A sarcastic person would define a “night champion” as a dog whose best chance at earning a champion title is to compete in total darkness, but in fact, the term is not only legitimate, but prestigious.
It is a title awarded to dogs who have demonstrated exceptional skill at a consistent level in nighttime hunting events (including those offered by the AKC and UKC), and it will surprise few readers that the title is specifically associated with coonhound breeds.
It starts with registered dogs having to five “casts” with plus points.
What is a cast?
In coonhound competitions, a “cast” is a group of three to four hunters and their respective dogs competing together during a nighttime hunt, the casts typically formed after registration and check-in at the event. Sometimes a guide accompanies the cast to the designated hunting grounds, but not always. The “cast members” line up, their dogs are released simultaneously at the start of the hunt.
The best part of this type of hunt in our view? During the hunt, the hunters listen closely for their dogs’ unique barks to track their progress. And in case you think all hounds sound alike, listen to the hounds in the two videos below (without your dogs in the room) and see if you can’t also tell the difference between them:
A cast can last anywhere from 60 to 120 minutes (some competitions, like a Regional Qualifying Event, is set at 120 minutes). To win a cast and earn points towards the Nite Champion title, a dog must achieve a positive total score (plus points) to be considered a cast winner. Points are awarded for both striking (identifying a scent trail) and treeing (locating a raccoon in a tree), and the dog with the highest score in the cast is declared the cast winner.
The Nite Champion title is often part of a progression of achievements, and it’s just the beginning. After a Nite Champion title is achieved, the next goal is a Grand Nite Champion, and after that is the Supreme Grand Nite Champion, Super Grand Nite Champion, and Senior Grand Nite Champion, each level requiring more than the one before.
The Nite Champion title is highly valued in the coonhound community because it is proof of a hound’s exceptional ability to track and tree raccoons during nighttime hunts. One of the more prestigious event is the United Kennel Club’s Autumn Oaks (“The Event Where History Is Made”) founded back in 1960. Autumn Oaks is the granddaddy of all UKC events because it brings together the outstanding coonhounds from the United States and Canada to participate in a Nite Hunt and Bench Show, and the UKC National Grand Champions of the seven UKC recognized breeds are named at this annual hunt.
In the AKC, the “Nite Hunt” is the most popular of all its coonhound events. The history of Nite Hunts began in 1945 when soldiers returned from World War II wanted to create a game to play with their hounds to see whose dog was better at hunting, trailing, and treeing raccoons. A system for judging the dogs was developed which is still used: The dogs must unravel the trail of the raccoon and find the tree that the raccoon has climbed to escape. The first dog to find the tree is awarded 125 “tree” points, the second dog is awarded 75 tree points, the third dog is awarded 50 tree points, and the last dog to bark “treed” is awarded 25 tree points. The handlers must know their dog’s bark well enough to know when it is on trail and when it is treed.
It’s a special, fun community, and enough to make one want to own their own Coonhound.
Click here to read more about nite hunts.
Image by Tamara Harding/iStock