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IF THERE ARE 50 HOUNDS IN A TRIAL,IF THERE ARE 1,2, OR 3 RACES,IN YALL'S HONEST OPINION,HOW MANY HOUNDS DO YOU THINK IS ACTUALLY RUNNING THE GAME?
POINTS ARE 35,30,25,20,15
IF YOU ARE SCORING DOGS IN MY OPINION IF YOU ARE GIVING SCORES 35-15 THEN YOU SHOULD SCORE 5 HOUNDS!A DOG RUNNING 6 - 10TH IN THE RACE DON'T DESERVE WHAT THE 5TH PLACE HOUND IS GETTING & MOST S&D HUNTERS FEEL THIS SAME WAY!SO MY POINT IS THAT YOU WANT YOUR DOGS ON THE FRONT END OF THE RACE MOST TO SCORE THE MOST POINTS.I KNOW THAT SOME TIMES THE BEST FOX HOUND DON'T WIN THE HUNTS SOME TIME & SOMETIMES THEY DO.BUT FOR ONE DAY HUNTER(S&D)YOU ARE LOOKING TO SCORE MOST POINTS.SO IF THERE ARE 50 HOUNDS THEY HAVE TO DO WHAT IT TAKE TO BE IN SCORING POSITION.WE DON'T HAVE A HOUND IN OUR KENNEL THAT WE PAINT A NUMBER ON THAT CAN'T RUN GAME BY THEIR SELF,BUT THEY ARE GOING TO RUN ON THE FRONTEND OF THE RACE OR MAKE ARRANGEMENTS TO DO SO.THEY ARE NOT GOING TO RUN BEHIND PACK OF DOGS & TRY TO RUN BACK THRU EM.MOST HOUNDS THAT EVERYBODY ELSE HAS DON'T,SO ONLY THING I'M DIAGREEING ON IS DEDUCTING A HOUND TRYING TO RUN THE FRONT WHEN THAT IS WHERE YOU GET YOUR SCORES.
The deduction would not be for trying to run the front, it would be for being out of the race while other honest hounds are doing the right thing and staying in the race where we all should want them to be.
The reason why pack scores have been a part of S&D for a long time is because hound men know that the hound that stays in the race is better than the hound that falls out of the race and won't run in a pack. A lot of folks have dogs today that will not run behind another hound. They will be first or they will hit the road and cut to first because they refuse to run in the pack with other hounds. That is like a bird dog that won't honor a dog on point. It is like a coon dog that won't tree with a dog that got to the tree ahead of him. It is a low quality hound that goes against the principles of a running hound race. Those 1st place or nothing hounds are great for winning field trials some times but they aren't ideal hounds that we should be breeding for.
The reason why we have 3 hounds running the game and 30 coming down the road to run into the coyote in the crossing is because we have promoted the "1st place or bust" hounds as the kind to look for if you want to win a field trial. We probably ought to stop that if we want to keep game in the pens.
To answer your question (although you didn't answer mine), There is really only 1 hound running the game at most times. The reason we score more than 1 is because you can not have a true race without a pack of hounds all pitching in doing their part to make a joyful noise for us to hear and for the game to hear. If the lead hound bobbles then the rest of the pack should pick it up instantly and proceed with the continuos chase. The point of running hounds is to have a sustained, continuos chase that lasts long enough to be enjoyable. What we have now at field trials is a relay race where a couple hounds run a leg of the race from one road to the next and then the road dogs spike the game in the crossing and take the baton for the next leg of the race. This process is repeated until the game invariably has to go up or go down or go on to the happy hunting grounds in the sky. You can not have a sustained race that lasts.