Registered: Jun 2007
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What are some tips to becoming a better handler I know first and foremost know your dog inside and out but besides that what are some tips and tricks

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Registered: Jul 2003
Location: Lockridge Iowa
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The best trick is to have a Coondog and he will make you look like a pro handler...

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Registered: Jan 2012
Location: Mounds, Oklahoma
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There's nothing any better than getting out there and doing it when it comes to becoming a better handler. Of course you need a good hound, but you also need to know the rules inside and out. You also need to understand how the rules work in any given situation. A good source of information is the Coonhound Advisor book published by UKC. It has a lot of good information in it.

My advice is to take a scorecard to the woods every time you go hunting. When pleasure hunting, call your dog like you would in a hunt and carry your stopwatch with you getting used to using it. Judge the cast like it was the final cast at the world hunt. Do not be afraid to minus your dog if he makes an error or if you make an error in calling him. When you complete the hunt, add up your score and concentrate on what you or your dog did wrong. This is what you need to work on. Correct your mistakes during the week and you will have a better chance on the weekends.

Get used to keeping your total score and the score of the other dogs figured in your head and know what you need to score at all times to win the cast. There is a lot of strategy involved in competition hunting and you will learn how to do that with the more experience you get.

Good luck and enjoy your journey.

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Registered: Sep 2007
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call your dog for what it does when it does it... never try to guess what its going to do... most handlers beat themselves by either not knowing their dog or trying to out guess them

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Registered: Oct 2009
Location: s/w michigan
Posts: 735

[QUOTE]Originally posted by huntbluedogs
What are some tips to becoming a better handler I know first and foremost know your dog inside and out but besides that what are some tips and tricks [/QUOTE



Quit hunting blue dogs lol sorry couldn't resist

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GrNitech'Pr' Thunder Guns Ruby2 (TopGunXRuby)

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Registered: Jul 2004
Location: Pennsylvania
Posts: 1839

quote:

---

Originally posted by Billy Beckham
1.) know the rules, not kind of know the rules. You need to know what you can and can't do. It also keeps other from walking on you.

2.) know your dog. I mean every sound he makes. I can tell you exactly what mine is doing with every whimper, growl or bark.

3.) Be a gentleman at all times. Learn to win or lose with a smile and handshake.

4.) take your points as you earned them.

You will make mistakes.
your dog will make mistakes.
Very few of us will every profit from coonhunting. So have fun and enjoy.
Last thing, remember that when our time on earth is over and we face judgement it will not matter how many titles and trophies we won. What will matter is how we played the game.

---

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Al Tarantella

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Registered: Mar 2012
Location: Tennessee
Posts: 500

quote:

---

Originally posted by Billy Beckham
1.) know the rules, not kind of know the rules. You need to know what you can and can't do. It also keeps other from walking on you.

2.) know your dog. I mean every sound he makes. I can tell you exactly what mine is doing with every whimper, growl or bark.

3.) Be a gentleman at all times. Learn to win or lose with a smile and handshake.

4.) take your points as you earned them.

You will make mistakes.
your dog will make mistakes.
Very few of us will every profit from coonhunting. So have fun and enjoy.
Last thing, remember that when our time on earth is over and we face judgement it will not matter how many titles and trophies we won. What will matter is how we played the game.

---

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If he is for us who can be against us!

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Registered: Jun 2007
Location:
Posts: 59

quote:

---

Quit hunting blue dogs lol sorry couldn't resist [/B]

---

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Registered: Jun 2007
Location:
Posts: 59

Thanks everybody

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Registered: Oct 2009
Location: s/w michigan
Posts: 735

All good advise above

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GrNitech'Pr' Thunder Guns Ruby2 (TopGunXRuby)

Last edited by davidlloyd on 06-25-2013 at 07:29 PM

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Registered: May 2008
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Knowing the rules inside and out and knowing how and when to appropriately apply them is huge....

Its one thing to "know the rules". Most people can read....

It many don't understand how/when to use the rules...and you gotta learn to speak up...a lot of rules are misinterpreted and used improperly and/or abused...

Knowing your dog is huge....some guys say call a dog form what it does....that's a start....but if you know your dog well you aughta know when it ain't gunna stay hooked and when to tree it on a locator...I am no pro handler but knowing your dog and when to tree I this huge and wins me hunts all the time...guys get nervous and/or in a hurry...I love when all 3 other guys pile on a tree and they all leave and if they'd been listening they'd known it wasn't right...

My biggest wins come on nights me and my dog are in sync...no handler mistakes..no dog mistakes...


Also IMO a good handler needs to keep track of everything...I keep scores and times in my truck....and I check the card regularly... too many times something isn't right on the card...or someone can't do math or tell time...whether an accident or on purpose it needs caught...my buddy lost a hunt one night I was spectating on because of time...my buddy called him out and it all "looked" right....I didn't know enough to speak up until it was all over...I knew I wasn't allowed to say much...he signed the card and we left...I told him we had 25mins left not 3...we talked about it and I was right...but it was too late to fix..


