Most dominating performance you have witnessed??

[gunslinger]

With all due respect, until someone changes my mind, I believe the AKC Mid-West FC's are the best, PROVEN gundog hounds today. These dogs have been evaluated time and time again by the most unbiased judging system that is humanly possible in my opinion. These trials are no place for a young, immature hound for sure and it will almost always take even a good, mature hound that's new to trials a few times before he gets used to the trial setting and can settle in and be able to perform like you know he can. There is no way to properly evaluate trial hounds and grade the quality of the best without judging and seeing the action first hand week after week. Most people just see the negative side of trialing of unhappy handlers, rough early packs due to some of the faulty hounds entered that judges have to give a chance. I've seen the positive side of field trialing many, many times as a judge when you get down to the end after many hours of hard work getting to that point and your best 3 or 4 hounds of the day are smoking a rabbit without a hitch and there isn't anything the bunny can do to shake them because they are just too good. That's what field trialing is all about to me and very few people that were there that morning with high hopes have stuck around to see the end goal of why we were there in the first place.

POST OF THE YEAR RIGHT HERE!!!!

[smokedawg]

I saw the video that S.R. Patch referred to with Joeyman at the trial. Any rabbit hunter that was holding his shotgun and saw that may very well start culling hounds. That was embarrassing.

[Casey Harner]

I saw the video that S.R. Patch referred to with Joeyman at the trial. Any rabbit hunter that was holding his shotgun and saw that may very well start culling hounds. That was embarrassing.

I remember that trial and the series that I believe that joeyman was referring to. Not the best pack of dogs, but if my memory serves me correctly, the winners pack pounded for a couple hours. As Wells said earlier in a post everyone wants to get pissed off at the judge and leave after being picked up in the first two series, but no one wants to stay for the winners pack. There is a reason a dog is being picked up. Either no score or disruption to the pack....

[Newt]

It's interesting that all the talk of what makes a hounds special in the trials is just what a rabbit hunter expects in his hunting hounds.
Many hounds it seems are brought up in the trials never having known the hunting field, otherwise these "special qualities" would be just what's considered as necessities of a good rabbit hound.
Makes me wonder now-n-days does the rabbitdawg make the trails or does the trials make the rabbit dog?
but at the end of the trial no doubt there was a winner.
I guess what I'm trying to reveal is, the best performances I seen were not at field trials, but rabbit hunting... jmho

Patch, I agree.

The last Midwest trial that I attended, not one pack circled a rabbit. It was some bad conditions that day, to be sure. There wasn't one dog in that gang of eighteen that had the independence and instincts to put his nose in the last trackat the point of loss and walk out to a hot line. They all had their heads up chasing any and every other dog they thought might have a line, instead of doing work. The winners pack ran about a half circle, came to a creek, checked, then a couple started running it backwards. I suppose the judges had endured all the pain that they could stand so they yelled, FIELD TRIAL! I had taken a friend who had never seen a Field Trial. He still remembers the circus.

[S.R.Patch]

I don't want it mistaken that my post was to belittle field trials. The question asked for the most dominating performance by a hound running a rabbit. To evaluate that I look at many factors, but time and consistency being a large part. Levelheadedness and running the rabbit, not the pack,...running a group of hounds for the day or the week hunting, tells you more who's doing what and who's more capable ...jmho

Trials are what they are, a price paid for a few hours of a mans opinion against strange company. It takes a real eye and vast knowledge of hounds to get it right in the time allotted. That's why i said hunting gives you a more accurate evaluation. I've been out with FC who on the 3rd day were no more than "also ran" hounds.
I guess the most dominating performance seen would be limited to each of our experience and standard that we hold hounds too. I seen hounds i thought were awful good until their acuteness turned to weariness and faults began to show by their taking short-cuts.
A dominating performer... run them through the mill, ask for all they have to offer, if they remain true to form you've really got something. jmho

[LR Patch]

Well stated Charlie

[NeilKimbrel7]

Ive never been to a Midwest trial where there wasnt one pack that could circle a rabbit. Seems if that was the case, that should've been an easy one to win. I believe a gundog that shows you rabbit after rabbit and day after day should excel at the trials. What I have noticed is that being good enough to run a rabbit is only half of winning a trial. The other half involves doing it with other dogs on the ground, which includes the good, the bad, and the ugly. You could have an awesome dog under the gun that might not pack in competition. Or the opposite could be true that they may become rattled and turned into "me too" dogs.

[Little Indian Creek]

I went to a nascar race one time. Man did them guys suck, they were slow, all they did was make left turns, hell they didn’t even make it one lap and they already had a crash. I could go beat them all, nothing to it, but I will just tinker with my ol pinto in the back lot instead. Sounds ignorant don’t it.

