The Loudoun Hunt

December 2002

Hunting Diary

This is a bye day to make up for the lost Junior Day on December 26^th. Cast hounds into the swampy patch below the Branch house up to the bamboo shoots by the barnyard. Usually find something here but it is blank. Pick up and move east to the woods parallel to Canby Road drawing north toward the pinewoods.

Hounds open and are driving. Pushing out into the paddock next to the LHW kennels, through into the next field and circle left back below the kennel and into the Pinewoods about half way down. Charlie is well in front but hounds can still hold the line. Drive forward continuing to push the line in the pinewoods. Turn east and come out by the stonewall and turn right to make good the south side of the pinewoods. Deer carcasses are everywhere disturbing the draw.

At the far southwest end of the cover hounds reacquire the line and push right, faulting as they come out of the woods by the bar-way at the creek and cross over to the other branch of the creek. As we pick up hounds to cast along the creek toward the Grub farm, Charlie is viewed going back into the pinewoods at the top of the hill on the north side. We hark hounds to the view and they pick up the line and are right on his tail. The fox is headed in the woods, turns right handed and swings back around in a tight circle going to ground in an earth on the top of the hill. Hounds mark and we move off.

Draw the Grub Farm woods. Do not make it all good because of the deer carcasses that are discarded in the woods. Nothing found continue west toward Hamilton turning left toward the airplane field. Nothing in the fence lines or small spinneys.

Cross the airplane field and cast into the woods. Hounds find almost immediately driving the fox out of the woods across Digges Valley Road into the next woods down along the wet weather creek. The fox does not make for the Cabin woods but turns left into a swale on the hillside, hounds are still close on pushing Charlie out of the swale. It crosses at an angle the cornfield toward the silo and pond, is surprised by the trailers, ducks right down the road and then dashes for the big den in the middle of the soybean field. Hounds ran him straight to the mark. Blow to ground and call it a day.