​Welcome to 2024!  The New Year has brought bitter cold temps and nasty wind chills to us. Woke up this morning to a balmy 7° but at least our wind has stopped. There are times when I think the wind has been blowing since October.  We have a good 8-10” of snow pack down and rain is forecast the remainder of the week.  Our mild winter has taken an abrupt turn.
 
We keep the thermostat in the kennel set at 50° but I’m sure at hound level it is probably around 45 or so but the hounds seem very comfortable.  The heat is more for me than the hounds!  If I didn’t have it heated, there is no doubt I would spend less time with them.  I have seen where people basically feed and water and head back into the comfort of their living room when the temps drop.  I prefer to spend time with them every day, whether we run or not.  The kennel is like my “man cave” where I can escape and recharge.  I don’t have cell service in there although I do have TV (can’t miss playoff football and baseball games).  Sometimes it’s just music on which seems to soothe the hounds some. 
 
The snow we have isn’t conducive to running the hounds.  Some places the crust will hold them, other places they sink in and it is brutal on their feet.  Our rabbit numbers appear to keep declining.  I continue to maintain a few around the house but most of my running areas are pretty bleak.  I blame predators mostly and our wonderful PA Game Commission is considering a reintroduction of Pine Martens, so place another on the list.  I guess the reintroduction of fisher wasn’t enough.  Add those two to the explosion of hawks and owls and as my uncle would say:  “It must be hell to be a rabbit!”
 
 
Hopefully we can get a female or 2 bred this spring.  Jada, Mallory and Sierra are all coming into their own and are showing very good potential.  I may also try Izzy for another litter before her time runs out.  These hounds get old terribly fast, the years just fly by.

​To the best of my knowledge, the last hound that Mike bred passed away recently, truly the end of an era.

Three hounds that came from here, three different mothers, three different fathers.  I wish I had that amount of game here.  Massachusetts.

​On March 2, 2022, we lost Cymbrian Elsie.  Elsie and her littermate sister, Annaka, were 2 foundation bitches of the kennel.  Elsie was a sweet hound, sired by Kennedy Mt Pete out of Eunice, she was a solid member of the pack for many years.  She was also a very good mother and producer.  Early in her life, I had a young Elsie out with the pack.  She was less than a year old if I remember correctly, and a big doe jumped up in front of her.  Off Elsie went (no shock collar on her, my bad) for 200 yards or so across a wide open stretch so I could see it all, yelling my head off.  At about the 200 yard mark, she stopped and realized that no other hound was with her.  She came back to where the rest of the hounds were and never took another deer the rest of her life.  She was a tireless worker and excellent searcher.  Her voice, even as a young hound, was very clear and smooth, although not extremely loud.  She was excellent in the whelping box also and gave us some very nice hounds, including Jasper above.  Elsie was never an issue in the kennel as she got along with all the other hounds and was very quiet in the kennel.  She was just a joy to own.  When winter 2022 rolled around, I could see her fading fast and we didn’t hunt her much in the cold.  She earned the right to stay cozy in the kennel.  March 2nd was a very hard day.

​Fast forward to November 29, 2022, Annaka Patch passed.  This one hurt even harder than Elsie as Annaka was the last hound of Mike’s that I had.  As puppies, Mike and I split the 2 bitches, with him taking Annaka, she was slightly bigger, and I kept Elsie.  Mike brought Annie in the house and he told me she would jump up on the back of the couch and watch.  I can still hear Mike say how beautiful a hound she was and indeed, she was a beautiful hound.  She had a personality that was unmatched and she was a very smart hound.  After the hounds came here, Annie quickly became the Alpha female of the kennel.  She was not the least bit aggressive but commanded the respect of all the other bitches without a growl or snap.  She also had the clear, smooth voice and transitioned to cottontail here very easily although she worked a cottontail check the same way she worked a hare check that she started on.  Annie was an excellent mother and she never lost a pup in 3 breedings.  A very easy whelper, I went out one morning about 4 AM to check on her as she was due and she had 3 pups cleaned up and nursing.  I closed the lid and by 6 AM had 2 more and was ready for her breakfast when I went out.  If someone saw her that morning, they would have never guessed she had just delivered 5 pups in the last couple hours.  A very cautious mother, you could tell she was always very proud of her puppies.  In the winter of 2021, Annie developed a tumor on her rear leg and we had it removed.  She spent a couple months in our house and never messed once.  She jumped up on the recliner and was perfectly at home.  She had absolutely no issues despite her spending almost her entire life prior in the kennel (other than the huge amounts of white hair that drove my wife crazy).   As fall 2022 approached, the writing was on the wall. I buried my sweet Annaka, wrapped in one of my favorite flannel shirts next to her sister and mother as my tears fell in the Pennsylvania clay.  It’s the worst part of having hounds.

