Hunting raccoon hounds come in two forms. The first is hunting for pleasure, this is when you go out with friends and hunt just for fun. The second type is competitive raccoon hunting. Today I am going to talk about the second type.
Competition raccoon hunting is a structured hunt where you compete for prizes. They go hunting in groups, called “casts”, made up of four dogs. Each dog will have a handler (that’s you). In addition, in each cast, there will be someone who is designated as a “guide”. The guide is responsible for providing a place to hunt raccoons. He will also give you information about the layout of the terrain, such as streams, hills, etc.
There will also be a cast member who will be designated as a “judge.” The judge is responsible for keeping track of the scores of all raccoon hounds on the score card. The judges also help resolve any disputes that may arise. Sometimes the judge and the handler will be the same person. On larger hunts, such as the World Hunt, the judges and guides may be “non-hunting guides” or “non-hunting judges”. This means that your only point of interest is the designated work. This helps keep raccoon hunts fair from big competition.
Now that you know how competitive raccoon hunts are organized, let’s talk about how the scoring system works. Dogs are scored in two categories. These categories are “strike” and “tree”. The first dog to hit a lead by letting out a whoop and being called by the handler would receive “first hit” and the most points. This is repeated for all 4 points. Each position receives a little less than the previous one. The next category is “tree”. This is handled in the same process, but this time when the raccoon hound lets off a signal and switches to the faster “tree bark”. For most raccoon hounds tree bark is a “chop”, however there are also some tree dogs with howling mouths.
The number of points awarded for each category is different for each record. Most coon hound registries award 100, 75, 50, and 25 points respectively for each position in both categories. However, the United Kennel Club awards 125, 75, 50 and 25 points in the “tree” category. The Professional Kennel Club has a time limit for tree spots where each position is closed after a reported period of time. Also, the raccoon hound must stay treed for 5 minutes before the cast can go inside and mark the tree.
Ok, so now that you know how throws and scoring work, I’m going to talk about how you score trees. Once you enter the tree, all the raccoon hounds are on a leash. Once all of the raccoon hounds are tethered to the tree, a clock is started and all cast members will begin searching the tree for a raccoon. Most registries allow 8-10 minutes to search the tree for a raccoon. If a raccoon is found, the tree is rated “plus.” This is what you want, obviously. If it is obvious that there is no raccoon, the tree is rated as “minus”, as you would expect, this is not good. If no raccoon is found, but there is a possibility of one, the tree is scored “circle”. Circle points only count when it comes to a tiebreaker. Examples of circular trees would be hollow trees or leafy trees. You will see many circular trees during the summer hunting season.
Now, you should have a good start in understanding competitive raccoon hunts. Now, grab your favorite raccoon hound and head out to the nearest competitive hunt and try your luck.