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-- Do you think the reason that entries are down. (http://forums.ukcdogs.com/showthread.php?threadid=1433)

Do you think the reason that entries are down.

Do you thing that the reason entries are down is because there is way to many hunts to choose from on any certain weekend?

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Online supplier of Dog and Hunting Supplies.
http://www.thehuntinglog.com

I think that the entries are down due to the fact that the kids are loosing interest.
Times are changing.The old fellers that made this sport are dieing off and we dont have very many kids taking there place.

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What goes up,must come down.

Aaron Allinger,proud member of the NAADP

I don't think it's because there are fewer comp hunters. I bet there are more now than ever before. There are 7 clubs holding hunts within an hours drive of my house. But they don't schedule events on the same nights very often and I like all those choices. But you can't hit them all.

P.K.C is what is happening to the UKC entries...... The Mufreesboro, Tn coon club is one of the Oldest Clubs in the state. The average turnout for a tuesday night $15.00 PKC hunt is 25 dogs, The Average Draw for a Saturday Night UKC hunt is 12..... UKC needs to wise up and start giving back to the hunters...... I don't hunt PKC, but I will tell you this, for every entry in a UKC hunt in the State of Tennessee, There is 10 entries in a PKC hunt in the same state....... Add them up in the Back of the Bloodlines and the Prohound it's a 10 to 1 margin.......UKC is going to have to allow money and prizes to be awarded to stay up with PKC... I predict in 10 years, UKC will have to change or they will be a SHOW DOG ASSN. like AKC.......I am not UKC BASHING!!!!! I am just stating what I see every night, I hunted a UKC hunt last night the guy I drawed said he hunted a Thursday night PKC hunt at the same club they had 40 entries..... This club had 11 Nt.Ch. & Reg. both combined.........When That club( which I won't name) holds a Friday or Saturday night PKC hunt they draw 60 to 70 entries....... This tells me something?????Members of that club drove 100 mile to a $25.00 PKC hunt.......I would rather have money but I like hunting UKC hunts. I don't like the 100 point tree in PKC......It takes away from a good track & first tree dog!

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Sourwood Mountain Plotts
Fall Creek Falls, Tennessee
"Mountain Bred Dogs & Mountain Bred People"

hunting

i think it is all of the reasons above plus in some areas we are loosing hunting not as many true hunters as in the past the economy and with all the different registries the hunts are somewhat watered down at the local levels lucky to draw a dozen dogs just look at some of the world qualifying hunts compare to 6 or 7 years numbers are down

I KNOW OF SEVERAL

PEOPLE THAT HAS QUIT HUNTING UKC HUNTS CAUSE OF THE CHEETING EVERYONE KNOWS THAT ITS OUT THERE ITS JUST HARD TO CATCH THEM THAT DO IT TILL AFTER IT IS ALL SAID AND DONE DOWN THE ROAD. I THINK THAT IF YOUR DOG CAN NOT DO IT WITHOUT BEING HONEST THEN YOU SHOULD NOT BE A PART OF THE COONHOUND WORLD. I HAVE BEEN CHEATED ON ONE HUNT AND IT WAS BECAUSE I WAS YOUNG AND I DIDNT KNOW A LOT ABOUT HUNTING HUNTS AT THE TIME. I WAS WINNING THE CAST AND THE DOGS STRUCK AND THEN TREED BUT THE SPLIT TREED I TREED IN FIRST AND THEY SOUNDED LIKE THEY WAS TOGETHER SO WE DIDNT CALL A SPLIT TREE. GOT THERE MY DOG WAS ON A TREE BY-HER-SELF AND THE OTHER THREE WAS DOWN FROM HER ABOUT 40 YARD OR SO. WHEN WE SHINNED THE TREES WE SEEN THE COON UP THE TREE MY 8 YEAR OLD FEMALE WAS ON THEN WE SHINNED THE OTHER TREE AND THERE WAS NOTHING NO HOLES NO LEAVES FOR IT TO HIDE IN SO THEY SAID THAT THE COON HAD CROSSED THE LIMBS TO WHERE MY DOG WAS TREED. KEEP IN MIND MY DOG IS NOT EEL THEY HAD AREADY TREED TOGETHER TWICE THAT NIGHT AND ALL WAS ON THE SAME TREE. I DIDNT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ? SO IT WAS 3 AGAINST ME AND I LOST. EVEN THOUGH I GOT PLUS POINTS THE NEXT TREE ONE OF THEM STRUCK AND TREED BEFORE ME AND HE ONE BUT IF HE WOULD HAVE BEEN - THE TREE BEFORE I WOULD HAVE WON. THAT IS JUST MY EXPERENCE WITH GETTING CHEATED I HAVE HEARD MANY MORE FROM PEOPLE WHO WILL NOT HUNT UKC HUNTS ANYMORE BECAUSE OF THIS.

