your opinion of the hound of the year

[danny vansickle]

there has been a lot of discussion lately at hunts,especialy big hunt like the recent lp little world,how do you think lp can make the hound of the year race more fair or better.

if you look at the winners in the past 5 or 6 years or more,they have all came from ohio and kentucky,some like myself use that as a bragging right,but look at where all the clubs are located,75% of lp clubs are in ky and ohio or very close,how is that fair to beaglers from arkansas,missouri,oklohoma,north carolina,ect.?

a lot of the people i talk to think that arha lp should revamp the hoy to only include points obtained at state hunts,benefit hunts,and big five hunts.

i think that would make it more fair to these beaglers in far away states,plus,dogs that place in these big hunts are usually very nice hounds.

plus,the hound of the year is sponsored by purina,i have seen black gold,joy,diamond,sextons,pride,ect. givin out at more club hunts then purina,true.so if you are running for the arha lp hound of the year sponsored by purina,shouldn't hunts only sponsored by purina count?????

i just think it would make it fair to everyone,it takes away the munipulation of the point system at club hunts,wich i and others have seen over and over in the past,people draggin 10 dogs in one class,rollin the dogs till they have four or five in one class including the onme they are pushing,then scratching the others to make sure the dog being pushed moves on,i saw it done two years ago over and over,how is that proving that hound is top dog?

i think that if they would only count the points from big hunts,you will get your true hound of the year.

this is not an attempt to argue,just wondering what everyones opinion is.

[Doug G.]

Danny I think that then becomes a disadvantage to those who can not make it to all of the big hunts. Some people may only be able to make it to one or two of the big hunts due to work and things of that nature. It is hard for some people to get off work for the multi day hunts more than once or twice a year.

[Mapel Valley Kennels LLC.]

Go big or go home. If that dont work and say i am 1st in champs and win the world that granded junie. That leaves me a sitting duck. Same thing
happened the year before. As i have said in years past little hunts mean very little2 me personally. Point chasers hold there head high at small hunts
But look sad when it dont work at big hunts. Back to the small hunts they go. I as one and probaly will pizz off several dont even understand how half theses dogs get there. As most go home early when all is said and done. I learned in 98 i aint the smartest in the crowd but wont ever spend 3k to win 1k again. I got a life. Good luck at the runoff fellas. Cant screw me out of the top ten this year ........As far as dog food .I feed and endorse purina.

[TC]

I Agree Doug i have seen it in UKC the hounds that Seem to advance and get to the top are those that belong to them that can travel and make all the big hunts Some of us Cannot afford to take all that time off or the expence involved in Going to all the big hunts.

[danny vansickle]

Go big or go home. If that dont work and say i am 1st in champs and win the world that granded junie. That leaves me a sitting duck. Same thing
happened the year before. As i have said in years past little hunts mean very little2 me personally. Point chasers hold there head high at small hunts
But look sad when it dont work at big hunts. Back to the small hunts they go. I as one and probaly will pizz off several dont even understand how half theses dogs get there. As most go home early when all is said and done. I learned in 98 i aint the smartest in the crowd but wont ever spend 3k to win 1k again. I got a life. Good luck at the runoff fellas. Cant screw me out of the top ten this year ........As far as dog food .I feed and endorse purina.

i couldnt have said it any better jimbo,i am a sittin duck with jessie,just like junie,jessie was in two hunts this year,the world,2nd and the lil world 5th,he is winning the hoy in the opens with 2 months for chasers to club hunt and catch me.but same as junie,jessie is finished,he cant get anymore,4 entries and he is a champ,two in 07 and he is winnin the hoy with 493.2,two dogs may catch me,but like you said.......see ya at the runnoff,then we will see,good luck boys!!!!!!!!

a dog that can get it done bigtime is the top dog in my book

[Doug G.]

I agree that those dogs are put in a bad position. Maybe the points should be weighted so that the big hunts count for more than the club hunts not sure what the best solution is.

[J.C. Blair]

Well this point system is a lot better than the old system that was used back in the day, just talk to anyone that had to run against Mark Swartz. He dominated the open and grand class back in the day, I am sure at least Jimmie remembers this. No system is perfect, there are glitches in all of them. Does the best dog always win? No, but the run-off has at least added that extra incentive. NKC did this because of all the complaining about the situation about the wrong dog winning HOY. I have heard talk of maybe doing the HOY like Progressive Pack and run in the same class for one calendar year, no matter how many wins. I like this idea.

The points are weighted a lot better. I like the idea of number of entries being held into account, big hunts count for big points, indeed.

Well enough rambling for now, back to my 15 dog club hunts.

Points Chaser,
Blair

[Mapel Valley Kennels LLC.]

I also dont mean to come across strong and i apoligize should it sound that way. But i think the best dog seldom and i mean seldom win hoy.
Thats my opinion and only mine. The runoff is the greatest to guage the
better of the top ten. Given the right people judge it and i mean fairly not crooks, that is left to a committe made up of execs from arha .Thats one area i fill they are on top of .I definetly fill like its time to revamp the system. Mark Swartz made em change it twice and tony upton once so maybe its tiem .Boys change with the times or get left behind.

[danny vansickle]

i would say they will be thirty dog hunts now blair once the chasers grab every dog on the block and head down to catch us

[J.C. Blair]

i would say they will be thirty dog hunts now blair once the chasers grab every dog on the block and head down to catch us

Well there went my chances of winning

[Mapel Valley Kennels LLC.]

i would say they will be thirty dog hunts now blair once the chasers grab every dog on the block and head down to catch us

Well there went my chances of winning

Good thing you bought the stud fee huh? Things are looking up blair

[J.C. Blair]

i would say they will be thirty dog hunts now blair once the chasers grab every dog on the block and head down to catch us

Well there went my chances of winning

Good thing you bought the stud fee huh? Things are looking up blair

That was a donation, know what I mean Lil Joe?

[yellowdog]

it dont matter yall know i got the best hound anyway...ol ringer is on ya ...lmao...who cares lets pop a top and run some hounds...i know i aint got the big power you boys do but i still will run hopunds and drink a few bullets with yall anyday....tray skiles "the pocket beagle champion"....

[J.C. Blair]

Tracy we all know what you got. If it dont work out for Tom, I can always throw a set of pads and chains on his frontend and show him at the World Celebration down in Decatur, Alabama.


However I have started a fund to put Jimmie's right arm back in its socket. He throwed it out Monday and needs surgery to put it back in. Please send donations to:

Jimmie Abshire Shoulder Surgery Fund
C/O Chad Blair
1910 Flanagan Station Rd
Winchester KY

Disclaimer: I think that about makes us even.

[danny vansickle]

it dont matter yall know i got the best hound anyway...ol ringer is on ya ...lmao...who cares lets pop a top and run some hounds...i know i aint got the big power you boys do but i still will run hopunds and drink a few bullets with yall anyday....tray skiles "the pocket beagle champion"....

hey tracy,i we need to put our thirteen inch pocket rockets up against one another sometime,jessie and ringo are the same size physically,but they both think they are 17 inches

i'm like you,i aint tellin mine no different