Author: Mark Diggins

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November 2019 Foxhunt

The November hunt was run by the MD / HRL / VR / MZ team. The weather was a good for hunting other than a little rain on one hunt and a lot of wind on another. 5 teams were up for the challenge.

The night started with light in the sky and the first hunt was to test the accuracy of the equipment and the accuracy of translating that to a map. No sniffers were allowed. Closest was FAST who were approximately 30m – 40m from the actual location. The were followed by CI, FOX, AI. BLN had gear problems with seating of a Win Radio card and did not complete the event.

The next hunt was on the Sth side of Paterson River which required a run of over 1km (to make up for not sniffing on the first hunt :-). Several teams tried the North side of the river as there was no close vehicle access on the South side. First in was FAST followed by FOX. CI and AI. BLN was still fixing their equipment.

The 3rd hunt location was chosen to split up the hounds from the different road options. MZ’s new 70cm Micro fox was used for the first time. First in was FAST followed by FOX, AI, CI and BLN who started late with gear working again.

The next hunt was in Keysborough in a water retaining basin. All but one team came in from a park on the North side of Dandenong bypass and had little trouble finding the source of radiation (fencing wire) or the hidden transmitter about 10m away. First was FAST followed by BLN, AI, CI and then FOX.

The 5th hunt was on a small spit on the Sth side of Mordialloc creek. Several sniffers could be seen on the Mordialloc pier which was the hope of the planner. First in was BLN followed by CI, FOX, AI and FAST

Hunts 6 and 7 were made into a multileg hunt to speed things up. On Hunt 6, (2m) hounds needed to run around the soccer complex if coming from the Sth. A short distance away was the 70cm leg (hunt 7) which was easy to get into if you knew how.

For hunt 6 the order was FAST, FOX, CI, BLN AI

For Hunt 7 the order was FOX, FAST, BLN, CI and AI.

Scoring for the night was order based and the final results were:

FAST (5)FOX (11)CI (16)BLN (20)AI (21)

Mark. VK3MD

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Feb 2016 Foxhunt report

The hounds all gathered down south in Keysborough with ideal conditions for a foxhunt. The foxes for the night were VK3s VR, MD, MZ and HRL. Daylight savings can make hunts easier but not in the case of the first hunt where on 10m where no sniffers were allowed. The fox was less than 800m from the start but the accuracy of the bearings and the navigators skill resulted in the the hounds being spread out over 10 minutes. FAST was first and were surprised to be, followed by OW and CI 5 minutes later and FOX coming in just before time was up.

The second hunt was placed on the easement of the soon to be open Dingley Bypass road. First was FAST followed closely by FOX and then CI 1 minute later. OW brought the hunt to an end another 4 minutes later.
The 3rd hunt was designed to test sniffing capability on 10m. The is hunt took quite a while for a relatively short distance from the previous hunt meeting spot. VR and MD watched the Starlings darting in and out of the Bird Hide while waiting. This was a good test before the Vic Champs in a few months. FOX found out that their equipment was deaf compared to others. FAST had a complete system failure which was suspected to be in the coax. CI had discovered on the previous hunt that they had no working 10m sniffer. OW was first sniffing on 10 closely followed by FOX on 2m and then FOX again on 10m. CI made it before time was up but alas still got a score of 10 and FAST failed to find the transmitter in time but did so on the walk out.
The 4th hunt was on both 2m or 10m. The devious hiding place in Bangholme was changed by a Roger who thinks he knows best 🙂  First was was FOX, closely followed by CI and FAST 3 minutes later. OW, hunting on 10m, scored a 10.
The 5th hunt location was changed to speed up the night due to long 3rd hunt. The 2m fox was placed on the pier in Mordialloc. FAST was first with FOX a few seconds later. OW scored a 4 and CI scored a 10. The fox was being moved after time was up and may explain the varying signal due to a dodgy switch that CI was mentioning. Still to be investigated.
The last hunt location was also changed to be closer to supper. The fox was placed in the car??? but there were many hounds searching the nearby Braeside Park. FOX was first with FAST and OW scoring 1 and CI scoring 2.
The final scores for the night were:
FOX    13
FAST  15
OW     26
CI       30