Hunting More Than One Dog, Other Coonhound News

Tailgate Talk

May 19, 2016

Source: Corey Gruver

As published in Coonhound Bloodlines May, 2016.

Focusing on the pleasure of hunting tree
dogs by recognizing confidence and ability

This month, we will dive into some more scenario based discussion, and how to best handle these particular situations should they arise at a licensed Hunt Test.

Inspectors Evaluating Inspectors

The other day, I had a discussion with a gentlemen that contacted me via email, describing what had happened to him at his local coon club. The man lived in the Mississippi lowlands surrounding the Bienville National Forest and enjoyed competing in UKC Licensed Hunt Tests as often as he could.

On a cold, damp night in the middle of March, the man’s local coon club was preparing to hold one of several Hunt Tests that they host throughout the year. With the weather being less than favorable, the club members worried that they would not get a good turnout for the event. By the stroke of 8 p.m., a mere two dogs had shown up to be evaluated. In an effort to minimize the number of club members that would have to trek out on the cold, rainy excursion ahead, one of the presiding officers of the club suggested that the two entrants simply go out and evaluate one another. The clubhouse sat on a small parcel of land that was roughly 150 acres in size, more than enough quality timber to hunt the hounds in for an hour a piece.

While the other officers readily agreed to this logic, the gentlemen I was speaking with on the phone, at that point, refused to do so. His argument was that it would be against UKC policy for two entrants to evaluate each other’s dogs on a given night, and that each dog should receive their own evaluator to complete their hunt.

Was the gentlemen from Mississippi correct in his thinking? Should hunters be evaluating one another’s hounds at a UKC Licensed Hunt Test?

I quickly informed the man that he was correct in his interpretation of the rules. It is against UKC policy for contestants to evaluate one each other’s dogs in such a fashion, at least when there are only two dogs in a group. Under these circumstances, the other presiding officers or available club members that had no ties to either dog should step up, brave the cold, wet night and evaluate. This saves the participants from the possibility of having their passes from the event revoked or not awarded.

Hunting More Than One Dog

Recently, a man from Western Pennsylvania called and chatted with me for a while over a simple question. He informed me that earlier that week, a local boy from his coon club had called him to get all the information he would need to enter the club’s Hunt Test that was scheduled for that coming Friday night. The man asked the young boy which dog he was planning on bringing over, and the young boy simply replied “all of them”.

When Friday night rolled around, and the club gathered together to hold their UKC Licensed Hunt Test, the young boy showed up, walked up to the entry taker’s table and plopped down three Easy Entry Cards. The Hunt Director for the event asked the boy who he had handling the other two dogs he was entering in the hunt, to which the young boy quickly informed the man that he would be handling all three dogs. Taken back by the boy’s reply, the entry taker refused to let him enter all three dogs in the event. “If you ain’t got handlers for the other two, I’m only going to let you enter one dog.”

Furious at the entry taker’s ultimatum, the young boy stormed out of the clubhouse. He was so furious that he could not hunt all three of his dogs at the event that he neglected to pick up his Easy Entry Cards off the table and take them with him!

Was the young boy right for getting upset with the entry taker? Should a participant be able to enter and hunt more than one dog on a given night?

While the United Kennel Club certainly would not discourage a participant from entering more than one dog in a single event, a lot of whether or not this is feasible will rely on how facilitated the club will be to evaluating multiple entries. If an entrant plans on handling multiple dogs in a Licensed Hunt Test, it would be wise to alert club members or event staff as early on as possible, by phone or other means of communication. That way, the club can ensure that they have the most appropriate set up for evaluating all of the entries that show up on a given night.
But was the entry taker wrong for telling the young boy he could only enter one dog in the event? Is it wrong for a club to limit the number of entries received on a given night at a Hunt Test?

Before a club ever schedules a Hunt Test, they should ensure that they can supply enough people to evaluate dogs and help run the event, as possible. The number of entries could easily vary week by week, or month by month, and lots of factors like weather, time of year, etc., can play a part in how many dogs actually show up. Limiting the number of entries accepted by one handler leads minds like mine to believe that the club hosting the event simply could not facilitate the necessary amount of evaluators to handle three dogs owned and handled by the same person, and that is not necessarily a good thing.

By the written letter of the law, there is no rule printed anywhere that would suggest a participant may only hunt one dog at an event, but people that wish to participate with more than one dog should work together with the clubs hosting events to accommodate the substantial request of the owner.