JUDGING!
Hope this doesn't open a can of worms to badly, but lets discuss how we judge and maybe share info etc. Lets start out with CHECKS! There seems to be many different ideas on this.. I'll let someone else go first...

good question alot depends on the situation.what is a good time frame for a check. i think its ten seconds in a considerd check area . got me stumped guess it depends on the judge what they feel is right for a check.

That didn't seem to work...When a trial is over you hear people speak of that should have been scored like this or that instead the Judge scored it this way! Hear is a great opportunity to say how you feel about it or your idea of a check should be scored.. with all the ideas it may help one another understand and clear up some issues,if any! Hunt4em started I'm sure there must be more input about this...Lets see, if I put down a scenario and see how that works!! Need some input here!!!!!The other hound sites are always buzzing with stuff!!!!Why can't we keep this one going like that..

OK Frank i wil bite, every judge looks at a cast differently. as for a check area, sure our check areas are very relaxed. the time thats is used before the check is open can be long or it may be very short, alot of factors go into this, for example the judge may not be in position to see the check area. another example is that most of the judges try to give te dogs benefit of the doudt before opening the check area. I have been on coon hound cast where a 5 dog cast will have 5 andlers and the judge using a stop watch to insure the second time is expired everyone knows it. all this ever does is cause turmoil in the cast. If the judge is doing the best they can, then more power to them. and if someone does not lke the way a cast was run, then they have every right to protest or better yet become a judge and judge casts the way you feel they should be. I just hope everybody keeps in mind that alot of our rules are very relaxed, and alot of hunters have a more enjoyable hunt thanks to it

well said coon hunters can be some of the hardest people to hunt with. thats why i quit coon hunting. if all u have ever hunted was bassets be thankful you saved yourself a headace. your right judges cant always make it to the check area in time to award the points. when i started judging it was beagles i missed a check because i didnt get there in time to see it wasnt familer with the dogs voices. the owner protested witch was fine by me. his dog was awarded the point because the rest of the cast agreed it was his dog.we cant be always right.

I try my best to hang with the dogs and when the cast breaks down not just when they stop barking. I will start my 10 second count. When the 10 seconds are up the check will be open I will award the first hound that pushes the track out of the area of loss. I cannot always keep up with the hounds and in this case. I will go by the sound of the pack this how ever is not always the most acurate do to some hounds have a tendancy to bark even after the loss. I will start my 10 second count when I believe they lost the track as I try to catch up to the cast. If I can idetify the hound that pushes the line foward I will award a check if I cannot and the handlers are present I will ask them and if they can identify the hound I will award the check. If there is no identification of a hound there will be no check awarded the cast contunues. Pushing a check out of the area can change on any given day do to scenting conditions. A check area for me is determined by senting conditions and time of loss. I personally like to see hounds work from the point of loss and work thier way out until picking the track back up. Some times a hound will just keep running straight out of the check area and swing until it cuts rabbit scent in this case if I feel he is to far from the point of loss and he draws the other hounds out from thier searching I will minus that hound for pulling the cast away from the check area. This is a long and difficult topic to discuss because people have differant oppinions about checks and check area.

hunt4em, there is a reason it is called "pleasure hunting" some of the coonhunters i have met through the years are some of the best people you would ever hunt with, but like anything when the competition level over takes the pleasure then everything goes south

oh an before someone else, like Chris Parker with his pink trailor, points it out. Yes i am a coon hunter, and i enjoy stirring trouble, but i dont feel that makes me too hard to get along with

nightshift i tryed to keep it short ther is alot of easy going coonhunters. i was one of them and know others like that. whats the deal about the pink trailer. what kind of coondogs do u hunt with.

Chris Parker Has what a very nice dog trailor, the only problem with it is that what ever company built it had a color blind painter. He says it is purple, but it is the prettiest color of pink you ever saw. says he got a great deal on it, so a few of us like givin him a hard time about it. and i figured it was about time for him to check the board again so i had to throw that in. I currently have a Hammer dred Blue dog and my daughter has a House bred Walker

well if parkers trailer ever gets stolen it should be easy to spot a pretty trailer like that . i figured there would be a walker dog. my redbones got beat by them a couple of times. blockston is probly getting agervated because we are side tracking his page that he started.

lets see Frank agrevated, and thats a problem in what way? Hey Frank you started this topic what is your views on judging? now is your chance

Nightshift I though you had me figured out..I'd rather coonhunt than anything so I'm kind of enjoying it..As I stated before Bluetick coonhounds are my primary hounds, geared alot of my breeding around Dave Deans stuff also..I know we love our kids and we do anything for them so sorry about that walker LOL! We did sway from the topic a little but it doesn't bother me any.Before I give my two cents worth lets see if anyone else has something to add.

im listening in on you wade. ha ha ha

Wow. let me scroll back up..... I forgot the question. I must be getting old. I agree with Gary, I call a check open after the cast has broken down or stopped advancing the track for 10 seconds. The first dog in the "check area" that opens up and shows a line will get the check points. I ususally give the dogs 3 minutes to produce a check in the area before I call a dead track and move the dogs, then award a strike to the next hound that opens a shows the line. By the AHBA rules the defination of a line and a check area are left to the judges judgement. There is no clear explaination of what those terms mean.