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Broke Dog Fox Hunt March 19, 2011
By: Chris Turner

On Saturday morning March 19, 2011 I rolled out of Lillington, NC at 4:00am to head to Oak City, NC for the 3rd broke dog hunt put on by Alvin Barrow. This fox hunt was a benefit for the twin lakes (?) hunting club and was run on the grounds of Gatlin Hunt Club just outside of Speed, NC. As I pulled up to the clubhouse about 6:00am that morning, four big deer crossed the road right in front of me. Alvin had prepared the hunters that this place was full of deer and they needed to bring their absolute best deer proof fox dogs. As I pulled up to the Gatlin Hunt Club House I found Alvin inside taking entries and many eastern NC outside foxhunters including Ryan Mozingo, Jay and Carl Dixon, John Stephenson, Carl “Rub-A-Dub” Bryant, Craig “Marlboro” White, Harry Ennis, Ronnie Paul Barefoot, Roscoe Dawson, Jeff Williams, the Purvis boys, Danny Jo Wooten, Danny Porter, Rod Vinson, Reggie Edwards, Rooster White, Stuart “Schoolteacher” Miller, Gary Forehand, and many other familiar faces from the foxhunting world. David Bailey and Robin Barefoot were already setting up the computer program to take scores throughout the day and make the judges meeting a lot quicker.
Around 6:30 Alvin started roll call and when finished gave some instructions to the hunters. I had the privilege as with the two hunts before this one, to lead the hunters in a prayer asking God for a safe and successful hunt. Being a Baptist minister I’m believer in the power of prayer and I really do think this has made a difference in the success of these broke dog hunts. With this being the third hunt, to my knowledge we have not had any hounds or hunters injured during the fox races and have had no confrontations with landowners. What we have had was some good old-fashioned fox hunting! The positive outcome of these hunts speaks volumes as to the quality of planning beforehand and the caliber of hunters and hounds that attend.
After my prayer the hunters headed to cast on the lime rd. and Alvin gave us instructions in the judges meeting. I pulled onto the new rd. which was to the right of the cast and was able to hear dogs start trailing very soon after the 7:10am cast. As the dogs worked through a cutover along the edge of some tall pines, judge Craig “Marlboro” White came over the radio and said that the dogs had jumped and the fox crossed the new road. I headed up to the main tram to hear the pack in full roar and stopped as I got even with them. They were coming right at me running in the triangle block and I hoped the fox might cross the road. However, he flanked the road and went back toward the cast where Carl Bryant and Rooster White were stationed. Before he got back to the new rd., the fox turned back toward me but swung up more toward the lime rd. this time. I headed around just in time to catch the dogs crossing and got my first speed and drive score at about 7:20am. I was able to score the first 5 hounds before the pack piled into the road in a full roar. The dogs swung like they were going up toward the clubhouse, but the fox ducked back and paralleled the lime rd. I pulled up to the intersection of the Lime rd. and new rd. and hopped out in time to intercept the pack again as they crossed the lime rd. going right back to where the fox was jumped. After the speed and drive score I soon heard the race cut off in an instant. A few dogs started blowing at each other and I started in the pine thicket along with Carl Bryant and two other judges. About 60 yards in we come upon the dogs which had caught the fox in a ditch full of water. We hollered the dogs out and sent them hunting once again.
After about 15 minutes hounds started trailing again and it took them probably another 15-20 minutes of trailing before they jumped again. This time the fox ran around the end of the Lime rd. where the dogs were cast. The boar gray fox went straight away toward some tall pine timber and settled in for a race. The hounds were still in a big pack and really pouring it on. Echoing off the timber you could hear the dogs for a long ways in full cry but they were steadily going straight away. Soon a few judges came over the radio to report that the pack was running close to the Gatlin Hunt Club Rd. I started back toward the truck and it took me a while to get out of the club land and up towards the club house. By that time, the fox had crossed the paved road, made a round, and was coming back to the road with him once more. As I pulled up on the Gatlin Hunt Club Rd. the fox had just crossed and a judge was already scoring the lead hounds. No hounds swinging or cutting up the road here. Just true fox hounds packed up running their eyes out to catch this boar gray. After they crossed back onto Gatlin Hunt Club land the fox went back in the tall pine timber and the pack had a bother but eventually straightened things back out and started running parallel to the paved road. A couple judges a head of me came on the radio saying that the fox had popped out, run down the black top road, and around the edge of a green field. These judges did a good job watching the hounds and scoring appropriately with speed and drive and hunting scores as the hounds worked this fox through all his tricks. After running the edge of the green field the fox had gone into a thick head of woods that had a finger which ran off the back side. Once they figured the track out going into this thick place the hounds poured it on again for about twelve minutes before catching this tough boar fox on the back side of the block near the finger. This tough old fox lasted a little over an hour with a pack of 100 + after him pouring it on for the majority of the time! A judge on a four wheeler was able to get the fox and lead the hounds to a group of waiting trucks where over 100 hounds were loaded in about 10 minutes. I know some people will find it hard to believe that so many hounds can be loaded in this short amount of time but this is how outside fox hounds are trained to come to the truck after a catch and load into the dog box. It really is a spectacular sight to see hounds that have been well trained perform the way they’re supposed to.
