July 5, 2010
Filed under: General — Cheryl @ 9:43 am
Just thought I would pass some great foxhunting sites for summer entertainment:
www.mfha.com
MFHA website, remodeled and updated. Consider becoming a subscribing member if you are not already. You will get Covertside magazine and also support MFHA’s efforts to protect our sport.
www.ecovertside.net
Web companion to Covertside magazine, sign up for free email list.
www.foxhuntinglife.com
Comprehensive site and lots of great pictures… check out the Genesee Valley photos. Click on Horse & Hound then Photo Gallery to see all the galleries. (FYI Â It is a subscription website, but at this time the photo galleries are open for all. You don’t have to join to see them, but certainly can subscribe if you want, or sign up for their mailing list. )
www.foxhuntva.com
Cindy Morton (Rockbridge Hunt) and I put this together awhile back, it’s a good site but needs more content, so everyone post your articles and hunt reports, and send photos anytime! The calendar shows lots of foxhunting and hunter pace events. This is free and useful for all Virginia Hunts.
and of course…Â www.stonewallhounds.com we also have a photo gallery and calendar to keep up with our club.
Enjoy these and feel free to add comments with links to your favorite fox hunting websites!
December 15, 2009
Filed under: General — Cheryl @ 7:15 am
June 17, 2009
Filed under: General — goneaway2 @ 8:17 am
This is beautiful Solitaire (sponsored by Kate) with her 8 healthy and very colorful puppies born on Thursday June 11, 2009. There are four boys and four girls. Four are tri-color and four are red and white. Their sire is Potomac Tennyson who we now call Tenson (sponsored by Michael and Brooks Arrington). You can still see the number “31″ painted on her side from the performance trial we went to in North Carolina last March.
- Jackie
Little Jackie (sponsored by Judy)Â had 7 pups by Drummer (who is by Potomac Bishop) on Saturday June 13, 2009. Six are boys and one girl. Three are lemon and white like her, 3 are red and white and one is a tri-color. Her pups will start with the letter “J” and Solitaire’s with the letter “T”.
November 4, 2008
Filed under: General — Cheryl @ 6:56 am
Well everyone, the time is drawing near for the 2008-2009 Blessing of the Hounds. This marks the opening of our formal foxhunting season, and is always a fun event. Thanks to Carol C. and her Cedar Ridge Farm for hosting the event and welcoming us to her farm, as always.
This is also a day when we invite all our landowners and specially thank them for all their support. Some have already RSVP’ed and will be in attendance, so please welcome and thank them personally for allowing us to ride across their land. Without them, we would have no hunting!
Hopefully we will start the season off with a bang and some great sport, as well as enjoy the company of our members, friends, family and landowners. Til then, tally ho!
September 4, 2008
Filed under: General — Cheryl @ 11:40 am
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Thank you to all of our Stonewall members and friends who attended this meeting. You all can add comments, so please feel free to add your two cents here by clicking “comments” and posting yours!
Â
Here is my rendition of the central VA meeting in Appomattox.
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MANY hunters were present and many spoke. The majority spoke of how they were in favor of hunting with hounds and did not want to see laws changed, but do support better enforcement of laws on the books. Right to Retrieve was especially stressed as important, for safety of hounds. Also, a good point was brought out that having this survey just gives fuel to the antis fire that there is SOMETHING to study or worry about in the first place.We had mounted foxhunt members from Stonewall Hounds, Farmington Hunt, Bedford County Hunt, Caroline Hunt, Deep Run Hunt… Good support by the foxhunters, both mounted and unmounted.Out of the few dozen people who spoke, 3 had concerns against hunting with hounds. One was a still hunter who said he gave permission to all still hunters to hunt his property but did not want hound hunters on his property (I do think some of the still hunters worry that the hounds mess up their hunting, but not sure if that was his deal or not).
Another was a woman who said she was NOT against hunting, or hunting hounds, but she wanted someone to pay more attention to the “starved and neglected” hounds. She repeated that many of the hounds were in good shape and obviously well cared for, but she wanted to see more action against those that weren’t. The other guy… I can’t really figure out what he was saying. Something like everything changes with the times and hunting will too. I think his was a property issue as well, but it was hard to understand him.
Many of our foxhunters from the above hunts did speak, as well as deer, bear, coon, rabbit, and unmounted foxhunters. Most got their point across concisely, and ALL passionately, that’s for sure. I tell you the deer hound hunters, and really all the other types of hound hunters, are just as passionate than us foxhunters about their sport.
