deschmidt27
UKC Forum Member
Registered: Jun 2008
Location: Burlington, CT
Posts: 1758 |
OK, I changed my mind. I'll throw in my 2 cents.
Three weeks ago... average size oak tree, without a leaf on it. My son and I shined the tree for about 5 minutes (that's a lot when there aren't any leaves!) and he told me, "she's slick, daddy!"
Now she's no angel, but she doesn't miss often, and when she does I (like most) can tell when she's not right. I said hold on and took one last look. And finally saw the coons tail! Even then, his body seemed to blend in with the tree.
I don't know if these bright lights are actually worse for seeing coon, or if it's the color of the light, or these tiny coon down here in North Carolina, or that I'm "losing my touch", but we almost condemned her for doing exactly what she was supposed to do!
Now, are there many, many slick trees being circled these days? Yes! Are there a bunch of slick treeing idiots out there? Yes! Are there too many handlers unwilling to take minus under any circumstances? Yes! But do we need to give some of the honest dogs the benefit of the doubt? I believe so.
I often hear people say, "I think this or that", but scoring a tree shouldn't be about what you think, it should be about what you see. Do you see a coon or not? If not, do you see an area that a coon could be hiding? If yes, then circle it. Use the "honor rules" honorably. You can try to redefine the rules, but that won't fix the problem, if the problem is dishonesty.
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David Schmidt
219-614-0654
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