[WELLS WOODS]

By the time a hound makes FC in the AKC Mid-West, they have been ran through the mill, everyone knows what they have to offer & have proved to remain true to form. A lot of great hounds that became famous reproducers were brought to light in the field trial arena.
Not trying to slight the Northern Mi LPH or Northeast large pack's FC's, I'm just familiar with the Mid-West first hand.

[Mapel Valley Kennels LLC.]

Any i do mean any dog that finished in Midwest has been pounded and hauled all over the country....My hats go off to all of em.

[Darryl]

I have judge some very well known dogs In CKC Large pack , NLPC IFC Cedar beck Oliver, IFC Greenwells Reggie, 3xNLPC FTCH Forrest Pond Slick ,IFC Blackie Trex , IFC Cedar Beck Blazer, NLPC IFC Brankos Hammer , IFC Branko's Spot 2nd FTCH Cryon Whitefoot ,NLPC IFC Cryon Kimbo, NLPC IFC Cryon Kasey just off the top of my head,,, and the most dominating performace by far was IFC Awful Bawlin BJ's Oreo Cookie at York counties Beagle club, I judged with Armando Pazienza and between both of us we had about 50 -55 marked lines and Cookie lead all but 2 ... at times if you missed seeing the marked line and just saw the dogs you would swear she was outside and the pack had the rabbit , she had the pack stretched out and wide just trying to keep up with her, she ran outstanding , The week before she won under John dewyse and he also said was one of the most impressive performances he has witnessed. She earned the name cookie monster ,,,

[Pine Lakes]

Every person sees things in his or her own light, but all I know is that I've had some darn good rabbit dogs that couldn't cut it in a Mid-West trial. Running a rabbit at home solo or with 1 or 2 others is easy. If you want to challenge your dog and his abilities then load up & head out to one. It's easy to say that dog in the backyard is better than anything entered in a trial without putting that claim to test. I'm not saying that the best dog to ever suck air wasn't in someone's backyard and never entered a trial, but let us be reasonable. Instead of attempting to rundown Mid-West trials, load your self proclaimed champion(s) up and go run with FC Dutch Hollow El Grito Diablo, FC Chimney Rock's KY Lucky, FC Arkmo's Chopper, FC Hornbill's Topfuel Chester, FC Peter's P&P Iceman, FC Pound The Ground Dugan, FC Cereal City Wango Tango, FC AJ's Levitra, FC Dago Valley Bullet, FC Buckshot's Dexter, FC Branko's Carbon Copy, FC Noe Him By Ohio Reggie, FC Swickert Hill's Cosmo, FC Mt State Blue Bud, FC Crystal Kid Checkers, FC Noe Him By Buckeye Bandit, & numerous other FC's that won a Mid-West field trial. Those were just a few of the 15" males that come to mind and are still young enough to atleast show some of their talent. There are plenty from each class to get a sample of. Rare, in fact I can't think of an example, is the winner's pack that can't smoke a rabbit. Not my opinion, I've seen it.

[BCBeagles]

Good post pine lakes. Records show they can perform....to be honest the rest is hearsay unless you've actually witnessed it.

The fc's I have fortunate to see would, most of the time, beat the others they were on ground with....seen it.

[S.R.Patch]

A lot of great hounds that became famous reproducers were brought to light in the field trial arena.

This, your original post is the most honest. Field trial hounds reproduce field trial hounds.


Darryl,
While speed and drive is always exciting and fun to watch, did you or your pardner ever turn the hare on any of those 50-55 lines to see any actual hound work? It might be my odd nature but I'm always suspect of a hound leading 98% of the time. If I can turn the rabbit and see that the hound is actually carrying the head honestly and above all competition, that is an impressive feat. Was this in a pen or in the wild? because I'm trying to draw a visual an compare this to an actual hunting scenario. How many hare were caught? A screaming pace like that if on the same hare should result in pie within 40-60 minutes of cooking. A fresh hare will result in mad speed all day but a hare driven to exhaustion will fade like the scent and hounds have to make a kill or all is lost from my experience.

As hunters we rely on hound performance to have a beginning and an ending. The weather, scenting, terrain and the hounds ability to perform in any and all must be available when time allows us to take up our gun and head to the woods. The screaming days of scenting are few, so we become reliant upon hound work to unravel and piece together the trail that leads back to the harvest and a hot meal on the table. Those that succeed in this quest in our limited and untimely available opportunities, in the most unfriendly circumstances, those contributing and cooperating together to push forward gathering scent and hints of direction to circle back to the gun under adverse conditions and displaying the courage to go on when the chips are down, This type little pack is a dominating force to be dealt with...jmho

[BCBeagles]

Where can these dominating forces be found?.....patch hounds?

I have an interest in this type no matter the pedigree....respectfully....