Come Basseting! - Skycastle French Hounds

C O N D U C T
I N
T H E
F I E L D
We are all deeply indebted to farmers and landowners for
permission to hunt on their property, and for their cooperation in
protecting game for our sport. We must be constantly alert to
prevent damage to property and injury to livestock at all costs.
The following are a few common sense rules of behavior for
people who hunt with Bassets or Beagles.
1. FENCES. Climb rail fences at the post where strongest, not in
the middle. Slide under wire fences when possible. Don’t stretch the
wires. If a fence is broken, secure it if possible and immediately
report it to staff.
2. GATES. If a gate is opened, make sure that the last person
through closes it securely. If barways or rails are let down, make sure
that they are put back up.
3. GROUNDS. Keep off lawns and gardens near houses, and
winter wheat or other soft seeded ground, including golf greens, tees
and traps.
4. LIVESTOCK. Keep well away from all livestock in fields and
paddocks so as not to excite them. Move quietly around the
enclosed area, rather than cross it, unless following the Field Master.
5. SMOKING AND ALCOHOL. No smoking or drinking
permitted in the hunting field.
6. PARKING AT THE MEET. Don’t park on driveway edges or
where inconvenience will be caused to others. Be guided by the
Field Master on arrival.
7. HOUNDS. Silence is golden when Hounds are drawing, or at
a fault, or working a patchy line. And don’t call to or urge on, a
lagging Hound. Hold up and notify the staff quietly.
8. Finally, be guided by the Field Master, and keep behind him
unless Hounds are running. Keep at least 30 yards behind Hounds
when running, and hold up for the Field Master as soon as they
hesitate on the line. If no Field Master is present or appointed for the
day, keep forty yards between yourself and the Huntsman and
Hounds when hunting so as not to turn rabbits back into cover, and
a good twenty yards when moving off or going home.
Skycastle French
Hounds
Come Basseting!
H
unting on foot with a pack of hounds is a sport which has been pursued for
centuries—in recorded history from the days of Xenophon to modern times.
Most people are unaware of this very ancient and enjoyable form of field sport.
The Basset and the Beagle are the hounds of choice, as they are excellent lowscenting hounds which have been bred and worked as packs for generations, and
have excellent voices, or cry, when in pursuit of their quarry. In the United States,
the quarry is usually the Cottontail Rabbit. The cottontail can give a sporting
account of himself when chased. He is very quick, and will leap and double
during the run, giving plenty of oportunity for spectators (the “Field”) to see
hounds have to really work to keep in touch with him and puzzle out his tricks to
elude them and get safely down a hole. Their eyesight is not sharp like a
greyhound’s, so they cannot see their quarry for more than a few dozen yards,
even less in an overgrown field. So the opportunity to see and walk over lovely
countryside while watching the eager little hounds casting, pick up the scent,
work it up to a rabbit and then chase it to an accounting to ground in glorious cry
is ample reward to the followers of a pack of bassets. Guns are not used except as a
warning to stop the occasional riot when fox or deer get up in front of hounds in
heavy cover. The sport is the find and chase, not a kill. and an exhilarating day in
the field with like-minded lovers of hounds and the countryside.
This year marks our 64th season. The Skycastle French Hounds have been
hunting as a pack in Chester County since 1948 when John and Elizabeth Streeter
started with AKC Bassets in Chester Springs. Mrs. Streeter, wishing to improve the
working ability of the pack, in the mid 1970s first got an English Hunting Basset
outcross from the Tewksbury Foot. Then, as she had liked the occasional roughcoated throwback which turned up, she imported Griffon Vendéen Bassets from
England and France to cross with the result. The Griffon Vendéen is by nature a
very independent, exciteable, driving hunter. She felt the cross breeding gave
better control and a closer working pack hound. After Jim Scharnberg became
Master, he began a program of importing entered hunting Griffons Vendéens in
whelp, and proven stallions, from one of the best hunting breeders in France,
hoping to develop a pack of purebred hounds. The results have been very good
indeed, and hunting 3 days a week has proven that the purebreds work well and
thoroughly as pack hounds. These little hounds are perfectly suited to the rough,
briary woods and fields which we hunt. Their harsh, heavy coats give good
protection, and they will attack the toughest cover with élan to get rabbits moving.
