Question:
On a visit to Aiken, South Carolina in February, I had a day with the Whiskey Road Foxhounds. The pack consisted of mostly un-entered puppies. I’m sure the huntsman had his good reasons, but I found it unusual. Why would he do that?
Jef Murdock
Great Barrington, Massachusetts
Answer:
FHL went directly to the horse’s (in this case, the huntsman’s) mouth. Joseph Hardiman is an experienced professional huntsman. He emigrated from Ireland to the States in 1984, hunted hounds at Rolling Rock (PA) from 1985 to 1998, at Chagrin Valley Hunt (OH) for seven seasons, and at Whiskey Road for the last four seasons. Here’s Joseph’s answer to Jef Murdock’s question:
“It’s only because of the South.”
“What?” said FHL.
“The South!” repeated Hardiman. “We have deer season down here for four-and-a-half months starting in August. [With the leasing of hunting rights], deer hunting is big, big business. If I take puppies out with the pack during that season, and puppies take off on a deer, everybody is pissed to high heaven. As a result, I don’t cubhunt.
“The safest thing to do is wait until later in the season when there’s nothing going on, and you don’t piss off anyone. I enter puppies in the springtime. Nobody else does it that way but me. That’s all there is to it.
“We hunt on a Thursday and a Sunday, and I try to go out on my own with puppies on Tuesdays. The day that Mr. Murdock is speaking of was our last Thursday meet, after the season’s closing weekend. On that day, I had maybe four or five older hounds out with maybe eight younger hounds.
“Down here in the south we’re ruled by guns. Talk about gun laws! [Chuckle] Down here, if you don’t have a gun, there’s no law.”
Does Joseph’s predicament resonate with any other huntsmen? Send us your comments.