Herrin, Ill.-based fox hunting club turns to coyotes for twice-weekly hunts

Riders in the Shawnee Hounds mounted English fox hunting club have had more than a decade of successful hunts on Southern Illinois farmland without ever seeing a fox.

The hunt club, founded in 1982, began hunting coyotes once they realized the predators were running most of the foxes from the area, said Tom Herbert of Cape Girardeau.

"We haven't seen a fox in 15 years," Herbert said.

Anywhere from five to 20 riders attend the twice-weekly hunts, an informal one Wednesdays and one requiring formal attire Saturdays, Herbert said.

Shawnee Hounds is based in Herrin, Ill., and hunts mainly on farmland in Southern Illinois with permission of landowners.

Senior Huntmaster is Richard Finke, of Nashville, Ill., and the 35 to 40 hounds owned by the hunt club live on the property of joint master and huntsman Dr. Mark Smith of Herrin.

Except for the occasional tumble taken by a rider off their horse, or scratches from riding through branches and briars, it's a "relatively bloodless sport," Herbert said.

All of the hunts are strictly no-kill, meaning the thrill is strictly the chase itself. The hounds do not actually injure the coyote.

The point of the hunt is not to run the coyote off, and success is marked by the riders in the field catching sight of the coyote, giving them the chance to chase a live animal rather than just following a scent, Herbert said.

"I know we've chased the same coyote hunt after hunt after hunt," Herbert said.

An even more successful hunt occurs when the hounds actually chase a coyote all the way into its hole before retreating, he said.

"That's when the coyote looks out of his hole and says, boy did they make a mess," Herbert said.

Coyotes began moving into the rural territory in Southern Illinois near Big Muddy River about 25 years ago, and eventually began to greatly outnumber the foxes, Herbert said.

"It got to the point where, 'Hey, its all coyote and no fox,'" Herbert said.

Coyotes provide a different type of hunt for the riders in the field because they travel in a straight line at a much faster pace than their vulpine counterparts.

It's not unusual for the hounds to split a pair of coyotes — male and female — so that the male leads the pack away for his mate, giving her a chance to hide in the brush, then completely vanishes, Herbert said.

Herbert, a retired Cape Girardeau dentist, took up fox hunting about 27 years ago when he and his wife decided to get out of the business of breeding American Saddlebred horses.

While his wife opted to retire from horses and entirely, Herbert began hunting using his Saddlebred horses and became addicted.

When describing the sport, Herbert said, "It's like four-wheel mudrunning on horseback."

bdicosmo@semissourian.com

388-3635

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