Hunt Report: Dec. 14, 2008
Filed under: 2008-2009,Hunt Reports — Cheryl @ 10:29 am
Reported by: Â Lili
Fixture:Â Quail Hollow, 10 a.m.
Members: Lili, Kate, Cheryl, Michael, Jenner, Earl
Guests:Â Kelsey, Brooks and Anne
Weather:Â cloudy and cool
Hounds:Â 10 1/2Â couple
I.D. Awards:Â Michael – whose horse saw the wire but he didn’t!
Tailgate/Breakfast:Â Â Misc cheese & crackers and delicious pork roast brought by Jenner!
The Hunt:Â Our third and final Sunday morning hunt was begun with a brief devotional by me about the Lord’s first and second coming with a few verses from the books of Luke( the first Christmas story), the end of Revelations and Matthew( when Jesus says he’s coming back). Eight riders mounted up. Earl ( with cracked and stitched hand) let out the very eager hounds as it has been almost 2 weeks since some have hunted. We held up for a while discussing who the hounds were. This is the time of year to cull some and it is never easy but there are too many in the kennel. Any takers? There are about 5-8 that need new homes for various reasons. Please contact me if you are interested.
Ten and a half couple struck immeditately in the first field of the Fewell Farm, Quail Hollow. How we all love to be right on top of speaking hounds! When you are that close you can learn which hound owns a particular voice. You all know that I like for the field to be as close to the action as possible. I believe that when our hounds are use to the horses being near that we are not a distraction when they are working a line.
After giving them ample time to straighten out the line, Kate radioed that some hounds had crossed the farm road in the back where I had heard the crows squawking some minutes ago. I brought hounds up and what looked like a great run with strong voices in the large pines dwindled down to a few hounds speaking before Clark ran out on a viewed deer with two others following. How disappointing! He must have switched. But over a period of 5-10 minutes other hounds came out and were very eager to run and speak in a slightly different place. Looking back on it, as I always do after a hunt, I think a fox had come out, too. And I know for sure they had started on a fox with Dawson, Winsome, Jazz, Sally, Kaptain, Tidy and others confirming it.
Kate radioed that front running hounds had crossed Tweedy Rd. and gone into the pines. I brought on the rest and they all joined together in speaking on a beautiful red-sided gray that I viewed twice weaving in and out of the small pines. Around and around they went. I love the excitment of waiting to see where the fox will pop out. Our pilot was clearly seen by Kate as he exited the pines and ran up the wooded hill side and toward the field beyond. Roo Roo was first out. She is developing into a great hound with a loud, strong voice.
Only about half the pack was following. The rest stayed in the pines and I think they were on another fox. After quite a while of trying to get all front running hounds together, we brought them back to the original pines where Dawson, Sally, Jazz and Pepper were still opening in a small area. Fox gone to ground? The small pines and thick briars were to dense to go in. I completely circled the cover, waiting patiently for another solid run. It never happened. So we called them all in and that was a job. Some did not want to leave it. And the sun had gone in and the wind was picking up. Earl got out of his truck and had to go over to the edge and, along with Kate, the remaining ones were strongly encouraged to “Leave It”. Riders and hounds made it safely back to the trailers for another good tailgate.
Reported by Lili