They are great fun to watch. Hunting with these hounds is never dull!
To some people, the idea of following an organized pack and uniformed hunt
staff smacks of exclusiveness, but this is simply not the case. All visitors receive a
warm welcome, and we hope you’ll become infected with the Basseting mania.
The cry of the pack and the sound of the huntsman’s horn add color to the hunt,
and more joy and excitement to a day in the field. The only requirements for
following our pack are hiking shoes or boots and tough clothing, reasonably good
physical condition, a small “capping fee” (as we are a subscription pack and all
contribute to expenses) and a real interest in seeing hounds at work in their true
element.
On any given Sunday, you can find our group of from 20 to 60, depending
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The Skycastle working a rabbit inside a heavy multiflora hedgerow at a typical
Chester County farm. Seven rabbits werre run to ground in 3 hours hunting, the last
after a hunt of over a half hour through three fields and hedgerows in cry.
Mischief, Galloper, Iris and Daphne led the way.
A cottontail heading for cover at Bedwell’s in Chester County.
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on the weather, following our hounds somewhere in Chester County. Enjoying
the hunt and the open countryside that is left, birdwatching, seeking a relaxed,
sociable way to share some healthy exercise—all are reasons for our varied
group to be out there.
After taking over the pack in 1987, it didn’t take long for us to see how
quickly the countryside was shrinking. The preservation groups we joined
weren’t reaching enough people at that time to make a real difference. Chester
County became our battleground. Legal controls on development density and
sustainable water use are foreign to this state. Each township is autonomous in
regulating growth to keep within its tax base, but is prohibited by the state from
setting acreage limits on development, and must allow low income housing on a
proportional basis, whether services to help them exist or not. Working farms
are taxed at the same rate per acre as the new developments ringing them. The
farmer gets harassed in court by his new neighbors who don’t like agricultural
smells. Inheritance taxes on land are 55% of current assessed value. The money
for development rights purchase has been laughably low, which any developer
can outbid in a heartbeat. It is much more profitable for farmers to farm houses
and retire. The strip malls spreading along all major roads from one city center
to another are draining business from towns and cities all over the county, and
are becoming the new “towns” for the new bedroom communities. Asphalt
parking lots and chemically treated lawns are the last crops for over 10,000
acres per year in Chester County.
In 1995 we began the first public outreach by foxhunters and our pack in
the county at the Ludwigs Corner Horse Show. The Pickering Hunt and the
family packs—the Addis Hunt and the Kimberton Hunt—joined us in an
exhibits tent with hounds and staff to acquaint longtime locals and newcomers
to the area with our sport, and our efforts to preserve open space and protect
watersheds. We made sure we got press coverage as well. The Green Valleys
Association, which protects watersheds and wrote the sustained water use
management section of the Chester County Landscapes plan, and the French
and Pickering Creeks Conservation Trust which protects land and historic sites
with easements and counseling, joined with us. At each show we work the
crowds, getting out county and state land preservation kits. We have become a
fixture of the show. The presence of the hunts brought increased gates and
much bigger show classes. Jim joined the LCHS Association. They adopted his
open space message as the key to community involvement in their 2000 catalog.
In 2001 all profits were donated to the land preservation funds of the two
townships on which the showground’s land is located. The same was done in
2002. It was a very proud moment for the hunts to see our efforts rewarded. The
LCHSA now owns its show site, and profits are going to improve the grounds.
We staged our first open space rally in February 1998, at which County
Commissioners Hanna and Dinniman announced an additional $50 million in
funding from the state for the county’s Agricultural Preservation Program.