​As the circle of life goes on in the kennel, we were fortunate enough to get some young hounds started on their journey. Simon, Sierra and Ciquala all opened on scent and are well on their way. Simon is a full 15” hound and at times can still be a little clumsy when it comes to quick moves but when he stretches it out, it is a thing of beauty.  His littermate sister Sierra, is as agile and cat-like as they come.  She can corner like a sports car and can leap and bound like very few we’ve seen.  Ciquala, or Sig (Siggy) is also very agile. Sig has that quick, machine gun chop, with a head down style and can really go.  He has a great personality and can be quite comical at times.  Sharp as can be, I think he understands every word I say.  A huge plus are his kennel manners; Cleanest, quietest hound in the kennel.

​As many know, my life has also had its ups and downs recently.  In December, I became a new grandpap and I’m determined to make little Luke a houndsman.  In March, my other son John was in a motorcycle accident in North Carolina so to say the past couple months have been hectic is an enormous understatement.

Can't let a year go by without an update!  Much, much to post but life has kept me extremely busy but we are still here...    More to come in the next few days!

 We are officially into Summer!  I have been intending to do some updates for quite a while now, finally I just sat down and did them.

Added a few pictures of the young hounds (I really need to work on getting them to stack better.  I tried to stack them on a table, that was a joke. Then  I tried on a crate...that wasn't happening, so they ended up on my lap.  My photographer Blair was beginning to grow impatient.)  Simon & Sierra are 2 of the younger hounds,  littermates out of Chandra by Sky (who was whelped here).  On a dead run, I don't think I have had any hounds faster.  They are extremely athletic and full of "jet fuel".  Neither would pose for a picture but both are built very well.  ( I will post different pictures of them  below for a different perspective.)  Also added a picture of Ciquala or Siggy as we call him. Sig reminds me so much of Myrtle that it's uncanny.  He still has some filling out to do but he is a very athletic, intelligent hound.
​
The hounds have been keeping me quite busy as well as the other summertime activities. Just not enough hours in the day.

This is Pietro Patch or "Petey."  I have very high hopes for this little guy.  He carries on the Twila branch of the family tree.  I am very excited to see what he has in him.

More to come... I have several things that I would like to post.  I guess I just have to make time to do them.

I apologize for my absence here.  Been busy with  the hounds and life in general.  Promise... there will be some updates coming soon!

​Today marks 51 years since the passing of Willet Randall.  In 1970, I was playing in snow forts, riding sleds and pushing matchbox cars and my biggest worry was my mother forcing me to brush my teeth.  Sometime later that spring or summer, I’m sure Uncle Joe mentioned something about Willet dying, as they were friends.  Death to a young boy was something mysterious, unimaginable and incomprehensible.  I had never, at that point, experienced death of a friend or family member. Just a few short years later, I had been bitten by the beagle puppy bug and was eager to learn all I could.  I really didn’t understand the whole “rabbit dog” concept but there was something eating at me that I had to have a beagle.  The soft eyes, long ears and pleasant voice all were calling me.
 
In those early learning sessions, Uncle Joe would talk about Willet and his hounds.  How the remote Adirondack wilderness was some exotic destination and Willet Randall was THE MAN of that mountain.  Uncle Joe would tell of Willet turning hounds loose in this paradise and he would evaluate, train and breed this strain we all know as THE PATCH HOUNDS.
 
