Hounds may hunt in a pack; but there are always a few that stand out from the crowd.

The foxhounds stream out of the woods in full cry, following the coyote line. The huntsman gallops behind, cheering them on. Then they come to a road. Some of the hounds sweep across the road, still speaking. Others falter at the road’s edge, recasting themselves on the line, only to stop again at the edge of the road.

The huntsman watches carefully. It is the young hounds that have crossed the road. Now, without the rest of the pack, they stop speaking, having overrun the line. When he calls them back, they return to the road but have lost their focus.

Then there is a lone, piercing cry. A single hound is speaking about 50 feet down the road and heading back toward the woods.

The huntsman wonders if the hound is just running heel. Then there is that deep cry once again. The huntsman smiles. That voice is unmistakable. He cheers the pack onto the new line, and they fly to it, once again picking up the line and filling the woods with their cry. The coyote has simply pulled one of his many tricks–reversing on the road, where the scent is poor.

The huntsman at that moment had a decision to make. Should he trust that lone hound? It all depends on the relationship between that huntsman and that hound. While a well-matched pack might look like clones to an outsider, they are as individual as family members to the huntsman. And while he might be slow to trust a hotheaded youngster, he has learned, over the years, to trust some veterans absolutely.

Which Hound Is Your Favorite?
Asking huntsmen to name their favorite hounds puts them in an uncomfortable spot. In answer to the question, most huntsmen will echo Sally McLaughlin, MFH of Long Run Hounds (Ky.), who simply said, “I like them all.”

Jim Nance, huntsman and MFH of the Juan Tomas Hounds (N.M.), said asking a huntsman about a favorite hound is like asking which kid you like best. A huntsman with a good pack, he said, is “fond of every hound.”

Every member of a good pack serves an important function. Even a great hound cannot work alone. Like a business office, a sports team, or an orchestra, a pack of foxhounds needs a variety of skills and the ability to work together. Some hounds are good at sorting out a line in tough conditions. Some need help. Some are patient. Some aren’t. Some are good showmen and ambassadors when guests show up at the kennels. Others can’t be bothered if it isn’t hunting. Some are slow starters. Some catch on instantly.

Some are clever. Some are tenacious. Some are tough as nails.

It’s the balance and interplay of these different skills and personalities that makes a pack dynamic. If you change one or two hounds in a pack, you can alter that dynamic dramatically. Like guests at a cocktail party, if you change the line-up, you change the party.

So foxhunting is a group sport, in the pack as well as in the field. A good pack hunts together because the group is balanced and harmonious. If you have two hounds that are much faster than the others, they lose the rest of the pack, and lose the momentum and energy they should give each other. If you have a hound that dwells behind, he gets separated from the group. Even if he finds a line, there is no other hound there to honor it, so the effort is wasted.

It’s easy to understand, then, why huntsmen are reluctant to point to one hound as the star. However, there are, in fact, some hounds that stand out, and after the initial disclaimer, huntsmen are generally happy to talk about the very special hounds they’ve been lucky enough to work with in their career.

Honesty
A huntsman has a difficult job. He has to communicate with a pack of hounds that were bred and trained to hunt. He has to be able to cast the hounds in a particular spot, and then encourage or discourage the pack from running a given line.

One of the most important qualities of the very special hound is absolute honesty. The huntsman must know that the line is fox or coyote, not deer or other forbidden game. Judy Bush, former MFH of Gully Ridge Hunt (Ohio), said that Remus, an American Foxhound, was 100 percent dependable.

“He taught me, ” she said. “He never lied. If Remus spoke, I cheered him on. I knew he was right.”

That honesty was clear to the rest of the pack as well. When Remus spoke, the other hounds honored him immediately. “A deer could walk in front of him and he’d look at it in disgust,” Bush continued.

Once the huntsman has this certainty, the rest is fun. Linda Knox-McLean, MFH of the Aiken Hounds (S.C.), said that Namon, her favorite hound, was absolutely honest and true. Namon, named for Namon Corley, the man who laid the dragline for the hunt for 37 years, was always in the front of the pack and speaking on the line.

In a drag hunt performance trial, Namon won, with twice the points of any other hound. A natural leader, Namon was recognized by the rest of the pack as top dog and by the huntsman as a “really, really neat guy.”

Enthusiasm
Sometimes we’re lucky enough to work with people who are so enthusiastic about their work that they infect others with their positive energy. That’s true of certain foxhounds as well. Lilla Mason, of the Iroquois Hunt (Ky.), talked about Bonfire, a very special hound whose enthusiasm was infectious.

