Unexpected Joint Meet

[Hardfeather 56]

Suddenly realised today we had more hounds than we started with,seems we'd bumped into the Cheshires so we kept both packs together and carried on for the rest of the day.

Has anyone else experience of packs hunting into each other?

Cheers

[ryhope toma 42]

Not quite mate , but do remember few years back when beating a wood The Zetland hunt came through and desturbed the shoot , on a hunt after a charlie , pre ban ! atb ryhope toma

[foxing machine 144]

no make carnt say i have. carnt be a bad thing tho mate atb fm

[DIDO.1 22,583]

Once saw three packs meet and hunt together and it was a great sight. If you read mary staibs 'gone hunting' there are a few stories of different packs meeting and hunting together, exmoor and minehead harriers and maybe a story about the north and south pembrokeshires coming together if memory serves me right. Its a cracking book for any hunting person, loads of hunts provide one story each to make up the massive book, from great hunts to ghostly happenings out hunting.

[thefootman 17]

It would happen fairly regularly with foot packs in Ireland as we operate over smaller areas than mounted packs and in parts of counties such as Kerry, Cork, Cavan, Monaghan and Armagh there are areas where every parish has one or two packs of hounds. My own pack would expect to clash with other packs at least three or four times a season. It is usually considered something of a "victory" over your neighbours to draw them to your hunt as it is a sign that your pack has been hunting well with a strong cry. I once seen a clash of four packs near the village of Scotsouse in Co Monaghan, with over 90 hounds in the same field.

 

The most unusual clash was a few years ago my own pack had a planned joint meet with the Belturbet pack from Co Cavan, with 17 couple of Irish harriers. We were hunting on a mountain on the Fermanagh Monaghan border. We were beating for a hare when to our surprise what appeared over the next ridge only 20 couple of the Sunnyland Beagles in hot pursuit of a hare. Our hounds closed to the beagles and for the next hour our hounds gave chase to the hare while all the time being chased themselves by the Sunnylands in full cry.