6 Month Olds, Pearl and LoLo

Pearl and LoLo in the Bay Pen for the first time. Very satisfied with their performance.

Young Plotts a Jagdterrier and some good size HOGS

All under a year old and three under 8 months.

Sheiker, Tug and Snatch, my Jagdterriers. Campo and Three Toes my young Plotts

GELERT, IRISH WOLFHOUND

Dogs are special beings, and for me I try to regard them always in that light. I have owned many, some that still live in my thoughts, some that never amounted to much, possibly my fault cause they are like us in that they take to certain folks better than others. Right now I am blessed with some above average companions, my first Terriers the three Jagds and some really fine young Plott Hounds. This poem and story I came across pained me when I read it and I could feel the insurmountable gloom the man must have felt when he discovered his mistake. Truly I know how he felt for believe it or not I had a nightmare recently about losing one of my Jagds to a wild boar, I guess I'm getting soft in my pilgrimage of years. I've never been as attached to a set of dogs before, maybe it is my age, maybe I have slowed down enough to pay attention? If so, it is a good thing cause I seem to be learning from them, I look forward to what more they will teach me.



GELERT
William Robert Spencer

The spearmen heard the bugle sound,
And cheerily smiled the morn;
And many a brach, and many a hound
Obeyed Llewellyn’s horn.
And still he blew a louder blast,
And gave a lustier cheer,
“Come, Gelert, come, wert never last
Llewellyn’s horn to hear.

“O where does faithful Gelert roam
The flower of all his race;
So true, so brave – a lamb at home,
A lion in the chase?”

In sooth, he was a peerless hound,
The gift of royal John;
But now no Gelert could be found,
And all the chase rode on.

That day Llewellyn little loved
The chase of hart and hare;
And scant and small the booty proved,
For Gelert was not there.

Unpleased, Llewellyn homeward hied,
When, near the portal seat,
His truant Gelert he espied
Bounding his lord to greet.

But when he gained the castle-door,
Aghast the chieftain stood;
The hound all o’er was smeared with gore;
His lips, his fangs, ran blood.

Llewellyn gazed with fierce surprise;
Unused such looks to meet,
His favourite checked his joyful guise,
And crouched, and licked his feet.

Onward, in haste, Llewellyn passed,
And on went Gelert too;
And still, where’er his eyes he cast,
Fresh blood-gouts shocked his view.

Overturned his infant’s bed he found,
With blood-stained covert rent;
And all around the walls and ground
With recent blood besprent.

He called his child – no voice replied -
He searched with terror wild;
Blood, blood he found on every side,
But nowhere found his child.

“Hell-hound! my child’s by thee devoured,”
The frantic father cried;
And to the hilt his vengeful sword
He plunged in Gelert’s side.

Aroused by Gelert’s dying yell,
Some slumberer wakened nigh;
What words the parent’s joy could tell
To hear his infant’s cry!

Concealed beneath a tumbled heap
His hurried search had missed,
All glowing from his rosy sleep
The cherub boy he kissed.

No hurt had he, nor harm, nor dread,
But, the same couch beneath,
Lay a gaunt wolf, all torn and dead,
Tremendous still in death.

Ah, what was then Llewellyn’s pain!
For now the truth was clear;
His gallant hound the wolf had slain
To save Llewellyn’s heir.

The "Snatch" and The "Tug"

Snatch and Tug, our two Jagd Terriers. Their names are an understatement!

Rip Josie Girl

Our Young Josie Girl came to us from Texas last year with her sister. Both were doing awesome on their way to being top Bay Hounds with our young pack. Sadly, Josie was slammed hard by a good size boar in the pen Friday. He caught her against a tree as she was dodging him and she died early Saturday Morning from insurmountable internal injuries. She was really coming on and she loved hunting hogs. Rest In Peace Young Lady.

Dogs are just a different kind of people to me. Some I get attached to more than others and just like people some never get the chance to do what they were born to do. I love to watch a good dog work no matter what it is he or she was born to do, and I have only on a few occasions owned a dog that was fantastic at doing what he was meant to. I had a few Liver Spot Pointers and two English Setters that were jam up and one Black Lab that was, well, I will never have another Lab in my lifetime that had his kind of heart and ability, he was a man. Josie was a Plott Hound bred from the ancestors of the Plotts from up around the the area where they originated in N. Carolina. Like any good working dog she had it, and the more she worked the better she got.

The two magazines below are dedicated to the Hound. One is a bit more turned to Big Game, "Bayed Solid" and the other is more about Treeing hounds,"Full Cry". They are not the big budget glossy color type magazines, but more importantly they are published by true Houndsmen. These are men that have made hunting with hounds a major part of their and their families lives. Most of the articles are written by average people that love their sport and their hounds. I subscribe to both not just for the info about Hounds and Hunting but because these people are the down to earth work with your hands type that speak from their heart and have something to say besides a lot of Bull Shit. Helps keep me humble and keeps life in perspective.

A Good Morning out with the Youngsters

My buddy Tommy Butler and I took the youngsters to the Bay Pen Saturday morning. about 50 acres. They bayed two hogs in about 30 minutes and held one, about 150 lbs. three times after he broke bay totaling about about 45 minutes. All are young not yet 2 years old, Plotts and the Bluetick. Took the Jagds to start acclimating them to the process, they are 3 months this Sunday showing good grit!

The Little Demons ARE HERE!

What can I say? These two are already trying to eat each other and everything else they come in contact with! I love it, German Hunt Terriers are known for their grit, determination and keen sense of smell. These two will become an interesting addition to the mix of Plotts, Black Mouth Curs and the rest. My wife Sandi has already laid down the law about not letting them get hurt hunting with the larger dogs, personally
I'm concerned for the larger dogs!

Saturday Down in the Big Bottom

Working a few Young Hounds at Daybrake










Fresh Green Beans from the Garden





Lunch, fresh Green Beans with New Potatoes, Onions, Squash and a few Rattlesnake peppers, Fried Squash, Grilled Sausage and Cornbread.



Boiled Eggs, Pickled in Vinegar with Peppers.



J.L.Crane, Maker of Bread! Cornbread!





Cooling and Baggin