too cold/warm/wet/dry/and today too windy

[armandh]

the bad news: sub zero wind chills wind advisory 50 mph.
the good news: we missed the snow starting just to the NE of us, so when it does warm there won't be a ton of ice/snow to melt.
revised for todays conditions

[armandh]

the bad news: sub zero wind chills wind advisory 50 mph.
the good news: we missed the snow starting just to the NE of us, so when it does warm there won't be a ton of ice/snow to melt.
revised for todays conditions

[J Swan]

Yuck -

Bad news for me and the Delicate Flower - one of his shoes (with snow pads and borium nails $$) is out in the field somewhere.

Worse news - farrier is out of town.

So no huntin' until the new year. But by then I expect the snow to start.

Just snuggle up with your SO and drink some hot cocoa.

Merry Christmas.

[Foxhunt4me]

We are hoping to go out Boxing day if we can get enough staff - should be a high in the low 40's ..Twas very cold last 3 nights though.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

[Painted Wings]

Our huntsman is out of town so no hunting until the 29th and I'll be in sunny florida by then. I did go out to help them walk out hounds this morning. It was 6 degrees but there was no wind so it really wasn't too bad. I'm amazed at how the hounds adjust. Stopped by and checked on the ponies and they were all fine too. I think the cold is better than the month of mud we had. Never seen anything like it.

[armandh]

wed. 29th looks good with temps predicted in the 40s F.
on the fixture card too!

[Painted Wings]

I'm headed for Florida until the second so will miss the next couple of hunts. But I won't be suffering.

[Foxhunt4me]

Well we did go out - the WX man was not too good on that one as it only warmed up to 32 but we did chase the coyotes a bit.

I posted this on FOL :

We had an unexpectedly good day today. I thought it would be quite miserable as it was
24 and cloudy when I was out feeding the horses and the wind was to pick up today and
be mostly cloudy. The wind did pick up a bit but by the time I trailered 60 or so miles south and east the clouds had proken up and the sun was shining. That helped as it only managed to get to 32 degrees. This week I did dress warmer - one more layer underneath on top and insulated
gloves made all the difference.

We had a small group for boxing day but the ground conditions were excellent as we had not
had any of the snow that much of the country had. Only had 3 in the field follwing the huntsman and two of us whipping in. We hunted some land that I had only hunted once before just north of our kennels. I was glad that we only had one run in with deer today as opposed to last week when they were everywhere, I was on the back side of a wooded covert and 7 deer busted out - 6 went one way and number 7 headed straignt for me - I am not sure if he didnt see us or what - just as he was approaching he hit the brakes ( holy smokes that's a horse with a fat red thing on it ! ) and managed to get my horse a bit nervous and he did an about face and headed away.

You guessed it , one lil bitch was hot on the trail of those things and everybody agreed it was a good idea - I was in good position to break them off though. Hounds were regrouped
a hundred yards from there by the huntsman and we continued on. Scenting was good in some
of the terrace hills and fields for a change and we had some nice runs across the harvested fields.

The pack managed to run us to some government reserve land where we do not have permission
to hunt so we had to break them off ( just a little inside the govt land ) and take them back to where we were allowed to hunt. Wouldn't it be nice to get permission to 100% of your hunt country so you would never have to break off a chase when you finally get on one? This land had quite a few holes - had to be careful riding there - not sure what makes all them but they sure give the foxes and critters plenty of places to go to ground.

It was great that the hounds were giving better voice today - they were a bit low key last week, I enjoyed listening to them , never ceases to amaze me how hounds in the distance almost sound like church bells on the wind. Well hey, I went to church Christmas Eve so it was OK to play hookey today right?

Our last run took us to within a mile of the kennels so the huntsman decided to call it a short day - ( 12 miles on the GPS) so we walked them in. We finished with all but 1/2 couple on , the caboose was probably just over the hill - there seems to always be one that likes to go
down in the creek bed that runs near the kennels ( no way I am going down to get it ) and then take that route back home. Once you get them all put away he comes up outside the fence with that hey how about me look....

Now I just have to walk my retreiver and then I will be able to come back in and finish warming up. I have some nice rare left over Prime Rib from Christmas dinner that is calling my name ( ooh those vegans are really missing it ) .

