Lennox Farm - Saturday, January 24

Hunt members, horses, and 14 couple of hounds gathered at the meet on Saturday morning. We moved off at 9:00am looking forward to great sport.

Fred took the pack to the first covert. In less than 15 minutes the hounds had spooked a grey fox out of hiding and into the view of whipper-in Elaine. The hounds burst out of the covert speaking, and raced down the trail to where the fox was viewed. They ran down through the timbered woods, pushing on around the pond and back toward us. We fell in behind the pack while they searched for scent in a patch of woods by an old barn. Maverick
then lead the pack excitedly across the next couple field and back into the trees. This run lasted about 45 minutes before the pack lost the line and moved on to hunt for another fox willing to give chase!

The hounds worked hard the rest of the morning. We came in with 13 ½ couple of hounds; Vacuum
was picked up that afternoon.

The pictures from our game camera on Lennox Farm show it is home to one or more grey foxes and a couple coyotes!

Lennox Farm – 1:30pm Sunday, January 4, 2009

It was a cold and wet morning; according to Frank it would be another “Super Change” day. 15 couple of hounds came out. Faust
was equipped with his new “technology,” and we were off.

We started hunting near the trailers. The hounds snorted through a briar patch when Vapor

burst out! He was hot on a rabbit, just feet in front of the big dog! The rabbit
raced in a small circle and shot back into the briars. Vapor was beat by the little bunny.

Unfortunately, the hounds were bored by the slow day. They tried to provide more excitement by running the lines of their fellow foxhounds. We were out for almost 4 hours before getting back to the meet with 14 ½ couple of hounds; Primrose
was found later.

New Year’s Day Party

By 7:00pm the Judy's house was populated with the friendly faces of our Sedgefield Hunt members! We enjoyed a covered dish dinner and wonderful conversations.

Shrimp Toast:
1 small jar of mayo
8 oz of cooked, diced shrimp
1 teaspoon of dill (dried or fresh)
2 tablespoons of green onion, chopped
8 oz of Swiss cheese

Mix all of the ingredients and spread a tablespoon or more on thinly sliced baguette or white cocktail bread.

Place on pan and bake at 375 for 15 minutes (or until melted).

Enjoy!

New Year’s Day Hunt Plainfield Road – 11:00am Thursday, January 1, 2009

Sedgefield Hunt members arrived at the meet on Plainfield Road at 11:00am (I’m sure the time was scheduled for all our party animals up all night on New Year’s Eve). 15 ½ couple of hounds, including a few new and young entry - Budweiser ,
Nimrod ,
and Keeper - jumped out of the trailer. They looked determined to start this new year off showing great sport, and they did!

The hunt moved off to the first covert across the road. We hunted over to the pond, across the dam, up the wood line, and into the big field. The day was going along at a slow pace until we came closer to the gas line.

At the gas line the hounds gave tongue and were off! The field galloped behind their Masters, Fred and Rich, up the gas line and into a trail to the left. The pack crossed the creek, they ran parallel to it until turning right and crossing back over. We waited, once back out on the gas line, for the pack coming toward us. They worked the line, moving parallel to the road, for about 10-15 minutes. When the hounds came up to Plainfield Road and their noses hit the hot pavement their cry kicked up to another level! The pack raced, roaring toward the bottom! We galloped along a ridge in the woods looking down on our hounds, who (all but Budweiser)
jumped enthusiastically in and out of the creek following their lead hounds, Photographer
and Maverick ,
in pursuit of their quarry; Budweiser
has not quite been convinced he will not drown in the few inch deep water.

We stopped on the power line beside a large briar patch. The hounds worked hard through the thick briars (I can say from experience: it was not easy getting through that stuff!). We were waiting between the wood line and briars when a reddish-grey strike shot by Fred and Pilgrim! Randy called, “Tally ho!” The field and a few hilltoppers had a view of the fluffy Grey Fox! The fox must have been working his magic, because when the pack got out of the briars (maybe 5-8 minutes later) they were not able to find the scent; the fox had vanished.

Hounds and horses hacked to the 40 Acre Field. They hunted back to the power line and up to the road. We crossed the road and worked down to the bottom behind the meet. At the swamp, Ezra
spoke on a log and was honored by Plain Jane. They moved along the line slowly while other hounds (including Vacuum!) joined in. We watched the amazing teamwork of our pack of Penn-Marydels! After a couple minutes, we walked down the trail. Out on the gas line the hound inventory was checked; 15 couple were accounted for. Vacuum ,
for once, was not supervising his field members; he was found and returned to the kennel that evening.

Boxing Day - Friday, December 26

A large crowd gathered at the meet with many new faces out to enjoy the hunt. The Sedgefield horse and hound trailer pulled up, followed by a few hounds (no, we do not make our hounds run to the meets now) - deer hounds that were hunting close by. Once the deer hounds were out of view, the trailer door was opened and out came 13½ couple hounds.

The hounds were cast into the first covert, the Pines by Pete’s house, where they started a short run up the hill through the Pines. After deciding they could be on the line of the deer hounds, we moved on to hunt toward the Bobcat Patch.

