Run to catch

[R. Dana Robinson]

Back in mid October I made the 1,100 mile trek up to central New Hampshire to my friend Bob Ferranti's house and then the two of us plus his son Ryan and a friend of ours Paul Rzeczycki drove another 160 miles north up along the Canadian border for our annual week of hare hunting.
We ended up bucking the weather the whole week,getting rain and wind every day but one. Didn't seem to bother the dogs any and we had some pedal to the metal races of the 2 hour plus variety. Shot enough for the traditional hare stew the last night in camp.
It was 7 months post my total knee replacement and I was pleased I was able to get around the woods in pretty good shape. There were a couple spots I told Bob and Ryan I couldn't navigate but all and all okay.
Hare was plentiful for us but talked to numerous grouse and woodcock hunters and they just weren't finding the birds this year. I never flushed a bird all week.
Did get a surprise as we came into a log landing and surprised a black bear out foraging around.

[R. Dana Robinson]

One last thing for now I want to leave you with.
Many of you who will see this know Daddy Rabbit A.K.A. Aubrey Holcomb down in north Ga. Daddy Rabbit has been around since the founding days of the A.R.H.A. and is in their Hall of fame.
I first met Daddy Rabbit probably 25 years ago at a Little Pack trial down in Baileyton, Alabama.
I raised a litter of pups about 5 years ago and to my surprise he called asking me if I had a small male . I told him these pups would not be like the dogs he was used to keeping as they would be faster and harder hitting. He said "I want to try one of those run to catch hounds", He ended up with a pup he called Spitfire or just Spit. Daddy Rabbit loves that hound and bred him to several with excellent results.
Long story short we became pretty close friends sharing phone calls,e-mails and I made a trip down to his place.
I hadn't spoken with him for a while and tried three times over the past couple weeks without result. Today his wife Sue called me and we had a fairly long conversation.
You all need to pray for Daddy Rabbit. His wife told me he is dealing with dementia/alzheimers and has some pretty significant memory issues. It's in his family as his siblings have dealt with it.
She said they had to hire someone to tend his dogs and are in the process of shutting down the kennel and placing the dogs.
Prayers for Daddy Rabbit.

[kenjames]

Thank you for the update on DR. I was concerned about him as I have not heard from him for awhile. Yes Dana he always told me about Spit every time we talked. He was proud of that little dog. I owned old Ham Bone, he came from DR. for a Duraton{long time] I kept him till he died. I see his name pop up in alot of pedigrees. Good memories.. How is Ms. Sue doing? Glad to hear you going. I am still hampered by my leg that got crushed when the tree fell on me. I still get out and run the dogs just not all day like the past.

[Swampman]

Dana,
Did you see and run with Dan?
Haven’t heard from him in quite a while, I know his wife has some serious health issues.

I spent my annual week on the Island with Chuck, had some great running and it was a true vacation that I needed badly.

Sad news about DR.