Bonfire had so much speed and energy that she was just “fun to be around,” Mason said. If it was a bad scenting day, she would come back to the huntsman, cock her head as if to say, “Sorry–it’s going to be a bad day” and then go right back to work. That same enthusiasm comes through in the hound shows, where she shows very well, always happy to work. “She loves everything about life,” Mason said.

The mark of a very special hound is its ability to communicate the wishes of the huntsman to the rest of the pack. Jim Nance, jt.-MFH and huntsman of Juan Tomas Hounds (N.M.) said that Folsom, a hound named for the small town in New Mexico, could understand Nance’s words and body language.

“There are just some who are translators between you and the hounds,” he said. Just talking to Folsom or making eye contact could influence the whole pack. “When I talk to him, he’ll pick everybody else’s spirits up.”

Mason said that Bonfire “knows what I’m thinking. She reads my body language. Some hounds lose interest in the huntsman when they’re hunting, but not her. And she’s always right back to me when the horn blows.”

Epp Wilson, MFH of the Belle Meade Hunt (Ga.), said that the connections the huntsman makes with his hounds in the kennels–sitting with them, talking to them, caring about them–forms the famous, invisible thread that the huntsman needs in the hunting field.

Talent
Sometimes, the very special hound has very special talent, and that talent imbues the whole pack with extra energy. Sally McLaughlin described Sage as a very close-turning hound that sticks on the line “like Gorilla glue.”

Sage’s daughter Sadie is also tough and tenacious. “She knows she’s good,” McLaughlin noted.

Another bitch, Posey, was famous as the tough queen foxhound. When she was stricken with a tick-borne disease last summer and became semi-paralyzed, everyone thought her career was over. But Posey wasn’t done yet. She overcame the disease, worked her way back to her normal standard of excellence “hunting like a fiend”, and won the entered, listed bitch class at the Penn-Marydel Hound Show (Pa.) in May.

C. Martin Wood III, huntsman and MFH of Live Oak Hounds (Fla.), said that personality and courage define a great hound. Drummer, one of his favorites, had a fabulous voice.

His big, deep, distinctive roar was easy to recognize. “You learn to listen for that,” Wood said. “You learn to trust it.” The rest of the pack also recognized that roar and would fly to Drummer to honor his find.

“He wasn’t afraid of anything. He was not huge, but he was beautifully balanced, with great presence, and a wonderful cold nose. His blood runs through every pedigree in the kennels. It’s also used in England,” said Wood.

Drummer died one week before his 10th birthday. Three days before his death, he was out hunting coyote on a very hot September day, right in the thick of the action.

Drummer also loved to show. That’s not always the case with very talented hunters. Some great field hounds hate the show ring. Epp Wilson’s favorite, Shamrock, was famous for her ability to get lines going on a tough day, and “pulled my fat out of the fire more times than I can count,” he said. But she had no use for the show ring.

But in the regular pack, in a joint pack, or in a field trial, Shamrock excelled. One day, a coyote grabbed her face, tearing the skin. This trauma would be enough to put most hounds off hunting coyote, at least for a while. Not Shamrock. The very next day, she was out hunting, looking for more. At 9 years old, she won top points in a performance trial.

History And Star Quality
“The best hounds are the ones who’ve been with you the longest,” said Wilson. It takes time to build a close relationship, and many of the hounds that the huntsmen mentioned have a long history of working for and with that person.

Namon proved his worth over seven seasons–always honest, always in front and speaking, “very much top dog,” said Knox-McLean.

Sage, the close-turning Penn-Marydel, will be 6 in October. The deep-voiced Drummer hunted for nine years. Bonfire is 8. “I’ve been hunting with her all this time,” Mason said. “She knows what I’m thinking.”

And perhaps that time together is exactly what’s necessary to change individual hounds into a pack, and some individuals into stars.

A huntsman who knows and trusts his hounds can have fun on a hunt day. A huntsman with a very young or inexperienced pack can only hope for the best.

Like some horses, some hounds just know they’re good. They carry that self-assurance over into everything they do, and they change the chemistry of the pack. They can teach the youngsters how to balance instinct and discipline. They can make a difficult scenting day a good hunting day, and make a good day a fabulous one. Sometimes, as these stars age, they get a little quirky and independent.

And, yes, sometimes they’re spoiled. But, after years of honest, enthusiastic effort, it seems they’ve earned a few extra biscuits. The bond that has evolved between these hounds and their huntsman is close and personal. They are, as Wilson noted, the special ones, “the ones that love you back.”

Caitlin Rollins