BigGameHoundsmen.com

I just love how this site is drawing in members from around the world...Houndsmanship is truely a "universal language".

Hi John, the pictures were taken of the Surrey Union Hunt. I just posted them because i think they give the idea of how modern foxhounds are built for speed.
Sadly the pictures were taken the first day after hunting with hounds was banned in england, it was at the start of the day. As you noticed it's very open country,in the real hunting country in england they have small covers which hold foxes, but they have to break quickly and then it's a race, most reports from english foxhunts which used to be in hunting magazines usually ended in 25-35 minutes with the foxes getting over taken or to ground.
The red mottle hound looks a bit American but i don't believe they have any.
Bryan

These pictures are from an Irish foot Harrier pack, Harriers or Kerry Beagles are expected to dwell on a cold line and work it out, They are famed for deep voice and wouldn't run with the urgency of foxhounds but still put plenty to ground, just take their time doing it.
This is a quick clip of this pack running.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtNnejOa ... re=channel
They are slow compared to foxhounds

Bryan

Really nice looking hounds, a little heavier than my style but they are beautiful! How big are the areas of 'cover' you speak of? And what vegitation do they consist of? Thanks, and great pics!

Perk

Hi Perk,
in that last picture your looking at the start of a valley in the right of the picture, it's about 200 yards wide there with gorse and briars up to 5 feet high, that valley runs for about 6 miles in lenght and over half a mile wide mostly. we could hunt foxes in that for hours that would never step into a green field but still be pushed to ground.
in ideal fox hunting country covers are small, maybe an acre of fairly open woodland with a little briar, a fox has to leave those places quickly and there could be miles between those covers.
Bryan

Bryan, thanks for the info. I try to hunt land that has thick cover, i want it to be so bad i hate to walk into to go to the hole. Some tracts of land we hunt are 100's of acres of thick stuff, similar to the picture. The red foxes here would avoid that stuff like it was the plague, seen very few reds that run in it and stay some that pass through it, they like to hit the big timber, and fields in my part of the world. There is a mounted pack that hunts some of the same terrian I do, they have beautiful dogs as well, thanks for postin!

Perk

Nice topic jon im always looking for your next post man

I think running to catch shows up more in the attitude of the guy breeding and feeding the hounds than in the hounds themselves. Some just don't have the patience or desire to hunt those track straddlers!

The hounds I have owned that caught the most game all had two things in common, above average intelligence and an overwhelming desire to sink their teeth into what they were chasing.

Had more than one coonhound that would shut up on a hard running cornfield race and catch the coon well ahead of the other dogs. They were smart enough to figure out that they could hear the coon and it couldn't hear them if they kept quiet.

Here's a good example of running to catch in beagles...

A few years back I was running Slimmer and Rose on hare, in the winter on just a couple inches of snow. I think snowshoe hare are one of the toughest game animals there is to catch with hounds. Anyway, Rose was probably the most talented beagle I have ever owned, lots of nose and speed to burn along with the rare ability to turn with the line at full speed. Sometimes it seemed like she knew ahead of time which way the hare was going to turn, she was right more often than not. But Rose never cared much about killing rabbits, she just loved the chase.

Slimmer never had the talent Rose was born with, but she is about the smartest dog of any breed I have ever seen. Can't keep her in any pen unless the gates are locked, she can figure out a new latch in seconds and let herself out. Slimmer also wants more than anything to kill and eat what ever she can catch.

That day, the scenting must have been good. I was hunting a long, narrow strip of cover and those two were running hard and fast. One of the rare days I decided to carry a gun along, my old .410. After about 45 minutes the hare came past me, right between me and the truck. I waited until it cleared the truck and tried a shot. By then it was a long way out for that little gun and all the hare did was speed up.

Slimmer and Rose came by and ran that hare almost out of hearing in seconds, going east. It finally turned and came back. As the race was getting close I heard Slimmer go into what I call a deer chase voice, aw aw aw aw aw aw. She pulled ahead and left Rose behind. Next thing I heard was the hare squealing. When I cleaned the hare I only found one pellet in it, just under the skin.

I'm sure Slimmer was not just trailing but also looking ahead for that hare. When she saw it she sight chased it and ran it down. Rose was running the track and never looked up. I'm also sure that Slimmer knew she could never run that kind of a race herself, but Rose could. She used Rose to get her a chance to catch that hare.

Riverbottom, those sound like bobcat dogs!