I have been away for a couple of days from this post because I have been busy. I wanted to say however as far as New York and Hillbilly being contrary, you may be right. But it is what my Ohio buddy Paul Webb started calling me and it stuck. Soon others would refer to me in the same manner when they saw me at trials. The idea that New York is home only to city slickers is a misinformed notion. Paul was shocked to see the pictures of where I call home. The property I own is about 200 acres of woods, fields and scrub apple orchard. Our land is a stones throw away from approx 8000 acres of state land and is linked to 1000's of private acres of land just like mine. Lots of hills (Hillbilly), a 12 mile long swamp called NINE MILE swamp (go figgure) and endless bean and corn fields. We have deer, turkeys, rabbits, hare and every other critter you could hope to chase, or hope not to.
A good number of the folks I have met call themselves country folk but actually find themselves in what we would call the suburbs. They have to worry about neighbors squawking about the hounds they keep in the backyard. Here, we have more animals than people. As a matter of fact the local high school and mobile home factory close every opening day of deer season cause they know nobody will show up anyway. THIS is no kidding! It seems urban sprawl is moving in on many people in places they never encountered it. Not so here! That is why I can put my hounds on deer at any moment I wish. They never feel I am setting them up because they encounter them everytime we take to the field anyway. It is only that when we go out for deer class I am there for a reason other than to run rabbits. As far as they are concerned we are looking for bunnies. I am sure there are people out there who have hounds that have never taken a deer and I am glad for them. As I said I was one of those guys for years and years till I brought in a young hound that would not listen to JUST SAY NO! 
It took some drastic lessons quick to make it stop. I walked away from that experience a little wiser and a whole lot more humble. Hounds are hounds are hounds and nobody will ever convince me that any hound will "never" take off game. If the hound dies having never done it I guess you can make the claim, but until that moment in time anything is possible. They are however hounds not humans and they are born to hunt and chase and will at time do some pretty unexpected things. I learned that with hounds like everything else in life that the only thing that is certain is that nothing is certain. I am not that bull headed or cocky to think that I have all the answers, and I learn new things all the time. But like my hounds with the E-collars on I too learn, and sometimes it takes something as "shocking" as my hounds pounding a deer off into the distance to get my attention. For those who have never been on a deer run with their hounds, you are lucky and I wish you continued deer free running. But don't you be "shocked" if and when your naturally trash free hounds do it! Cause I won't be!! NYH
PS, I still think shaking your hound around will make it wary of you.
I do not subscribe to beating kids or hounds and I do neither. I expect them to do what I feel are stupid things now and then so I am not surprised. But they both know even when they screw up they can safely come to me. And just because mother hound shakes her pup to teach it (I have never seen this) why should I do it? She also licks and sniff there backsides to stimulate them to go to the bathroom and to keep them clean bet you won't find me doing it!
Peace,
NYH
