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.
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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. 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.
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! Much has been happening here and the summer started very hectic. Our weather has not been the best either, lots of rain and then heat and humidity. Pups have went to their new homes, I wish many years of luck to their new owners and hope they get as much enjoyment from them as I get from the hounds. The “beagle time” is very necessary in order for me to keep my sanity. John finished up his final year of Legion baseball. I have to give him credit, he is working full-time, has his National Guard duties, made the Dean’s list and still made time for baseball. Blair graduated high school in June and has been keeping himself busy. He has weekly rifle matches and also his weekly Marine “poolee” workouts. He is still scheduled to leave in December and that’s ok with him as he will get one more PA deer season. I alluded to some things going on in the patch world in a previous blog post and I will now elaborate. I get calls and emails almost on a daily basis keeping me up to date on some of the foolishness that goes on. I am grateful to those that keep me informed. I am hearing of multiple litters being pumped out from folks who are trying to make a buck or as they say “to fill a need out there.” They are breeding hounds just because they have patch lineage and the market is there for them to sell their pups. I was told of a man breeding and selling an entire litter just because the demand is there. Not because he needed a pup, or the parents were outstanding hounds, but because he can turn a buck. In another case, a Yorkshire terrier breeder put the following on his website:
We are starting a new line of another hard to find beagle. Lemon and white patch . We have 2 boys left for sale now at $650 each They come from a long line of champion beagles and will come with a 3rd generation certificate and shot and worming records (by the way, they are only CKC registered) There are hounds put on the market without papers labeled as Patch and hounds being bred that the breeders have no clue as to what they are putting together other than the names on the page all say patch. Also many only breed for color. I get calls on pups from Annaka, who is lemon and white, and people are only interested in her because of the color of her hide. They rarely ask about her ability. All that matters is the look. (It’s also amazing how many requests I get for females.) I’ve said it before but look at Willet’s hounds, they weren’t all lemon and white and look very different from what the peddlers are putting up for sale. I see on the American Beagler website a certain person that is continually attempting to pawn off his patch puppy mill pups. He shepherds people in to his puppy milling scheme. I also understand there is a Patch facebook group as well. They may have an occasional good hound, but they are not a Patch Hound, they have patch bloodlines but should not carry the name as they did not originate from the Patch Kennel and are removed by 7-8 or more generations from the Patch Kennel. If you made the cross, you decided to put ol’ Rover with ol’ Susie, put your own name on them and be proud of them. Don’t ride the name of another’s kennel just to sell your pups for more money or to sell them quicker. I wish people would show some respect, not only to me, but for Willet and Mike. Is it a cross that Willet would make? Or Mike? Or myself? I’ve heard all the excuses: to honor Willet, to show their heritage etc.. Sorry, that is just not right. Even if your pedigrees are stacked with hounds named “patch” on top and bottom, it is not a Patch hound. Believe me, some of these hounds do not honor Willet. Our breeding decisions are made on sound, time-tested principles, not on a pedigree. I was contacted in early spring by a man interested in some patch history and he told me “he was just getting into them.” His questions obviously revealed his lack of knowledge but now some whopping 5 months later, he is an expert and breeding someone else’s culls and showing them off as Patch and some are buying them up thinking they are getting a Patch hound. Again, is it a hound Willet would breed? Just because two hounds will breed, doesn’t mean they should be bred. Another issue that gets under my skin is the demand for hounds that trash. I have had folks contact me looking for hounds for deer and coyotes. Here is my take on this: the TRUE Patch hound was bred for rabbit, nothing else. Here in the northeast, where the strain originated, if your hounds take a deer, be prepared to lose your hound. It will either: get shot by a deer hunter, get lost and killed by coyotes, or get run over on a highway. Also the wardens may fine you for allowing a big game chase. Same with the northeast coyotes, if you’re lucky enough to have a coyote run from your beagle, a car will eventually get them. Most of the coyotes (or “brush-wolf”) will make a quick kill on your hound, folks with Walkers have had run-ins with yotes here. I know of