Hunting Saturday March 15th, 2008 10:00AM
Valley Green Farm (Bridlespur Kennels)

Huntsman: Eleanor Hartwell (Seamus)

Whips: Jill Wagenknecht (Modesty), Gene Deutsch (Waffles), Lee Deutsch (Belle), John Korenak (Rocky)

Field: Tess Fleishli (fieldmaster)(on PT), Leslie Ayers (Gave), Leslie Granger (Floyd), Shelby O’Leary (Tonka), Morgan Goe (April), Mackenzie Bussard (Bert), Mary Smithing (Topsy), Joy Yates (Wakeyan), Christy DeMauro (Guest on Maurice)


14 couple hounds

GPS readings 9.68 miles 1 hours 56 minutes moving 1 hr 08 minutes stopped. Total time 3 hrs 04 minutes. Max speed 14.4 mph
Moving average 5.0 mph

Lunch/Brunch – Provided by Michael Murphy. Delicious Irish Stew with mashed potatoes, homemade bread, and salad.

It stormed pretty hard Friday night and rain was predicted for most of the morning. I woke up and it was barely drizzling. Called the hotline and it said hunting was still on. It was sprinkling lightly on the drive up. Hunt coats were waived in favor of rain gear. The temperature started at 41.5 degrees and went up to 42.5 degrees while we were hunting. Barometric pressure was rising. Winds were from the North at 9 to 12 mph.

There was only one field this day due to a shortage of field masters. We had four adults and two juniors in the field. We headed south from the clubhouse down the drive and crossed the creek. We then worked along the bottom of the bluff. We passed the natural bridge and came up the hill while Eleanor and the hounds worked the woods above the bluffs. There did not seem to be much to be found. We went across the side of the Winter wheat field and back down the driveway while Eleanor and the hounds drew the woods. When nothing came of it she picked up the hounds and headed toward the hog farm. With the wind having shifted from an East wind to a north wind it seemed better to try to draw upwind. We were on the road to nowhere when we finally heard hounds speaking to our east in Welch’s. Eleanor appeared behind us and we waited and started down the perimeter trail behind her. We followed the perimeter trail all the way to the dark house. We jumped the coop onto Welch road and went down it quite a ways but there was nothing to be seen. We turned around and jumped back in. Eleanor came up behind us again and we headed for the clubhouse.

Sorry the photos are blurry, with the rain it was just too dark most of the time.