[Foxhunt4me]

There was a good discussion on FOL about the duties of a whipper in. If you access the archives you can most likely find them . I saved some of them but lost them in a hard drive crash , I think I have them out on backup media but not enough time to go find them.

I had one of those days whipping in yesterday that make you feel good - I seemed to be in the right place at the right time - even though I was out of sight of the huntsman over a hill etc. when the hounds came into view I was in the right place ! When those deer came out of that covert I had picked the right place. I think it is an intuitive thing - you start to know how this particular pack works, how the land is situated and where the deer might be and how they move.

You learn where the coyotes hang out. You learn places to avoid ! You also have to learn the huntsman's style - some are more deliberate with the hounds, some let them work more freely and some kind of drag the pack covert to covert.

I whipped in in the past for a different hunt and the pack behaved differently than my current hunt on a lot of occasions. This pack has a group that are straight line runners and when they check stay pretty much on line and in a small area, there is a group that will make a circle around the others looking for scent but they always come back, if you have patience they do a good job of checking out an area when you lose a scent.

We have a lot of new entry and are in a rebuilding year. The pack has been trimmed down to eliminate some problem hounds and a new core group is being worked on before the huntsman brings any more draftees in or breeds - we have no puppies this year for this reason.

We drafted out a hound last week to a local night hunter for use on raccoons as he was just too independent of the pack but too nice of a hound not to be hunted by somebody. Hope he does well.

Well we are still in decent temperatures have to enjoy them while we can January here is usually bitter cold and the same with the first 2 weeks of February. We usually get some decent weather in March but the ground in the spring is usually too sloppy or frozen - right now we have not had much rain and no snow so the footing is good - once you have the snow melt the ground is kind of a mess and no fun to ride on.

Sadly, we have probably already had all the best hunting days of the year already.

[SeaShe]

What is FOL?

[armandh]

not too cold today, maybe too warm. from the kennels we went places even the most senior among us had never been. fairly normal following the branch down from the lake on the club grounds almost to Darden creek, but behind painted wings' farm we cut across and started following the Darden up stream. it goes into another one of our fixtures, but we were off the usual pathways, finally the game and hounds circled back. all in all a beautiful but slow working day.

[Foxhunt4me]

Holy smokes - it was 65 degrees in Nebraska yesterday - fine day for a ride - the bad news is that we are supposed to have freezing rain tomorrow AM !

[armandh]

looks like we will miss the Ice and sleet but
with 1" predicted rain for tonight and another "1 for tomorrow way wet!

[wateryglen]

Oh Gawd! I can't believe it but I must be getting really old.....I didn't hunt NY day because it was TOO WARM! Near 70 is too weird for Va. this time of year. Very slick & deep muddy...I bagged it. Woulda sweat like a big dog. Was trying to avoid another clip on the huntingmonster. Has anybody else ever not gone cuz it was TOO WARM!? I must be outa my mind. Wah, wah, wah (whine alert)...where's my cheese & crackers?

[Painted Wings]

It's been raining buckets here since Sunday. Hunting cancelled today and is at risk for Saturday. Way too muddy. Makes me wish for cold. At least when the ground is frozen they don't do so much damage.

[armandh]

last I heard 5.5 inches of rain over 3 days, but most of the freezing stuff went just north of us. ugly footing
it is in weather like this that my horse gained his nick name "the excavator" by launching 4 larges clods of mud with each stride.

[J Swan]

I didn't hunt last Saturday or Tuesday because it was too hot. Took advantage of the nice weather and tore down old fences and positioned some stuff for the new barn building project from hell.

Said to myself - I'll hunt Thursday. Meet has been cancelled. Horse is antsy, I'm antsy, pastures are sodden, we're all miserable.....

whine whine whine whine.....

[armandh]

aw crap: this weekend hunt also canceled. way wet. havent had a dry day in weeks.

[Tupa]

J if you ever need an extra hand ripping stuff up I would be happy to lend it to you! Be a great chance to learn a bit about how you place and maintain farm fixtures (of wich I know nada). Had a great lesson with HR on Sunday. how are the bassets? Has been to cold and wet for me to venture forth http://chronicleforums.com/images/custom_smilies/lol.gif

[promlightshine]

we are hunting in MA tomorrow (sunday). The weather is supposed to be 31 degrees (high). Our territory is an appleorchard and lots of woods and swamp. In our area we are more likely to view coyote as they are overrunning our sprawling state of MA.

