Heat on the Meat

Little Nottoway Hunt Club Hunt

Doc Donnivants Fox Pen: June 11, 2011

The Cast

On Saturday June 11^th, 2011 a hunt was hosted at a new fox pen in Kenbridge, VA called Doc Donnivants. The pen was packed full of game and took a good, solid track running dog with impressive speed to pull a pack around through the thick briars and hills that encompassed the pen. Fortunately Heat on the Meat Kennels brought just that kind of dog to the table. With 111 dogs in attendance and split classes for male and female almost completely equal, the competition was definitely there. But, Mitch and his male Bailout, were able to take home the clock with an impressive “run-a-way” first place finish! Mitch was also able to place Wesson in the top ten on the male side and Rotella in the top ten on the female side. Billy placed his dog Magic 5^th place on the female side rounding out a great all around finish for our kennel and this year’s trial season. We look forward to seeing everyone in the fall for the opening hunt of the NEW VIRGINIA FOX BEAGLE ASSOCIATION! Until then, keep em in shape and safe!

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3^rd Annual VOBA / VFBA

Puppy & Old Timer Shootout: June 4, 2011

This year’s Puppy / Old Timer Shootout was held at Mark Rose’s Fox Pen in Ivor, VA on Saturday June 4^th. The weather was cooler than normal for this time of year and the running was completely off the hook! I can honestly say I haven’t heard a group of puppies pour it on the deer, fox, and coyotes the way they did that day. There were 79 dogs total (63 pups and 16 old timers) running for awards in both classes. Heat on the Meat Kennels wound up taking home a great deal of trophies that day including some impressive bench show winnings. Mitch placed Midget (Stephens Kita Beat x IFC Screaming Beagles Hammerhead) 3^rd in the puppy class, while Billy placed her sister Stephens Lilly White 6^th in the puppy class. Lilly white also took home a 3^rd place bench show trophy. In the Old Timer Class, Billy placed the “3 old Sisters” (Dixie, Kita, and Molly) in 2^nd, 4^th, and 8^th place respectively and wound up taking 2^nd place in the bench show with Kita (finishing only behind Beach Billy’s Grin). A great time was had by everyone and there was nothing sweeter than watching the dogs burning up the deer that were in the pen the way they did! We look forward to having next year’s shootout at the same pen and will see everyone again in the fall for the opening VOBA hunt!

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The Cast: Day One

The Cast: Day Two

Once a year, the best of the best in the world of beagle field trialing get together for an event called The Beagle Nationals. It is held in a different state each year and is hosted by one of the beagle associations located up and down the east coast of the United States. People from all over (Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, etc.) gather together to run in an intense 2 day field trial event that tests both the speed and the drive of the best beagles under 17 inches. This year’s event was hosted by Virginia and its respective beagle associations and was chosen to be held at Tar River Fox Preserve in Creedmoor, NC. We had absolutely amazing weather and a great time was had by all. To make things even better, the pen was around 700 acres and was full of coyotes, hills, and various types of cover for the dogs to run in.

Heat on the Meat Kennels was fortunate enough to have a great showing on both the running and the bench show part of the trial. After day one, we had dogs sitting in 3^rd, 7^th, 13^th, 19^th, 28^th, 42^nd, and 54^th out of 376 dogs. Most notably was Stephens Powder, who was 3^rd in the male class which numbered almost 200 very competitive hounds. But, in all two day trials, it isn’t always about the 1^st day. Heat on the Meat was fortunate enough as a kennel to maintain our place in the field for the overall hunt and finished the 2 day hunt with Stephens Magic in 4^th on the female side, and McGees Bailout in 4^th on the male side. This combination of the two top 5 finishes was enough to earn Billy Stephens the National Breeder of the Hunt award.

As a kennel, we also had some luck on the Bench Show side of the trial with Stephens Micky J finishing 6th on the male side, and Stephens Holliday Rue finishing 1st on the female side and getting named Best in Show for the overall hunt, making Holly Stephens the proud owner of a National Bench Show Champion! A very special thanks goes out to Phillip Arnold, Shane Shrieves, Lane Chambers, and many others that dedicated timeless hours to making this event a blast for everyone. We can’t wait for next year when we head down to South Carolina for some more intense running and great fellowship!