several houndsmen that have lost hounds to coyote attacks and many more that have had a close call. Maybe the coyotes down south or the ones in a pen are not as deadly but that is still trash. (See link: Northeast coyotes have wolf genes ). These people who want these trash runners still want to call them “Patch Hounds.” That is not what Willet and Mike strove for. (I can actually tell you what happened to Willet’s and Mike’s trashrunners, but that’s another story all together.) If you want to run your beagles on deer / coyote, by all means, go for it, but do not represent them as Patch, Patch Hounds were not bred for trash running! I am very grateful that I have had many hounds that were naturally trash-proof, the work (selective breeding) was done before me. Below is an internet quote from a well regarded houndsmen: “There are several guys that breed “patch” hounds. I know of a couple that really put the time and effort in to cull / selective breed and I know of a few that breed patch to patch to get more patch, and who cares how they run, the pedigree says Patch… “Chris and Ron Sadler would be the two guys I think of when I think about people carrying on the Patch line.” This is from a man whom I never met and never got a hound from me and is not a “patch guy” but it is indeed humbling and an honor. I know that there are a few more that have the hound’s best interests at the forefront but we are being outnumbered by the peddlers. It doesn’t help that the patch-peddlers appear to be the mouthy, incessant posters on the net as well. Some of the videos are down-right embarrassing but the owner’s describe it as “good houndwork.” Also some folks think that a Patch hound is a breed. It is unbelievable how many times I have heard ‘the greatest breed of hounds= The Patch’. THEY ARE BEAGLES!!! THE BREED IS BEAGLE, the line or strain is Patch. One of the greatest things that I got from Mike was the collection of pedigrees from Beaver Meadow days to the present. I have spent hours upon hours studying these peds. Willet and Mike did not care how many hounds carried the patch name in the pedigree or if the hound originated in their kennel. They cared about the hounds and their ability. Some of these folks should read Willet’s breeding notes. Sorry for the ramble….. below are some hound pics ! Been very busy lately with work, family and everything else that comes with it. Lola's pups are here, (see Upcoming litters page). Planning on another litter (or 2) for fall. If you haven't heard from me, or if I haven't heard from you for a while, please shoot an email to keep in touch. ************************************************************************************************* John finished up his first college semester and Blair is winding up his senior year of high school. Blair starts his final summer rifle league tonight, he has enlisted in the Marine Corps and his ship date is December 7. John is getting ready to start his final year of American Legion Baseball but he will get a late start as his 2 week National Guard duties fall in the end of May. ************************************************************************************************* Freddie had a run in with a porcupine last week. Blair and I pulled 13 quills from his mouth and lips. We went back to the spot of the porky to extract a little revenge but we could not find him. Unfortunately I think I will run into him again. ************************************************************************************************* Had a nice talk with Stanley H. last night. He is very pleased with his pups from last year and said he would like another soon. He has been running hounds for a long time and waited about 2 years for his pair of pups from me. He sent me some pictures of them and they have matured very nicely. I will scan the pictures and post them at a later date. ************************************************************************************************* I have much to write about regarding the happenings in the "patch world" but I will hold off for now. I am seeing guys pumping out pups from hounds that should not be bred and definitely should not be advertised as patch. Remember if you want a TRUE PATCH HOUND, you can only get one from THE PATCH KENNEL. We stick to the same standards established by Willet. I believe that there are some good hounds out there but also many poor. The internet forums are a blessing and a curse. I picked Blake up in October of 1995 in North River after Mike called and said he had a nice male for me. I left home in a couple days hoping to miss any inclement weather but ran into snow in the North Country that slowed my return trip quite a bit. I didn’t have a name so my mother suggested “Blake” after my Uncle Joe who had just passed. My dad’s brothers all called Joe “Blake.” It just seemed to fit. Blake was a high energy hound from Day 1 and I really enjoyed our puppy walks. Through that first winter we did a lot of yard work and by spring he was ready to go. I box trapped a rabbit and showed it to him, set it loose, and Blake proceeded to circle his first rabbit. He didn’t open much but he was right on the line making a quick circle into the scotch pines