l-r: huntsman Chris Cerrone (hunting horn by Bounty), first whipper-in Annabelle Whitticar,
honorary whippers-in Ainsley Colgan (7) and Sam Homeyer (9), kennelman Jean Simpson with
Old Dominion hound puppies Feagan (front), Febe (behind left), Fever (behind right) on walk
Betsy Parker photo
What better way to introduce summer campers to foxhunting than by bringing a foxhound puppy or two on the trail ride with the other dogs and then writing it up in the form of a formal hunt report? Good for the puppies to be exposed to all the sights and sounds in the woods and good for the campers who have a fun ride and learn about hunting. All it takes is a multi-talented camp director like Betsy Parker. -Ed.
July 24, 2013, 7:30 am meet at Hunter’s Rest (site of the old Old Dominion Hounds kennels), Flint Hill, Virginia.
Air temp 71 degrees at first cast. BP 29.73 and rising. Breeze variable 3-6 mph from the east/northeast. Fine overcast, cool and cloudy.
Staff: Huntsman Chris Cerrone, first whipper-in Annabelle Whitticar, amateur whippers-in Ainsley Colgan and Sam Homeyer, kennelman Jean Simpson
Hunted hounds: two couple. Old Dominion Feagan, Hunters Rest Mel, Nap and Sneak. (Old Dominion Febe and Fever were left in kennels.)
The pack moved off promptly at 7:29 am from kennels, drawing east toward the Jordan River. Whips rode wide to keep young entry on track as the field jogged along the “Aiken Line” and followed Linden Lane and Redbud Lane to first covert.
Hounds drew the brush pile in the Butterfly Meadow, huntsman sending them in with horn and voice. Whips were positioned to either side of the open meadow to watch for the hunted fox to break covert.
Drawing blank, the huntsman lifted the hounds to find higher ground at Rust’s at the end of Linden Lane. Hounds drew the back porch, then the field checked at the top of the hill overlooking The Peak, Mt. Marshall, and Skyline Drive. Hounds, young entry in particular, were obedient and sat patiently awaiting the next draw.
The huntsman sent his whips for’rard to skirt either side of the Twin Barns, hoping to find game in the brush or under the trash piles, but, again, covert was blank and hounds were lifted for a final draw at the Pond.
Hounds soon were in full cry, all-on, crossing the wooded dam! The huntsman, though, quickly recognized “Riot”—a very surprised and temporarily inconvenienced bullfrog—and called hounds back, though they did plunge into the pond after their quarry.
The pack was all-on for the long hack home, back up Linden Lane and in through the back of Hunter’s Rest.
ODH Feagan returned to her stable home and kennelman Jean Simpson requested that she “kennel up” which she did on her own.
Betsy Burke Parker, Recording Secretary
(l-r): whipper-in Sam Homeyer on Farnley Contact, huntsman Chris Cerrone on Ballycormac
(ex-Master’s horse), whipper-in Ainsley Colgan on Unexplainable (El Prado multi-winner
on flat and over hurdles). Pack members ODH Febe and Hunter’s Rest Sneak
(Jack Russell terrier) / Betsy Parker photo
July 26, 2013.
Meet at 7:15 a.m., Hunter’s Rest (the old Old Dominion Hounds’ kennels), Flint Hill, Virginia.
Temperature at first cast 61. BP 30.02 and rising. Humidity 80%. Wind SE .001 mph.
Staff: Huntsman Chris Cerrone on Ballycormac, first whipper-in Ainsley Colgan on Unexplainable, amateur whipper-in Sam Homeyer on Farnley Contact
Hunted hounds: two couple. Old Dominion Febe (Warrenton Hunt Fencer ex OD Daylight), Hunter’s Rest Melon Collie, Napoleon, and Sneak.
The huntsman hacked hounds, staff and field along the feeder creek to the Jordan River, noting with dismay the completely still air. Any breeze at all was from the south. As hounds neared the turn at the river, a big Haunch jumped up from the cattle field and bounded ahead of the pack. Sight hounds Melon Collie and Napoleon locked on and took off but scent hound ODH Febe—under the firm ‘Ware Haunch command of the huntsman—held steady and remained with staff, even when a baby fawn also jumped up, ran into the American wire fence, then ducked under and dashed just a few feet from Febe’s nose. Febe held steady and garnered praise from huntsman and staff.
Staff, pack and field trotted up Redbud Lane to the Butterfly Field, where the huntsman sent his whips quickly to each flank. Hounds drew the brush pile thoroughly but did not find.
Huntsman lifted the pack and staff fell in behind to canter up to the Linden Lane intersection. There, Febe cast herself on the dirt road, feathering well and flattening from tip to tail as she worked a faint night-line. One of the whips entreated Febe to “get to ‘im” as the pack continued to Rust’s house.
Hounds again cast themselves, this time in the Enclosed Vegetable Garden. One of the whips noted that, indeed, a “weekenders’ unattended veggie garden was sure to be full of rabbits” which, in turn, would attract a brace or more of fox. Though Febe worked hard between the kale and the bean patch, scent was already high due to the rising BP and warming sunshine.
The huntsman blew the hounds to the Twin Barns, whips again fanning out to watch for breaking game. Febe and Nap worked hard under the old Kubota in the lean-to but drew blank.
The field trotted briskly to the Pond covert which has been so full of “game” recently, but the still air gave credence to the old saying about rising air pressure (and temp) and bad scenting days. Hounds didn’t as much find a Peep Frog, and their interest was beginning to visibly flag.
The huntsman allowed field, staff and pack a “lark” of a gallop back up Linden Lane and decreed the day a blank.
It was all-on back to kennels. The Field Secretary served scrambled eggs on toast to celebrate the birth of yet another chick, which the whippers-in discovered when they dashed back up to the house after setting-fair horses and hounds. This was the fourth of possibly as many as twenty-one in the incubator in the farmhouse kitchen.
Noshing on the homegrown eggs moved the Field Secretary entreat the huntsman, once again, to maintain pressure on the local fox population around Hunter’s Rest and Old Kennels to keep her yard-flock safe from Charles James. The huntsman said he’d do his best.
Betsy Burke Parker, Field Secretary
Posted July 28, 2013
Click to learn more about Hunter’s Rest Farm.