I know everyone on SpeedDogs has some favorite hunting or field trialing story to tell!!
The ones that Barry Hilton has posted provide some excellent narrative. I enjoy reading all the stories!
SHARE YOUR FAVORITE......

ALLAN BISHOP
(JABBER JAW)

Many years ago, my Dad & Uncle would take me along with them to go foxhunting with Joe Lewis. Mr Joe owned a small store in Dinwiddie,Va; and closed at 9:00pm. And at 9:05..you better move out the way, cause they were going foxhunting.The truck was loaded with the hounds & off we went. Mr Frank Blaha would run with Joe quite a bit, and ALWAYS showed up about an hour late! Had a different excuse everytime, but truth was, he wanted to get an edge on Mr Joe's hounds! Don't know that he ever did though!
If you know Mr Joe, you know his oldest son "SHUG" who is now about 6'5" & 300pounds...a big man for sure! This particular night the hounds were running a grey in a bean field and the moon was full....Mr grey fox would lead 'em up one row across a couple and down another. You could see the hounds jumping out of the beans trying to find that 'ol fox. He was leading the hounds round and round. Well Shug(about 8 years old at the time), was playing in the dirt road with a toy car.....the grey bolted toward the road....Joe said to my Dad...Kenneth, "he's gonna cross in front of the truck...get the light on him"! My Dad wheeled around and made a step or two...Lil Shug stood up about the same time and what an impact....Shug hit the ground on his back...Dad hit the fox with the light, they crossed the road.. the hounds in hot pursuit....Shug jumped up & said...Mr Bishop..."why'd you do that"? Dad said "son you always got to get the crossing"! With that everyone burst out laughing and talked about the "big hit" the rest of the evening! To this day "Shug" remembers that night! Dad is gone now, but that's just one of the memories from times gone by with him!
As y'all know, Mr. Joe still hunts today,inside & outside the wire, and still has good hounds!
And it is always special to me to go to a hunt at his pen or go to a hunt with him!! He'll always be a special friend!

ALLAN BISHOP
(JABBER JAW)

wELL I HAVE TO TELL THIS ONE . BOBBY RANSON IVAN BAILEY HAMON HAMONS A DENSIL STARCHER AND MY SELF WENT TO BARNETT CHAPEL TO HUNT ONE NIGHT , THE HOUNDS WERE REALLY RUNNING HARD, AS USUAL BOBBY JUMPS UP AND SAYS BOYS OLD WHITE GIRL IS RUNNING THE HAIR OFF THAT FOX, IVAN 300 PLUS POUNDS AND ALL /,SAYS BOBBY SHE MUST BE THROWING HER VOICE SHE IS LAYING RIGHT HERE BESIDE THE ROAD. BOY DID BOBBY TUNGUE LASH HER GOOD. I BOUGHT THE DOG THAT WAS RUNNING THE FOX FROM THE FARMER THAT THE DOG BELONG TO. CHARLEY ABSENT. A GOOD DOG UNTIL A CAR GOT HIM. 1954.
DON STEELE

I went deer hunting with some guys a few years ago. They all had a pack of smokin deer dogs to hunt. So we turn loose probably close to 50 hounds in a block of woods about 1000 acres and soon they were rollin and the cb radio was about to burn up! Well me and a buddy were on the edge of a big field the deer liked to cross, well here the dogs came strait at us from across the field! Guns up and safetys off, the dogs busted out of the woods with nothing in front of um! They were about 50 yards out in the field and 2 does bust out behind the lead dogs and behind them the rest of the dogs followed! Well needless to say the deer could not be shot they were completly surrounded by hound before they got to our side and ran outta hearing. Me and my buddy fell on the ground laughin it was a hell of a chase, though we didnt kill the deer it was one of the most memorable times Ive had hunting!!!

Well this is another Deer Hunting story {10 years ago}.Our deer hunting gang went out for a morning hunt with our deer hounds and we shot l think it was 3 bucks and a doe the 1st day.So on the 2nd day my buddy Aaron Brown and myself stopped and loaded up 4 deer hounds for the hunt.And we were just about ready to turn the 4 hounds loose.. when a new member of our gang showed up with his 2 hounds.This guy has been telling us for months that his 2 hounds were the best deer hounds in the country.And he wanted us to let this hounds go 1st.So Aaron and l had alittle chat..And we kept our 4 hounds in the dog box.And let this guys 2 deer hounds lose on a fresh deer tracks.And they took off not saying a word.They went straight through the bush and hit the 1st road they came to and head out of site.Aaron ended up taking our 4 hounds of the dog box and putting them on the deer tracks and we shot 2 more deer.3 hours later we turned on the tracking box and followed the guys 2 crack shot deer hounds and found them 8 miles away in a farmers barn yard chase around 2 pot belly's pigs. And they could not even run them right.So you guess it he nevered said another word about his 2 hot shot deer hounds again..We sure did have some big old laughs about that days hunt..So watch out when some one tells you that his hounds are better than your's
Ron.b

