"BUT FEBRUARY MADE ME SHIVER"

GREETINGS FROM THE ALLEGHENY HIGH PLATEAU

"BUT FEBRUARY MADE ME SHIVER" BUT NOT WHEN I 'M ON THE ALLEGHENY CHASING THE ELUSIVE SNOWSHOE HARE or VARYING HARE. 

MORE VIDEOS FROM THE HIGH PLATEAU FOR FEBRUARY!

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The video below is self explanatory. The little hound in the lead is named Sammie. She is eight (8) years old and in her snowshoe hare hunting prime. The next two hounds are litter mates Aero and Hollie. They are four (4) years old. It is hard to tell if they will ever live up to Sammie's standards. Kipper is bringing up the rear. Kipper is ten (10) years old. Kipper is the strike dog. If there is a snowshoe hare anywhere in the cover Kipper will find it. He likes to range out far and wide.

The Captain of the Big Woods Hare Hunters of the Allegheny talks about hare hunting on today's hunt.

01-31-2018 HARE ON THE HIGH PLATEAU

SEARCHING FOR SNOWSHOE HARE ON THE HIGH PLATEAU OF THE ALLEGHENY.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 31, 2018

ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL DAY ON THE ALLEGHENY!

What a great day it was to be out on the high plateau. The beagles had a great day. Scenting conditions could not have been better. The hounds chased the illusive, majestic and omnipotent snowshoe hare for five (5) continuous hours without a break.

All hunters enjoyed several "Tally Ho"s, a.k.a. sightings, and enjoyed a great day.

We captured two snowshoe hare on video which is presented here for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

On the first video below, the hare stops behind a tree which can be seen on the video if you watch closely. The the hare turns and runs down through the cover with the beagles not far behind.

Below: The beagles eventually find the check and continue the hunt. This blog only allows a 100mb video so I couldn't go to the end.

Below: The Captain says, "That Sammie is relentless." In case you didn't hear.

The Big Woods Hare Hunters have been having a great winter.

SEARCHING FOR THE ILLUSIVE HARE ON THE ALLEGHENY

VIDEO FROM THE HIGH PLATEAU OF THE ALLEGHENY

Presented by the:

January 20th, 2018 was a beautiful day on the high plateau of the Allegheny. We were searching for hare on private land adjacent to the Allegheny National Forest. 

We, Kaz and Barbara, Brenda and me, were looking in a laurel patch which is known for harboring the illusive snowshoe hare.

We were fortunate as the hounds found the scent of the majestic hare right away.

Hounds with us today were Kaz's Maggie and Nikki. I have with me Sammie, Kipper, Aero and Hollie.  

January 20, 2018 In the Laurel Patch. No snowshoe hare appeared on the video above but there is narration.

On this next video the hare appears to the left. For some unknown reason he reversed and backtracked. He was running right at Kaz. Maybe he saw Kaz and turned around. Kaz did not see the majestic snowshoe hare.

Hare in the laurel patch 01-20-2018.

On this video Sammie and Areo are on the scent of the hare shown above.

January 20, 2018 Sammie hot on the hare above.

A TRIBUTE TO A TRUE HUNTER, SPORTSMAN AND PIONEER.

November 5, 2009

From the archives of the Big Woods Hare Hunters of the Allegheny

Dateline: November 5, 2009

A TRIBUTE TO A TRUE HUNTER, SPORTSMAN AND PIONEER.

Doyle Thomas Wolford was born April 28, 1913 near Sigel, Barnett Township, Jefferson County, Pennsylvania and died July 27, 2002 near Shippenville, PA. He lived and worked his entire life in the hills and mountains of Pennsylvania. Tom was a houndsman, hunter and a true sportsman.

His parents were John Henry and Rebecca Jane Asel Wolford.

Tom's ancestors came from Ireland and Germany.

The Wolford school near Sigel, PA.

"Tom" as he was known by his friends and family left Jefferson County as a young boy with his family moving to McKean County and settling in the village of Walkertown, in the "oil patch" of Pennsylvania.

Tom worked and played in the woods all his life. From a young age he owned fox hounds, bobcat dogs, squirrel dogs, "coon" hounds and dogs as family pets.

He was a great deer hunter.

Tom worked his entire adult life on the oil leases of South Penn Oil Company which later became Pennzoil Company. During WWII he worked the "Victory Shift" at Dresser Manufacturing plant in Bradford, PA.

