Hunt Report 12/12/21 Chadwick Farm Garrettsville, OH Everybody remembers Forrest Gump who famously said “life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get”. So it is, too, with hunting. Today’s meet at Chadwick farm stumped all of us, including the beagles. We usually have a riproaring day of rabbits here, but today was the exception. The beagles came out of the tailgate hot and raring to go, and although there were a couple of squeaks in the front stream bed, scent must not have been strong because the pack’s too-swift locomotion looked like a desperate rush to catch a whiff of something…anything, even. Early on, I was unconcerned, as we typically have better luck later in the hunt, finding within the thickets along the creek on the rear of the property, but on this day, it was never to be so. Even in the wildest, most dense and swampy briar patches, we came up nearly blank. Gulliver gave tongue for a little while, but nobody else honored him, so I’m not sure what he was onto. Ground conditions were totally saturated after a day or two of heavy rain. Footing was a muddy challenge for both field and staff, but everyone managed to hold helpful positions. We gave up the search at the hour and a half mark after a last ditch attempt to find some quarry in a scrubby patch between pastures. Despite the blank day, let it never be said that the CVB cannot track and hunt… After only 15 minutes of combing the woods, we were glad and relieved that we managed to put our hands on a temporarily-lost heirloom hunt whip and dropped leather glove. Whitey’s famous chicken chili was a hit back at the barn, and we were all glad to have had some fresh air and good company. Sincere thanks to our generous landowners, John and Caroline Redmond for sharing their fabulous landscape with all of us. Thanks also to everyone, staff and field who came out to see what the beagles might find in these challenging conditions… we all had a lot of fun trying!
- rcallister