Predawn, at the meet, 6:10am...we had 2" of rain the week before, and another nice rain shower overnight. But by the time hounds moved off at 6:15am, the showers had moved off the coast and a slight ground fog had formed. It was 45 degrees, with winds to be out of the north. but calm at dawn. Couldnt ask for more perfect hunting weather!
We had 9 1/2 couple out- Bobby and I emptied our kennels, to make 6 1/2 couple, thrown in with Freddy's 3 couple. Freddy cast his hounds into the swamp of Georges Branch from the north side, while Bobby and I walked ours in from the south side. My Sara found the line of the first fox, which ran for a short 35 minutes before going to ground on high ground on the edge of the woods. A second fox was found, and we had a good chase that lasted for almost 2 hours with this pilot staying in the bottom of the swamp the entire time. There was a brief split, but we were powerless to do anything about it ( just cant get to the hounds in that quagmire!). During the split, we listened as the foxes passed each other, travelling in oppostie directions, 3 times. Finally, on the fourth pass, the two packs must have run head-long into each other because they all got together for the last 1/2 hour of the chase, which ended with that fox denning in a field on the north side of the swamp. (First fox went to ground on the south side).
I was thrilled that Sara was the hound that got the line sorted during the first find- you can see and hear it all on the video. My internet was down for 2 days, and already the details of the hunt are fading- but the video was uploaded right after the hunt, so everything is accurate on it.
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| Taken right after the first fox went to ground |
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| Violets growingamidst the skunk cabbage in the swamp bottom |
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