When I was a young boy about 11 or 12 years old my dad let me buy a hound that I really liked the looks of from a fellow that we knew, My dad told me that she wasnt any good and I wouldnt like her. Well, being the young hunter and expert houndsman that I was I told my dad you dont want me to get her because she will out run your hounds. My father the great man that he is said well son its your money you can get her. I bought ole Flossie and took her hunting several times and my dad kept telling me that she was no count. Flossie ran pretty good but when the hounds would make a bother she would babble and mess the race up and I was to young to really understand. I could tell that my Dad had enough of her and he was getting more and more impatient and I was more and more stubborn that she was a good hound. Well after a couple weeks of this going back and forth we were going to the Southeast Georgia small game hunters association 1 day field trial. I was determined to take ole Flossie and win me a trophy, again ole dad said boy she will embarras you. Stubborn me said no she wont and Dad said ok we will get her a number. I will never forget it number 97. She was a white hound and man the Black dyed 97 looked good on her. We get to the hunt and man I was feeling good walking ole Flossie around and people were saying man thats a good looking gyp and my head couldnt fit in the truck. The next morning we turn out the dogs and the running begins. About 3 hours into the hunt we go on the otherside of the Pen and watch some running. We did and it was there that I learned a big hunting and life lesson. The dogs were running everywhere and as we were sitting there the running broke down. One of the judges a friend of ours Clay Hobbs comes out of a bottom and is waiting for the hounds to start back up and right down the fence we hear a dog just charging coming right to us. The voice sounded familier and here it was Flossie was running the hell out of another dog barking every breath. Right there in front of everyone and Clay said that dog needs to be knocked in the head. I can remember the disappointment and my heart sunk into my stomach, What a horrible feeling. I for sure didnt say that was my dog and my father never said I told you so or made any comment to let the crowd know she was my dog. Needless to say she was scratched for babbling and we loaded up and went home. On the way home my father didnt say a word, I finally built up the courage and said Dad, ole Flossie has got to go, I should have listened to you. The next day I called the guy I bought her from and told him he could have her back. I learned that day that I wasnt the expert I thought I was and I learned that my father taught me a valuable lesson that I could carry through life. There are people out there that truly know more than you and you can save yourself some pretty hard times if you shut your mouth kill the pride and just listen.

YOU GOT THAT RIGHT.

At the risk of futher embarrassment, I am going to tell a story about a hunt from a couple years ago. I wont use anyone elses names, not that they post on here but some may know them and this is without a doubt one of the single most embarrassing hunts I have ever been on.
Here in my part of Va there are not alot of crops around to run greys in, there are crops but normally in red fox country, especially the beans that get planted locally, alot dont have a grey fox within miles. So its a rare occasion that I run in beans. It was right after labor day, and I remeber we were going to cut some corn at our farm, but a couple buddies had lined us up on a good bean field with greys in it. It had rained earlier that week, and the forecast was over cast and 65-70 degrees, beautiful day for a hunt. We pull down into the field of Drilled beans, not planted but drilled. Im about 6'3 and in most places they were catching me at the tops of my shoulder, and they were tangles and matted in places, a true mess of a jungle to run in. Wasnt but about 4-5 minutes and we were in a full roar, just after daylight so about 6:30. We had a pile of dogs on the ground, and they were doing there best to run the fox. He would cross the path and go into the other side and circle. Standing on a little hill you could see the fox and at times he wouldnt be 10 ft from the dogs and they were running hard. We didnt stay on the same fox as 1 crossing it would be a bobtailed grey then a few crossings later it would be a grey with his tail, every fox we saw did appeaer to be a grown fox, didnt see any I considered young foxes. After a few hours of hard races that were not producing a catch, tree, or hole, my dad left to go cut corn, I guess it was around 9:30 when he skipped out on us. We had one twisting and turning and he figured it would soon be over but he had to rush off. The chases continued, with nothing that really could be called a miss. At times they were running 2-3 foxes, but at times all were packed up on him. A few more hours went by the fox we were running went into a smaller field just below the one most of the running had been. We had the field surrounded and the dogs were right on top of him, of course alot of the older ones had dicked by now and at times where following and cutting to stay there. And the young ones had had all they wanted too, the dogs where no where behind the fox and he busted out right on my buddy who kicked him with his foot, hollered on the radio he thought the dogs needed some help, when he kicked the fox he kicked him so high I could see him come up over top of the beans. Unfortunately he should have kicked him harder because he took that kick and put another hour on us before we caught all the dogs up. Around 1:30 we got the last dog on the truck, and hung our heads. 7 hours of running and didnt even run a fox in to the best of my knowledge. To top off the embarrassment I was feeling, I had to go help cut corn. When I got there my dad asked what had taken so long. After giving the results, I took about 2 hours of ribbing, how back when he was young and he had foxhounds of his own, them boys never ran that long and didnt catch anything, escpecially in beans. How he would be so embarrased he would sell out, asked how I called my self a fox hunter. How he wouldnt dare tell a soul about that hunt, of course then he shared it with my uncles and everyone else he saw for the next month. Go back to that spot hunting every once in a while, always remember that day, and hang my head. 3 years later I still feel ashamed of my hounds, both my buddies hounds and the results me and my buddies had that day. Yall can laugh at me if you want to, I know I would laugh at others with that result, but probably one of my more memorable hunts ever, always seem to remeber the extra bad ones clear as the great ones.