I'm ready to roll in the am-I love toe warmers and my georgeous standardbred. We whips (she and I ) are ready to roll!

[armandh]

aw-crap single digit temps after a near record high, but not as bad as the floods of '93

[Painted Wings]

The club hasnt' hunted since January 1 due to weather. I went out to help walk hounds last night. Since they haven't hunted we went about twice as far as the normal walk. Gread fun running in my snow boots in 16 deg weather. Actually it was great to get out.

The Huntsman is about to crawl out of her skin. We've got her on 24 hr suicide watch.

[J Swan]

Go the distance - we're hunting tomorrow. But Lordy - it better dry up some today. It's going to be very yucky and COLD. I'll be able to get the truck and trailer out of my place - but I don't know if I'll be able to get back in and turn around. Too much mud.

My back pastures were under several feet of water the other day - but the Run went down by the end of the day. Was going to ride anyway but feared we'd need snorkels if the water decided to rise fast.

Next season I'll make sure I hunt as much as possible before Christmas.

[J Swan]

I woke up this am and said screw it. Frozen snot on my face just isn't attractive.

I think my hunt is still going out - but I'm sure it's going to be a VERY short day.

Horse wouldn't come out of his cozy stall this am. I left him and the goats with some fresh hay and water and went back in for another cup of coffee.

I don't mind the cold so much - it's the WIND. It just sucks the life right out of you.

[armandh]

I think the single digit blast of Canadian jet stream is moving east and you are welcome to it. finally temps above freezing. I am about out of everything. If the ice in our drive melts the feed store's truck may come again. there is work to be done. wed 1/19 others are going today, not me, still too icy. but getting nicer. these better temps are moving your way.

[armandh]

no hunting today 50 MPH winds producing frigid wind chills from freezing temps.
we were scheduled to go here (http://terraserver-usa.com/image.aspx?T=1&S=13&Z=15&X=436&Y=2636&W=3)

[J Swan]

We're on our way to a foot of snow. I'm getting in some good birdwatching though.

My mom called to tell me how cruel I was to have my horse and goats out in the snow. Said horse and goats are all out grazing quietly.....

[Foxhunt4me]

Ouch we dropped 30 degrees overnight to Zero and had 50 MPH wind gusts last night - today is sunny but cold. No hunting.

At least we didnt get the snow ( not that we couldnt use the moisture though ) .

[Painted Wings]

Hunt cancelled today due to wind advisory. 30+ mph winds with gusts over 50 and 15 deg. Temp. It was a nasty day.

[armandh]

temps look good for taking the ferry to hunt here Wed. (http://terraserver-usa.com/image.aspx?t=1&s=12&x=878&y=5391&z=15&w=1) if it is dry enough.

[armandh]

too wet...rained all last night
bummer
of course without lots of rain or snow the summers get way dry.
a mixed blessing.

[Elghund2]

We'll be going today. Its been dry for days. Last weeks snow has melted away and the temp's are supposed to be around 50. It will be the first time out for since new years eve.

[Elghund2]

Well, it was a goof day of hunting until we threw a shoe. We hit right away and had a long run. We needed it as I hadn't hunted in six weeks and my TB was running like a freight train downhill with no brakes. After the first run, he was back to his normal self.

We never had a checks to speak of. It was just one run after another.

The footing was anything from partially frozen to deep slop. We came back with everything covered in mud.

Is was great to be back out again.

[Painted Wings]

We have the slop in Missouri too but hunted today anyway despite prediction of sleet, ice balls, and rain. Moved the fixture up an hour because it was all supposed to start mid-morning. Had a great hunt. The entire field viewed a large grey coyote and watched him jump a coop. We got ice pelted but it was all worth it.

[Risk-Averse Rider]

We got rained out for tomorrow here in the "desert"... aka tropical rain forest.

Phooey.

[armandh]

sorry i couldnt be there (http://www.pbase.com/lesliegra/hunting_feb_19&page=all)
looks like you got in to the back of the weldon springs area.

[Painted Wings]

Actually we were over on Callaway Branch headed toward the Daniel Boone Home. It get's really rough down there. It was rather exciting navigating that old rock road and low water bridges with the hound truck and trailer.