Through continuing mailings and editorials in the press, we have urged
residents to get involved in their townships—to go to township meetings and
find out early about development proposals and their impact, tax breaks offered,
public service expansion proposals of all types—and to make sure their elected
officials hear them and are accountable. On December 6, 1998, Skycastle was
awarded a Certificate of Appreciation by Chester County for our work to
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Hounds working a double near Unionnville.
The Skycastle parading Hounds at the Ludwig’s Corner Horse Show
Our Open Space Conservation and Hunting Tent and Parade of Hounds
at Ludwig’s Corner Horse Show in support of the county’s agricultural easement
and water management programs serve as a very effective outreach for the conservation
trusts and the County Commissioners. We have been recognized as leaders by
both Chester County and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Our PBGVs and the
Addis Hunt’s and Kimberton Hunt’s foxhounds act as lures to draw in the public
to give them the latest updates on county programs.
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preserve open space and water resources—the first ever to be given to a hunting
organization in the County. At our 60th Anniversary dinner in October 2008,
we received a citation from the Pennsylvania State Senate in recognition of our
longtime conservation efforts and giving sport to the community
In January 2000 we held a rally at Ryers’s Farm for Aged Equines near
Pottstown, a not-for-profit which could no longer meet expenses—a priceless
resource for the New Bolton Veterinary Center—to pressure the County to
reconsider denial of purchase of its development rights. We had been lobbying
since October 1999 when they were turned down for the fifth straight year. The
day of the rally, which the Commissioners knew was getting huge press
coverage, we were told by the county that the property had been put on the list.
In 2001, the remaining acreage and a newly donated parcel were covered—a
total of over 500 acres which will now never be developed.
On March 16, 2001, we held a Save Our Countryside 2001 Rally at
Ludwigs Corner. Scheduled for the Show Grounds as a night bonfire event, due
to rain we moved it into St. Andrews Episcopal Church around the corner, and
packed the parish hall. Press coverage before, during and after was terrific. The
sponsors were the local hunts, preservation groups and the Ludwigs Corner
Horse Show Association. Speakers were then State Senator Jim Gerlack, State
Representative Curt Schroder, County Commissioners Hanna and Dinniman,
County Agricultural Preservation Coordinator Kevin Baer, French & Pickering
Creeks Conservation Trust Chair Eleanor Morris, and Green Valleys Association
Director John Hoekstra, and Schanberg as moderator. Township officials,
farmers and other property owners of large and small holdings from all over the
county came. It was truly a watershed event in that election year. Our editorials
Skycastle Dervish
won the 2-Hour Stake
at the National Basset
Fall Pack 1999 Trials,
Aldie, Virginia. She
was the first purebred
basset to win in over
20 years. Skycastle
Helper placed fourth.
Her daughter
Skycastle Iris won the
Stake at the Trials in
2006, and Skycastle
Kingfish placed
second.
Jim Scharnberg hunted Skycastle to win the 3 Couple Pack Class with Laura and Nick Booth
whipping in (a repeat of 2008), and Megan Roberts was named Best Whipper In in the Trials for
her work in the 5 Couple Pack Class, at the Fall National Basset Pack Trials, Aldie VA, 2009.
Sally Roberts, Huntsman, presenting the Skycastle 3-Couple Pack at the Spring 2007
Natinal Basset Pack Trials with Megan Roberts and Paul Wiedorn, Whippers-In. Skycastle
placeed 3rd, and won the trophy for Best Pack with a combined score 50% hunting and 50% presentation .
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and others before and after, front page land issue articles about the rally and
other development battles have kept the heat on ever since. Letters from all over
poured in. In July 2001, the first meeting of the newly formed Northern Chester
County Municipal Coalition was held, with many of the same speakers who got
together at our rally. Financial counsellors worked with them to advise ways to
raise money through grants and loans to buy development rights so they could
share in the new matching funds County Challenge Program. As a result, the
largest number of farms ever—90 in all, mainly because of the 48 farms in
Northern Chester County—made the list. The rally served its purpose. By
getting state, county and township officials, preservation leaders and property
owners together in one place we built a real base for a working coalition.
