Oak Ridge
UKC Forum Member
Registered: Aug 2003
Location: Indiana
Posts: 6168 |
quote:
Originally posted by deschmidt27
Along this same train of thought... Am I the only one that doesn't think "drive" has to mean a quarter mile deep???
If so, and you are one of these "keepers of old blood" have you acheived a line of dogs with drive and accuracy? If so, have you competed them and what has been your luck against those dogs horse-racing off into the distance?
Dave,
I'm afraid that some of what you want is contradictory.....
If I am understanding what you are asking, you want a dog that hunts close, but hunts hard and has pinpoint accuracy, AND you want a dog that will consistently win in competition. Partially because 10 or 15 years ago, you were successful with that type of dog and you long to get back "to the good ole days".
Well buddy, why do you think that the style of dogs changed? Because while what you think might be the ultimate dog, and I think a lot like you do along with many others, the fact is that the "go yonder", run under six to tree one, wired 440, burn up a deer and fall off on a coon, bark all over the world till you find one dogs WIN....and they will more times than not come out on top of the average competition hunt. That style of dog started to be chosen as breeding stock BECAUSE THEY WIN.
Stud dogs with what some would consider serious faults are bred frequently because the pups, although complete with those same faults, start consistently at six months old, somehow giving pup owners the false sense of security that because the pup started at six moths old they have the next "great one".
The bottom line is that as coon hunters, we are at a junction. We MUST simply make a decision about what type of dog we want to hunt. If you want to win in competition hunts, you need a dog that hunts far and wide, getting to themselves and in some cases walking that off that close hunting dog that is pinpoint accurate.....simply because the current rules favor a dog that is by itself and that the only REAL way to score points is to get treed. Making lots of trees does indeed produce lots of points. No getting around it.
Now, I'm not saying that the dog that you describe can not win. They do win occasionally. They win when the other dogs "make mistakes".. They win on nights where conditions (wind, rain, snow, terrain etc) make it tough to hear and follow the long range dog...course now we have trackers in competition so at least someone in the cast can point to "which way did they go"....making the problem worse for your choice of dog,....not better. But overall they are at a disadvantage in today's competition hunting game.
The dogs of today are bred according to traits that win more consistently than what you are looking for.....so you are indeed looking for contradictory goals.
Having said that, I got the pleasure to hunt with a little "half breed" dog a few years ago. Russ Bellar's Lil Red was the dog you are looking for. Not a dang thing flashy about her but her nose. Fact is her mouth was far less than average..so if she got really deep....you could barely hear her. She won a BUNCH by simply treeing coon. She was a freak in the nose departement, and is the ever present "exception to the rule".
My advice to you to find dogs you like, hunt them...take them to competition hunts and win what you can. When you go home a loser (like 75% of the folks that enter) figure out a way to be satisfied in the fact that you have dogs you like the other nights of the month.....
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Joe Newlin
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01-09-2014 12:08 AM
