Everyone who's ever tried to put on a hunt knows that in our area (central and eastern NC) your hunt is going to be in competition with several other hunts that same day within 2 hours driving time. I know that the hunts put on by associations who raise money solely to help preserve our sport frequently lose support because somebody else is have a 1-day hunt close by.

Clearly there are many hunts held each year to support good, worthwhile causes (cancer hunts, hunts to help families in need, etc), but frankly if we aren't able to preserve and protect the sport, there won't be pens to hold those worthy hunts in or hunters to attend them.

So....to the idea. I wonder what folks would think about setting aside 2 Saturdays each year (maybe one in January and one in April or May or June) that are reserved exclusively for hunts held by the organizations that raise money to support the sport. Obviously pen owners - large and small - would need to be on board to make it work.

With no other competition from other hunts, attendance (and thus, revenues!) should go up significantly. The organizations would have to agree to rotate their hunts around to all the pens that are big enough to support the number of hounds expected. The outside guys and small pen owners could do their part by coming to help judge.

Just a thought. Maybe I should just get back to work and quit goofing off on Speeddogs.

Happy hunting!

PRESTON - I AGREE WITH YOU AND THINK IT IS A GREAT IDEA -HOWEVER GETTING IT DONE AND GETTING THE PEOPLE TO COMPLY WILL PROABLY BE ANOTHER MATTER -GOOD LUCK -DAVID BAILEY