I would imagine anyone reading this has read Wilderness Patchwork or has heard the stories of Willet’s humble beginnings as the Preacher’s son. Myself, I did not read Wilderness Patchwork until much later in life, after I had seen and had run some Patch hounds that were direct pups of Willet’s personal stock. I heard first hand, stories of the hard life and rugged winters that this Old man had to deal with on a daily basis.
 
For many of us, in our comfortable life, this existence is hard to fathom.  Modern roads and winter road maintenance, four wheel drive vehicles and going to the thermostat on the wall to crank the heat up were unknown to these old timers.  Dog food in packaged bags, vaccinations delivered to our door and 24 hour veterinary service were not in their wildest dreams.  Add to that the rigors of an Adirondack winter and the general isolation that comes with being a bachelor in Beaver Meadows, and one gains a new respect for those the likes of Willet Randall.
 
I remember my first trip to the Adirondacks some 15-20 years after Willet passed and wondered how these people survived up there.  Now I am no city slicker, much more of a country boy, but this massive forest was amazing to me.  I had spent countless hours in the woods and still am more comfortable in a forest than in a concrete jungle but I do like civilization. I wondered, “How could these people live like this?”  Once I got past Warrensburg, and people found out I was into the hounds, I would hear stories of Willet Randall; Stories of his cigar, stories of church, of cantankerous curmudgeons, the Ark Zoo and animals and of course, the hounds, stories of the hermit bachelor who preferred the wilds to civilization. At Mike’s burial service, several people came up to me with stories of Willet and actually the minister of Mike’s service was the great nephew of Willet.  But it was Mike that gave me the most in depth look at the man, Willet.
 
Mike and my Uncle Joe made the trip from southern New York to Willet's kennel in 1964.  From that day forward, Mike and Willet became best of friends with Mike eventually giving up the life he knew and diving head first into life in the Adirondacks. For some time, Mike lived with Willet, taking care of and running the hounds and Willet eventually found Mike the 40 acres he would call his and his family’s home.  Mike’s place was just a short trek from Beaver Meadows.  Mike would get this wry smile when he relayed a story of Willet.  There was closeness, a bond, a friendship that came through on Mike’s face when he thought and spoke of Willet.  Mike told me of Willet being a great story teller and some of the fiction that he came up with.  Also some of his peculiar ways, one in particular was when they were going through the mail.  Willet would look at the return address and on occasion the letter was immediately put into the fire. (Yes, just as today, the Patch hounds AND the Patch Kennel have their haters).  Willet was very good at reading people and their intentions. Some had their own, shady interests and some wanted to ride the coattails of the kennel.  Willet didn’t concern himself with what was in those letters and just moved on and did his thing. Willet told Mike that some people had fooled him and got a hound from him but they would never get another. 
 
Willet referred to Mike as “Wild Mike” and valued him as his hound trainer.  Age was catching up with Willet and Mike, as a young man, was able to get in there and see exactly what the hounds were doing.  Evenings were spent discussing houndwork and pondering the future crosses.  Willet was still at the helm until almost the very end.
 
The last couple of years of Willet’s life were spent in and out of the hospital with Mike taking care of the hounds and making trips to visit Willet and making sure Willet was comfortable after being discharged.  Mike had begun work on his kennel when Willet fell and broke his hip but Willet never got to see Mike’s completed kennel.
 
As Willet knew his time was coming, he and Mike spoke about the future of the kennel and the hounds.  Willet’s desire was to not let his life’s work with the hounds just disappear.  He gave Mike specific guidelines and standards that must always be kept.  The standards of the longest continuing AKC Registered Kennel must go on.  Mike and I also had these conversations about the continuity of the kennel from me, as this was Willet’s wish.
 