Hope others will fill in what they got out of it. I will say it sure was a thrill to have so many hound hunters in one place, all diverse but coming together for one joint purpose and sharing their passion for the sport we love…hunting with hounds. Keep the sport alive by keeping active in voicing your opinions and voting for those who will preserve hunting with hounds in Virginia.
Cheryl Microutsicos
Stonewall Hounds
Central Virginia
www.stonewallhounds.com
Â
August 21, 2008
Filed under: General — Cheryl @ 4:42 pm
This is a letter from Lili to our member list regarding the VDGIF survey on hunting with hounds.
Dear Stonewall Hounds Members and Friends,
Hunting with hounds has come under attack by the animal RIGHTS groups. They want to stop all hunting. They are capitalizing on the recent study by the Va. Dept. of Game and Island Fisheries (VDGIF) and Va. Tech to examine hunting with hounds. There is a difference between animal RIGHTS and animal WELFARE groups. Animals do not have rights like people but, of course, we are responsible for their welfare. You must understand the difference.
Please respond ( email or letter) as soon as possible to this request that I have received from Joyce Fendley, MFH of Casonova Hunt and member of the SAC. The email that I sent today is copied at the end. Also, please come to the public meeting on Sept.3 at the Appomattox High School. I will be there and probably will be speaking. We need every one of you present.Â
Please take the time to email or write your support for hunting with hounds to the following address:
HoundHuntingSAC@vt.edu
or mail to Hound Hunting SAC c/o Sarah Kozlowski, 111
Cheatham Hall, Department of Fisheries & Wildlife, Virginia Tech,
Blacksburg, VA 24060-0321Â Â
FRIENDS OF HOUNDS AND HUNTING
Animal rights groups have been active during the Hunting with Hounds: A Way Forward study process being conducted by the Department of Game & Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) in Virginia. The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) asked its members to inundate the Strategic Advisory Committee (SAC) with emails
& letters demanding that hunting with hounds (this includes foxhunting) be restricted or eliminated.Â
· Now is the time for foxhunters to express support for our sport, our hounds, & our wonderful landowners. Voice your opinion today.
· We have fair & reasonable laws already in place; encourage VDGIF to enforce these laws & prosecute those that do not abide by the law.
Virginia’s Right to Retrieve Law is important for the safety and welfare of hounds. This law provides a huntsman & whipper-in the legal right to go onto posted land in order to retrieve the hounds. If hounds chase a fox onto posted land & put it to ground hounds will stay there until someone they know retrieves them. The huntsman and whipper-in need to be able to legally go onto posted land in order to retrieve the hounds. This is currently in the law, & needs to stay there. Mounted foxhunters as well as many other legitimate hound hunters have worked diligently to demonstrate respect & appreciation for landowners & their property. Unfortunately, some unethical hunters have misused this law to deliberately hunt hounds on posted land.Â
Rather than lose the Right to retrieve our Hounds, we need to work with VDGIF to ensure that all hunters understand & comply with the existing law & show their respect for Virginia’s landowners.
Improve law enforcement by increasing the number of VDGIF Conservation Police Officers (CPO’s) & coordinate with local Sherriff’s Department to providing better training for all enforcement personnel. Again, we have the existing laws and regulations to control illegal hunting we need better enforcement. Consideration and compensation should also be provided to local Sherriff’s Departments for their participation in enforcing game laws and these funds should be allotted from the VDGIF budget.
Increase penalties and fines for game law and regulation violations to increase compliance with existing laws and regulations, especially those related to high priority issues like trespassing, violations of the right-to-retrieve law, road hunting, and hunting out of season. Repeat offenders should be dealt with harshly. These fines should go directly to VDGIF. With increased penalties & fines, those that break the law will suffer the consequences, not those that are hunting with hounds responsibly.
Improve record keeping on violations and complaints received by VDGIF their (CPOs), VDGIF staff, dispatchers, local law enforcement agencies, & local animal control. The SAC recommends that more comprehensive, consistent, & standardized records be kept in order to better understand where & why there are conflicts between hunters and landowners. With better record keeping VDGIF in corporation with local Sheriff’s Departments can effectively apply additional law enforcement to areas where hunters are not complying with the law & where landowners are experiencing problems. This could be much more effective
than passing more state laws that punish responsible hound hunters & will not correct problems with hunters who violate the law.
