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Our miserable July is coming to an end. I love cold fronts from Canada ! Hounds are getting anxious to get some big time running in.
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 ************************************************************************************************************************************** I really have been slipping in the blog posts, I didn't realize it had been so long since I've posted anything. Time has a way of flying by. We have been stuck in a humid spell and I don't enjoy running the dogs in the heat. Been busy cutting grass, working in the garden, and a host of other things. Hopefully we will have a new litter of Patches next month. I would rather have winter pups than summer pups but nature didn't cooperate with us this year. Hounds and Hunting Magazine has been rerunning Willet's articles the past few months. I have the originals but it's always nice to see. I will try to do more site updates soon. Have some hounds I need to update. Like Mike told me: " you have to keep moving forward."
 Cymbrian Phoebe Patch. This sweet little pup started yesterday. Looking forward to putting a lot of tracks between her legs. She is a spunky hound that is put together very well.  * note the lack of snow. We got 8" of fresh powder last night I have been intending to do a new blog entry for some time but have been busy with one thing or another for quite a while. Between work, the family and the hounds, little time is left for much else. Our weather has been crazy. We had a fairly nice autumn and I was able to do a good bit of running. Then came rifle deer season and the hounds have to be put up for those 2 weeks. After that it seems as though winter came swiftly. Our temps dropped to the single digits with high winds and today we had snow, then sleet, then freezing rain and finally plain rain. If conditions don't improve, there isn't much point in running the hounds. While Blair was home for Thanksgiving, we got to do our annual pheasant hunt. The boys had a blast as this is an event they look forward to each year.  ( it was a long, fun day!) After Blair headed back after Thanksgiving, he called and said he had a 96 hour leave the next weekend and was coming back home to deer hunt. We saw a lot of deer and both boys passed on several doe.  we had deer running under our stands throughout the season but no shooter bucks Christmas is fast approaching and we will be lucky enough to have everyone here again. Blair has a 2 week leave and hopefully we will get to do some more gunning. Below are some hound pics. Merry Christmas! ( left: Bindi working the line. Center: Taya, a complete hound in all aspects. Right: Gadget on the trail along a dry, dirt road)
I have received quite a few requests asking for some updates and a new blog post. I have been so busy that some things get put on the back burner. Earlier in the summer, I had been running the hounds nightly. The last 3 weeks I have only run sparingly. As many know, I’m not a fan of the heat and humidity and we sure have had a lot of that this summer. It looks like next week will bring some cooler nighttime temps. My garden has been a challenge this year as well. From fighting the lack of rain, to the critters, the garden has been a struggle. Groundhogs, deer, bugs and rabbits all have bothered my plants this year. My beans have been mowed down three times now. My tomatoes have all had a bite taken out of them and now my cucumbers (which I’ve never had issues with before) have had their vines nipped and now the cucumbers themselves are being nibbled upon. Add to this several varieties of lettuce seed that I grow never came up and one beautiful patch that did come up (inside a fence!) was raided by an angry woodchuck.  The spring pups have gone to their new homes. They were some absolutely gorgeous, energetic little buggers. The time flies when you are taking care of young ones and before you know it, those 8 weeks are gone and the kennel is quiet again.
 My keeper, Phoebe ****************************************************************************************************************************************  John with Dierks Bentley Many have asked about the boys. I have been told they feel like they know them from my writings. John has spent the summer working in Ocean City, MD. He came home for 2 days at the end of his annual National Guard Drill and then went back to OCMD. This is the first summer since he was 5 that he hasn’t played baseball. He is supposed to be back the end of August.  Blair has been all over the country for his Marine training and is now stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina as part of the combat logistics regiment. He was at Parris Island, SC, Camp Geiger, NC, then Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri and now back at Lejeune. He surprised us with a visit on Memorial Day and then headed back to Missouri after 3 short days. In his travels, he met Trace Adkins at Dulles airport. Many know Trace Adkins as the voice of the Wounded Warrior Project commercials but as anyone who has a Marine knows, he also sings “Arlington” and “Semper Fi” which both mean a lot to us. Blair said they played “Semper Fi” every week after church services and when we were at Family Day at Parris Island, they played an awesome slide show to it. (Semper Fi video)
It has been strange being “empty nesters,” it is SO quiet here and I miss the boys but they are out seeing the country and living their lives. It leaves me with a lot of time to run dogs and do some other things that I haven’t had time to do in the past. **************************************************************************************************************************************** One of my pet peeves is the oversized beagles being produced. According to AKC, a hound over 15” is the only automatic disqualification for a beagle (everything else is just a fault to some degree). Now I have had a few hounds that have gone slightly over but it is something that I am always on guard against. A beagle is not a harrier or a foxhound. The standard is very clear. I have had folks from real snow country (Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine) that prefer the smaller hound that stays on top of the snow. It’s all about the HEART! Also many of these oversize hounds are out of proportion. The necks aren’t long enough to comfortably reach the ground (beagles are scent hounds, not sight hounds). Once a hound goes over the 15” mark, it is tough to keep all other aspects of the hound in the proper ratio. Legs and elbows, shoulders, spine, head and ears get out