Hunt reports and other miscellaneous ramblings that heretofore were laid down between leather bindings. Now, maybe someone else will get a laugh or two out of reading them.
A waning gibbous and the first rays of the rising sun combined to create a pretty picture from my farm as i loaded hounds this morning:
... I've missed some entries to the blog, but I've just not had time to up load pics and video and write a report. Maybe the next rainy day I will go back....nah!
Today , 14 couple met at the County House woods. My Marney initially got the first noseful of fox # 1 and although she opened several times, the others didnt hear her (or chose to ignore her, lol) . About 3 minutes later, more hounds began to tongue, and the rest joined in. It was 8:15am. Calm winds ( as evidenced by the hot air balloon i stopped to photograph on my way to the meet):
and a cloudless sky made for a pretty morning. This first red was content to stay within the County House woods, and was viewed crossing the dirt road that runs through it several times. (But not by ME, since I had my butt out guarding the highway side). I did view Charles one time as he ran the edge of the woods next to a wheat field, but i couldnt get the camera on in time. However, I did get the hounds as they checked in the field and recovered the line back into the woods. You will see and hear the traffic on the video, and understand why I feel the need to stay out there.
At 9:11, Charles popped into an earth behind Douggie Gray's pole building. We heard the pack shut up cold, but couldnt see them. A few seconds later, we did notice Douggie in his golf cart ,riding away from the pole barn and towards his house, several hundred feet away. The the entire pack of hounds was running along behind him.. Thank goodness Douggie welcomes the hounds ( and my horse) over
his property, lol! :
Douggie, landowner and pied piper of hounds, on the far left. My hunting buds are thanking him for gathering the hounds for us, lol!
Hounds were loaded and moved upwind where the second fox of the morning was located near Geisels chicken houses.This one ran the woods behind the chicken houses, but for only a short time. He broke out onto the dirt road , then crossed into Miller's Branch. But he didnt stay there long, either. Unseen , he exited the woods onto the dirt road again and ran it several hundred feet before turning west. Since no one viewed Charles run the road, we didn't know where he went. It tok a coupleminutes, but the hounds figured it out- see the video. This fox ran through the Baker Woods before hounds had a loss in the middle of a wheat field about 1/2 hour after the video sequence.
Reilly , Marney is right behind her-brown head hound with black dot on side
... and now they all run together in my mind, lol. I have been spending as much time as possible working with the new hoss, as my goal is to get him out with hounds for his first time this weekend. ( Weather permitting).
However!! Today we hunted some country outside of American Corners, MD. The guys have not been hunting here for 8 years. The last time they did, one of the hunters dropped dead (heart attack) right in one of the coverts.
Anyway, the country is mostly wide open wheat fields, with good-sized coverts and narrower hedgerows and thickets surrounding them. We walked 10 couple across 200 yards of wheat into the first woods at 8am, and at 8:20 they opened on their first red. He ran for over an hour, but stayed to the woods almost the entire time. When the fox came out to a road and then doubled back into the woods, we broke the hounds. With all of that open wheat, we wanted to find a fox that would run it!
Just as hounds were being gathered, a car-follower viewed another fox in a fallow field about a mile away. Hounds were brought to the view and the video picks up there. This fox ran a large covert for quite a while, but he would cut the corners of the fields enough that we got some views of him. Twice, he came perilously close to a point of the woods that is less than a few hundred yards from a highway. As I watched that corner diligently ( NO WAY did we want hounds getting to that highway), that sneaky fox broke covert and crossed behind me, running the open for over a mile. We had some scary moments when it appeared as if he might, indeed, make a turn towards the highway. He must have gotten turned by traffic because he made a swing through a small covert behind a house next to the road and then broke covert on the south side of same to begin his run over the wheat (shown in the video). He was headed back to the covert where he had been roused. Tommy, Jim and Olin viewed the fox as he entered a hedgerow and then broke covert across another fallow field headed towards his "home" woods. But half way across the field, the fox stopped and did a U-turn.( No comment-I didnt see it, but we think we know what happened). Charles was last viewed back into the hedgerow. By now, Bobby and I were watching one side of that narrow strip,with all of the others watching the other side. No fox appeared. Hounds emerged into the fallow field, over ran where the fox U-turned, and then checked. Since we didnt know where the fox went, and hounds had now been running for over 2 1/2 hours, a quick decision was made to pick them up while all were on. It was enough - the wind was getting stronger. No need to push our luck . Coming back to this country next week, when hopefully, the wind wont be so bad.
..Saturday, Sunday and yesterday. I opted out of Saturday's hunt to get a long ride in on the new horse:
(and missed a good chase!)
Sunday morning there was a hoar frost on the ground and the temp was 28 degrees at 7:30am. as I headed to the meet with all 5 of my bitches. (but by 1pm, the mercury had soared 30 degrees!)
Sunday was probably our worst hunt all season, and of course, we had a guest visiting from New Jersey. Our first draw was at 8:40am, but it wasnt' until 10:30 that we finally found a fox. This red got up in the Garden and ran straightaway to the south. At a convergence of two large tax ditches, hounds made an abrupt and long check and it was presumed that the fox had gone to ground in an an earth along the ditch. Bobby and I ran to gather the pack, but just as we reached them, Curtis'dog, Jack, recovered the line in the field and our guest finally got a view of the pack running the open, and then crossing the road in front of him. But none of us viewed the fox across the field. As soon as the fox got across the road, he went to ground in the briars behind the Tabor Forest office. The entire run lasted under a half hour.
We had no better luck during the next draw. It was amazing how all of the foxes were in absentia. ( I joked that perhaps they were allsleeping late due to DST). I am willing to bet, however, that the vixen's have had their kits.I will investigate some earths tomorrow and find out!