There is no one factor....

Here in the west you have mileage.....closet hunt for me is 210 miles away and that hunt is only 1 time a year. The rest are 300 plus.

Attitude change - people have realized its not worth spending the money to go to a hunt only to be cheated on a rule interpitation or have your hound ate up by an alliagtor that should have never been entered or to lose to a slick handler.

The days of integrity are gone and the best dog in the hunt is not the one that always wins.

PKC has proven to bring itself to the for-front of the competition world for those that care of such a thing.

I think the price of gas may figure in when you are talking about the bigger hunts - really takes a bite out to travel a long way with the price of gas these days. It's almost 1.50 here.

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Lynn Wilson Hill
Howling Hills Kennels
www.coonhoundcrew.com

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People may forget what you said, people may forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel
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Here in WI. the entries seem to be up at the clubs that I have been attending.

I would rather hunt for a 50 dollar split than for a 100 dollar trophy.

Not to mention the clubs are not giving very nice trophies anymore. Seems that someone is cleaning out their closets peeling the name plate off and giving you an old trophy with a new name plate.

It's kinda like having a deer head on the wall that you bought at a pawn shop. What is the point?

I would like to UKC have their events to where you compete against your cast only then the winners draw out again.This would take care of alot of poor guides bad hunting spots questions and make hunting more fair.

Some VERY good posts, INTEGRITY needs to be restored by UKC. After the prestige of a cheap win has faded, SELF satisfaction of an HONORABLE loss remains. Recently saw a post by a prominent hunter stating that he was hunting a "silent" dog.Duh!!!!!!!!!

I like the idea of toe-to-toe competition . I'd hate to get beat by a dog that I didn't even hunt against. Now that there are so many registries with hunts going all the coonhound registries are going to have to try hard to keep membership up.

I think the reason is hired handlers,for these guys the hunts are their job and they must win whatever it takes.When someone new enters a hunt and gets burnt or has to argue with one of these professoinals they don't come back.For most people these hunts are about fun and and hanging out with your buddies when that stops the only people who come are the pros.

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zt 86

The major turn off to the UKC hunts for me and about all my hunting buddies which happen to be younger fellows is getting beat by a dog you didn't even get to compete against. Why should I give UKC $15 to get beat by someone hunting a game reserve while I am hunting cut overs when I can enter a PKC hunt for $15 and only have to worry about the dogs in my cast and if I can win my cast get alittle pocket change. It just doesn't make sence. UKC is fixing to go to nothing like ACHA did a few years ago if they don't take a look at changing there hunt setup.

In my area,western NY,PKC hunts increased from 22 to 66 hunts in 1 year.UKC pulled the only RQE in the area.My club averaged 21 dogs per hunt last year,this year it's 15.The people that I don't see anymore have all gone PKC.

In my opinion, Money is Not the root of all evil. THE LOVE OF MONEY IS THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL!!!!!!! When you get a bunch of guys together who are moneyhungry, devious, backstabbing, lieing, no morals, no manners, selfish, etc. etc. your gonna have problems. A simple, ohnest, feller just out to hunt his dog and have a good time has no place in such a dog eat dog environment. I have several friends who competition hunt reguarly and are very successful at it. But heres the thing, you never know who your gonna draw out with................... do ya??? I'm not Bashing hunts at all cause I think it is a great thing, but when there are a bunch of bullys allowed to repeatedly enter nite hunts who are willing to sacrifice reputation, integrity, ohnesty, and manners just to win a trophy or some money then your gonna have problems. Am I wrong????? If I am just explain it to me and I will be glad to listen to you. I dont know it all and probably never will but this is just my opinion. Lets get to the root of the problem, are there really that many people out there who are willing to do ANYTHING TO WIN?????????? How did they get that way??? Are these HIRED, PROFFESIONAL HANDLERS, feeding there families with the money they cheated to win in the pkc hunts???? Or are they just so caught up in money and greed that they cant see clearly anymore what is right or wrong. Am I going to be alone on this message board in saying plainly that there IS A RIGHT AND WRONG AT ALL ANYMORE???? Who knows.

