Creatures Of Habit

[R.A.W 1,987]

Well I've just sat down after an eventful enough day and I clicked on a thread that inspired me to share the events with you all. This particular corner of the site seems very qiute so hopefully others will also feel the need to share in a sensible manner the highs and lows of they're time out with hounds.

 

It's funny how us humans have those little habits and rituals that are hard to shake which our quarry also have and this can be a weapon that I try to keep in my armory. At the start of a hunting day the first thing I do is creep over to the window peel the curtains apart and get a feel for the day ahead. I don't Know why I do this because it's normally dark and I've checked the weather the day before. If I'm lucky I'm treated to glimpse into what looks like good scenting conditions and the excitement of a good day starts to build . Don't get me wrong you don't need conditions to be perfect to enjoy yourself but when the airs thick you know when you find it should stay found. Unfortunately I looked out the window to a view that would of brought me greater joy to be out on a fishing jaunt but arrangements had been made and the hounds need the work .

 

The particular patch of ground we would be hunting was only a few miles from my house but I had never stepped foot on this ground before with or without a deep scented canine in tow. The area is a maze of deep wooded glacial valleys with the odd coal mine spoil heap thrown in for good measure. The woods varied from fern and larch to a more traditional beech and large bramble patches in the clear fell and wind breaks. Up until this point in the year most of the work the little ones had been doing were small coverts for pheasants so I knew this would be a test of they're and my resolve and stamina in the heat . The guns where placed by others more familiar to ground and we began to draw the first valley around .

 

It wasn't long after the hounds and I snaked around the steep gradient and fighting through the thick cover that a line was picked and I stood back , both hands on my walking stick and drank in the sounds of my little beauties in full cry. There was a point in my education where I would have tried to be there up front with them but experience tells me to stand, watch and listen. I even try not to encourage at the moment with two pups out that may be drawn back to the sound of my voice. If I'm honest I couldn't put a time on this particular line but they went well . It wasn't long before I heard the sound of a single shot which on many occasions is an good indicator that the quarry had been accounted for. still they drove on oblivious to the echo of shot across the valley then back towards me and up the fence line. At this point I'd gathered the one shot must have been a different entity altogether and I silently urged them through the tangle of thick fern and bramble. Another shot echoed over then another just below me. After a few words on the radio the picture was painted for me . One had been accounted for and two shot at and missed, the line they had started on had began to weaken and fizzle out completely so instead of casting them on I thought the better option would be to drop them on to the one shot at just below me. It was a matter of seconds before the hounds showed they're excitement with a song and flew up the other side of the valley in pursuit only to loose the line further up .

 

 

It was decided that a second draw was on the cards but in hindsight we should have called it a day there and then with it being so hot but he who dares and all that. The size of the place was starting to show on the hounds if I'm honest and with the heat they were beginning to wane. We did manage to find one more which didn't gave them a slip after just a few minutes. We made for a water trough and then for the truck and those little hounds where glad of the drink and rest.

 

back to the point if I may about certain animals being creature of habit . The rabbit that was bagged on this particular day was shot on the same run as least four others in the past had been shot on. You can only kill something once so it certainly isn't the same creature but I find it interesting to know that they all choose that same route to safety in such a large area.

 

 

 

Happy hunting all

[spade 224]

Great write up RAW, all the best for the season!

[toby63 1,236]

Good read pal

[paulf 820]

nice to read a bit about the hounds mate good read too ,nice dogs as well ..looks a tough place to work .

[R.A.W 1,987]

nice to read a bit about the hounds mate good read too ,nice dogs as well ..looks a tough place to work .

 

Thanks all ...........................I didn't take many pics because it was so thick all you would have seen is a green blur. It'll be a less challenging place later on in the year hopefully.

[Dai_dogs 1]

Good day r.a.w .i no cos i waz they youer butty

[skycat 6,173]

Good write up I see the routine of animals all the time out bushing. Rabbits usually bolt from cover in the same direction, if they can, taking the shortest route back to their burrows. Foxes usually take the same route to safety. Bushing lurchers usually learn the routes and put themselves in the right place for a catch. Many years ago I had a very smart lurcher, as in brains smart, who, after just one missed catch when we were working out an old orchard for foxes, put herself back a little way from the route that first fox took, and was rewarded by two more which took exactly the same line out of the orchard. Again, the route they were trying to take was the shortest distance to reach the next lump of cover.

 

I've also seen dogs work out which way most hares would run when put up in a certain field. Miss one, then run to cut the next hares off on subsequent runs, and not the same hares either. Had slow lurchers who shouldn't have been able to catch a good hare notch up a few successes using their brains and memories of the runs used by the hares.

[Wales1234 5,489]

New I was gone miss a good day bloody wedding !!

[R.A.W 1,987]

New I was gone miss a good day bloody wedding !!

 

There's always another

[CWN-HELA 228]

Good one mate. Temperature will soon drop down in a few week hopefully, giving the hound a better chance on scent.. All the best for the season cwn-hela

Edited September 8, 2014 by CWN-HELA

[dytkos 17,783]

Great write up Ry, I went out with two packs on Weds last, one first thing, one late afternoon.

Beautiful day, hardly any music though cos of the conditions.

 

Cheers, D.

[turkish 287]

Great write up Ry, I went out with two packs on Weds last, one first thing, one late afternoon.

Beautiful day, hardly any music though cos of the conditions.

 

Cheers, D.

 

they look like brilliant covers some sound with all them hounds nice pics

[R.A.W 1,987]

Great write up Ry, I went out with two packs on Weds last, one first thing, one late afternoon.

Beautiful day, hardly any music though cos of the conditions.

 

Cheers, D.

 

Thanks D ....................sounds like a way to spend the day . I love them pics