the line and ran a woods briefly to emerge onto a dirt road to the west. Here their pilot also ran the road, causing another check. Bobby and I were the first to arrive to find all of the hounds in the middle of the road. When it appeared as if this fox may have continued his journey further west into country we dont hunt, we opted to load them .We had one truck, yet managed to load all but about 6 hounds. The other men arrived minutes later to finish thejob. All hounds had been on! It was a quick end to a very fast chase. ...And we knew that Jeff would be going home to New Jersey with some very tired hounds. And I was going home to Delaware with a very tired horse!