Once these hounds were all rounded up the judges and hunters went back into Gatlin Hunt Club and re-casted the hounds at about 10:00am on the ridge rd were a fox had been seen going into the taylor rd block. Not long after being re-cast hounds started trailing the track and were able to jump the fox fairly quickly. The fox swung up to the main tram rd. near the clay hill where I was sitting. I darted in the woods but just missed the pack as they crossed to my left crossing the Satterfield rd. The pack quickly made it through this block but weren’t running as strong as the wind was starting to get up now and scent conditions were diminishing. The fox went into the area know as turkey trot before making a swing up towards white’s bridge. The pack settled in running around the 20 acre field and several judges were on top of this running steady until the fox was caught after about 35 minutes. I helped several judges and hunters load dogs into my truck at turkey trot as they drifted out after this catch.
Once again we re-casted a large group of hounds at the white road at about 10:45am. However, with the wind picking up steadily, lots of dust being kicked up by hunter’s trucks, and scent conditions deteriorating, the dogs drifted and scattered. A few hounds were trailing here and there but no race could really build up. Finally some judges came on the radio that a few hounds were running pretty good toward the white’s bridge but soon reported that these hounds were after a deer. All four hounds were caught, crated, and scratched. The fact that this was the only deer race with only four hounds participating in the middle of a club FULL of deer sign says a lot about the caliber of broke fox dogs at this hunt! There are still deer proof fox hounds in eastern North Carolina and these hunts have done a lot to prove it. For the last hour of the hunt, I road around to several places trying to find some hounds hunting as was able to reward a few hunting hounds who weren’t afraid to hit the thickets and briars. The hunt was called at 12:00 noon and hunters started working to load dogs before they drifted too far out of pocket.
At the clubhouse a fine meal of BBQ chicken had been prepared and it was mighty good eating. Being a Baptist preacher, I naturally love chicken but this seemed especially satisfying. The judges meeting went smoothly and a big thanks goes to David Bailey and Robin Barefoot who ran the computer program entering the scores, figuring the totals, and double checking behind it. It sure does make things go a lot smoother and much more efficient. The hunters heard from NC State House Representative Edith Warren, Mrs. Henri McClees of the NC Sporting Dog Association, and Pete Warren of the Eastern NC Foxhunter’s Association all spoke of the need to protect our tradition of hunting fox hounds on the outside, to build up good relations with landowners and other hunters, and to prepare ourselves financially and politically to fight battles for all hunters to stand together. The message was clear, in order to save our sport we can no longer be divided into our different specialty groups of hunting. Clearly we are passionate about outside foxhunting with deer proof hounds. But we must stand with other kinds of hunters to protect the running of dogs and the tradition we love. Will Cain spoke on behalf of the NC State Fox Hunt and advertised a 2 day broke dog hunt to be held sometime in September 2011 at Laurinburg, NC. After a raffle, Alvin presented the trophies and awards.
A big thanks to John Fields and David Marlowe for donating some very nice trophies. You could hear the emotion in Alvin’s voice as he talked about how rewarding it was to receive the lifetime achievement award at Tar River Fox Pen last year. He has worked as hard as anyone I know to promote outside foxhunting and to prove that a hunt like this goes along way in preserving our tradition. He goes out of his way to make good relations with surrounding land owners and local officials before and after the hunt. He absolutely does everything in his power to make sure that a good hunt in enjoyed by all. And I can promise you he stays as wound up as the red stripe on a peppermint candy until the last dog is caught. But when all is said and done, his hard work pays off. I know the outside hunters enjoy these hunts tremendously and everyone cooperates with each other and acts as true sportsmen. I’m proud to be part of such a group of people and have been honored to be asked to help with these three broke dogs hunt so far.
When the dust settled, some hard hunters got some very well deserved trophies. The people who placed dogs in the HGA are all folks who spend a tremendous amount of time hunting their hounds and making them into the caliber of dogs that it takes to consistently perform well on the outside. These are veteran foxhunters, many who are products of generations of foxhunters—Rod Vinson, Juice Mitchell, William Earl Cruize, Ronnie Barefoot, Kent Barefoot, Ronnie Paul Barefoot, Jack Allen, and others. Congrats to all who categoried or HGA’d. It was good to see some young hunters doing well with their pack of dogs. A big congrats goes to Mr. Ronnie Paul Barefoot for winning the hunt with Barefoot’s Nicole. She needs no introduction, many a foxhunter has dreamed of owning a gyp this nice. Out of Murphy’s Big John, she’s a legend in her own right. At five years old, she has place top ten in many big name outside hunts. But I bet R.P. was more tickled about her winning this hunt than any of the rest. She is truly a fine fox hound, will not run a deer a step, will trail, jump, run, and catch game with a beautiful mouth. She put on a show today and was rewarded with a winning score. I don’t know if a better hound was at the hunt, but I can promise you Nicole deserved the win as much as any. Congrats to all who placed, it was a good old fashioned fox hunt for sure.

