PrintLongtime huntsmen recall their most memorable days in the field.
No day of foxhunting is complete without a round of good stories told at the hunt breakfast. And the old adage, “there are no bad days hunting,” is one of the reasons that foxhunters keep going back for more. But some days stand out, even to those who live their lives in the hunt field.
Brazos Valley Hunt (Texas) MFH and huntsman Sandy Dixon, who hunts primarily American hounds, readily recalled a day last year that was filled with quarry.
“It was in the spring, late February, at Rocky Creek Ranch. As I pulled in I noticed that there were a lot of new calves with the mother cows at jt.-MFH Rhonda Pool’s home,” Dixon said.
New calves attract coyotes.
“I let the hounds out of the trailer, crossed the road and within just a few yards Singer ’04 and Remington ’04 opened, with the entire pack immediately screaming after two coyotes that were viewed heading across the field side by side. I had to slow to cross a paved road and got a bit behind the pack as they got to the ridge that drops off into a hay field,” Dixon said.
“I arrived at the ridge just in time to see the pack about halfway down the ridge, chasing three coyotes across the hay field toward the creek. My horse was confident enough to follow hounds over this 40-foot drop to the bottom. When I got down the ridge, the pack was along the creek but evidently at a loss.
“I waited quietly as hounds searched the creek bank to find where the coyotes crossed. Within a couple of minutes, Catfish ’06 spoke, but he was heading back to the hay field. Since we can’t cross the creek due to the depth, I encouraged hounds to honor him.
“They turned back, not fully convinced he was correct. But, after we’d crossed the hay field and were going up the ridge, I heard the coyotes bark. I looked up to see two coyotes standing side-by-side barking at the hounds! Hounds stopped and looked at them as if a bit uncertain of what looked like a challenge,” Dixon said.
“My big Crossbred hound Nuisance ’03 lunged forward, honored by the others, and they chased those coyotes, which surprisingly stayed together all the way across the open field. Hounds lost them when they went under the fence crossing a highway,” Dixon concluded.
“I’ve been hunting coyotes since 1989, and never have I had coyotes stand and bark at me and my hounds. It was the coolest experience I’ve encountered hunting hounds,” Dixon said.
When You’re All In Full Cry
Patti Hopkins, huntsman for Old Chatham Hunt (N.Y.), who has been hunting mostly Crossbreds for 20 years, likes to see the hard work pay off.
“Hunts where hounds have been picking at a cold line and it feels like forever but everyone stays focused are my favorites,” she said. “And then suddenly the cry swells, and we’re in business.
“My whips intuitively clap forward to the danger zones, my quarry obligingly stays within the country, my staff and the field all have multiple views, every rider steps up to the cracking pace, the young entry are right in there and all hounds are on in the end,” Hopkins said.
“Last November, Eager ’03 opened on a coyote in a swamp south of one of the masters’ properties and ran it for 11⁄2 hours before we bayed it up in a thicket on a long-time member’s property,” Hopkins said.
