After SuperStorm Sandy

A Hunter's Moon was setting  ( not visible here) as the first rays of  the sun hit the trees. So GOOD to see the sun shining again- even if it didnt last for very long.

I havent had much time to keep up on the blog, and I know I missed entering at least one hunt here, but a lot of more important things have been happening.

Not the least of which was the monster storm that hit the entire eastern half of the US earlier this week.  The DelMarVa peninsula fared better than the other shore areas to our north, but we still received over 10" of rain here at my farm. The winds, thank goodness, were not as strong as originally predicted here, and I think our strongest gust   ( we are 10 miles inland from the beach) was still less than 80 mph.   No structural damage, some minor flooding and fence damage.

Deer season continues to disrupt our fox chasing and this will only escalate after next week when Maryland firearm season enters the picture already muddied by the Delaware gunning laws. 

Hounds met at the C & R Center on  Thursday, November 1st at 8am.  Present were Bobby's 4 cple ( old M&M, the mother of my Marney and Marilyn, jumped into his truck as Bobby was loading.  She hasnt been out in the field for 2 years! But she looks better now than ever - he contemplated putting her down two summers ago- so he decided to let her come along) .  I had only Marilyn,Reno and Sara,since both Marney and Reilly are in heat.  Larry and Howard joined us with Larry's 4  1/2 cple, for a grand total of 10 couple.

It was a chilly 38 degrees, with a SW wind  promising to blow 15-20 mph at the draw.  We began the first cast behind the C & R Center building, since I wanted to park my horse trailer on high ground.  The low fields behind the building were under water in most places, as was the entire forest that surrounds the Center. Surprisingly, the area behind the Cy Haines homestead, further to the SE, had the least soggy ground as the video shows.  (We ended the morning there).

Old  Reno proved to have the best nose, and it was she who opened first on the strongest trails the hounds encountered.   The pack  would trail decently enough on the drier ground, but as soon as they entered the woods, where water lay everywhere, they would lose it.  I saw no visible signs of foxes anywhere - all washed clean by the floodwaters, I guess.   I was surprised , however, to see  a buck and a doe in the woods - the first deer I have viewed here since the Blue Tongue disease wiped out most of the herd.

After 2 and 1/2 hours, I broke the pack along a ditchline in the far corner of Cy Haines' property. The sky had become heavily overcast, with dark clouds on the western horizon and the wind was blowing steadily at about 15-20 mph. It felt raw and damp.  Obviously, condtions were not going to get any better, and there was a forecast for a chance of showers.  Raindrops were already on my windshield as I loaded Mel onto the trailer.

Not happy with the new Luminix hand held camera. However, I  really didnt have any time to fool with it  this morning. I did try to remember to turn on the helmet cam, and it worked ok - most of the time!

All of us were just happy  to be able to get our hounds out so soon after the storm. And more than once during the morning I remembered to thank God for that...and pray for those less fortunate than we.