Email your support to: HoundHuntingSAC@vt.edu. today. If you choose, you may also send a letter in writing to: Hound Hunting SAC, co/Sarah Kozlowski, 111 Cheatham Hall, Department of Fisheries & Wildlife, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24060-0321.  Make sure to include your name and address.
More information available on the DGIF website: http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/hunting/hounds/
THE PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD WILL END ON SEPTEMBER 12th
HUNTING WITH HOUNDS IN VIRGINIA: A WAY FORWARD PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD
All comments, whether written, spoken, or sent via email, shall be considered part of the public record. The comment period closes on Friday, September 12, 2008.
OPEN PUBLIC MEETING SCHEDULE
FAR SOUTHWEST August 26, 7:00-9:00PM: Wytheville Meeting Center
I-81/77 Exit 73 or I-77 Exit 41, 333 Community Boulevard Wytheville, Virginia 24382
SHENANDOAH RIVER VALLEY, HARRISONBURG August 27, 7:00-9:00PM: Spotswood High School
368 Blazer Drive, Penn Laird, VA 22846
NORTHEAST, CAROLINE COUNTY August 28, 7:00-9:00PM: Caroline Community Center
17202 Richmond Turnpike Bowling Green, VA 22427
NOVA September 2, 7:00-9:00PM: Fauquier High School
705 Waterloo Drive, Warrenton, VA 20186
MID-PIEDMONT September 3, 7:00-9:00PM: Appomattox High School
198 Evergreen Ave, Appomattox, VA
SOUTHEAST September 4, 7:00-9:00PM: King’s Fork High School
351 Kings Fork Rd, Suffolk, VA
SOUTHSIDE September 9, 7:00-9:00PM: Gretna High School
100 Gretna Hawk Circle, Gretna, VA 24577
Written comments can be emailed to HoundHuntingSAC@vt.edu or sent to: Hound Hunting SAC c/o Sarah Kozlowski, 111 Cheatham Hall, Department of Fisheries & Wildlife, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24060-0321Â
Copy of Lili’s email:Â
Dear Sarah Kozlowski,
I am in favor of hunting and hunting with hounds! I am master and huntsman of the Stonewall Hounds in Forest, Va. I started the hunt nine years ago from a desire to hunt my own hounds. We are recognized by the MFHA. Our club is a responsible organization with great relations with our landowners. I do all the work here on my farm and love it. The hounds are very
well maintained. To think that there are people who want to take away my right to continue makes me very upset and angry. The animal rights groups should not even be considered in this study. I think that this study has grown out of it’s original intent to work out a way to continue to hunt DEER with hounds. Please stay within the VDGIF’s initial request and ignore the idiodic pleas to stop all hunting with hounds.
Passionately,
Lili Wykle, MFH
Stonewall Hounds
PO Box 367
Forest,Va. 24551
July 20, 2008
Filed under: 2007-2008,General — Cheryl @ 11:47 am
Graciously, in the shade of the banks of the James River, Tom & Rhoda hosted our annual hunt club picnic. The river was lovely, and the barbequed chicken delicious, as well as all the varied side dishes and desserts. Some enjoyed canoeing, some fishing, and wading in the river. It was a peaceful and lovely setting for the meeting and we all had a great time. Thanks Tom & Rhoda!
Lili passed out the financials of the club. While we are bringing in more money the cost of hound food has gone up drastically. We discussed the possibility of a fundraiser. We all agreed it would be great to do, and talks of a hunter pace or other event may be forthcoming.
Meanwhile, Lili recognized Earl for all his help with the hounds and road whipping in “Silver” his Ford Pickup 
 She also awarded the “Jubliee Award” to Tom and Kate this year for their service and participation. Judy and Mary K were awarded their staff colors, and Lili thanked Kate, Mary K and Judy for all the time they help walk out hounds every 
week. Lili also gave all the members Stonewall Hounds mugs. We talked about what a good season we had last year, and how the hounds are going great already and we are looking forward to another great season.
One thing that was brought up was the time of our meets. Lili said that she plans to get to the meets early and would like to be on our horses ready to ride 15 minutes before the appointed time. This way she can say our blessing and we can be moving off at the time we are supposed to hunt. I suggest everyone plan to arrive at least 30 minutes before the hunt time. Sometimes Lili might need help with collars or hounds, and having everyone there early allows for more help with whatever comes up.
She also mentioned she would like to have 3 more work days before the season starts. One in Sherwill, one in Pamplin, and one at her house to put a fence around the paddock outside the kennels to make it easier to load hounds on hunt mornings. PLEASE plan to come to at least 2 of the 3, and email Lili anytime you can come help.