Our hounds worked hard in the tall grass. Some spoke but never got anywhere with it; they could have put something to ground.

We hunted for about another 30 minutes until it was decided to head in. From Paula’s calculations there was only an hour and a half of sunlight left in the day.

As we came out of the woods into the big field below the trailers, the hounds became “Super Charged” (playback of last Sunday’s hunt at Plainfield )! First, the hounds took off toward the right and the whippers-in moved quickly in front to stop the action. They did stop running right, but then made a 180-degree turn and were off again, in full cry! The pack raced down the field and into the Pines at the bottom. We listened to them sing while they went up through the pine trees and down the other side. The field followed the pack's cry until the hounds stopped near the wooden bridge, where we were able to catch up.

Once more, we started back to the trailers. As we hacked up the big field, the pack was still fired up! At the top of the field, beside the trailers, Photographer (who was being tortured the whole way up the hill by not being allowed to follow scent) spoke and led the pack, at racing speed, down the field. They started into the Pines until the gun shots combined with scolding and the cracking of hunt whips halted their pursuit.

All 13½ couple were loaded safely into the trailer.

Thanks to Pete and Jennifer for hosting the tailgate! It was a Merry Boxing Day!

December 21, Plainfield Road

After the hard rain Saturday night through Sunday morning, it looked like we would not be hunting, but around 8:30 a.m. the rain clouds cleared. The hunt met at Plainfield Road at 1:30 p.m. The pack consisted of 15 couple hounds including a new American hound from Why Worry Hounds, Keeper, and one of our new entry out for his first day hunting, Budweiser.

We moved off and Fred cast the hounds behind the meet. For the next couple hours the wind was blowing and hounds were having trouble holding a line. One would speak, others would honor, we would start to get excited about a run, then it was done and hounds were back in search of more scent.

As we started moving back toward the trailers, the wind began to die down and the temperature started to drop fast. Hounds lit up in the bottom behind the meet! They ran along the bottom, then swung around and came back to the swamp. The pack took a plunge into the cold swamp water, still in full cry, and ran, swam, and jumped through the low grounds. We watched and listened with no way to stop them from the bank; what an awesome picture it would have been!

Fred, atop his “trusty steed” (a.k.a. Judy’s wonderful Thoroughbred, Patriot), followed by Jennifer leading the field, raced along the trails around the swamp where the hounds had gone. We crossed a wide section of the creek, about chest high for most the horses, and raced on, hoping to get back with the hounds and stop them before they were out of the territory. Fred, Lloyd, Chris, and Jennifer galloped up the power line and into the woods on the far side as many of the hounds were still racing ahead in front of them. The rest of the field pulled up and waited on the power line.

We heard the horn; 12 couple of hounds along with their huntsmen and a couple of whippers-in came back out to the power line. As we headed in, being joined by more hounds on the way back, Lloyd and B-12 decided to provide more entertainment for us all. B-12 practiced his Lipizzaner style leaps and bolted, thinking the gun shot off of him was the cue.

On the way up the gas line the pack fired up again! Fred and Chris were able to get around in front of them once more to stop the action before it got too far along. Once all back together we moved on, heading back to the trailers once more. And again an “old faithful” spoke and the pack followed; scent was amazing! We stood in a small field by the road, just a little way up from the trailers, and waited for the whips to round up the hounds, who were “super changed,” as Fred called them back from the hot scent all around them!

Finally, for the last time, we started back to the meet. With all 15 couple tucked away in the Sedgefield hound and horse trailer, the hunt came to its close. There was much to talk about at the tailgate!

The Sedgefield Hunt traveling team had a great trip and joint meet with the Why Worry hounds in South Carolina last weekend. We hunted two days: Saturday with our hounds and Sunday with the Why Worry pack. Folks are still talking about Saturday's hunt. We were very lucky with scent and the fact that there was lots of game and the good work of the whips in stopping hounds before they got out of the country. Sunday the Why Worry hounds ran great as well-unfortunately the best running was across a swamp- but we could really appreciate the speed and drive of the beautiful hounds.

The hospitality of the Why Worry members and staff was fantastic. Lots of fun and fellowship and hard riding. As they say in Aiken, "It's a good life if you don't weaken."

A special thanks to George and Jeanie and their beautiful joint-master, Lynn, who really went the extra mile to make us feel welcome. Thanks thanks thanks.

On another note: A couple of weeks ago we drafted several hounds to the Aiken hounds, a drag pack. One of the hounds was Poncho. Some of you may remember that he won lots of ribbons at the Carolinas hound show for his stunning good looks and that he is also a "Centennial Hound," meaning he placed well in a Centennial Performance Trial. Unfortunately for us, he became too vocal. However, he has found a second career. According to the folks at Aiken who I talked to, he is now everybody's favorite. Even members of the field know him. Way to go, Poncho.


Finally, as you can see from the picture, there is a gray fox at Fuquay Farms. This picture was taken by our game camera over the last few days. The lump you see is some of our barbecue. It will be a fat fox soon. Thanks to Donald for the camera work.