By Tommy Brannon
What do you do when the state wildlife management agency shortens your hunt season by a week, but your hunt club does not wish to miss that final hunt? Answer: road trip! The members of Oak Grove Hunt Club, with territories in Mississippi, finish the season with a guest hunt weekend, March 10-11, with Mooreland Hunt in Courtland, Alabama. Old friendships were renewed, new friendships made, and all had fun with a great weekend of sport.
The Masters of Mooreland, Leslie Crosby, MFH and Eve Mauldi, MFH, made the Oak Grove members feel right at home. Some Oak Grove members hauled in just for the Saturday hunt and some stayed over for the second day of hunting on Sunday. The overnighters found terrific accommodations for people and horses at the Doublehead Resort near the hunt fixtures.
The hounds were cast at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday’s formal hunt, and 10:00 a.m. on Sunday’s rat catcher hunt. The weather was unseasonably warm on Saturday, which made scenting a challenging. After about two hours of spits and starts, huntsman Rhodri Jones - Evans’s 18 ½ couple of crossbred hounds opened on a coyote that was viewed by a Whipper-in a few minutes later.
The northern part of the Mooreland Hunt country is bordered by the Tennessee River, so the quarry is blocked in that direction. The coyote took the hunt first west, then south, and finally east at a very fast pace. By the time the scent had fizzled out and the hounds were called up, it was about 1:00 p.m. and riders were far enough away from the casting point that trailers were called in to haul the horses and hounds back.
Sunday’s hunt was in open row crop fields, far from the Tennessee River, and bisected by a shallow creek bordered by woods and wetlands with only few crossings. Scenting was just as tough as Saturday’s hunt, but for another reason. There was a stiff cold wind coming out of the west. Rhodri‘s Sunday pack of 19 ½ couple of all female hounds was definitely up to the task. When MFH Leslie Crosby addressed the assembled riders before the start of the hunt, she announced they would be hunting with a pack comprised of all female hounds. A resounding soprano cheer went up from the majority female riders!
The total Moorland kennel population is quite large by any hunt’s standard, with more than 90 hounds. Rhodri explained that he has several genetically related lines of hounds in the pack; each line is designated by a letter. The oldest of these is the E-line, of whom he is obviously quite proud.
The hounds worked tenaciously through some thick underbrush and picked up scent. The coyote broke cover in the open and the chase was on! He carried everyone back and forth several times on the west side of the creek, returned to the start, then back again. The forte music of the running pack reverberated across the hills in the key of E (line)! After crossing the creek one more time, the coyote went to ground in a very long culvert, within sight of the trailers. Everyone stood perfectly still while Rhodri and his staff extricated a few very muddy hounds from both ends of the culvert, and gathered his pack to end the days hunt.
What do you do when the state wildlife management agency shortens your hunt season by a week, but your hunt club does not wish to miss that final hunt? Answer: road trip! The members of Oak Grove Hunt Club, with territories in Mississippi, finish the season with a guest hunt weekend, March 10-11, with Mooreland Hunt in Courtland, Alabama. Old friendships were renewed, new friendships made, and all had fun with a great weekend of sport.
The Masters of Mooreland, Leslie Crosby, MFH and Eve Mauldi, MFH, made the Oak Grove members feel right at home. Some Oak Grove members hauled in just for the Saturday hunt and some stayed over for the second day of hunting on Sunday. The overnighters found terrific accommodations for people and horses at the Doublehead Resort near the hunt fixtures.
The hounds were cast at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday’s formal hunt, and 10:00 a.m. on Sunday’s rat catcher hunt. The weather was unseasonably warm on Saturday, which made scenting a challenging. After about two hours of spits and starts, huntsman Rhodri Jones - Evans’s 18 ½ couple of crossbred hounds opened on a coyote that was viewed by a Whipper-in a few minutes later.
The northern part of the Mooreland Hunt country is bordered by the Tennessee River, so the quarry is blocked in that direction. The coyote took the hunt first west, then south, and finally east at a very fast pace. By the time the scent had fizzled out and the hounds were called up, it was about 1:00 p.m. and riders were far enough away from the casting point that trailers were called in to haul the horses and hounds back.
Sunday’s hunt was in open row crop fields, far from the Tennessee River, and bisected by a shallow creek bordered by woods and wetlands with only few crossings. Scenting was just as tough as Saturday’s hunt, but for another reason. There was a stiff cold wind coming out of the west. Rhodri‘s Sunday pack of 19 ½ couple of all female hounds was definitely up to the task. When MFH Leslie Crosby addressed the assembled riders before the start of the hunt, she announced they would be hunting with a pack comprised of all female hounds. A resounding soprano cheer went up from the majority female riders!
The total Moorland kennel population is quite large by any hunt’s standard, with more than 90 hounds. Rhodri explained that he has several genetically related lines of hounds in the pack; each line is designated by a letter. The oldest of these is the E-line, of whom he is obviously quite proud.
The hounds worked tenaciously through some thick underbrush and picked up scent. The coyote broke cover in the open and the chase was on! He carried everyone back and forth several times on the west side of the creek, returned to the start, then back again. The forte music of the running pack reverberated across the hills in the key of E (line)! After crossing the creek one more time, the coyote went to ground in a very long culvert, within sight of the trailers. Everyone stood perfectly still while Rhodri and his staff extricated a few very muddy hounds from both ends of the culvert, and gathered his pack to end the days hunt.
