perry co cooner
UKC Forum Member
Registered: Jul 2004
Location: Pennsylvania
Posts: 1839 |
quote: Originally posted by Oak Ridge
Al,
First off, I'm no expert on what it takes to win a world hunt. In reality I'm a pleasure hunter that goes to a competition hunt when I have one that I think will win. Have not been going to competition hunts very often for a while, if for no other reason that I simply have not had the time or the inclination to go.
However, over the course of the past 30+ years of hunting and going to competition hunts I have indeed hunted with many, many World Champions...not in just competition hunts, but on week night hunts and just out pleasure hunting. I've hunted with some really "well known" stud dogs. I've huntd with dogs that won the Winter Classic, dogs that have won the Grand American,Autumn Oaks, and multiple super stakes, have judged world hunts, nationals, state PKC races etc, etc, etc. Personally, I've not made it a habit to enter in many of the hunts that I have mentioned, but have had a dog in the final four of a large national hunt from another registry several years ago.
I've hunted with, and judged some awful nice dogs in all of those "winners", and I've hunted with some that I probably would not dump feed too for more than a few days before they went to live with someone else. So I'm not sure that given your first post, I am qualified to even comment your post, let alone "raise my hand".
What I have observed in my travels and after hunting with multiple different "big winners" is this....
Everyone thinks they want the kind of dog that will win "the big one". However, most people don't have a clue what it REALLY takes, and even fewer are prepared to do the work that is required to prepare to get to the big show. The dogs that I've seen that were constantly in the winners circle were not "super dogs". The did not have super powers like X Ray vision or some kind of ESP that allowed them to locate coon by just "knowing" where they are at. What they did have in common was that they were consistent. They did the same thing each time they were turned loose.. Most were not overly loud, and many of them were not overpowering tree dogs. Each and every one of them were the type of dog that had one thing, and one thing only on their mind...getting under a coon. Notice that I did not say getting treed....I said getting under a coon. Most had no concern for what another dog was doing.....they were not independent to a fault, but seldom would they take second tree to another dog more than once in a cast or on a Wednesday night pleasure hunt.
Every one of them had one thing in common though...when they won, they won in conditions that suited them the best. For example, if they won in thin coon, chances are that they were not outstanding dogs in thick coon populations. If they won in thick coon populations, they didn't look as well if they had to cover lots of ground to even find a coon.
The bottom line is that I am not qualified to choose what anybody else but me wants to follow or feed. If you like "slick treeing me too" dogs, and you can do well with those.....have at it.... There are indeed dogs that I've seen win by covering everything that barked at a tree without regard to what was in the tree....then by slipping off and actually treeing one on their own. I've seen dogs win by never taking "risk" and thinking on their own. I don't have any way of knowing what this years UKC World Champion is...never hunted with him and wasn't on the cast.....
Joe- the only thing on your post from the other thread that I disagreed with was where you said "the winner of a world hunt only means that they simply won 5 casts in a row.........THAT'S ALL". I'm paraphrasing of course. Winning 5 casts in a row anywhere is an accomplishment to be proud of and I'm certainly not taking anything away from it. Winning 5 casts in a row on the biggest stage in coon hunting, in my opinion is something entirely different.
I've never hunted with a world champ and I'm sure I never will. My post simply asked for those that have "been there" stand and be recognized or "raise their hand" so to speak.
Out of the hundreds of members on this message board there's only a handful that can say "I've been there and done that".
I could care less if the hunt is in thick coons, thin coons, north or south. I don't really care what kind of hunting style a dog has. Any dog that wins or has won a world hunt or made it to the final cast is a special dog as very, very few accomplish this feat. My hats off to all the guys and their dogs that make it to the end. I'm confident they worked hard to get there and deserved to be there.
__________________
Al Tarantella
Last edited by perry co cooner on 09-25-2013 at 03:13 AM
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