and back to a hole under my mother’s shed. To say I was impressed is an understatement. I immediately called Mike to tell him the news. Throughout that summer, we ran quite a bit, solo and some pack work. Rabbits were plentiful that year and we had a blast. As he gained confidence, he added some voice and I was very pleased and could not wait to gun him. We bagged quite a few that first season. Blake continued to improve and hunted like a finished, older hound by the end of gun season. I just loved taking him out. We had a lot of fun as well some strange encounters. While running one day with Blake and Betsy, I heard a commotion near a small brush pile. I scurried up the hill to find Blake and Betsy with a skunk cornered. I grabbed a stick to try to get them away but it was too late. Before I could blink, each hound had an end of the skunk and began to stretch it. I couldn’t do a thing and in a few seconds there were two halves to the skunk and here comes Blake to give me his prize. At the time I was driving a Jeep Grand Cherokee and had to put the hounds in the back. I drove the 2 miles or so with the hatch open but everything reeked. Thank God for Skunk Off, it really does work. Another time with Blake and Betsy, we were running at a Christmas tree farm and the running was heads up and blistering. The rabbit would run through the pines and into a small woodlot and back again. It was approaching night but I let them go a little longer, the running was so good I hated to stop it. As Betsy came across the path just behind the rabbit, I saw some white around her muzzle. I couldn’t see exactly what it was so I hurried down and grabbed the hounds. Both Blake and Betsy’s face and mouth were loaded with porcupine quills. I quickly headed back to the house. Betsy stayed relatively calm as my wife and I removed about 10 to 15 from her. Blake was another story. I didn’t know a beagle could be that strong. I held him while my wife pulled some 30 to 40 quills from his mouth, nose, face, ears and neck. My wife, Blake and I were exhausted after that 3 hour or so ordeal. I was soloing Blake another time when he got between a groundhog and its hole. Our woodchucks can be pretty feisty and Blake was on a mission. The groundhog didn’t last long although he did manage to bite Blake in the back of the neck. Blake had a mean streak that was totally different than his normal personality. He loved the taste of blood. Everyone that saw Blake run was impressed, he could just hammer a rabbit and seemed to work checks out with ease. When he felt like it, Blake handled fairly well, but if he wanted to hunt more, he developed a hearing problem and totally ignored me. On a windy day, we were hunting a strip on the upper side of a hill and the running was fairly good. At dusk, I called the hounds in but no Blake. I loaded the hounds and headed back to look for Blake. No luck. I laid my shirt down at the drop off spot and headed for home. I kenneled and fed the hounds and back to the running spot. The wind picked up even more as a storm was coming in. No sight or sound of him. At about 11 PM, I drove around the other side of the hill and caught a slight bawl coming from the thickest, nastiest, jungle of blow-downs, grape vines and everything else. Blake had about 7 hours of running but that wasn’t enough. I had skinned shins, knees and bruises, but Blake was back in the kennel. Another time, I was not so lucky. We started our hunt about 4 PM and darkness came and no Blake. He was just running minutes before so I knew he was in the area. I was not concerned about this spot as there were no roads or other hazards in that area. I had a long day so again I left a shirt and went home. Around 11PM I went out and heard him running deep in the hollow. There was no way I was going down to get him. Up at 7AM, I headed to the running spot. As I got out of the car, I heard that familiar voice, still going strong. I positioned myself at a crossing and soon the rabbit crossed. I got down there just as Blake was coming through and I grabbed him. He was still going strong 14 some hours later. He was just something else. On another occasion we were hunting near a small pond and for some reason, instead of following me around the pond, he decided to swim across. He got to the middle or a little farther and decided to swim back the way he came. Still another time he got down a steep creek bank and couldn’t get back out. Luckily, I found him, laid down at the creek’s edge, and barely reached his collar to pull him to safety. Blake and I had so many close calls but also so much fun, I just loved it! As he aged, his hearing went and wouldn’t or couldn’t hark in to the pack or hear me anymore so he stayed home. Both he and I hated it. Blake died at 12 and it was one of the hardest days for me to lay him in his grave. I think about that crazy hound all the time and now I have a great-granddaughter that is a splitting image of him. Can’t wait till the weather finally breaks to start her. “It all started with a hound named Lead” Joe Hornick was born in a small coal mining town just prior to the depression. As he told me, growing up Joe was thought to be sickly, having pneumonia in a time