September 1999 fox hunt report

"You Bastards!", "How am I supposed top get through this!", "If we go
four abreast, eventually we’ll stand on him!", "Anyone got any Napalm?",
"There must be an easier way out of here!", "We’ll get you back for
this." . Some of comments from cheerful participants on the September
1999 foxhunt.

The hunt was held in dry conditions in the outer eastern suburbs of
Melbourne. The fox for the evening was the VK3HDF team. A challenging
evening was planned with a few surprises.

The hunt started just after 8PM at Knox City shopping centre. The fox
was Adam VK3HDF who was riding a pushbike along the bike track from
Ferntree Gully. A mix of strange bearings sent some teams headed even
towards Mt Dandenong. Greg, VK3VT was first to find Adam as he was
riding alongside a street. Greg tooted some morse code on his car horn
to raise the fox’s attention. Sorry Greg, Adam didn’t quite understand
what you said Paul, VK3PW later found Adam at the top of a multi-story
car park in Knox City to take second place.

The first leg of the second hunt was in a rather overgrown lane behind
some factories in Wantirna. The VK3TVB team arrived well ahead of the
others. Less than 3 metres from the fox, Geoff, VK3VR took a look at
the blackberries and decided there had to be an easier way in. Mark,
VK3JMD aborted soon after even after shining his torch in the foxes
face. 10 minutes later, the VK3PW team bashed their way through to
first place, with VK3YQN and VK3VR (back for his second attempt)
following just minutes later.

The next leg was in a rather swampy area near a new housing estate in
Rowville. VK3YQN came in first minutes ahead of VK3TVB. VK3BLN
effectively ended up in second place on leg time.

The third hunt proved to be the most challenging for the evening. This
hunt had 4 legs.

The first leg was near the joining of two creeks in Knoxfield. Bruce,
VK3TJN crossed one of the creeks to find this transmitter minutes ahead
of VK3VR. Most other teams did not arrive until nearly 15 minutes later
as they chose a very difficult way in and had to battle some soggy mush,
thick undergrowth and blackberries.

The second leg was only a few hundred metres away in another
significantly overgrown lane behind factories. VK3VR found this
transmitter nearly 15 minutes ahead of VK3TJN "oh no! Arrgh! I came in
the wrong way!" There were indeed two ways in. While most teams picked
the easier entrance, In true foxhunting style Bruce, VK3TJN elected to
try the "impassable" route. A T-shirt is definitely not the recommended
armor for this operation. Arriving around 15 minutes later VK3PW and
VK3VT effectively tied for second place on leg time followed closely by
VK3BLN.

Barely a couple of kilometres away, the third leg was hidden in amongst
reeds. Once again, there was an easy way in - even to drive there! - but
some new streets, not even marked on the latest edition of the Melways
helped add to the confusion. Once again, the most direct path required
negotiating a creek and some blackberries. VK3VR found this transmitter
well ahead of VK3YQN. No other teams found this transmitter in time.

The last leg was behind a group of factories near the Model Aero club in
Scoresby. VK3VR was the only team to find this transmitter in time and
actually found this transmitter a good 5 minutes before anyone else had
even found the transmitter for the previous leg.

The last hunt was behind some factories in Kilsyth. The first leg was at
the back of an open paddock near a large brick wall. The fox was just
hanging in a tree and not particularly hidden. Even so, some teams had
some difficulty finding the transmitter once they were within a few
metres of it. VK3YQN arrived nearly 15 minutes ahead of any other team
to take first place on this hunt.

The second leg was less than 100 metres away and was down a rather
narrow gap in between two factories. VK3YQN found this transmitter
first, although Paul VK3PW did significantly better to take first place
on leg time.

Supper was held in Ferntree Gully at the QTH of Steve, VK3YLE where the
scores were announced. VK3TVB took out first place with VK3YQN and VK3PW
taking out the minor placings.

Sept 1999 Foxhunt Scores.
=========================

Most of the hiding spots were chosen by Adam, VK3HDF who also did most
of the planning for the night.

The emphasis on this hunt was to give some of the less advanced teams a
chance to successfully find something for the night rather than hearing
"the hunt is over" for nearly every hunt. For this reason, each leg of
the multi-leg hunts was run for the entire duration of the hunt, or
until nearly all teams were through. This was necessary as many of the
hunts were also designed to provide a significant challenge to the
better teams. I.e an attempt was made to try to please everybody.

A primary goal was to keep the night moving and minimise waiting times.
The scoring method was designed mainly to do this rather than give the
better teams blitzing scores. A 15 minute scoring limit and final clock
were used on all multi-leg hunts to try to keep it all simple.

It turns out that, as expected, there has already been some controversy
over some of the hunts. Some have indicated that the last two hunts
should be null and void. Firstly, one particular team did not start from
the meeting spot. I was actually quite surprised that their vehicle was
first seen barely minutes from when I had parked mine! Secondly, some
teams were told that the hunt would conclude at about 12:10 while others
continued hunting the second leg which was being run using a 15 minute
rule. (This leg had started before midnight) There has also been call to
null and void the 4th leg of hunt 3 as a complaint over the scoring
method. It is interesting to note that if this and the last hunt are
omitted from the scores, the order of the placings does not change.



Report by Bryan VK3YNG.

Copyright 2000 - Peter Fraser - all rights reserved.