High Excitement.

[hornetboy]

The other night, my cousin came over to visit. We were sitting in front of the fire having a drink, and he went out with his flashlight to get something out of his truck. He came back in and told me he'd spotted two foxes on a dead sheep in the next paddock with his light. I got up and got the hornet out, and went outside. I clipped on one of those LED torches to the top of the scope and had a crack at one. I heard it hit it, and went and untied my whippet and went down for a look. I dropped the whippet over the fence and shone the flashlight over to where the fox was lying. The whippet raced over and grabbed a mouthful of the "dead" fox. Well, the fox went about three feet above the ground and came down swinging. It took off over to the next fence and tried to get through. The whippet went after it and grabbed it by the back and shook it. The fox swung round and fastened onto the whippets face and he really yelled. Then, the fox tried to get back through the sheep-mesh fence, so the whippet grabbed a mouthful of his brush and extracted him back into the field of play. After a brief tussle, the fox was rendered "hors de combat". All this time I was trying to straddle a barbed wire fence, and yelling instructions to my dog. Five minutes later we were back in front of the fire with a green ginger wine. It;s amazing how these little gems happen when you are least expecting it!
Post script: The 35 v-max had hit a shoulder bone and had not penetrated, but had a knock-down effect. The whippet said "thanks a lot!".

[L461]

Could it get much better

[Qaz]

I love reading about people that use their dogs for the purpose the dog was intended. I was at a bay dog contest (Hogs) once and a boar got two hounds pinned in against the bank of a creek. He lit into them hard, the owner of the hounds yelled " I need some help he is going to kill my hounds!" The guy standing beside me just picked up his 9mo old pit and threw her across the fence. She hit the ground running and when she hit that boar it sounded like a pumpkin being hit with a baseball bat. She shut the hog down and they pulled the hounds out and began stapleing them up, they were a mess. The guy with the pit was asked how long it has been catching. That was the first time she had ever seen a hog, but the owner noticed when she heard the pigs squeel, she got excited. That little Pit had a better time than we did that evening and I had a great time!

[Qaz]

Hornet- Do you have any other dogs you hunt with?

Hey folks, a whippet is small caliber by the way!

[hornetboy]

Originally Posted by Qaz

Hornet- Do you have any other dogs you hunt with?

Hey folks, a whippet is small caliber by the way!

Yep. My cousin has Patterdale Terriers that come from the UK. Man, they are hard dogs and will go into fox dens and take them on. If they can, the foxes will often bolt, to be despatched with guns, or, if we miss, the whippets will chase them down. We crossed my whippet dog over a patterdale bitch and produced our "Whip-tale Snorters". Plenty of speed plus a bit harder. We then but the bitch back to her sire and now have 3/4 whippet, 1/4 patterdale. They look like whippets, but have that little bit extra oomph.We go ferreting and have them above ground, so when the rabbit bolts, they are right on the job. They are like a swarm of bees. They are only still young but are the cats pyjamas.I really like a whippet. Not a show whippet, but one bred on hunting. They are essentially a miniature greyhound, and a gentler, nicer dog for home or small game hunting you would not find.A big fox is a bit too hard a match for one on it's own but my feller has had quite a few scrapes with them over the years and knows just what to do.A 17 anything and a whippet is a rabbiter's dream. Throw in some working ferrets, and you have the whole box and dice.For those of you who don't have access to farms to shoot on, try asking to be allowed access to femove rabbits and other small pests using ferrets, and nets or dogs.Most farmers will happily agree to that. Do the right thing and leave him a nice bottle of Jack Daniels or a case of beer when you go, and sooner or later you'll have a new friend who might be really happy for you to step up and shoot on his place, once he sees you are ok.And who, I might ask, is on saubiers and isn't ok? Nobody I've met. Cheers for now. If you don't find it too boring, I'll tell you a couple of other adventures with the whippet and Hornet next time.

[Qaz]

When I was a kid the man down the street kept a pack of beagles to rabbit hunt with, and I guess it was alright, but an evening in a fresh cut field with a whippet or any other dog that could run the rabbit down was real fun for us. I have spent many a hour doing that and they were all fond memories.