Monday morning it was 10 degrees warmer than the previous day, with no frost but a very heavy fog. Hounds met at Tommy's kennel, and we waited until almost 9am to make the first draw, hoping the fog would lift a bit. But, it lingered:
walking to the covert behind Tommy's house.
L to R :Sara, Marney, Rebel, Marilyn and Reilly
Sara, right before she makes the find
Sara jumped the fox at 9:04, and both Bobby and I watched her as she literaly POUNCED on the scent as she opened. Very cool to see her in action. All hounds ( 13 couple out ) harked, and they flew through the covert and out of our hearing in moments. A mad rush ensued to get to the roads before any traffic ( the fog was still thick), and I worried as I saw two school buses fly down Gallo Rd.. By the time we caught up with them, hounds were in the state ground behind the cemetery. After making a quick pass through the state woods, they crossed High Stump Rd to run the open of the Dry Cow Barn field, over Parker rd, through the power lines to the Cannery, across Burrsville rd,and then over the open for over a 1/2 mile to wind up in Johnny Boys thicket. After a few whirls through the thicket, the fox went in. It was only 9:36!! (At first, we thought we might be having our first ever coyote chase, but it was not).
After hounds were gathered, ( some young puppies didnt make it to Johnny Boys' - that was a FAST, hard run), we moved to Taggler's Gate for the next draw. Two foxes were found, and after the first half hour, hounds got together on just one. But all this fox did was wind round and round through the cutover and briar beds for over an hour until he got so far ahead of the pack that we decided to break them and call it a day. Nothing was going to surpass our first chase of the morning. I got home at 12:30, fed the hounds, grabbed Revy out of the field and took him to Redden Forest. He was wonderful by himself!
Meanwhile, my hounds most recent hunt was Sunday, past. Since Reilly and Marney were both holding a front paw off the ground afterwards,Marilyn is still in heat, and Reno (hopefully preggers) had two hard days in a row, I opted out of Mondays and Tuesdays hunts. (Monday was wickedly windy and the guys only ran one fox for just over an hour before quitting, anyway. Tuesday, they had a good chase from Tommy's kennel). I opted to ride the new horse instead.
Wednesday, Saturn's fury descended upon Delmarva with winds in excess of 60mph and heavy rain.
Thursday, Saturn moved north,and although the rain ended, strong winds remained. We were spared the snowfall, at least.
Hounds will meet this Saturday and Sunday at 8 am. Daylight Savings Time begins this weekend, so Sunday morning will be a rude awakening, literally!
Huunt #70 for my hounds:
The firehouse marquee read 38 degrees as I passed by on my way to the meet at 7:15am, and it read the same on my way home at 1:30 pm. Brief sunshine in the early morning was quickly overcome by banks of heavy,gray clouds blown in by a cold W/NWwind. When we had time to think about it, it felt cold.
Fortunately, that wasn't too often! It was Reno's first day back to work after being up for 3 weeks (in heat), and she wasted no time reminding the rest of her kennelmates that she has the best nose by being the first to open on fox #1 . It was 8:24am. Bobby and my hounds were on the ground, while Tommy and Curtis waited, ready to hark theirs' once a fox was on the move.
For the first 15 minutes, only 5 1/2 couple moved with the wind as they headed towards Fischer's Bridge. But I viewed TWO foxes moving west from the woods near the bridge, and they were headed right towards me across the field behind Big Pine, through a small hedgerow and on over Gallo's Field. It is there that I pick them up through my viewfinder. But as I'm trying to film., I'm also trying to get Tommy to come back from the bridge so he can get his hounds turned out. So, excuse the shaky camera in some places, as I am using the camera and the radio at the same time.
Tommy and Curtis both got in on the chase, and for a total of an hour and twenty minutes the one fox hounds settled on showed great sport . This red ran in the open often, and crossed the same paved road 5 times, thus enabling some car-following guests from Pennsylvania several good views. They excitedly asked me, after watching me aim the camera during two such long views, if I "got" it with the camera. And I thought I had. But, alas, during both instances, I had not pushed the record button down hard enough, and the camera wasn't on. (Note to self: CHECK to make sure that the little red light is BLINKING . EVERY. TIME. ) GGRrrrrr..
The fox went to ground in some cutover at 9:44am; hounds were gathered and taken to draw a covert about 1/2 mile upwind. I stayed back to wait for Tommy's old bitch, Patti, while the others made the draw, so I'm not exactly sure what happened next. I caught up with them as Bobby viewed one hunted fox away as it crossed Cattail Branch rd. on its way to Everline's and the canal. But some hounds were still running in the covert where the draw had been made, and our guests viewed 2 more foxes cross High Stump rd.in front of them. Whaaaa tt?? Plus, Tommy had made a draw next to Dwayne's house sometime during all of this, , and he thought his hounds might be on their way to the highway. With Patti safely ensconced back in Tommy's truck, I FLOORED mine to get to the highway, and saw the State Trooper's speed trap soon enough to grab my seatbelt and hit the brake to slow from 70 mph down to 60. Haven't got a CLUE why he didn't come after me, since I dont see how he could have missed me running that stop sign, either....
Long story short: after much excitement, everyone ended up at the briar bed at Everlines where the hounds were running. At least 3 foxes were viewed away from the briar bed, and when the hunted fox crossed Fisher's Bridge rd, hounds were finally stopped. It was about 12:30.
Phew. Hunting tomorrow at Danny's Pond. Hounds will meet at 8:30 -I get to sleep an extra half hour. Still too wet to take a horse, and now yet another coastal storm is forecast for this Wednesday. 16" of snow?Maybe. Just rain and wind? Maybe. Nothing at all? A slim maybe...too early to tell.
