Tipton

Hello all my hearty fox hunting peeps. We were true Fox Hunters this weekend. We could have been the Pony Express, too  “Neither snow, nor rain nor sleet nor wind shall stop us from drinking, riding and hunting.”

Friday we blew into Tipton with 50 MPH winds pushing us from Bennington. There was a small group hunting, which included 7 members from Camargo Hunt that have come to enjoy Tom and Lyse’s hospitality.

It was windy and cold and there were a million deer out and about. It’s the rut and they’re all out trying to get laid. We saw more dead deer on the side of the road than we saw dead raccoons.

The hounds were good and ignored the deer-which was amazing considering how many there were. The gound was saturated and slippery, so the riding was tricky at times.It was snowing these hard pellets and at one time we were galloping to stay up with the hounds (I was assisting as a whip) and my face was getting pummeled. I finally put my hand up to my face to shield it from those painful pellets.  The coyotes were smart and were hanging inside their dens having a snooze.

Friday night is the meet, greet and gorge at Tom and Lyse’s. The food is varied and amazing.

Saturday starts out icky, but the sun fought it’s way out from behind the clouds, the wind died down and what a great day we had! The hounds were fabulous! Professional whip Bre Kruger, she has amazing vision, spotted 2 coyotes and watched the lead hounds give a great chase! I like riding across the open fields and watching the hounds work, looking for the coyotes to jump up and run like the wind. Riding through the trees and brush can limit your viewing, but the sounds of the hounds speaking as it echos through the trees is so beautiful! Huntsman Dave is blowing his horn and encouraging the hounds with his voice. You can see the hounds working through the trees. Black, white, tan against the backdrop of the fall foilage is so beautiful.

I was privileged to be able to pocket whip on Saturday and Sunday. So Fun!!!  Bre watched two big deer come blasting out of the forest into the open field and a few seconds later out comes a coyote! The hounds were true and stayed on the coyote line. They lost the line, but circled back working and picked up again. Once again, Bre spotted a coyote (not sure if it was same one) at the end of the Runway.

After 1.5 hours or so, Huntsman Dave took the hounds he had with him back to the trailer and we went back out the collect the remaining hounds that were still hunting. Whip Catherine Dargin and Whipper-in-training, Hannah Hamiliton were still out in the fields keeping up with the hounds.

Our whips are amazing! We are so fortunate to have such dedicated members. Bre Kruger ( she does a PERFECT job on the radio keeping everyone in the loop, Jubilee Miller, Catherine Dargin, MFH Dave Keffeler. Helen Smith wasn’t there is weekend, which why I was filling in.

 

 

 

We all convened at Jim and Susan McNutt’s home for some delicious chili, salad, cake, homemade spinach artichoke dip. After dinner, Susan put together 44 to go lunches for Sunday.

Sunday was SOOOOO WINDY.  We started with the wind in our faces, might as well take it while we’re still fresh and excited about hunting. We headed into the forest and got a break from the weather, the hounds broke on a coyote and we had a fun chase through the trees. They had a loss. We hunted some more and I saw a beautiful bald eagle fly up and it was so close I could see it’s talons. So much beauty in the world.

 

We had a whoopee and then headed for the trailers and home. The end….I’m starting to ramble

This weekend we are hunting at Cumberland on Saturday and the kennels on Sunday.

Carine and Indie