Canaan

10-15 YEARS AGO WE CAUGHT GAME PRETTY CONSISTANT....WELL WE FOUND ABOUT 120 ACRES OF ASPARAGUS...THEY HARVEST IT IN SPRING,SPRAY IT FOR WEEDS IN JUNE AND IT GROW WILD AGAIN UNTIL NEXT WINTER...WELL IT HAS LITTLE BERRIES ON IT AND THE FOXES WOULDN'T MOVE INTO IT UNTIL THEY TURNED RED...ABOUT THE FIRST OF SEPT...THE WAY IT GROWS THERE IS A LITTLE TUNNEL AT THE GROUND BETWEEN ROWS AND THE TOPS WILL GET ABOUT 4 FT TALL AND LAPPED WELL...THESE FIELDS HOLD MOISTURE BETTER THAN ANY CROP I'VE EVER RAN IN..YOU COULD RUN FOR HRS THE WAY CANAAN DESCRIBED ABOVE AND ONLY CATCH A FEW .THEY WOULD GET IN THESE FIELDS AND VERY SELDOM CROSS A PATH...JUST ROUND AND ROUND.....SOME OF THE BEST RACES I'VE EVER HEARD WERE IN THESE ASPARAGUS FIELD,AND THE HOUNDS DESERVED EVERY ONE THEY EVER CAUGHT THERE BECAUSE THEY HAD TO TRACK HIM...THE HOUNDS COULDN'T SEE 2 FT AHEAD OF THEM SELVES..WHEN YOU GOT HOME YOU HAD TO CLEAN THE SEEDS OUT OF ALL THE HOUNDS EYES OR THE'D SWELL SHUT ....BUT THEY WERE RACES YOU COULDN'T GET OUT OF YOUR HEAD AND READY TO GO BACK AGAIN AT THE FIRST CHANCE !

I was in high school, still living with my folks. It was a Sunday morning and unlike most Sunday mornings my folks and my little sister were out of town. I was being a good boy and leaving for Sunday school at about 9:45. As soon as I stepped from the back door-step onto the ground something caught my eye in the pasture right behind the house. It was a shaggy haired mutt looking dog running just about as hard as he could away from the woods behind the pasture. As the mutt approached middle-way of the pasture, a great big doe deer jumped out of the woods dead in after the mutt. All the hair along her back was standing on end. She set her eyes on the mutt and chased him through the pasture, into the side yard, right down the middle of the front yard, and the last time I saw them they were running right down the center line of the road with the doe right in behind the mutt!

I stood there for a minute, rubbing my eyes and looking around to see if by chance my neighbor was outside or if a car was passing by that might have just see what I saw...But there was nobody. Momma and Daddy weren't there (I hate my Daddy didn't see it too) Nobody to back my hard-to-believe story up. I went on to Sunday school and told my story to the class before the lesson began. After I finished my story, my Sunday School teacher who just happened to be a hunter too, looked at me with the most serious face and said , "You ought not lie, much less in Sunday School!" He then gave me a big ole grin to let me know he was just kidding.