when medicine was not what it is today. At the time everyone in the area worked in the mines and Joe’s immigrant parents feared that he would never make the dusty, damp Pennsylvania coal mines. They erected a one room store with the intentions that Joe would someday run the village store. Joe would have nothing of it. As many of that generation, he was determined to better himself and had the extreme work ethic to do it. After his schooling, which didn’t last very long, Joe followed his brothers to New York. All the family saw the toll coal mining took on their father and wanted better. None of the four boys worked in the mines very long. Joe was driven to succeed. He worked several jobs including a logging job before landing at IBM when IBM was primarily a typewriter company. He retired from IBM in the 70’s. Uncle Joe married Ann Rajnish, a schoolteacher, and together they had a son. Ann passed away fairly young with cancer which left Joe to raise his son. Their son went on to become an International Marketing Executive with a major pharmaceutical company. Prior to leaving rural Pennsylvania, Joe saw a neighbor hunting with a beagle of some sorts named Lead. Joe was hooked and knew he too would have to have a beagle to hunt rabbits. He managed to scrape some money together and he talked the man into selling him Lead. Lead set the standard for the rest of his life. Lead died of distemper but the fire had been lit. It wasn’t long and Jerry was sleeping in the house. Jerry, a beagle of unknown origin was acquired to replace Lead. As with houndsmen of today, if one was good, two would be better. Soon Bounce was added and the two made an outstanding brace. The whole family and even the neighbors would take Bounce and Jerry and harvest some rabbits. Bounce and Jerry were a duo that Joe said he never saw again in his entire life. When Uncle Joe went to New York, the hounds remained in Pennsylvania as he had his priorities of making a life for himself first. It was in New York that he entered the world of registered beagles. He was a founding member of the Mid-Hudson Beagle club and was a popular hare and cottontail judge for many years in the 1930s, 40s, 50s and into the very early 1960s. When the walkie-talkie trend came about, that was the end of his judging. Joe wrote several articles to Hounds and Hunting as well as letters to AKC criticizing the trend of the day. Through it all, his real passion was pleasure running and hunting. In the 1920s, Joe and his brother Kurt heard about a man in the Adirondacks that had the best hounds for snowshoe and for cottontail. There was also a huntable population of European hare in Southern New York/ New Jersey at the time as well. Joe, always striving for the best in everything, and Kurt who put hunting over everything else, landed in North Creek paying a visit to Willet Randall. They purchased a female pup directly descended from FC Patch named Bessy Patch. Everything changed. They hunted Bessy all over New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Vermont, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania. They hunted her on snowshoe hare, European hare and cottontail. From the early 20s, through the 1970s, Joe hunted Bessy and generations of her descendants everywhere he went. Again striving for the best and being a truly great houndsmen, Joe was a master at keeping the outstanding ability of Bessy going for many generations. He blended many hounds together, had disappointments but also a lot of success and remained ever vigilant for any weakness that may pop up. I was and still am amazed at the skill these craftsmen had in refining their hounds. Throughout the next 40+ years, Joe travelled to North Creek several times to infuse more Patch blood as well as several other well known kennels of the day. Joe only accepted the best and settled for nothing less. He kept his bitchline going for more than 50 years and he believed his best hounds were produced in the 1970s, always looking for improvement in field work and type. He incorporated Yellow Creek from Harvey Low, Blue Cap from Gorman, Woodland from Miller, additional Patch from Randall, Lehigh, Watatic and even Mt Zion Pete as well as other outstanding hounds into his Patch base to come up with hounds that could push a hare and handle a cottontail, all with the build of a show hound. He ran hounds with Willet Randall, Bill Gorman, Ray Miller, Morgan Wing, Harry Morse, Dick Root, E.C. Hare, Ron Lake, Ray Libby, William Vandermass, Maurice Sampson and several others I cannot recall. Joe took pride in getting others involved in the sport (including myself). I have no idea how many he brought into the world of beagles but in 1964, he made a journey to Randall’s in North Creek with a young man fresh out of the Army. Joe introduced Mike Capozzi to Willet on February 22, 1964 and Patch history was made. Willet and Mike hit it off and soon Mike was moving to the Adirondacks. Joe kept in touch with Mike regularly after his move. Joe had grandchildren in Michigan and began flying back and forth from New York to Michigan to Pennsylvania and anywhere else he desired. He enjoyed his retirement immensely. Always physically in shape, he hunted hare