Aiken Hounds Huntsman

New Huntsman for Aiken Hounds

Passion for hunting brings Chad Wilkes full circle

By Nancy Johnson, Photography by Gary Knoll

When it comes to knowledge of hounds and hunting, Chad Wilkes comes by it honestly. It’s no surprise that Aiken Hounds sought him out for the vital position of professional huntsman. Chad, 44, literally grew up in the hunt field. His father, who is a longtime joint master of the revered Belle Meade Hunt in Thomson, Georgia, introduced Chad to foxhunting when he was a young boy.

“I started with the hilltoppers when I was 12. My dad made me ride in the back for a couple of years before he would let me ride first flight,” he says. In time, Chad became a whipper-in for Belle Meade, giving him his introduction to working and understanding hounds.

His first job as a huntsman came about in an interesting way. After he graduated from Augusta College, Chad and his wife Melissa were living in Athens, Georgia. She was a practicing attorney and he was employed by the University of Georgia Vet School in the radiology department. “We were doing some work on a horse that was owned by the then chancellor of the university, Dr. Stephen Portch,” Chad says. “We got to talking and he asked me if I would be interested in hunting his hounds in Alabama.” Chad interviewed for the position in 2003 and became the huntsman for Hard Away Whitworth Hounds in Greensboro, near Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

After a season with Hard Away, Chad took the huntsman position with South Carolina’s second oldest hunt, the Camden Hunt, where he remained for seven seasons. He then spent a brief period of time as huntsman for the Blue Ridge Hunt in Boyce, Virginia, near Middleburg, before returning to his hometown, Augusta, in 2011. Because Chad and Melissa had two young daughters to raise (Anabelle and Lillian) he decided to take a hiatus from his dream job as a professional huntsman. Instead, he took a position with Petco in Augusta, and soon was promoted to manage the new store they opened in Aiken.

From 2014 through 2019, Chad also acted as huntsman for a private pack, Saxonburg Hounds, from Pennsylvania that came to hunt in Aiken from January through March. “I found it easy to balance with my position at Petco, but unfortunately, the owner of the pack has now retired from hunting and the hounds have been dispersed to other kennels.”

Once again, Chad was in the right place at the right time. When the Aiken Hounds joint master, Linda Mclean, asked him if he would be interested in the huntsman position with Aiken Hounds, he jumped at the opportunity. “I’ve known Linda since I was 12,” he says. “I’m so excited to be hunting with her, Larry Byers, who I’ve also known for years, and the rest of the staff in Aiken.”

“Chad will bring so much to the Aiken Hounds and we are so looking forward to having him,” says Linda. “He’s very humble and just has a way of making a day in the field enjoyable for everyone.”

Chad notes, “This is the first huntsman job I’ve ever done that involved a drag and I’m excited about it. It’s guaranteed fun. You know you will never have a blank day. With live hunting there are a number of key factors -- a lot depends on the scent, where you are hunting, what time you go.”

The kennels are located right on Dibble Road, making it very convenient for Chad to get to from his other job at Petco. “I can run over there from work at lunch time and check on everything and then stop by after work and play with the hounds a bit,” he explains.

A big part of Chad’s success as a huntsman is the relationship he builds with the hounds. “We are a family of animal lovers,” he says. “We have five dogs in the house; I’ve got a Jack Russell sitting in my lap right now,” he adds with a laugh.

Linda attests to Chad’s connection with the hounds. “After his first day at the kennel, Chad already knew all their names. The hounds just love him.”

Chad is disappointed that the hound shows are cancelled for this year; he has been involved with showing hounds since he was a child. “Aiken Hounds is pretty big into the hound shows, so that will be fun when it returns,” he says.

“I have a really nice hunting horse, Ashby,” he continues. “He’s a Thoroughbred that we leased from a friend of mine who hunted him with Rolling Rock. He’s got lots of mileage over all kinds of terrain and rolling hills.” Ashby, like the other staff horses, is stabled right at the kennels. “They just finished a beautiful new barn there. It’s so perfect to have everything right there.”

Chad conveys his gratitude to those who have helped him live the life that he loves. “My wife has been a great backer and has allowed me to follow my dreams. It’s hard to juggle real life and hunting on the side. If I wasn’t a professional, I could never afford to foxhunt.” He also credits his father, a recently retired small animal vet in Augusta, for instilling in him “a love for animals and how to treat them, as well as human beings . . .My father and Epp Wilson at Belle Meade Hunt are two of my biggest supporters.”

Chad is enthusiastic about working with Aiken Hounds. “It’s a very well established hunt and steeped in tradition,” he says. “I want this to be a long-term job, so it is important to know that this is a hunt that isn’t going away.”