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1^st Annual Tough Man Hunt: April 9^th, 2011

Congrats to Shane Parrish for winning the 3 hour part of the trial with his female Sallee Creek Reese and to Five Forks Kennels for winning the 6 hour part of the hunt with Smokin Joe. The combination winner of the hunt was Playtime Kennels Moonshine.

Heat on the Meat Kennels placed Stephens Magic in 4^th for the 3 hour part of the hunt and the same dog also finished 6^th in the overall combination. Unfortunately we were not there during the hunt itself to take any pics or vids of the dogs or the great time had by all eating crabs and ribs. Hope to see everyone in a few weeks at the Annual Puppy / Old Timer hunt. Until then….

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Mid-Atlantic Hunt

Running Wild Coyote Preserve : March 5, 2011

The Mid Atlantic guys all made the road trip down to Edenton, NC this past weekend for some great running on yotes inside the wire. There were 75 dogs in attendance and non-stop running for the full 4 hours. It took 505 points to get into 20^th place and almost a thousand points to win the hunt. The scoring was super close with only minimal points separating the 3^rd through 15^th place dogs. Billy was able to find his way into the trophies once again with Powder placing 12^th and Magic placing 7^th. Both dogs were only fraction of points away from being in the top 5. Hopes are high for the Heat on the Meat gang at Nationals this year and with only a few weeks left till the big show down, you can bet that we will show up more than ready. See yall then at the World Series of Beagle Field Trialing!

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Mid-Atlantic Hunt

Poole's Fox Hound Training Preserve : February 19, 2011

The Mid Atlantic Beagle Association hosted a pen hunt at Billy Pooles coyote pen this past Saturday and had a great attendance. There were 101 dogs pounding the dirt in some of the driest, windiest, and toughest running conditions any of us have faced this year. On top of all of that, the pen was low on game and it took a very motivated and track driving dog to place. Heat on the Meat was very fortunate to have some success by placing 5 of the 7 dogs we brought as a group. Tyler’s Superduty dog placed 26^th, Billy’s Powder dog placed 24^th, Mitch’s snatch placed 19^th, Holly’s Holliday Rue placed 13^th, and Billy’s Magic placed 5^th to round out one heck of a day inside the wire.

Looking forward to seeing everyone at Running Wild in NC on March 5^th for some more yote running!

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Viginia Outside Beagle Association Hunt -

Callavile Hunt Club: Frebuary 5, 2011

Well, they can’t all be good ones… and this year’s hunt at Callaville Hunt Club was not the best for the Heat on the Meat gang. Amidst the torrential rain in the morning, Billy’s truck breaking down and having to be towed back to Powhatan, and only 2 of the dogs we took placing…we have seen better days. A good time was still had by all though as we stood under tents talking the normal trash talk. Mitch’s Rotella ended up placing 13^th in the female class and Billy’s Niki placed 9^th. None of our males found their way into the top 15…but with only a few hunts left in the points race, our females are carrying the weight. We will see everyone in a few weeks at the Championship hunt!

Note – Since Callaville, there have been 2 hunts (Little Nottoway and Ridge Runners). Billy and Tyler did not attend either of those two hunts, but Mitch did attend and placed Bailout 9^th in the Male Class at Little Nottoway and Rotella 4^th in the female class at Ridge Runners.

