Friday, July 10, 2009
I dont have much to say tonight. Had a great evening here at the home place. Me and the three children went down to feed dogs this evening and I decided to ride down and see how my millet patch was doing. I had two rabbits in it one on both ends about 150 yards apart. I drove the Kawasaki mule back to the dog pens in high gear and pulled out a next years derby out of Yogi and a pair of Cocoa Star females. I took them back to where I saw the rabbit and turned them loose. I intended to just play withe the kids but I couldnt pass up that rabbit. Any way they had been running about an hour and me and the kids were in the back yard playing on the swing set when a bunny come running hard straight across the back yard. He was as surprised to see us as we were to see him. As the dogs approached I caught one of them leaving the pup and two year old female for about another hour. I made a terrible video with my cell phone. Hope you can see it.
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
It's dark thirty and I find my self sitting on the front porch listening to little Daisy solo a rabbit. We finally got a rain shower. In fact one Monday and then again today. The grass has turned delightfully green and the dogs can smell again. I think I may have broken my record for days of running in the month of July. I think now i have only missed Monday and have had several two a day races. I may have run more early in my career but July has always been a slow month for me and dog running. It's mostly one hot dry day after another and and after all, I have to make a living sometime:(
Form the sound of this pup I have out the smelling is real good this evening. I hope she circles it back around by the house as I don't want to have to fight my way into that area she is in.
I lasted blogged on Sunday and little Daisy is and Princess were running. Well I broke a shaft on my bush hog and needed to go to town and see if I could the a replacement. I didn't want to leave them out so I went and caught them. I had my son Mason with me and he and I rode over on the mule to catch them. I got close to them and luckily saw the rabbit. I put Mason down in a grassy spot (he's only16 months old) and got on the line to catch the dogs. Just as I was putting the leash on Princess I got hit my wasp right in the eye brow! I looked up to see a swarm. I hurried for cover grabbing up Mason as I to to him. I hooked those little female sot the back of the mule and took off. THAT WAS CLOSE! I was so thank full I put Mason down before I got to the dogs. Amy may not have let him go run dogs again till he was 10 if he'd gotten stung.
I'm attaching a picture I took an hour ago of Mason and Anna picking blue berries. Check out the rabbit cover in the back ground.
Oh ya, that pup is really giving that rabbit fits right now. I imagine tonight is about the first time she's ever been run when scenting was decent. I think she may be a good one!
Oh ya more news from the front. Legacy had her pups today. Looks like their were 4 of them. They are all looking good and have plenty of strength.
Form the sound of this pup I have out the smelling is real good this evening. I hope she circles it back around by the house as I don't want to have to fight my way into that area she is in.
I lasted blogged on Sunday and little Daisy is and Princess were running. Well I broke a shaft on my bush hog and needed to go to town and see if I could the a replacement. I didn't want to leave them out so I went and caught them. I had my son Mason with me and he and I rode over on the mule to catch them. I got close to them and luckily saw the rabbit. I put Mason down in a grassy spot (he's only16 months old) and got on the line to catch the dogs. Just as I was putting the leash on Princess I got hit my wasp right in the eye brow! I looked up to see a swarm. I hurried for cover grabbing up Mason as I to to him. I hooked those little female sot the back of the mule and took off. THAT WAS CLOSE! I was so thank full I put Mason down before I got to the dogs. Amy may not have let him go run dogs again till he was 10 if he'd gotten stung.
I'm attaching a picture I took an hour ago of Mason and Anna picking blue berries. Check out the rabbit cover in the back ground.
Oh ya, that pup is really giving that rabbit fits right now. I imagine tonight is about the first time she's ever been run when scenting was decent. I think she may be a good one!
Oh ya more news from the front. Legacy had her pups today. Looks like their were 4 of them. They are all looking good and have plenty of strength.