of whack on these oversize hounds. A beagle is a compact hound that should look like a beagle, not a pony with flop ears. The paper breeding and looking only at certain traits (e.g. color) and not evaluating the entire hound will lead folks into trouble. Indiscriminate breeding will leave many with health issues down the line or faulty hounds that aren’t worthy of carrying on the legacy. The standard was written by very knowledgeable houndsmen and every part of the conformation standard has a practical application to the hunting hound. Stamina, durability and efficiency all play into the conformation of a well put-together beagle. They all also play into the longevity of the hunting hound. As a critical observer, the most common fault that I see, without a doubt, is faulty feet. So many hounds have splayed, long toes. In the field, a widespread liability is swinging and blindly charging the front. Again we are talking efficiency in running a rabbit, and many hounds cannot circle a rabbit on their own. Take the pack away from a hound and you will see what you really have. I haven’t bred the perfect hound yet, but that is what I’m striving for. Lastly, I see some people on the internet claiming “Patch this” or “Patch that” but then they exclaim that their hounds swing and skirt, run trash, go over 15” or have other faults (physical or running) that would never have been perpetuated by Willet, Mike or myself. If you are promoting hounds that are direct opposite to what the Original, AKC Registered kennel stands for and has always stood for, why are you claiming the Patch name on your hounds? Just because your hound carries in his/her ancestry hounds named “Patch”, does not make the hound worthy to be bred. Been extremely busy! Too much to do, not enough time in a day! I have several blog posts ready to go, just have to put some finishing touches to them. Below are our 2 keepers from our fall litter. Bindi, on the left, is a sweet, sweet little hound. She reminds me of her grandmother Eunice, hopefully she will turn into the hound that Eunice was. On the right is Maury (Maurice). He is one of the most athletic hounds we have ever bred. It appears that he is barely moving but he sure can cover some ground. He is very fluid. I watched him clear a 3 foot ditch by 2 feet on each side, not missing a stride. Very pleased with both of these pups so far.
It constantly amazes me how many people this website reaches. I have said before that many of Mike's acquaintances have reached out to me over the years and expressed their admiration and respect for him. Less frequently I get a comment from someone who wants to share a story of an encounter with Willet, some of these are rather entertaining (Uncle Vic). Back in October I received an email from a name I did not recognize. I opened the email and a smile instantly appeared on my face. The gentleman relayed to me that his grandfather was a friend of Willet and and was mentioned in Wilderness Patchwork. He told me of the 2 half breed Indians, Injun Jim and Injun George and George was his grandfather. He told me of his grandfather's "... HARD life in the brutal upstate weather but [George] lived a life most of can only dream of. He was a hunter, trapper and guide his whole life. Running dogs with Willet was a special time for him." George " lived in Indian Lake for most of his life had four daughters which my mother was the third. My mother left Indian Lake after graduation headed for Washington DC where she met my father and traveled the world. Here we are many years later and she is living down in Middle Georgia. George moved down here for the last few years and passed away at 88 in 1992." "I have lived all over the world and may be considered a Georgia boy now but every time I am in the Adirondacks I feel a certain kinship. Some of the most beautiful sights in America are there. I have several other pictures of the area up there and wildlife that my grandfather had, Deer, Lynx, Raccoons . To me they are the most fascinating scenes since most were taken in the 30’s and 40’s. Sometimes I get nostalgic about my grandfather and that had me browsing through Willets book where several of those photos were crammed. I appreciate your interest, I have never hunted with dogs but have a love for them. I do realize the magnitude of Willet and the Patch legacy. It is great that Willets’ envisioned lineage is still going through you. Please let me know if you are ever down this way" Gary According to Gary, the photo in Wilderness Patchwork says it is Injun Jim, it is actually his grandfather George.
 George and Willet Merry Christmas! As we approach the Holiday Season and the close of 2015, we have much to be thankful for. It has been a very good year for us on many fronts. Our youngest son Blair has left for Marine Boot Camp. Although this has been tough on his mother and me, Blair has wanted to be a Marine since he was about age 10 or so. His journey to become a Marine has begun and we pray for him daily.  Blair swearing in. Two days before leaving, Blair was able to connect on a nice 7 point buck. He spent a lot of time on stand during archery and passed on a few smaller buck. He is a very good deer hunter and things could not have worked out better.  The boys and I enjoyed our annual pheasant hunt. We got to hunt over some awesome Brittanies and enjoyed the day tremendously.  The weather has been unusual to say the least. We are expected to reach the mid 60's today. Everyone thinks I'm crazy, but I would really like some snow and more seasonal temperatures. I'm sure I'll get my wish soon enough. It has been some outstanding running so I'm grateful for that.  Taya picks a check as the sun sets
 Indiana County, PA is noted as the Christmas Tree Capital of the World, partly because the Christmas Tree Growers Association was founded there. In 1918, Christmas Trees were grown as a "crop" and by 1956, 700,000 trees were cut annually. Currently, other locales may produce more trees but Indiana County still claims the title. As a beagle man, this is a wonderful thing. Most farms still hold plenty of rabbits although some farms cut everything in between and leave nothing for the bunnies. I am lucky enough to have permission to run on one of the largest growers of blue spruce in the area. We have been hot and dry so running is limited to early morning. I've been getting out around daybreak and by 8 AM, its already too hot and the dew has disappeared. According to the weather reports, things are about to change and for me, its not soon enough!  Rabbit bolted across the opening with hounds right on his tail. |
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