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| Our host ( blue shirt) and Tommy during the first draw |
We drew those woods and an adjacent covert for two solid hours, coming up blank. I viewed a fox in a field across the road as it headed into some tall fragmites along a ditch. But Buck was nowhere around ( he was looking for three of his hounds), and as guests, it would not be polite to turn our hounds out without him. When Buck did get around to us , over 20 minutes had elapsed. We walked his hounds and Tommy's hounds to the ditch where I had viewed, but they just couldn't pick up any scent. We walked the ditch to one last covert on our way back to the road. It was a rare blank day. We know there are plenty of reds up in Buck's country, including the Warner Woods, but we needed to have been out at the break of dawn to find them. Better luck next time!
(But it was a good thing I got home early,as I had forgotten my blacksmith was due at 1pm. I arrived home only a few minutes ahead of him. Rap's angle is up to 52 degrees without the shoe on. Maybe one more shoeing and we can get rid of the degree pad. Want to see him at 54...)
Thursday, March 15:
Ahh... I do love hunting with just our little pack! ( And it is smaller than it used to be... but not for long, as the pups are doing so well.)
A bit cooler this morning- 49 F degrees at 7:15 am ( I pass a firehouse with a sign that reads out the time and temp on my way to the meet). But it was supposed to jump up to close to 80 F again, so we had our 8 1/2 couple in the covert at 8am. ( we also have a couple of bitches in heat) At 8:07, Bobby's young bitch, Pearl, opened. Part Time honored her, and then took the line ahead. By 8:18, the pack was in full cry . It amazes me how so few hounds can make such loud and beautiful music!
For the next 2 hours, the pack screamed behind their quarry as he made round after round through the same large stand of water-logged timber. Charles didnt show himself but twice as he ran the edge of the woods down very briefly each time. There were no runs in the open at all, just a steady pressing on throughout the covert. And although we only viewed him a couple of times, his pattern became so predictable that at 10am, we decided the hounds had had enough and we made our plan as to how we would break them. (One can't stay up with the pack in this woods, the briar beds and the swampy footing is just too bad in most places)
Bobby and I waited until the unseen pilot made what was to be his next -to last - lap closest to where we were standing. When the hounds passed, we could just barely see the tips of their sterns. But their voices were just as loud as ever. We slogged through a swampy 100 yards as quickly and quietly as we could to reach the higher ground where the fox was running just out of our view. Now we just had to wait until our fox made his circle again. It took less than 5 minutes! I had the camera on and pointed to where I thought he would be appearing. And I got him! Bobby was watching the woods in a slightly different direction. I had to snap my fingers to get his attention. We both watched as the fox circled around us,pausing for a moment to look at us before continuing on his route. Perfect!!! Hounds were less than a minute behind and we had just enough time to get into position to stop them. Tommy was out on the dirt road, waiting. When the hounds arrived, we followed our plan: we would break them, then I would immediately begin to run them out to the road while Bobby stayed on the line in case there were any hard-heads. It worked like a charm, and I had most of the pack with me as I emerged from the woods. Bobby was walking out behind me with a few stragglers. All were on, and all seemed ready to quit the race. They were HOT hounds as they loaded into their respective hound trucks. ( Oh, and it is clear that Marney's one morning with the shock collar (last week) had accomplished its' goal. She was the first hound to jump into my truck, LOL!)
A nice, tidy chase. Plan your hunt, and hunt your plan!
(best to view on You Tube, full screen)
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