Monday andWednesday hunts-December 10 and December 12

Monday: Not one of our better days!  11couple (mine, Tommy's,Bobby's and Curtis') did find a fox in the County House woods at about 8:30.Hounds ran him east towards the Dead End Road, where Tommy D.( car follower)was watching the field on the east side of that dirt road. I was the first one to get to Tommy D, and I arrived just as a HUGE buck broke covert from where the pack was singing, crossed Dead End road , and ran the field about 100 yards before disappearing into Webber's woods. He had a most beautiful rack.  And it was he who was most likely responsible for these fresh marks:

                         ( This was during the draw - we saw lots of places where the buck  had been  rubbing)

I  was trying to get a pic of his rack, but I saw the hounds coming!!

Seconds later, some very young, very NEW , entry broke covert behind the buck . They were running him by sight across that field, dragging most of the pack with them. The front pups were almost to the woods when I hollered and cracked my whip, while the rest of the hounds were strung out across the field.  All of them came right back- which made me certain that there was no fox running ahead of that buck.  One couple had stayed with the  fox -Part-Time and I forget who else now (it was, afterall, MONDAY, lol!).  But I had my hands full trying to load all of the hounds into my hound truck alone. And by the time everyone else showed up, that fox had gotten way ahead of Party.

I am betting that the pack was on the fox  ( he turned north) when the buck must have run right smack into them.  The pups took the bait, and the others followed! Our first , albeit short-lived , deer chase this season.. 

We regrouped and another fox got on the run on the far west side of the covert. Tommy D. viewed him first, and then I viewed him on a long run in the open  as he was on his way - in a BIG hurry- across Baker Rd headed towards the Skinny woods.(Which is only a stones' throw from the outskirts of  the town of Denton!)   Hounds were held up before they got to Skinny's.  We had all of the hounds save for old Roscoe,and it took us a good 1/2 hour to locate the old boy -he was at Douggie 's house, getting  fed a snack from Douggie! We called it quits for the day.

Now TODAY (Wednesday) -today was a whole 'nother animal! We had 9 couple- Tommy brought 7, Bobby brought 7, and I brought 4 ( my puppy is still in heat-which is a  kind of  roundabout way of stating that it wasnt my pup on that buck on Monday , lol)

We had no other help, the wind was out of the dastardly NE, and we were planning on drawing the Walston woods for the first time this season. It isn't but a stones' throw to the DE state line, and this week it is Delaware firearm season for deer. However, that cold, biting NE wind proved to be in our favor as our pilot today ran with the wind and away from the state line.

Because we were  short on sets of eyes and ears, Tommy walked his hounds into the point of the covert while Bobby and I waited to hark ours. This way, we both would be close to our hound trucks in case we had to get somewhere in a hurry.  Tommy hadnt even gotten into the woods when Twister bellowed and the others honored.  The time was 8:03!  Tommy had but a couple of  hundred feet to walk to get back to his truck, and Bobbys and my hounds had the same short distance to hark. Could NOT have asked for an easier, safer start to the morning!

This red ran west through the woods, then broke covert out the north side to cross a huge expanse of wheat  as he set his sights for the goose pond. No one viewed him cross, but I did get to the middle of that field ( on an irrigation lane) in time to see the hounds as they ran him BACK over to the covert where he had been found.  After a couple of  long rounds in the Walston woods , Tommy viewed Charles as he broke covert on the south side, crossing a paved road to  continue  over a power line cutover and on into  Johnny-boy's thicket.   Once our fox arrived on the south side of the power lines, he spent the remainder of the chase there. But he had company- lots and lots of company.  Our pack split evenly- 4 1/2 couple on one red, and 4 1/2 on another.  But I viewed ( and they are on the video)  3 foxes cross a watery path within seconds of each other - 2 were running together- so I cant say when the split occurred. I viewed a large, light colored fox, and two smaller foxes.  Later, I viewed a large, light colored fox twice- but I dont know if it was the same one I had seen cross the path earlier.  What I can say for certain is that the LAST fox being persued was yet another red that had a slightly itchy tail.

There were too many foxes,and so very much water!!! Which played to the quarry's advantage. But it sure made for an interesting  chase. We broke the last  4 1/2 couple off that itchy-tailed fox at about 10:30. O-and many deer were viewed leaving this covert during our chase, but not a single hound was naughty!   A fun day, with no worries!