in the Adirondacks and Catskills into his early 80’s and the hounds were always a huge part of his life. He had a natural gift and his hounds displayed awesome talent. (I have told several the story of how he had his hounds trained to the car horn.) He had the eye and skill of a great houndsmen and was not afraid to try a cross or a different hound but his priorities again were his family and the strain of leaving hounds and having someone take care of them became too much and the hounds were dispersed. After he did not have any hounds of his own, Joe was sort of a foster-houndsman to my hounds. He would visit his brother, my father for a 2 or 3 week stretch several times a year. We ran hounds together almost nightly. After he would return home to New York, every Saturday we would talk on the phone about the hounds and breeding philosophy as well as every other topic under the sun. I was like a sponge because the hounds had become such an important part of my own life. He rabbit hunted with me the last time at his age 81 (I believe). We stood on that hillside as Luke, my hound that he bred, stroked a rabbit, bringing it by Uncle Joe with that crystal clear chop, I watched Uncle Joe lower his Spanish crafted side by side and enjoy the music. That big timber rabbit gave us all a thrill and I’m glad he kept on running through the greenbrier and grapevines. Joe was also an amateur taxidermist, amateur barber, excellent gardener, arborist, beer, wine & whiskey connoisseur, story teller and a fitness buff long before it was popular. He taught me many life lessons. Uncle Joe passed away at the age of 88 while shoveling snow. He lived independently up until the end. Although at the time, the manner of his passing seemed difficult, it was a very fitting way for it to end. He truly lived the American Dream and always lived life to the fullest. He instilled the love of the hounds in me so deep that it will never go away. (photo at the top is Uncle Joe with Luke after a trip to the vet for stiches after cutting his leg to the bone during a hunting trip) Pups have gone. I would like to thank Alex S. and Stan H. for their help in getting a couple pups to their owners. I will add some info on my keepers as time goes on. Those 8 weeks go fast and I hope all those with their new Patch pups have many enjoyable hours with them. ***************************************************************************************************************************************** Not much of an autumn this year, it got cold fast. As of this morning, I have about 5” of snow here at the house. The furnace has been going pretty steady. ***************************************************************************************************************************************** Pictures of Taya and Pria have been added to the female page. I still have to get a better one of Pria. I never remember a camera when headed out. Already takes long enough to get going. ***************************************************************************************************************************************** Thanksgiving was very calm & quiet. Deep fried bird and a good dose of football. ***************************************************************************************************************************************** We are anxiously awaiting John’s homecoming. He spent 9 weeks at Fort Jackson, SC for BCT and has been stationed at Fort Gordon, GA since September 12 for his AIT training. We are very proud of him. His BCT graduation was outstanding. His graduation date was 9/11 and the program was very patriotic. We enjoyed the week we spent in SC and were able to drive him to Georgia. The Army transformed him into a soldier. He is huge! John was a big, athletic kid to start with but we were surprised with the amount of muscle he put on. He is scheduled to start college in January. ****************************************************************************************************************************************
In the past, Veterans Day was a day I always hunted with Rusty, my grandmother’s neighbor, who always managed to have a few good hounds. The hounds would start a rabbit and Rusty would fire up a smoke and smile. Rusty owned a business in town and always had time to rabbit hunt but his hunting partner passed away so he invited me to hunt with him on Veterans Day and it became a tradition. I loved it and I still hit some of those spots up 20 years after Rusty’s passing. Rusty was a good houndsman and rabbit hunter and I learned a lot from him. (He drove a Mercury Grand Marquis. He would take the spare tire out and the hounds would load themselves into the spot where the spare used to be. The hounds bolted from the kennel and were in the trunk in no time, waiting for him to shut the trunk.) ***************************************************************************************************************************************** My next blog should be about my Uncle Joe. It should have been my first because without him, I would not have the hounds. I have been thinking about him a lot lately and need to do a small tribute to him. |
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