Would I have liked to have met him?  Absolutely! Would we have got along?  Who knows?  My appreciation for those that came before us is unwavering.  I have great respect and admiration for those that paved the way for us.  Willet had many advantages over all of us as it was a different time. We also have many advantages of modern life that were unimaginable to our forefathers.  The hounds were Willet’s livelihood, although supplemented by his writings, and I know some decisions were made that he would not have made if money wasn’t a factor. 
 
I could go on and on about Willet Randall’s fascinating life, from Whooping Cranes to Foxlair.  His death 51 years ago marked the end of an era. His legacy is as large as ever.  I doubt there is a beagler alive today that doesn’t know of Willet Randall.  My goal is to keep his hound legacy alive, to build upon what he had done, and keep the greatest family of hunting beagles alive and thriving.

*- I have several obituaries that appeared in various publications as well as the text of the Eulogy that was read at his burial service.  Every trip I make to the Adirondacks include a visit to the Baptist Cemetary as well as the grave on Cleveland Rd.

August 15, 1937 - June 11, 2014
God, I miss him!

Summer is moving right along and we will all admit, 2020 has been something else!

I added a few pictures to the website, it's obvious that I'm not a very good photographer but I'm going to blame some of it on the hounds, they are hard to get to sit still.

Below are 2 beautiful pups, I was calling them Speckle & Freckle but they have real names coming.  Very plump, fiery little buggers!  Hopefully they will be started before winter sets in.

Snapped a few pictures of some of the younger hounds that have grown up since I posted pictures of them.  I'll put them below.

​As 2019 is coming to a close, we have much to be thankful for in life and with the hounds.  Spring and summer found us out with the hounds quite a bit.  As we moved into autumn, work and life got hectic and not as much running was done as we would like.  Always seems like there just isn’t enough hours in a day to accomplish what we would like to accomplish.  We were able to get Katie started and running well, put a lot of hours on Tiana, Maury & Bindi and enjoyed the rest of the pack for many trips throughout the year. 
 
We were only able to get one female bred this year, Taya, and that was disappointing.  Also disappointing was the fact that Taya only whelped 2 pups (both males).  Paco, at 11 has reached the end of his fertile years and that seems like it came way too fast.  We are grateful for the pups we have from these older males and must concentrate on what we have, not what we don’t have.  We have had some bad luck with some other hounds both in our kennel and those that have gone to other homes.  My uncle used to say that every time you unhook the lead, might be the last time you see them.  Now we haven’t lost any hounds but there are definitely choices that we would make differently if we had a crystal ball.  It seems you blink your eyes and the hounds are old like the Kenny Chesney song “Don’t Blink”.
 
Pria went to another good friend’s home and birthed a litter this summer.  Our pup should be here around January 12 and we are excited to see how that goes.  Pria is a very nice hound that was bred to a nephew of Paco on the West Coast.  Pria is the only female pup from Twila, who was one of our all-time favorites.  We have high hopes that Twila’s granddaughter will possess some of those qualities that made Twila such a special hound.
 
Katie and Tiana (pictured at top) are quite the duo.  They are both sired by Gadget and their mothers are half sisters, both by Paco. Further, their grandmothers are littermate sisters (Elsie & Annaka).  (I know that sounds confusing!)  For young hounds, they have the stamina and desire that we like to see, and both have a level head when out with the pack.  I have seen each do some things that are rarely seen in a young hound.  Tiana was a very easy starter, Katie not so much but when the switch went on for Katie, it went on full blast.  They are both very nice hounds in the kennel and fairly well behaved.  They both love to have an evening wrestling match that sometimes gets pretty heated.  They both also love to give the squirrels in the yard a “chewing out” every time they see one.  They are buddies and they always seem to be together.
 
These are Taya’s boys.  I call them Pius and Peus.  Sometimes puppies can really get on the nerves, but I think I got on my parent’s nerves quite a bit also. All part of growing up I guess.  They were using the doggy door at 5 weeks and are as round & plump as any pup I’ve bred.  They are full of fire and spring will bring on some good times as we just love starting pups.  Our rabbit population seems to be down (too many predators) but I always have a few to get the hounds some work.  I am really hoping to do some predator control and rabbitat enhancement this winter.