NEBRASKAland Magazine is dedicated to outstanding photography and informative writing with an engaging mix of articles and photos highlighting Nebraska’s outdoor activities, parklands, wildlife, history and people.
Issue link: http://mag.outdoornebraska.gov/i/725550
52 NEBRASKAland • OCTOBER 2016 the plains, catapulting over fences to keep up with the rider in front of you, you'll look up and notice the hounds. Crossbreeds between the American and English foxhound, the North Hills Hunt's hounds are high-energy, hardy and have the stamina to run for hours with few breaks. "When I first joined the North Hills Hunt, I was so focused on trying to stay on my horse and just keep up!" said David Kruger, a long-time member of NHH. "I honestly couldn't tell you if they had hounds out working – that we were chasing – or if we were all just riding and jumping at what felt like Mach speed. By the end of my first season, as riding became easier, I was able to watch the hounds work and that was when I truly became hooked." In 2015, Kruger took over as huntsman after NHH's former huntsman accepted a position in California. He grew up hunting pheasants, and his family always kept bird dogs. "It was so amazing to watch them work for hours in the cold, knee- deep snow. I was used to watching only one or two dogs hunt, but to see 30-40 hounds at a time, working as a team, is incredible," Kruger said. It may take a few seasons to learn all the nuances of hunting, to look ahead and understand what the huntsman is doing, what the hounds are doing, and reading the field and the wind. If you've ever watched a hunting dog work, it is a thing of beauty. But to hear the chorus of hounds, in full cry, on a golden fall or winter morning is a rhapsody. Never mind the English countryside. Foxhunting will open up your understanding of the American countryside – its colors, its sounds, its subtleties, and its romance – in ways that only sitting on top of a horse could tell. A Coyote for a Fox At the NHH clubhouse and kennels currently located in Missouri Valley, Iowa, coyotes and foxes that gave memorable chase are immortalized as wall mounts or trophies. Whereas other hunts on the East Coast and overseas chase the iconic red fox, NHH primarily chases the plains coyote, a predator that is much more abundant in North Hills Hunt's pack consists of a crossbreed between American and English foxhounds. Donovan is one of 40 hounds and was named after Donovan Ketzler, former president of the Dehner Boot Co. in Omaha and one of NHH's founding members in 1964.