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Virginia Outside Beagle Association Hunt –

Indian Oaks/Landowners Hunt Club: January 22, 2011

This past Saturday, the VOBA hosted their 3rd trial of the 2010-2011 Season at Indian Oaks/Landowners Hunt Club in Nottoway, VA. We had an impressive 221 dogs in attendance and over 95 judges riding around the county chasing the dogs. We knew the hunt would be a good one and fortunately Heat on the Meat Kennels was able to pull out another stellar weekend. Billy wound up placing 3 of the 4 dogs he brought in the top ten with Kita placing 9th, Powder placing 7th, and Doelicious placing 6th in her first field trial ever! This impressive finish allowed Billy to take home the “Best Pack” award for the second weekend in a row and moved Kita into the top 10 in overall points. Mitch and Tyler also had some great luck placing Snatch 9th in her first debut, and Mad Man 12th respectively. All in all it was a great weekend with good times had by all. We look forward to seeing everyone at Callaville Hunt Club on Feb. 5th for the 4th hunt of the season.

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Virginia Outside Beagle Association Hunt –

Cato Hill Hunt Club: January 15, 2011

Heat on the Meat Kennels started off the New Year with a BANG this past weekend at Cato Hill Hunt Club for the 2^nd Virginia Outside Beagle Association hunt of the 2010-2011 season. There were 168 dogs in attendance and with everyone’s pack in prime shape coming out of hunting season, the running was intense and the competition was fierce. As a kennel, we were fortunate enough to have what will go down as our best performance ever to date. Much of this can be attributed to the mountainous terrain that we conditioned the dogs in all season at Greenway Hunt Club in Buckingham, VA.

Billy’s dog Niki compiled 315 points to take home the 1^st place trophy and was 65 points ahead of the winning male that day. This was Billy’s first clock and a long awaited one at that. His dog Kita also took home 5^th in the female class which gives her more than enough points to be a Field Champion if she can just get a win under her belt. Mitch also had an amazing day placing Rotella 18^th and Sexton 12^th in the Female Class as well as placing Bailout 6^th in the Male Class. This was Bailout’s first field trial ever at 15 months old, making him one tough contender moving forward. Tyler also had some great luck placing G-Spot 9^th in the Male Class. He also had his dog Mad Man place 15^th in the Mid-Atlantic Beagle Hunt at Beechland Fox Preserve this past Saturday while running against 71 dogs inside the wire. As a kennel, we were also awarded the Best Pack trophy for the day and were able to start off the 2011 trial season in impressive fashion. We look forward to seeing everyone this upcoming weekend at Indian Oaks/Landowners hunt for the 3^rd VOBA hunt of the season.

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2010 Southeastern Beagle Association Fall Two Day Trial

Big Rock Fox/Coyote Preserve: October 15th & 16th

On October 15^th and 16^th a small group of us Virginia boys went down south to Lancaster, SC to compete with some of the best of the best in this year’s Southeastern 2 day hunt. There were people in attendance from Virginia all the way down the east Coast to Georgia. The running was intense for 2 straight days and tested the endurance and speed of every dog there. Doug Nicholson from Six Pack Kennels was fortunate enough to place his young male Stoner 2^nd in the speed and drive and 2^nd in the Bench to earn himself a 1^st place combination trophy with a dog that was well deserving of it. Billy and Holly also had some great luck and placed Micky J at 7^th place on the male side, and Holliday Rue at 8^th place and Magic at 9^th place on the female side. With Magic’s and Holliday’s 2^nd and 6^th place bench trophies, they were able to earn a 2^nd and 3^rd place combination score to finish out one heck of a good weekend for the VA boys. Thanks to everyone down South for all the good eats and hospitality and we can’t wait to compete against yall again in a few Months at the Beagle on Fox/Coyote Nationals.

Until then…keep em safe.

Stephens' Holliday Rue

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1st 10/11 Virginia Outside Beagle Association Hunt –

Last Chance Hunt Club: September 18th, 2010

On Saturday September 18^th the V.O.B.A held its first trial of this year’s season at Last Chance Hunt Club. While Billy and Holly were not able to attend due to their wedding, Mitch did attend and found his way into the trophies once again. He only brought 2 dogs, Rotella and Sexton, for the female class and ended up placing them 4^th and 13^th respectively. There were over a 140 dogs in attendance. Congrats to Mitch for bringing two and placing two and starting off this years season with some strong points.

10/11 FIELD TRIALS