Everyone listened and shared their fears, dreams and determination to control
the damage. The county as a whole has finally realized that green belts aren’t
free. We all have learned that we have to pay the cost and fight hard to keep
Chester County, and any part of this country, healthy and worth living in for
the future. For the current state Growing Greener legislation to be effective, all
of us must support township tax levies and bond issues in aid of farmland and
open space preservation through agricultural land development rights purchase
or outright land purchase. It is the cheapest way to keep a lid on development
and the rising taxes and congestion which result.
In closing, we will be the first to say that we are acting selfishly. Conserving
open space and healthy habitat and watersheds insures land for our sport. By
making sure that our hounds, staff and field respect every property owner’s
land, be it 300 acres or one, we insure the privelege of hunting there again. As
naturalists who love the land and the whole fabric of the countryside, we are
acting to protect the health of all wildlife and people in the county. Please come
out with us on a hunt and see for yourselves the beauty of the land. Take a step
aside in time for a little while to share the cameraderie and traditions of our
sport. When it all comes together, it is a celebration of life in the countryside. All
are welcome to come out with us for a day’s sport.
SKYCASTLE FRENCH HOUNDS
DOWNINGTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA
Established 1948
Recognized 1952
Uniform: Green coat, crimson collar. Evening: Green coat, crimson collar
and facings.
Masters: James F. Scharnberg(1987), 20 Beatty Ln., Malvern, PA 19355,
TN: 610-827-1037 and Nicholas Streeter (Honorary), 191 Green Manville
Avenue, Whitehall Landing #20, Mystic, CT 06355.
Huntsmen: The Master.
Field Masters: Paul Green, Dr. Ralph T. Geer and Barrett Farnham.
Whippers-In: First Whipper-In: Mrs. David Allen. Mr. and Mrs. Paul Wiedorn,
Gwendolyne Knight, Lisa, Laura and Nicholas Booth, Eugene Bolt, Holly
Gross, Virginia Beards, Mrs. Hewitt Heiserman and trainee Richard Gross.
Honorary Whippers-in: Gary D. Sturts, Dr. and Mrs. Colin Hingley, Megan,
Sally and Elizabeth Roberts, Patrick Loughran, Joseph J. Egan, Chris May and
Mrs. James Killeen.
Chairman of the Hunt Committee: Mr. Eugene A. Bolt, Jr.
Hon. Secretary: Mrs. Paul Wiedorn, TN: 610-525-5958.
Hon. Treasurer: Barrett Farnham.
Kennels: White Acres Farm, Downingown, Pennsylvania.
Kennel Huntsman: David Duvall.
Hounds: 8 cpls Griffon Vendéen. Hunt Cottontail.
Meets: August 1 – March 31 Sundays, informally Wednesdays and Saturdays.
Visitors welcome.
The Country is that of the Pickering Hunt with their kind permission.
Rolling, 15 x 20 miles, fairly wooded and hilly, some open space—
bounded on the east by Route 202, the north by the Schuylkill River, the
west by Route 10 and on the south by business Route 30, in portions of
Chester, Montgomery and Berks Counties in Pennsylvania.
Capping Procedure: All Skycastle members are encouraged to invite guests
to formal hunts and teas. Guests must be invited by a member. Sponsoring member is
responsible for capping fee of $10.00. Persons inquiring about hunting through the Hunt
Secretary, Mrs Paul Wiedorn (610-525-5958) or the Master, Jim Scharnberg
(610-827-1037) are also welcome to cap for a day’s hunting. Capping Fees should be
given to the Treasurer or a member designated by the Master on the day.
Guests are limited to three invitations, after which they are asked to apply for membership.
Moving off—a meet at Brandywine Valley Association
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