I've never hunted with some of the great handlers.....I don't consider myself to be one....but I have came a long way....that's key...getting out there and learning and keeping at it...don't let nerves get to you...I see some guys get super worked up...its just a hunt...call your dog right... listen and pay attention and key in on your dog....if someone wants to talk or kick leaves I walk away...the focus is key...until my dog is hooked I wanna hear every peep he makes...that's what tell you what he is doing...not a locator or change over...I wanna hear the track...

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Team Trackman!!

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Registered: Jul 2012
Location: Louisiana
Posts: 400

A feller told me one night (and he had a Purina Championship as a resume) to call the dog you have; not the one you wish you have. It took me a bit to see the reasoning in this but think I have it now.
As said before, know your dog frontwards and backwards. Know the rules, mostly so you can't be taken advantage of.
Pay attention to everything that has happened. A good handler will know what each dog has and know if he needs to gamble on a locate. I'm not suggesting that you "pitch" your dog on any strike or trees. This to me isn't good handling; its cheating. However, I did see a guy lose a cast one night because he wasn't able to hear his dog treeing and didn't want to pith her for 4th tree. Unfortunately, she was there and the coon was seen. She got a 1st strike minused because of 3 loud male dogs that drowned her out.

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Registered: Aug 2003
Location: Indiana
Posts: 6168

You have been given some world class advice....take heed to it.

I also think that being a good judge is another step to becoming a good handler. It is tough to keep track of times, pay attention to all of the dogs in the cast, keep track of scores, and to make "judgement" calls, all while trying to handle your dog at the same time. In a good cast of dogs, being the judge puts you at a true disadvantage.

The one other piece of advice that I would offer you is not only should you know what your score is at all times, you should have a pretty good idea what it takes for another dog to beat you, or for you to catch that other dog...do you need first and first?????? Can you take a third tree and keep the lead? When you understand that, you can then play what I call "defense" as well as offense.

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Joe Newlin
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Home of Oak Ridge Kennels

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Oak ridge talked about a subject that I wanted to and forgot....


But that's another reason I keep track of scores...I wanna know what I need to keep the lead or to take it....and what dogs are in the ball park and what ones I can kinda "rule out".


When I loose focus of my dog my attention and focus is drawn to the winning dog or the dog closest to mine...I wanna know what it is doing...

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Team Trackman!!

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Registered: Sep 2003
Location: Fayetteville.Ga
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Said in a song You got to know when to pitch um and when to hold them. O MY GOODNESS I FORGOT THAT AIN'T RIGHT IS IT ?

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SHAWNEE HILL'S BLACK AND TANS

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call them for what they do not what you want them to do.

know your dog and what each sound it makes means.

And most importantly be a good sport If you win, don't gloat.
If you lose, lose graciously.

You will definitely lose more than you will win.

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Registered: Apr 2010
Location: jamestown,pa
Posts: 612

quote:

---

Originally posted by Billy Beckham
1.) know the rules, not kind of know the rules. You need to know what you can and can't do. It also keeps other from walking on you.

2.) know your dog. I mean every sound he makes. I can tell you exactly what mine is doing with every whimper, growl or bark.

3.) Be a gentleman at all times. Learn to win or lose with a smile and handshake.

4.) take your points as you earned them.

You will make mistakes.
your dog will make mistakes.
Very few of us will every profit from coonhunting. So have fun and enjoy.
Last thing, remember that when our time on earth is over and we face judgement it will not matter how many titles and trophies we won. What will matter is how we played the game.

---

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Registered: Jun 2003
Location:
Posts: 1586

The biggest thing that separates the occasional weekend warrior and the big winners is not taking minus!!! If you sit back and strike your dog, let it settle into a tree before you tree it, and know your dog like the back of your hand, you will start winning a lot more casts. I would say 50% or better of casts are lost by the dog that does the most work. A second or third tree that is plussed will always be exponentially better than first tree that is minuses because you rushed to tree him. Or you can just hunt a dead loaner and not have to worry about it!!!

Sit back, relax, and call your dog for what he HAS done, not what you think he's doing or hope he does. Staying calm when it matters most is a trait that all championship athletes possess. Chris webber calling time out in the NCAA ch game? Kinda like giving your dog a first tree minus in the final cast of the world hunt. Some people have nerves or steel and they aren't affected by the situation.

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Registered: Jun 2003
Location: Los Angeles, MN
Posts: 4236

I agree Nat.....A lot of times your biggest competition is yourself.

The better handlers I have seen also seem to learn the other dogs in the cast on the first drop.

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Registered: Mar 2010
Location: Ekron, Ky
Posts: 101

I was like you a year ago I had only done a couple UKC hunts do to my location and a deployment. But I lost hunts on me not knowing my dog it was me making the mistake not my dog. So I started to ask to be the judge I had to know the rules so I didnt get cheated and I didnt cheat other Hunters. I still got taken advantage of for my lack of knowing the rules but I learn each and every time. Then this last kill season I hunted hard I mean 5-6 times a week at a minimum most of the time. I treated me and my dog as a sporting team and used it as training I learned her inside and out. Like she throws a fake locate when other dogs are crowding the track and so on to get good you have to put in the time with your partner. and By no means am I a PRO handler I just dont like losing because I screwed up or being cheated If I lose I want to know I got beat by a better dog. just my 2 cents

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