The October foxhunt was hosted by the YDF team. Clear weather conditions prevailed and 5 teams assembled at the Knox city carpark here hounds were briefed about the format of the nights hunts.
This time we decided to try something completely different for the major event of the night. Instead of having one or two individuals complaining about trying to figure out a “cacophony” of multiple foxes on the same frequency, we decided we would tell them all the locations of the foxes instead! Three small transmitters were built into small length of PVC pipe about 25cm long. The melways grid references of each were given at the start of the hunt and each team had to work out the best order to do them in to be ready for the final leg which was on a different frequency and at an undisclosed location. The format turned out to be more challenging and interesting than was first thought. Several teams commented that they quite liked the format.
63 G12: Tree beside creek, pretty straight forward, quite a few ways in, most of these hampered by the winding creek.
64 E11: Bushy area behind Gym carpark, adjacent to bike track.
73 C2: Knoxfield lake reserve, beside the lake, the creek beside transmitter also provided added challenge.
The final leg of this hunt was near the Caribbean Gardens market by Dandenong creek. Melways 72 H10.
First on the scene was Bruce VK3TJN who true to form found one of the more difficult access routes. A few minutes later the VR/MZ team turned up. It turns out that you could get a vehicle in there. They pulled up within about 10 metres of the fox location, crossed the creek (on foot) and found the transmitter hidden in foliage nearby. Some minutes later, the BLN team turned up in their vehicle but for some reason did not elect to drive across the creek. Teams KIR and TXO were not seen in the 20 minute time limit.
The second hunt was a 10 minute drive off type. The fox was located in a park area to the north of roadworks on High street road. Melways 72 A1. The actual hunt location was not the intended one but seemed to work out OK. The fox was placed up a tree barely seconds before the VR/MZ team turned up. It was found without too much difficulty. The BLN and YQN teams came in seconds later to tie for second place. KIR and TXO teams did not get to the fox in the 10 minute time limit.
The third hunt was another fox-or-ing event.
63 J4: Easement adjacent to horse padocks. (BLN had fun in here)
64 H11: Bushy area beside bike track. pity the swamp had evaporated
72 E2: Creek, scrub, bike track and just enough black berries to keep TJN interested.
The fox for the final leg was hidden in a shopping trolley parked near the entrance of an upper level of the new Knox District centre development that had opened only days before. Although the location was fairly simple as far as accessibility was concerned, the intention was to add a bit of confusion for people who turned up at the lower level because of the amount of things for the signal to reflect off. This idea seemed to pay off as a lot of teams spent a considerable amount of time running around the lower level. First to work out what was going on was Geoff from the VR/MZ team. The YQN team came in about 6 minutes later and BLN turned up just before the time limit had expired. TXO forfeited due to a temporarily damaged human.
The next hunt was a 10 minute drive off. The fox had to change plans last minute as the intended location ended up being blocked by a locked gate! It was discovered that there was a small (2m wide) laneway that led behind a small set of factories nearby. This location turned out to be more of a challenge than expected. Most teams appeared to be convinced that the fox was hidden in thick scrub near the Manhattan Hotel. Melways 63D10. A lot of cursing could be heard in the distance. Several people started making their way down the lane and one ended up jumping the fence convinced that the signal had to be in the bush area while others turned back to find another way. One of the members of the KIR team who was first on the scene got to within 2 metres of the fox (from the scrub side) several times but for some reason never found the transmitter that was just hanging on the fence. The VR/MZ team were first to work out what was going on closely followed by John from the BLN team who had finally made their way down the full length of the laneway.
The supper fox could be found off Glenfern Rd, Melways 74 F10. The low signal strengths from Glenfern Rd indicated to the hounds that the fox must have been further away. Most hounds were dropped from the opposite ends of the reserve. Those dropped in Upwey found a gully in the way. Those from the football oval found a long run ahead of them. The VR team discovered an I beam that took offence to their vechicle tire pressure.
All hounds soon retired to the QTHR of VK3YLE for food, stories, slideshow and scores. Appologies again for the very late posting of this report.
Cheers, VK3YDF Team, Steve, Bryan, Adam, Tarron, Luke, Judy, Alice, Georgie and Muffy.