 

There was 150 hounds entered. Thank you to all of the judges for their hard work and to all the hunters that came with deer proof hounds. Thank you to Alvin Barrow for putting on another successful deer proof hunt!

Hunting
1- #04 Adam's Jet owned by Gary Adams
2- #19 Barefoot's Nicole owned by Ronnie Barefoot & Son
3- #6 Peanut owned by Gary Forehand
4- #86 Joe owned by William Earl Cruse
5- #133 Cockman's Magnum owned by Keven Cockman
6- #43 Slim's Red Bird owned by Matt Windslow
7- #25 Barefoot's Casper owned by Ronnie Barefoot & Son
8- #03 Adam's Phillip owned by Gary Adams
9- #82 Streak owned by Rod Vinson, Lindsey & Jimmy
10- #39 Margaret J. Allen owned by Jack Allen

Trailing
1- #19 Barefoot's Nicole owned by Ronnie Barefoot & Son
2- #64 Blackjack owned by Juice Mitchell
3- #96 Psycho owned by Rod Vinson, Lindsey & Jimmy
4- #510 Barefoot's Broadway Joe owned by Ronnie Barefoot & Son

Speed & Driving
1- #06 Barefoot's Bullet owned by Kent Barefoot
2- #106 Batten's Screamer owned by Batten Kennels
3- #25 Barefoot's Casper owned by Ronnie Barefoot & Son
4- #36 Matt's Ernie owned by Matt Askew
5- #104 Batten's Jaws owned by Batten Kennels
6- #177 Luke owned by Josh Pierce
7- #39 Margaret J. Allen owned by Jack Allen
8- #107 Batten's Crip owned by Batten Kennels
9- #59 Jypsie owned by Rod Vinson, Lindsey & Jimmy
10- #89 Tommy V owned by Rod Vinson, Lindsey & Jimmy

Endurance
1- #25 Barefoot's Casper owned by Ronnie Barefoot & Son
2- #19 Barefoot's Nicole owned by Ronnie Barefoot & Son
3- #39 Margaret J. Allen owned by Jack Allen
4- #96 Psycho owned by Rod Vinson, Lindsey & Jimmy
5- #04 Adam's Jet owned by Gary Adams
6- #6 Peanut owned by Gary Forehand
7- #138 Cramer owned by Jimmy Johnson
8- #133 Cockman's Magnum owned by Kevin Cockman

HGA
1- #19 Barefoot's Nicole (Murphy's Big John X Barefoot's Diana)owned by Ronnie Barefoot & Son Dunn, NC
2- #25 Barefoot's Casper (Barefoot's Scott X Barefoot's Molly) owned by Ronnie Barefoot & Son Dunn, NC
3- #04 Adam's Jet (Big Wood X Barefoot's Aliby) owned by Gary Adams Benson, NC
4- #96 Psycho (Skeeter X Rat V) owned by Rod Vinson, Lindsey & Jimmy Kinston, NC
5- #6 Peanut (None Given) owned by Gary Forehand Macclesfield, NC
6- #39 Margaret J. Allen (Mark J. Allen X Bonnie J. Allen) owned by Jack Allen Ayden, NC
7- #06 Baretoot's Bullet (Barefoot's DR X Barefoot's Mouse) owned by Kent Barefoot Dunn, NC
8- #133 Cockman's Magnum (Harris' Hondo X Pearl Parker) owned by Keven Cockman Lillington, NC
9- #64 Blackjack (Barefoot's Big Wood X Pearl Mitchell) owned by Juice Mitchell Princeton, NC
10- #106 Batten's Screamer (None Given) owned by Batten Kennels Troy, NC