It was in the thick woods and on the steep hills of McKean County, Pennsylvania where Tom hunted with friends, family and his many hounds for fox, raccoon, bobcat and squirrel. And many hounds there were. I have pictured only a few of these beautiful animals.

I enjoyed many of his wonderful hunting stories and many times wished I would have written them all down.

As with all huntsmen and hounds some were happy stories and some were not. Losing a hound to whatever reason is always a sad story. Stories of successful hunts are the happiest  of stories.

As they say, "One picture is worth a thousand words."

Below are many thousands of unspoken words in picture.

Some of these pictures we know the year and some we do not.

(Below) Tom with red fox 1939.

(Above) A young Tom and "Joe". Look at Tom in his Sunday Suit.

(Above) "Lizzy Lee" 1937.

(Above) "Butts"

Note the outhouse or privy to the left and the push type reel mower on the right. This was the only type of lawn mower we had before gasoline self propelled mowers.

Tom Wolford with bobcat. (circa 1943)

Above: Tom and the late Simon Young with red fox and bobcat around 1943. Simon reported the cat was treed by the hounds while hunting for fox in the Farmer's Valley region of McKean County. He also remembers the bobcat was old with worn out teeth.



(Below) Tom with "Hi Noon". Note the pressure plant in the background. High pressure water was forced down "intake wells" to force the crude oil out of the oil wells.

 The doghouse was made from "sucker rods". Sucker rods went down the oil wells to facilitate sucking the oil out of the ground. When the change was made from wooden rods to steel rods the wooden sucker rods were everywhere and used for everything. They were made of cypress wood and impregnated with crude oil, of course. The sucker rods would last forever. 

Above:

"Tommy"

(Below) "Rattler"

"Rattler" was a squirrel dog. Tom used a ".218 B" hunting rifle for everything from deer to squirrel including deer, turkey, fox and bobcat.

(Left) Tom and "Rattler". Rattler was a Rat Terrier, hence the name, Rattler.

(Left) Tom, Noon and Joe. Again, the hounds are atop a sucker rod dog house.

(Below) A young looking Tom and a beautiful hound named "Speed".

Left: Great old fox hound Buff.

Below: Tom, far right, Jack Bishop, second from left. The other two are unidentified.

Jack Bishop was a great hunting buddy of Tom's as they hunted fox night and day.

Jack and Tom traveled to North Carolina to hunt fox on one occasion.

In case you don't know, Tom was my beloved father-in-law.

NEW HUNTERS AND OLD HUNTERS VENTURE FORTH

HUNTERS, NEW AND OLD VENTURE FORTH INTO THE WILDS OF THE ALLEGHENY HIGH PLATEAU.

Excuse my hat.
From left to right: Autumn Bish, the High HareMan, Brayden Murray and Will Murray. Kaz is behind the camera.

On December 27, 2017 five members and six beagles ventured forth to the High Plateau in search of the illusive snowshoe hare and were granted success by the red gods of hunting. Several "Tally Hos", a.k.a. sightings, were awarded the hunters.

Autumn was awarded her new Big Woods Hare Hunter ball cap signifying her membership and many outings since 2009.

Brayden and William were awarded Big Woods Hare Hunter ball caps signifying their beginning interest in becoming future Big Woods Hare Hunters.

Above: Hunting in the mountain laurel.

Mountain laurel patch east was full of hare tracks and the hounds were immediately tonguing during our first outing of the regular snowshoe hare season. On December 27, 2017 the air was frigid with brisk winds out of the north. Several sightings, a.k.a. "Tally Ho"s were enjoyed by all present.

Below: Brayden hunting the mountain laurel patch.

The six beagles did an outstanding job. Considering the snow and cold, the pack, consisting of Kaz's Nikkie and Maggie, the High HareMan's Kipper, Sammie, Aero and Hollie, did an exemplary job.

As we entered the laurel patch the hare had paths worn through the laurel. Busting a hare out of the laurel would be the test.

Finally, the hounds did enjoy a 300 yard chase out of the laurel. All enjoyed a second long run during the day.

Brayden suffered what looked like possible frostbite on his face at the end of the long cold day. No damage was done to his face and we did not face reprisal from his mother.

Autumn, Kaz and the High HareMan hunted the high plateau the next day (December 28th) and enjoyed several chases but without a "Tally Ho".

A hare track is all we could muster a picture of on December 28th.

The feisty hounds chased the illusive hare to the bounds of hearing on some runs going as much as 500 yards before turning back. A good day was had by all.