Labels: July running
Sunday, July 05, 2009
This morning is a first for my blog. I'm typing this as I sit on my front porch. The Lord has blessed us with an unusual July 5th morning. It's 10 AM and the temp is only 74 degrees. There's plenty of cloud cover and every now and then a few rain drop bounce around. My kids are playing on the steps and sidewalk (who ever thought of sidewalk chalk anyway?) I slept kinda late this morning so I didn't get up until about 8:30. First thing this morning I saw a half grown rabbit in the front yard. I slipped out and released two beagles in the area I saw the rabbit. I've had my breakfast and am just sitting out here listening to Princess and little Daisy hammering a rabbit. It's been over an hour now and they are sure enjoying this break in the weather. After the last week of dry hot weather it's great to hear a solid race. It's been a big commitment to purchase and payfor a piece of property like this but I expect it to really make a difference in bringing young dogs along.
Ladt Birds pups are doing great. Looks like wer gonna end up with nine of them!
Ladt Birds pups are doing great. Looks like wer gonna end up with nine of them!
Saturday, July 04, 2009
Cheer up folks; we have rounded the corner. Even as I type this note the days are getting shorter and as sure as the dog days of summer still lie ahead, Autumn will be soon following.
It's been busy around Five Forks the last several days. I've ran dogs 5 of the last 7 days, (even had a couple two-a-days mixed in) and the puppies are starting to be born.
Amy and i were driving home last week and as we approached the house we counted five rabbits along the edge of the road from the start of our farm to the house. My place is set up near perfect for rabbits but my neighbors is too. Our place was part of a several hundred acre farm that belonged to one family. We have just 23 acres of it but the rest of the farm is still owned by the family and is in overgrown fields as well. It's just a great place for rabbits.
Lady Bird had her puppies. You can imagine how excited we were to see that she had whelped eleven! two of them didn't survive the night but she has nine the look great. They have made it forty eight hours now and in my experience any that live that long will do just fine. I don't believe in babying bitches in whelp (other than proper nutrition and housing.) If you get a bitch that you have to coddle to take car of puppies you have yourself a problem that Will be with you for a long time. C-sections are another thing. If a bitch requires one, she needs to be culled from breeding. Bitches that require a section produce puppies that have a high probability of requiring C-sections. In fact, it's my opinion, good solid bitches are the most important thing to strive for when endeavoring to improve any breed. Let's face it, you can choose from literally a hundred different males for a nominal cost. The bitch however, is something you must work for years to get! You may be able to save your self some time and trouble by purchasing a high quality bitch from someone, but you will be on your own to develop several like this.
Oh well, i suppose that enough rambling for the morning. I hope everyone has a great Independence Day. Take a minute sometime today 9or any day) to think about what Independence Day is all about. Let's pay attention not to allow our country and in fact our freedom to to be encroached upon so much as to be no better off than when the British ruled these colonies. Our for fathers created a wonderful thing for us, lets keep it.
It's been busy around Five Forks the last several days. I've ran dogs 5 of the last 7 days, (even had a couple two-a-days mixed in) and the puppies are starting to be born.
Amy and i were driving home last week and as we approached the house we counted five rabbits along the edge of the road from the start of our farm to the house. My place is set up near perfect for rabbits but my neighbors is too. Our place was part of a several hundred acre farm that belonged to one family. We have just 23 acres of it but the rest of the farm is still owned by the family and is in overgrown fields as well. It's just a great place for rabbits.
Lady Bird had her puppies. You can imagine how excited we were to see that she had whelped eleven! two of them didn't survive the night but she has nine the look great. They have made it forty eight hours now and in my experience any that live that long will do just fine. I don't believe in babying bitches in whelp (other than proper nutrition and housing.) If you get a bitch that you have to coddle to take car of puppies you have yourself a problem that Will be with you for a long time. C-sections are another thing. If a bitch requires one, she needs to be culled from breeding. Bitches that require a section produce puppies that have a high probability of requiring C-sections. In fact, it's my opinion, good solid bitches are the most important thing to strive for when endeavoring to improve any breed. Let's face it, you can choose from literally a hundred different males for a nominal cost. The bitch however, is something you must work for years to get! You may be able to save your self some time and trouble by purchasing a high quality bitch from someone, but you will be on your own to develop several like this.
Oh well, i suppose that enough rambling for the morning. I hope everyone has a great Independence Day. Take a minute sometime today 9or any day) to think about what Independence Day is all about. Let's pay attention not to allow our country and in fact our freedom to to be encroached upon so much as to be no better off than when the British ruled these colonies. Our for fathers created a wonderful thing for us, lets keep it.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
My goodness it has been a long time since I update this blog. I had intended to start back next week.....July 1st...... but Ken's been on me to get back started so here i am.
