Hello Folks,
I left you all after we had caught the 35+# Tom. Except for the Rainy Days, our luck has been gooder and gooder!
Thursday after the Big Tom Race we were rained out. We had to wait till Friday night for the roads to dry enough to make a Hunt.
We have 7 bitches in Heat so except for Cheyenne and Penny it was going to be Boys night out. We went to the Southern clubs and all the way south on the main road. We had been rigging for most of the way in and had struck several that were too old to move. When I turned east on the last road in this Club Choc struck a little warmer than the previous strikes but still not a hard HOT strike.
Dad said to put them down and see what happens. Well Rivers and Choc along with Corky went out into a fresh clear-cut and started to trail. I put Penny and Cheyenne into them and Cheyenne did her thing by jumping the Cat out of its bed.
The Cat took off towards the main road but turned up beside it with all 9 Hounds in Full Cry. This was one of those furnace turned up to HIGH Races. Dad said that the Cat better find some water to cool the Race down or he would not last long. The Cat turned out to think like FORD and had a better idea…it went into a Dozier pile. The Timber Companies used to burn all their piles when they clear-cut an area prior to bedding the soil; however now the EPA has made this a chore so the Companies are leaving all these piles. They are great sanctuaries for Critters but inconvenient for us.
Dozier Piles in fresh Clear-cuts, good for the Critters…Bad for the Hunters!
Saturday we hunted hard for six hours but struck out…this happens when you have sorry Hounds! Had rain again Saturday night into Sunday morning, so we rested and watched the NFL Playoff games.
Monday Morning Dad was chomping at the Bits to go. I found 11 volunteers in the Pens. We loaded up and headed north to a Club Dad thought would be the driest. WRONG….it was as wet if not wetter than the others. We started rigging about 7 AM and had struck 3 before 10 AM that we could not do anything with.
We had been fighting water over the roads all morning. Dad finally said lets head out and try to find a dryer place. All the water causes wear and tear on the truck and Dads nerves as you never know when a hole will devour the truck.
We had just turned onto one of the main roads to head out when the truck blew up. Hounds inside the Truck as well as those on top were throwing a fit. Announcing that here was a Cat they could do something with. When I put Choc down he went right to a fresh Cat Kick, threw back his head and let loose with the sound that all Houndsmen live for. Corky and Rivers were quick to join in. they went straight into the Plantation barking but Dad hollered at me to nat turn any more Hounds loose as that that was probably were the Cat had come out. I guess when you have run as many as he has, Catology is second nature as sure enough the three hushed and came back into the road blushing over their mistake.
Fresh Kick Tom Cat had made.
But they were not long in correcting it. Ahead of the truck they went then out into a young Plantation on the opposite side of the road from where they first headed. As soon as they left the road barking Dad said to turn the rest loose. I did and away they went.
This Cat ran down the side of the road using some high water for about twenty minutes. The Opry was playing strong…all the players were giving all the mouth that they could…there was only a slight loose or two…it was good. Then ______ nothing, one of those times you think he is up. But this time the Cat had played Johnny Weisemiller (sp), Tarzan for you youngsters, and was swimming away. The Cat came down a drain and hit the road right behind the truck.
This is the water the Tom came out of before going up the road.
I happened to glance out the mirror and saw him come out and start to trot up the road. I jumped out and hollered to Dad what was happening and started running after the Cat… Calling Hounds with every breath. I ran the Cat down the road about 3 miles…OK 150 yds before I frightened him into turning out into a different Plantation. (Alright, the look the Cat gave me might have been amusement rather than fright but let a guy have his fun). Choc ran past me and as he went past he skidded as he smelled where the Cat turned. Choc bellowed out and the rest harked to him and the Race was on again.
Dad drove up and I proudly asked him if I did not look like ole Rip running the Cat out of the road…he chuckled and said that I looked more like Old Magic (moms 13 year old 20# overweight mini Shnuazer)…I was crushed.
Well the Cat ducked and dodged in this Plantation for a few minutes then back into the road he came. This time Corky and Texas saved me from a Track Meet and they pushed the Cat into a Corner where three roads meet. This Corner was full of water, from ankle to waist deep. All the Hounds converged on the Corner and Dad said that it was “Fly, Climb, or Die” time. No sooner had he said this than Sambo roared out that he had the Cat and was not turning loose. Texas sang out that he would help. Then it was time for me to go wading. It was as bad as I have gone into, Tydies, Gallberries, Bamboo Briars, and Palmettos with water mostly over my knees. But I made it to the higher spot that the Cat had picked to pull his Custer and was glad that I did.
The Pack running the Cat out of the road the third time.
The Pics show this Cat to be the Oldest that Dad has ever caught or else the Cat with the worst Dentist. As you can see he has almost no teeth on the bottom and only one snag of a Canine on the top. All this said the old Tom was fat and weighed 27#.
Mouth of the Old Tom
The old 27# Tom
We took pics, watered the Hounds, put the rig dogs back up and headed back out for home. It was about 7 miles out to the Gate but Dad said that there was a chance to hit one more on the way home. We had gone about half way out on a Dryer road when Rivers Blew up. I got out and looked in the sand and there it was a med size Cat going the same way we were. Dad said to put them down…I did and Race #2 was under way.
This Cat tried to run the roads like the first one but my showing the Pack how to handle this was paying dividends. Penny, Choc and Corky took care of business and put the Cat out of the road every time it tried the road running trick. The Pack stayed right on top of this Cat and never let it have any AIR as Dad likes to say. After 25 minutes ole Sambo again bellowed forth that the Cat was his. This time the retrieve was a lot easier as it was not as thick or as much water….two contributors to a shorter Race.
20# Sow Cat, 2nd catch of the day!
Well this is long enough for now, we were rained and winded out on Tuesday but had a hell of a hunt on Wednesday that I will tell about next time.
Good Running to All!
C. John Clay
Dads Dogboy
