Ground Hog Day

crossing a frozen beaver dam during our second chase of the day

My Reilly, she's a big girl now! ( Brown headed hound w/ brown lip , centr top)

.....17 couple met at the County House at 9:15am. consisting of hounds belonging to:.Tommy, Bobby, Curtis, Freddy, Jeff, Jim and me. 

I have to admit I was a bit concerned that they might not all pack up together, but  they did!

Hounds chased 2 foxes over the course of 4 hours. The first one ran round and round the County House woods without ever breaking covert.   We all got weary  of that, so hounds were held up and gathered at  about 11:30. (times are probably more accurate on the video-I did those subtitles earlier, and now I am tired and everything is getting fuzzy).

The next pilot was also found in the County House woods, but he more than made up for the seclusive first fellow  even though I never got a view of him.  This fox ran straight-necked through the  covert on the north side of the dirt lane, out the east end, across Dead End Rd, and on into Weber's woods. Once there, he kept going east, towards Burrsville. He did circle back one time, crossing back over Dead End rd to re-enter the woods , but on the south  side of the dirt lane.  He  was moving west now, and he was wasting no strides in doing so.   He kept going- all the way through the woods, across the power line cutover and on into Miller's branch, where most of the water is frozen solid.   It was first  thought that a passing car  had headed  Charles as he was attempting to bust out  of Miller's and across the perimeter rd to continue his trek westward over a wide expanse of open fields.  The pack spilled across the road as Bobby and I pulled up, only to check in the snow-covered open on the other side.

We had seen the car. We knew the hounds were close to the road. It seemed very likely that our pilot had, in fact, been doubled. Bobby, Freddy and Tommy walked the road with hounds in different directions, trying to help them recover the line.  Bobby walked them back down into Millers branch.  Over 15 minutes passed, probably more like 20 .  Freddy chatted with a nearby landowner for a bit.  Meanwhile, I  had noticed several hounds feathering wildly in the field before they were all called back to the trucks waiting at the road.  This fox had been such a great pilot, no one really wanted to see the chase end.  Including me. So I decided to look for the fox tracks in the field.  I walked a good 100 yards out into the open-past where the hounds tracks' had trampled the snow.... and there they were! This fox had gotten across the road ahead of the car, and our hounds had been right all along.

Bobby and Freddy unkennelled  hounds, and walked them to me, and  slowly they picked the (literally) cold line diagonally across the open towards a water-filled ditch. Once there, they again had trouble sorting out which way Charles had gone, but Bobby  guessed correctly that  the fox had tiptoed across  the ditch at a frozen beaver dam. The camera rolled as the hounds picked their way gingerly over the ice, with Bobby following behind.(O- I was SO hoping for some comic relief there, lol!)

Once across, the hounds continued on westward to the huge  woods behind the old Ireland homestead, where they  finally got the line hot again.  Here, they ran fast and hard until the quarry went to ground in an earth in the corner of Jeff Scot's field. All were loaded and we were done at around 1:30.

Most of this is on the video, in one way or another. I am chilled to the bone, and headed for  a hot bath and a glass of wine...

Hunting  again tomorrow ( if we dont get too much snow).  
Note to self :  Remember to leave Reno HOME this time!!!! ( she's in heat).