Pup is Running the Hide off of the Hares
What a difference a break in the weather makes! The past couple of weeks my pup Barney has been having a heck of a time picking up a scent and following it. But it warmed up yesterday and stayed fairly mild all night with an inch of fresh snow. So I took him out to some pine plantations this morning. I saw a set of tracks that went under a tree, but none coming out. The pup got on them and followed. When he went under on one side the hare came flying out the other side. I popped off a shot as it was crossing tree rows but missed. Barney took the track, ran it out and back around past me but I didn't see it. He took it out again and lost it somehow as he came back in about 15 minutes later. We started walking again and saw tracks busting out from underneath another tree. Barney struck this one and it must have really been leaving some scent. Immeadiately he started running while whimpering and whining. Pretty soon he started a chop like yipping and kept it up the rest of the run. I sure thought he was going to let loose and start bellowing on it. He took this one out and back around me but I didn't see it. The next time it came back around I heard the pup about 50 yards to my right and the next thing I see is the hare coming across in front of me not 10' away taking 15' bounds. I blew a shot at that one too. Barney kept on it and took it out of the stand of pines we were in, across 100yds. of open woods and into another stand of pines. He ran around in there a few times before losing it. He was on that one a total of an hour and ten minutes. That pup worked so hard that I really feel bad about blowing the shot on it. He'll likely be the first 9 month old pup to win the open class at the World Hunt. :lol:

great story, keep em coming. can't wait to see barney at the world hunt

Good Story, sounds like a ton of fun! Keep him working, I'm sure he'll do fine at the field trials.