The house is finally finished (at least mostly) and we are all moved in. I cant find anything and thier was a few times the first couple of days Amy panicked when she lost the kids. Sorry I dont have the final pictures on this pc but I'll get them up.
Rabbit season ended on a high note with a great late February hunt in Georgia. I've been trying to work on rabbit farming some. The fields on our farm have been laying fallow for several years and saplings are almost trees. I've got a bush hog that is rated for material up to 4" so It's working out pretty good. I hope in a few years I'll have it all beat back to stuff under waste high. I'd like to biuld a new barn/kennel later in the summer. Money's pretty tight now with work coming slow so I'll have to play it by ear.
I've really been enjoying some of the younger pups. Their young dogs now and I"m real happy with how they do.
Any way, we got lots of squash and tomatos coming in now. I've planted the pumkin patch with hopes of jac-o-lanterns come October. I also sowed a clearing in Brown Top Millet the first of the month. It's really jumped with al lthe water. I'll try to get some pictures of that up too.
Oh ya, I found a little fawn last week bush hogging. Hopefully it reunited with it's mother pretty quick. If I can figure out how to upload the short video I made I'll add it. Until next time.......
Labels: summer on a beagle farm.
Monday, December 29, 2008
I know it's been over a month since I posted on my blog. For the faith full readers I am sorry I've been slack. My father passed away the evening before Thanksgiving and I've been working hard to get the house ready for inspection. I got my inspection last Monday....!
Ken and I went hunting today with Ronald Phillips and his son Dillon. The scenting was incredibly good as it has been the hall fall. After two full years of drought the rain this fall has reminded me just how well the little beagles can chase a rabbit. We got started about 8:30 this morning and the running was fast and furious. By 10:30 we had run and killed 5 rabbits. The spot we were running on was kinda small and we run the 6Th rabbit over on some deer hunters so we caught the dogs and moved a half mile down the road to another spot we like. Since the first six dogs had 5 rabbits shot in front of them this AM we swapped dogs and got the second pack out about 11.15. In short order the rabbit was up and running. The dogs run about an hour or so and Ken had some work to do on the phone so he and Dillon disappeared to a shady spot up on the hill to take care of Ken's business. Ronald and I tried to cut that tricky rabbit off for a while then we decided to take a rest in a shady spot our selves. The bunny run near us several times but not where either of us could take shot. Finally about 1:00 we decided we needed to eat lunch so we headed up to the truck to join Ken and Dillon for soda and Vienna sausages. We shot the bull and ate lunch until about 2:00 when Ronald said, "listen to those dog, they are stroking that rabbit." With that we decided we need to go shoot that rabbit. When we got back down to where the dogs were running Dillon was able to shoot the rabbit and wound him. Just as the dogs and Ronald were about to catch the bunny he ducked into a hole. Since no one was willing to dig it out, except Lady Bird and Bell, the rabbit was left in the hole. In just a few minutes we had another rabbit going. This rabbit didn't stay up but 5 minutes and rand straight into the creek bank. Ronald said he saw him swim across and go up in the bank. It didn't seem possible so quickly so I talked him into tallyhoing the dogs over the water to the creek bank. Sure enough they smelled the bunny and started digging and fighting their way into the bank. I like to never got Lady Bird out of that hole. The next rabbit came quick and was shot by Ronald in less than a half hour. Ronald told me he was going up by the truck to turn out a brace of dogs he wanted to work for the trial this weekend and left Ken and I to tend to the shooting duties. As the dogs running was sounding good I sat down on log to take a rest. Directly, I spy ed a spot on the ground that looked like a good spot to lay down. It didn't take long and I was taking a good nap in the afternoon sun. As I was about to doze off listening to the two separate races, I remember thinking just how far I had come with these little beagles. The next thing I remember I was jolted from a sound sleep by the sound of barking dogs very near me. I woke up confused and dazed and was able to just see the rabbit hopping off into the broom straw field. I think Ken was the one who finally shot that rabbit and eventually Ronald and Dillon walked back down and joined us. We shot a few more rabbits and finally darkness put an end to a great day of rabbit hunting.
