Western Challenge 2004 pictures and reports

Coal Valley - Kansas

Report courtesy MFH Wes Sandness, Pictures thanks Kathy Tourney and Ray Orth

Our section of the Western Challenge Started off with a bang. We were hacking down a road toward the first cast and a half mile ahead stood two coyotes on the road watching us. We raced the hounds in that direction but unfortunately the coyotes ducked out of the country where we could not go.

Charles Montgomery commented that "if the coyotes had stayed in country, it certainly would have seemed like a set up". He was kidding of course. But wouldn't it have been a great run!

Since the wind was from the North we hacked a couple of miles South to get started. The hounds jumped a coyote in a hedge row and raced North by a neighboring rancher's cattle with the field following in full tilt which spooked the cattle who promptly broke down the fence and raced off through the woods. That caused us to be a couple of whips short as they became temporary ranglers driving the cattle into one of our ranch pastures.

In the mean time we entered the heavy woods with the hounds hunting hard and speaking occasionally as we tried to pick up the trail of the coyote who had crossed the road and entered the woods. We never really found again since this coyote had apparently made good his escape.

We then hunted across some open pasture into an old strip mined area that was now heavy woods and steep terrain. One of the whips radioed back that there was approximately 30 deer running just ahead of us in the woods. Not a hound spoke, which I pointed out to Charles, since deer are so plentiful in our area that we treat them just like cattle and the hounds know to leave them alone. Mostly that works.

The hounds then began to open for real and as Charles and I rode up on a ridge and looked down at an old mine pit full of water we saw the coyote swimming frantically to the other side. Half the pack on that side of the ridge also saw the coyote and immediately plunged into the water, swam across and were off in full cry. The other half pack were still searching around the water's edge for the coyotes trail.

I asked Charles how he felt about swimming that 40 foot deep pit and he responded that he would do anything that I would do. So I said I wouldn't. That meant that we had to gather the half pack that was left with us and race back a half mile to get around the pit, take two coops at a dead run and we were still left out since by then the hounds in front were two miles away.

They weren't too hard to find though since the half pack with us soon picked up the trial that the front half had run and we gained ground and finally caught up where the coyote again had crossed water and gotten away.

The hunt was followed by refreshments and a hunt breakfast at the hunt lodge.

A special thanks to our judges, Clive Rose and Charles Montgomery, for spending the afternoon following the hunt helping MFH Tommy Jackson, First Whipper-In Rachel McLearan and me round up the rest of our neighbor's cattle and putting them back in the pasture. These cattle had been recently moved here from the open range and were quite spooky.

We treated the judges to a fine steak dinner at Jim's Steakhouse that evening and they were off to the next leg of the Challenge the next morning.

It was all great fun!

Cheers--Wes

Members of the field represented 7 different hunts. Moinegon Hunt, Misty River Hounds, Mission Valley Hunt, Arappho Hunt, Ft Levenworth Hunt, Harvard Hounds and Coal Valley Hounds

Kathy Tourney of Arappho jumps in from Weir Rd

Wes Sandness MFH leads the hounds and whips to the hunt lodge

Charles Montgomery (judge) takes the first jump of the day

Clive Rose (retired Huntsman and Judge) taking his first jump on a strange horse.

Tony Adams MFH and Bev Evans Field Master on the move

Hunting along the ridge of an abandoned coal mine

Bev Evans is taken to the cleaners by her horse Jazz

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