I think that was the extent of the meeting, but please add your comments if I missed something.
We plan to start hounds in the fox pen on Aug. 19, then hunt in the open the week after that, weather permitting. Know that when we start it will be early to avoid the heat, so everyone make sure your alarm clocks are working! I joked and said I would be happy to make wakeup calls to anyone who needs it
Please add your comments or contact Lili with any questions or suggestions for the upcoming year. First half of dues are payable August 1, and let us know if you or anyone you know needs an invitation.
For more picnic photos, visit our photo gallery.
Cheryl M.
(30 days til cubbing season starts!!)
July 6, 2008
Filed under: General — Cheryl @ 1:07 pm
The current (Summer 2008) issue of Covertside mentions on page 6:
…the Stonewall Hounds (VA) were elevated from Registered to Recognized status.
Congratulations to Lili and the whole hunt for all the work in making SH worthy of recognition.
Covertside is “The magazine of mounted foxhunting” and is available to subscribing members of the MFHA. Subscribing members, through their membership dues, “support foxhunting and countryside values” by the efforts of the MFHA. www.mfha.com
July 3, 2008
Filed under: General — Cheryl @ 10:33 am
Fixture:Â Lili’s Farm
Attendees: Lili, Kate, Michael Jackson with Chase (his student), Megan, Cheryl M, Wendy, Janice Callahan, Cheryl & Bill, and Zuby (one of Lili’s boarders)
Weather:Â beautiful!
Hounds: all of them!!
Tailgate/Breakfast:Â Â As usual we had lots of good stuff to eat, and enjoyed it under the shade trees in Lili’s pool deck area.
Our pool picnic puppy play day was lots of fun and we wish more of you could have made it to see the beautiful puppies and visit and walk the hounds. Our pack has grown, that’s for sure!! I told Lili she’ll have to stop breeding red & white hounds with the same spot pattern… (coincidental, but is going to make it really hard to tell them apart from horseback!!)
Lili, Kate, Michael (Jackson) and his student Chase, a 12 year old boy, and Megan were out walking the big hounds when we arrived. The hounds were all happy to see us, and came over to investigate and say hi. They really seem to like the kids. Even Jazz jumped up for some kid pats! The hounds are all doing really well and walking out great. I’m sure we’ll be roading them (exercising them with the horses) soon.
IÂ was so happy to see all of them again, especially handsome Jeremiah.
We then went to the puppy kennel to get licked, chewed and jumped on, and basically mauled by the cute little monsters!! What a BRAVE and bold litter of beautiful puppies. The boys spent the whole time chasing them and bringing them back to the yard, as they would run off hunting and investigating. 
There are 8 of them, so they had their hands full (literally!) The puppies are: Savannah, Sailor, Savior, Saturday, Sawyer, Sarah, Sassafrass and S…S.ssssss… (ok 7 out of 8 isn’t bad).
Chase, Hal and Nick had a great time. Chase says his favorite hound is Kaptain, and his favorite puppy is Sawyer. Nick’s favorite hound is Jackie, and his favorite puppy is Sarah. Hal says he likes Kaptain too, and his favorite puppy is Savannah! The puppies enjoyed the company, and any time any of you want to come out, just call and let Lili know. She loves to show off those hounds!
 
 
June 29, 2008
Filed under: General — Cheryl @ 6:49 am
I’ve updated the blog with a new look. Hope you all like it! The picture is from our Blessing in 2006.
Summer is halfway over, and, as of today, there are only 62 days til cubbing starts! Hope you all are enjoying the summer, and that we will see you at our summer hunt picnic, July 19. Please contact us for details if you would like to attend.
Kate, Mary K, and Judy have been out weekly to help walk out hounds, and they say they are coming along and behaving quite well! Anyone is invited to contact Lili and go out to help with hounds… it’s a big job and any help is appreciated. Plus you get to know the hounds better and that makes hunting all the more fun.
We’ve been having some work days, too, and getting some new trails opened, as well as maintaining and improving older ones. Until you get out there in the green jungle that used to be an open trail, you don’t realize how much stuff just keeps growing, and storms cause trees falling, etc. It’s a lot of work to keep up all our trails, especially since our hunt country is expanding. Please come help.
Our trail rides are going on each Wednesday (remember our hunting days will be Saturday and Wednesdays from now on). Hope to see more of you out.
I guess that’s all, feel free to comment here and let us know what you’ve been doing all summer!!
Cheryl
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