Couple questions about bayings???????

Chaz
You really did ask some great questions. I attended the last Okeechobee Bay at the Res. You are right there were thousands of people and probably a hundred vendors bigger by far even then Uncle Earl's. It is a shame that they outlawed it down there. Tommy Laman and I won the two dog down there with Hobo and Pine Knot. We won about $7800 for first place. Back to your question, There is a difference between pen dogs and woods dogs especially in the last 5 to 6 years. This is due to intensive breeding programs. Breeding good pen dogs to good pen dogs. The results are starting to show up. However, this is not to say that their can't be individual dogs that can excel at both. A dog that is hunted heavy in the woods figures out pretty quick that he must bay back because of the thickets and other obstickle that a hog will normally bay up in. This can effect his performance in the bay pen. In the early years of competition a dog was awarded a 1/2 point bonus for a call out after the bay. There were several dogs that could do this and the 1/2 point was the difference in winning money most of the time. There are only a hand full of people that have the knowledge and or ability to put this kind of handle on there dog without effecting his baying performance. Breaking concentration is one of the biggest mistakes a dog can make in the pen. A dog with a lot of handle on him tends to want to look out at his handler or what I call check with his handler, this can cost him the bay. However, if you have the ability to do this without effecting his bay it is one of the most beautiful things to watch. I wish it was a manditory rule in our sport. As to attending baying events, there probably aren't go to be any good one close to you, there also some bad ones out there.We will be holding our 3rd Annual Memorial Cup Hog Bay May 9th & 10th. We are located about a hour west of Pensacola, Flordia right on the edge of Mississippi on the coast. We are probably having the largest bayings going right now next to Uncle Earl's we always have people from Flordia, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Oko, Ark., Missour, Tenn., and South Carolina. We are expecting people from all these states at our up coming baying. We are kind of located in the middle of all these. We have events for everyone novice, amateur, and Pro. Had about 600 spectators and 250 entries at our last event. We would love for you and your friends to come, think you would really love it.