I still don't think they really believed my story.

I really enjoy reading these, hope others do too. Ill post another in hopes that more people take the time to write theirs out for us.

I hadnt had foxhounds long at all, probably the first full summer I had a pack. I had invited a guy, who bought my dad out years ago, and had always kept and sold high dollar broke dogs in my area, to come and go with me. He had helped me out earlier that year by giving me 2 old broke dogs. A male who helped me tremendously, and a female, that now knowing the man well, decided he was trying to unload, but hey I couldnt beat the price, and weak as I was, how was I going to refuse. It was around the middle of july and I wanted to take him to a place that I deer hunted with plenty of fox signs close to a bunch of cornfields. I told him we better go back in the thicket and turn loose as the lady who lived across from the cornfield, although I had permission on her, was at best funny to deal with. I was hunting out of a 2wd S10 and the time and it had recently rained. And the morning started off bad, I got stuck in my truck going where I had no buisness being in the wet, stuck in the middle of a 2-3 foot deep mud hole. They pulled me out and we finally got to a where we were turning loose. After a while the dogs struck and were running in the cornfield. I had held 2 young dogs on the truck, who jumped a deer on the way to the chase. So I was immediatly embarrassed around a big time fox hunter, because the 2 I held couldnt go 300 yard to a pounding chase. So I rushed down the road broke that up, and sent them back to the chase. My dad and my buddies uncle were over at the cornfields, and My, a buddy, and the other hunter were in the thicket. I could hear a big heavy chop mouth dog sounding off. I mean jerking dogs around, or so it seemed by his mouth. I knew I had a dog with a deep mouth, Mac, but he was just a young dog, had never showed up good in my own chases so I was assuming it wasnt him. Meanwhile my buddies uncle asked my dad was that my hound, that they didnt have anything with a mouth like that. We left the thicket and drove back to the cornfields. I may have got stuck going in, but I Duke's of Hazzard it coming out , gliding right across the mud. We got around to the chase and they had run one in. We ran a few young ones before getting on an old big grey, running these cornfields. I got on the backside of the corn next to the woods and got a few crossings on the fox. That big white Mac of mine was toteing the track coming out the corn, leading the pack, they made a 150 yard round in the woods, seen the fox come back, Mac was toteing the rear. I went from having my chest pooked way out, to deflated real qucik. My buddies uclne decided to go in the cornfield to see what was happening, 3 minutes later he came out, the johnson grass was so thick you couldnt see the next row. We ran that grey until he finally he took refuge on a hedge row with about 25 ground hog holes in a 10 yard span, no joke. We got all the hounds up right there. I felt good about my hounds, they didnt get out done, but didnt out do his either, still havent. They plant corn there everyyear, get in it a few times a summer. No more johnson grass in the field, but those greys still love that cornfield. Probably one of the funnest most exciting hunts I have ever been on. My buddy had/has hounds but I think that was his first ever dose of the broke dog world. The Mac dog died that winter all of a sudden, never did run a deer, thought he was going to make a good one. The other hunter and I reminisce about the johnson grass and chase quite often.

THERE WERE 4 OF US HUNTING ONE MORNING..AND WE'D ONLY BEEN FOXHUNTING A COUPLE YEARS.WELL A FRIEND OF MINE HAD A HOUND NAMED DANDY..VERY GOOD JUMP DOG...WELL HE JUMPED THAT MORNING AND THEY RAN IN THE BEANS ABOUT 10 MINUTES BEFORE CROSSING THE MAIN PATH AND WENT IN ANOTHER BEAN FIELD....IN 2-3 MINUTES IT'S SILENCE ...THEY COMPLETELY BLOWED HIM...FOR GOOD!---WELL IT TOOK A WHILE TO LOAD ALL THESE FRESH HOUNDS AND WE WERE SITTING AROUND TALKING ABOUT THE EVENTS OF THE DAY....WELL BILL ASK WHAT HOUND WAS LEADING THE PACK WHEN THEY CROSSED THE PATH....RUSTY SAID DANDY WAS LEADING,,BILL REPLIED'WELL HE MUST'VE BEEN THE FIRST S.O.B. TO THROW HIM AWAY ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FIELD THEN'......IT WAS ALL IN FUN BUT EVEN MORE REASON TO LET THE HOUNDS DO THE TALKING FOR THEMSELVES !!!!!!