5thgearwide
UKC Forum Member
Registered: Dec 2017
Location: VA
Posts: 128 |
Re: Conrad
quote: Originally posted by Dave Richards
Your breeding would not change at all, nor would those that BREED for coon dogs. It's the ones that BREED to win under the current rules, notice I said WIN under the current rules. If you judge what you are breeding and hunting on the concept of "feeding" your family VS winning hunts the outcome would be far different. You can not feed your family with circle trees, but you can win hunts with circle trees. We have come to tolerate way too many trees with coons not seen, simple because it's better than minus, but the bottom line is no coons no pay. Hunt what you can "feed" your family with, not what you can win hunts with and see if the breeding does not change. I have seen way too many supposedly winners strike at the start of a cast and never tree or tree 2 to 4 circle trees, either of which is unacceptable. Ghost tracks, circle trees, maybe a hot pop up coon equals loser, but not in the hunts, it equal winner. It's time to separate field trials from coon treeing hunts, just as the beagle guys have done. Dave
I think it all boils down to an old quote “a handlers ego is a heavy burden for a hound to carry” Once again I’m just an outsider looking in but I feel like pride and money have altered the hunts. It seems to me as if the Comp hunts should be geared more towards a dog proving its worth, not the handler or owner trying to prove how much the dog is worth... think about it, there’s a difference. If everybody truly bred/hunted/culled to the best of their ability with a common goal, you would see more coons. I think too many people are worried about proving something to the masses rather than just let the dog do it. Probably going to offend some people with this post but not every dog makes it. Simple as that, just because you’ve spent a year of your life on pup A because it came from big winners B&C doesn’t mean it’s gonna make a coon dog, it’s competition worthy, or it should be chosen to reproduce. The competition hunts in my humble outsider opinion, should be for the cream of the crop to show its natural coon treeing ability, and its worth in bettering the breed with positive attributes. I don’t competition hunt so maybe I’m totally off on this post but that’s just how it appears from outside the window. “It’s a lot easier to see the faults in another mans dog” is something I constantly remind myself when I’m evaluating what I’m hunting, take a step back and look at the hound as a total package instead of focusing on one small thing they do well. I would rather hunt one that does everything from truck to tree slightly better than average, than have one that really excels in one department and is useless in the rest. Another point I’d like to make is wisdom comes from experience, not age. Would you rather take advice from a young full time mechanic, or the old guy that has been in the shop for 25 years but has never actually touched a wrench? I know this post is aimed more towards the younger generation, but where did they learn from? Or where did their lack of teaching come from? Just food for thought, at the end of the day you’re the one feeding the dog and if you feel it’s earned it’s feed, then that’s really all that matters.
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Cedar Ridge Kennels
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