September 2, 2022
The Nolichucky Coyote
It was the first hunt of the 2016 – 2017 season for the Tennessee Valley Hunt in East Tennessee. I never saw this coyote come out of the corn. I had been listening to the hounds just ROAR around in that corn for an hour, when I saw this beautiful tweed coat against that landscape. I wanted to get photos of the coat with the Cumberland Mountains behind it, so I took a burst of about 5 photos. I never saw the coyote through the lens as I took the photographs of the coat. Unbeknownst to me, the coyote had photo bombed the shot.
My Dream Job
I have respected Norman Fine for so many years, and when he offered me Foxhunting Life, I jumped at the chance. I started my foxhunting career late in life, about 20 years ago. I discovered that I loved the thrill of the chase, the challenge of the ride, the history of the sport, and the communion with the outdoors. Most especially, I love to travel to other hunts. And I love to write and photograph those trips. I’ve been taking at least one cross country trip a year to foxhunt.
Verdict of Guilt Is Reversed
Last year, a senior UK foxhunter and board member of the British MFHA, Mark Hankinson, was found guilty in Westminster Magistrates' Court of contravening the despised Hunting Act of 2004. He was also ordered to pay the court £3,500 in fine and fee. The deputy chief Magistrate concluded that he was "clearly encouraging the mirage of trail laying to act as cover for old-fashioned illegal hunting."
The case involved the question of whether or not Hankinson, in a webinar seen by about one hundred hunt leaders, promoted ways for hunts to covertly hunt illegally by making it appear they were trail hunting.
This year, a court heard his appeal and considered whether Hankinson's words were intentionally encouraging an offense. The court decided to the contrary, reversed the original verdict, and Hankinson was adjudged not guilty.
Hankinson explained he was referring to the practice of laying dummy trails to fool saboteurs.
Remembrance of Dr. Melvyn Lawrence Haas
Dr. Melvyn Lawrence Haas (1940--2022) Dr. Melvyn Haas, ex-MFH, died August 27, 2022 in Aiken, South Carolina. He was eighty-two. Dr. Haas was a founding Master of Foxhounds with Whiskey Road Fox Hounds.
Dr. Haas was born March 16, 1940, in New York, New York to the late Adolph and Manya Haas. He received his undergraduate degree from Cornell University and M.D. from the NYU Grossman School of Medicine in 1965. He moved to Aiken, South Carolina in 1972 and practiced Neurology for over fifty years. He was a faculty member at Augusta University and was affiliated with Aiken Regional Medical Center. He was dedicated to his many patients. He was a devoted husband, father, grandfather, and brother.