I know most people hunt in a lot different way than we do but I don't know why. The next time you go hunting make sure you plan enough time to enjoy yourself. Sit down, rest, maybe even take a nap and let the dogs run. You'll enjoy it a bunch.
Ken and I went hunting today with Ronald Phillips and his son Dillon. The scenting was incredibly good as it has been the hall fall. After two full years of drought the rain this fall has reminded me just how well the little beagles can chase a rabbit. We got started about 8:30 this morning and the running was fast and furious. By 10:30 we had run and killed 5 rabbits. The spot we were running on was kinda small and we run the 6Th rabbit over on some deer hunters so we caught the dogs and moved a half mile down the road to another spot we like. Since the first six dogs had 5 rabbits shot in front of them this AM we swapped dogs and got the second pack out about 11.15. In short order the rabbit was up and running. The dogs run about an hour or so and Ken had some work to do on the phone so he and Dillon disappeared to a shady spot up on the hill to take care of Ken's business. Ronald and I tried to cut that tricky rabbit off for a while then we decided to take a rest in a shady spot our selves. The bunny run near us several times but not where either of us could take shot. Finally about 1:00 we decided we needed to eat lunch so we headed up to the truck to join Ken and Dillon for soda and Vienna sausages. We shot the bull and ate lunch until about 2:00 when Ronald said, "listen to those dog, they are stroking that rabbit." With that we decided we need to go shoot that rabbit. When we got back down to where the dogs were running Dillon was able to shoot the rabbit and wound him. Just as the dogs and Ronald were about to catch the bunny he ducked into a hole. Since no one was willing to dig it out, except Lady Bird and Bell, the rabbit was left in the hole. In just a few minutes we had another rabbit going. This rabbit didn't stay up but 5 minutes and rand straight into the creek bank. Ronald said he saw him swim across and go up in the bank. It didn't seem possible so quickly so I talked him into tallyhoing the dogs over the water to the creek bank. Sure enough they smelled the bunny and started digging and fighting their way into the bank. I like to never got Lady Bird out of that hole. The next rabbit came quick and was shot by Ronald in less than a half hour. Ronald told me he was going up by the truck to turn out a brace of dogs he wanted to work for the trial this weekend and left Ken and I to tend to the shooting duties. As the dogs running was sounding good I sat down on log to take a rest. Directly, I spy ed a spot on the ground that looked like a good spot to lay down. It didn't take long and I was taking a good nap in the afternoon sun. As I was about to doze off listening to the two separate races, I remember thinking just how far I had come with these little beagles. The next thing I remember I was jolted from a sound sleep by the sound of barking dogs very near me. I woke up confused and dazed and was able to just see the rabbit hopping off into the broom straw field. I think Ken was the one who finally shot that rabbit and eventually Ronald and Dillon walked back down and joined us. We shot a few more rabbits and finally darkness put an end to a great day of rabbit hunting.
I know most people hunt in a lot different way than we do but I don't know why. The next time you go hunting make sure you plan enough time to enjoy yourself. Sit down, rest, maybe even take a nap and let the dogs run. You'll enjoy it a bunch.
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Just a quick note to say we are all still alive and doing well in the sunny south. The dogs are getting run and the new Purina Pro Plan is performing great. Just when I decided the new shredded formula was going to work out great, Purina has decided ( by all the customer demand) to start the Pro Plan Chicken and Rice formula back up. It will be in 37.5 lb bags and should be at your local stores before thanksgiving! I know many of you are are concerned with the high price of dog food, so am I. I have plenty of friends who are taking the risky step of using dog food that is not subject to the same test trials as Purina. I urge you, think long and hard about it. What is $2 dollars a bag or even $5 a bag if you kill your dogs. For those 0f you who compete in field trials, my gosh, you spend thousands of dollars traveling to a trial. You run your dogs all hours of the day and night, you try solo, you brace, you pack them, and you are worried over $2 a bag for dog food. That sounds risky to me......... If you have 5 or more dogs and want to be a member of the Purina Pro Club please call me or send me an email. I will get you set up. By having me introduce you to the club, you are assured of continual support and someone you can get a hold of if you need help. I sometimes get coupons and other merchandise I can pass on as well.
