Hunt Reports

On International Women’s Day, Wagner’s “Flight of the Valkyries” played from a boombox at the meet as the hounds lead the hunt away to start the day. Jumping four-plank fences as they came, led Olympian Boyd Martin, the only man out that day, over 120 women enjoyed a great day in timber country putting three foxes to ground.

Here are two hunt reports from Harriet McFadden, a member of the Longreen Foxhounds. The kennels are located just outside of Memphis in Tennessee, but all the fixtures are located in Mississippi. I have had the pleasure of hunting with Longreen and Susan Walker, MFH and Huntsman. Her Penn-Marydel foxhounds are some of the finest in the country. Enjoy!

September 25-30, 2023
Imagine riding in the vast prairie lands of the Flint Hills where you can see for miles, watching hounds go flat out in full cry after a coyote. It’s an absolute adrenaline rush. Add to the prairie dry conditions, a steady breeze, a blazing sun, colorful wildflowers, migrating Monarch butterflies, and large flying grasshoppers with a few discernable landmarks to guide you. And your favorite foxhunting friends from sixteen different hunts, and you have the best week ever!

 Meath Foxhounds huntsman John Henry and whipper-in Barry Finnegan with the hosts of the meet, Charlie Noell owner of Ardbraccan, and Serina Williams Ellis at Ardbraccan House . Photo by Noel Mullins.

Noel Mullins gives a hunt report from last November about a meet of the Meath Foxhounds at Ardbraccan House in County Meath, Ireland.

Gavin Shorten, huntsman on the Tipperary Foxhounds, and James ODonnell meet at the Rock of Cashel. Photo Catherine Power. 

Here is a wonderful hunt report of the Tipp’s this past February.

There are many special days on the sporting calendar, but this meet of the Tipp’s at the foot of the Rock of Cashel promised to be all of the above and more besides. In addition, it was going to be their hunt ball night, the first ever to be held in the newly refurbished 5-star Cashel Palace. The ball was a sell-out with all 220 tickets sold and several on the reserves hoping they might get balloted in before they went to post.

According to local legends, the Rock of Cashel originated from the Devil's Bit, when St. Patrick banished Satan from a cave, resulting in the Rock's landing in Cashel. Not since 1647 during the confederate wars when the rock was besieged by troops under Murrough O'Brien, 1st Earl of Inchiquin, was there so much mounted activity on this day at the foot of the famed Rock of Cashel.

 Dude and Bre Kruger hacking the hounds back to the meet. Photo by Traci Duckworth.

A great huntsman impacts not only their hunt but members of other hunts. Sometimes this is through breeding their hounds, inviting guests to hunt, or attending hound shows and performance trials. In the case of Dave “Dude” Kruger, it was the Burwell.

North Hills Hunt has hosted an invitational hunt in Burwell, Nebraska, for something like 50 years. Little more than a slightly larger dot on a map, Burwell is known for three things: Nebraska’s Big Rodeo, the Calamus Reservoir, and foxhunting. It’s centrally located and easy to get to (if you don’t mind section roads through farmland), so the invitational weekends attract members from many hunts across the West. The country is only hunted 3-4 weekends a year so the coyotes are fresh and it’s always a good time. It is breathtakingly beautiful, and the weather is guaranteed to be interesting no matter the time of year.

 

The Vixen Meet Fields. Photo by John Wilkoski.

I jumped at the chance when I was asked to join the committee to plan and execute the third annual Mr. Stewart’s Cheshire Vixen Meet in Pennsylvania. I was thrilled to be on a hunt committee for the first time and had some big ideas brewing almost immediately. Luckily, my fellow committee members had the same big ideas to make this Vixen Meet bigger and better than ever before. The goal to make our Vixen Meet a destination, rather than just a one-day event, drove us to think big and think fabulous.  We rallied the troops from our hunt community to pull off such a big endeavor. 

Belle Meade Hound Trials 2023. Photo by Allison Howell.

Here is an account from the guest huntsman of the recent Performance Trial hosted by Belle Meade in Georgia. There were nine packs that competed: Belle Meade Hunt (GA), Bridlespur Hunt (MO), Bull Run Hunt (VA), Goodwin Hounds (NC), Goshen Hounds (MD), Mill Creek Hunt (IL), Midland Fox Hounds (GA), Rolling Rock Hunt (PA), and Tennessee Valley Hunt (TN). Steven Thomas, MFH is the Huntsman for the Fort Leavenworth Hunt in Kansas and had the pleasure of being the guest huntsman of the combined pack. Read below to hear what this huntsman thought of the weekend.