Thier has been much talk about rule changes ? Why do the rules need to be changed !They do not need to be changed the judges do . look at the Tennessee State hunt this weekend at one of the hardest running pens in the US "TAR RIVER" their was a FULL CLASS of hunting and 3 TRAILING HOUNDS it took over 700 to get in speed and drive and 860 to win speed and drive. SO if the judges at this hunt where able to give out this kinda scores why is every hunt not like this .A JUDGE is their to be fair and honest and score what he sees so if he will or does not give a hunting score, he is cheating a hound out of what he should get.JUDGES NOT SCORING WHAT THE SEE IS WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE RULES!

I hate i missed this hunt but i would like to take my time and thank the judges for scoring what they saw

Good post Chris, If or when a judge goes into a hunt, with his/her mind already made up of not giving out a hunting score, in a 3 day hunt, then he/she is not a judge, he/she are simply "score takers" for the speed and drive crossings. My 9 year old is capable of that.

I am not saying you can go 3 days and not give out a hunting score, it happens, but you sure can make the entire 3 days without giving a hunting score, if you have made up your mind not to score a hunting hound. I have heard some say most are worried about what other judges may think if you do, about the chance of making a hound a champion because of a hunting score. Is this not the objective, to crown a champion.

People like this are the same ones that get on here and fail to post their real names, some would have been better off worms, no backbone.

It is hard enough to find a fast hound, it is even harder to find one that will hunt while other hounds refuse too. Hounds are easily influenced, just like humans, so finding one that will hunt, when needed, and get their fair share of the race is where a good houndsman comes into play.

Just my opinion, Again, good post Chris.

Good post,Jeffrey. I truly believe too many judges are brainwashed into believing there is no reason for hunting scores in a pen full of coyotes. Even if the pen isn't full of coyotes.

I agree with Chris, I also heard there were almost as many grey fox chases as coyote chases @ this hunt. So the notion that all of the hounds were running coyotes as assumed at Creedmoor is also inaccurate in this particular case. I have stated all along that the scoring system is not the problem, it's judges worrying about what might be said to them in the judges room when the hunt is called for the day. I'll bet many folks thought giving a trailing score at Creedmoor may never happen again, me being one with the way things have been going recently. I tip my hat to the judges.

Did the trailing dog win the hunt? How much speed did those trailing dogs have? Just curious!!!!!

No the Trailing dog did not win the hunt, he also had a hunting score. He finished fourth. This was in the derby not AA.

I judged. I never saw a fox race. Some of the other judges saw some fox running, but I didn't. The amount of game in there right now is as close to perfect as it can get.

This was a great hunt and I would like to thank the Tenn St for inviting me to judge for them this was a great group of judges to work with and knew there stuff also we had a very good master of hounds in Mr.Jimmie Deans who knows how to use his judges to get the job done.I can honestly say I haven't had this much fun judging in a while there was great running and when the packs would go to the far side of the pen it gave us time to score hounds for hunting.I can say that there was some fine hounds in this hunt and in fact as a whole the hunters brought hounds that were above average and could get the job done so even if you didn't place you should be proud of what you brought to run in this hunt.Again thanks for inviting me and hope to see you all next year.

God Bless