68 Saber Tails Summer 2017
Petit Basset Griffon Vendéen Club of America
The 2017 PB-
GVCA Region-
al/National
Specialty Hunt
Tests were held
at the Tokeena
Beagle Club
in Seneca and
Townville, SC
on April 2, 3, &
4, 2017. In order to accommodate the large entry we had
to use two separate fields (approximately 8 miles apart)
and split the entry between each field. Hounds, handlers,
Judges, Secretaries, and Chief Marshals were assigned to
each field for the first day’s hunt. On the second day ev-
eryone would switch fields so that they could experience
the different field terrain and rabbit cover.
Sunday April 2, 2017 was set-up and practice day for each
field. Handlers could visit each field and get a feel for the
hunting conditions they would encounter when they ran
the next day. Tokeena Beagle Club only has carports for
shelters at these fields, so the hunt committee had to
“weather proof” the open ends with plastic tarps to pro-
vide some rain protection. Running water was available
but no electrical power, so portable generators were re-
quired at each field. To complete the picture deluxe por-
table toilets were standard issue at both fields.
Monday morning roll call was at 7:30 AM, serious weath-
er conditions was discussed and emergency plans were
agreed upon. The drawing for running order was con-
ducted. Judges and field marshals were assigned to each
run. Welcome bags which were donated by Tammy Hens-
ley and Tamara Taskey (Grand-Voile PBGVs) were distrib-
uted. The first run started at 8:00 AM.
In retrospect, it was good that we had we had a serious
weather plan in place. The day started off with light rain
and we were able to complete the first three runs with-
out problems. Runs 4 and 5 on both fields were halted
due to lighting and very heavy rain and resumed after
delays. Field C was struck by a major wind event after run
5 was completed. The plastic tarp was torn loose from the
carport and lunch paper products were blown off serv-
ing tables. Field C runs 6 & 7 were canceled due to server
weather forecasted for the local area .These runs were
completed early the next day. The other field (B) was able
to complete all of their runs.
Monday evening dinner was Low Country Boil which had
shrimp, sausage, and corn-on-the-cob, etc. followed by
strawberry short cake. The traditional live auction and
Tally Ho!
2017 Specialty Hunt
raffle was well received and a total of $1550 was raised to
defer the hunt expenses.
Tuesday morning dawned with clear skies as everyone
switched fields for the 2
nd
day of the hunt test. The field
C runs that were cancelled on Monday were run first on
field B with a 7:30 AM start. Then after the draw for run-
ning order the hunt was continued as normal. We were
able to complete all of the runs without any problems.
We had 55 hounds entered in this hunt, 24 on field C the
1
st
day and 31 on field B the 1
st
day. There were 10 HIT
hounds entered the 1
st
day on field B, 9 were tested and 8
passed the HIT. The lone NQ HIT hound passed the HIT on
the 2
nd
day on field C.
On the 1
st
day we had 21 qualifiers out of 23 hounds that
were tested on field C and 16 qualifiers out of 21 that
were tested on field B. On the 2
nd
day we had 19 quali-
fiers out of 23 tested on field B and 18 qualifiers out of 26
tested on field C.
Overall it was a great hunt with challenging weather,
heavy rain, lighting and high wind one day and, high
temperatures the second day, but this was offset by nu-
merous rabbits on both of the hunt fields.
Several of the
new handlers enjoy the hunt so much that they are planning
to go to the Indiana hunt in May.
Paul
Urban
2017
Regional/
National
Hunt Test
Chair-
man