Loss of Hunting / Running Grounds

As we approach gun season, the constant struggle to  have access to good ground is always a factor. As I’m sure everyone experiences, the places to hunt and run are shrinking daily.

Driving with my kids, I tell them of places that I use  to hunt or we will drive by a place that was once excellent grounds and now is either posted or has houses on it.  There is also the growing trend of leasing land for deer  hunting.
 
In the 80’s, I had access to a hillside that was on the end of a “bowl.”  I would run there several times per week.  The acoustics of this place were perfect. The cry of the hounds would resonate around the hillside and on quiet mornings you could hear the echo coming back at you as clear as could be.  It was a mix of white pine and briar patches that always held a good rabbit supply. The chases would cover the entire hillside and there were shooting lanes made by the intersection of power lines that made the hunting excellent.  I could get a start there rather quickly and it was only about 5 minutes from my house which made it rank up there as a favorite spot. (The top side bordered a pasture and a run in with a bull may be a future blog post.)   In the 90’s, I saw a dozer parked there and within a couple weeks, a section of the pines were  gone and within the summer, a home was right in the middle.  I still have access to the land next to the pasture but I don’t get the same running that I had before.
 
Another ridge top provided me with excellent running for a number of years.  The hounds would cross the dirt road from choppings on one side to hard woods on the other.  I rarely left the road side often sitting on the tailgate enjoying the music. If a car came through, it was at less than 5 mph and often the driver would stop to talk but most times no one even knew I was there.  This ridge top now has new homes lining the road and a paved road with double yellow lines and a speed limit of 25 that is never obeyed.  The choppings have been transformed to manicured lawns and the hard woods are posted.
 
I had access to several old farms that always produced well.  One was sold to a man in New Jersey that comes for a week in deer season but will not let me hunt or even run on it.  Another was bought out  by a neighboring farmer who has transformed it into a “modern farming operation” that probably couldn’t hold a field mouse let alone any game animal, farmed from border to border.  The older farmers are passing away and the buyers have different ideas about the uses of the land.  Deer hunting rules here in PA and many landowners don’t want hounds running around their deer grounds.
 
I guess that I experienced the “Best of Times” for hunting and I feel that my kids are being short changed.  Limiting out was common and you could get a run anytime of the year in the evenings. Exploding predator populations and expanding suburban sprawl make enjoying the hounds much more difficult.  Now I have to drive further and further to get into good grounds and the available acreage is much smaller than in the past.  This is the primary reason I sought out joining Conemaugh Valley Beagle Club.  We have the land but still battle predator issues.  The 1970’s and 80’s were great for me and instilled a love of the hounds and hunting that will be with me all my days.  What will  the future hold?

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Today, October 15, was my Father's birthday.  Although he has been gone for almost 20 years, I still  think of him daily.  He is such a huge part of me.  I thank him for instilling in me the love of nature and the desire to learn.  He taught school for 38 years and was a firm believer that you must learn something every day and knowledge was power.  We butted heads a few times but I would love to have some more time with him.