I used to go to a hunt every weekend. Now I haven't been to one for a couple of years. I still hunt 5 to 6 nights a week, so why no nite hunts? I can't say how younger hunters feel, but I think there are a few in my age bracket that are like me.

>getting beat by a dog you didn't even get to compete against.<
Yeah, this has always been a sore spot for me. But it's really not enough of a reason to stop competing.

I think it just boils down to the lack of time. I have to drive at least an hour to get to any hunt. Then wait around the club while the casts get organized. Drive an hour to get to hunting spots. Driving another hour to get back to the club, waiting for deadline & then more driving to finally get home. Assuming this is a good hunt & everything goes well, I'll be drained the whole next day. Now, what about adding in a little arguing, or a lost dog? Yuck, I'll be tired all next day AND feel bad AND possibly mad on top of it.

I do miss seeing some of my friends at the hunts & the extra excitement provide by competition. Unfortunately I don't think I'll ever be interested in going back to the hunts as they are.

I know this is probably never going to happen but... I'd sure be interested in trying some 1 hour hunts using only guides with close hunting spots. I'd rather have 3 dog casts too.

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bruce ordway

Blacksheep, I think the number of hunters who stay away because of cheating or dishonesty is very small, there just isn't enough crookedness, even at the pro level to turn many away. I might be wrong about that but I say that based on my own experiences having drawn some pro's and a bunch of weekenders. Honesty just can't be corralated to a certain level of competion, people will cheat just as hard for a nickle as for a 1000 dollars. There are very few hired professional handlers feeding their families on coonhunt money but your assumption that the fact that they are hired guns automatically makes them less honest is way off base and fairly insulting. Being a butthead is a personality flaw, it don't have nothing to do with whether you are getting paid or doing it just for fun.

Very good answers, I think that UKC, AKC and all the rest are getting the same money no matter how many hunts they have, Liscense fee and dogs. So they liscense as many as they can. The only thing they are hurting by this is, the clubs, they are not making as much money and the titles, they do not mean near as much because there was only 16 dogs to a hunt, . 12 reg and 4 nt ch. I wont even bring PKC into this because they are the bottem of the list in our area. We tried them and could not draw any dogs , they take to much to PKC and not enough to the clubs.

__________________
Online supplier of Dog and Hunting Supplies.
http://www.thehuntinglog.com

Blacksheep, you need to meet some coonhunters. The vast majority of these guys are real good people and just because they don't explain the rules to you as they go or help you call you dog when the need arises does not mean they are crooked.
If it is their fault that you lose then it would only be fair to give the m the credit when you win. OOOOOOH no i'll bet you will take all the credit for the great things you hath done and of coarse if you fail then and only then it has to be someone else's fault.

Kinda Cheesey if you were to ask me.

Take the blame for your failures if you want the credit for your succeses.


Kids that coonhunt don't mugg little old ladies

I BELIEVE IT DOES HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE ECOMONY. I KNOW THIS IS THE REASON I CANT MAKE ANY OF THE BIG HUNT OR SHOWS. I WORK 40 HRS. EVERY WEEK BUT MAKE LESS THAN I DID 10 YEARS AGO. I HAD TO MAKLE JOB CHANGE DUE TO COMPANY GOING SOMEWHERE ELSE.

I quit

because of the unsportsman like conduct and rough dogs...........if somebody cheats on ya and you don't report it.......it's on you, and them..............someone told me if me and my dogs couldn't take the heat, get out of the kitchen...............so I did, before I hurt somebody.

I live in NY. The hunt entries have been down for years. There are plenty of coon hunters spread around the state, but most of them don't put the time in to have a competitive dog every weekend. They show up for a couple of hunts and get beat, then don't come back. But, you will hear through the grape vine about how they got cheated, or how rough the dogs were.

If there was as much cheating going on as everyone claims, I don't think anyone would show up at the hunts. As for rough dogs, in the last three years, I have had 2 dog fights in my casts. The dogs were dealt with and they don't show up anymore.

Our PKC entries are slowly picking up because of better sportsmanship. The handlers have been told that if they cause trouble, they will be refused entry. Some of them got all puffed up and don't come anymore. But, the rest fell in line and we have good hunts with most of the guys and gals hanging out shooting the bull after the hunt. Don't be afraid to ruffle some feathers. The one hunter you lose will gain you entries in the long run.