Effective January 1, 2015 Masters Affiliation fee will be $50 a year.

All 6 of the Major Masters hunts are to post scores for the Top 20 Hounds, all 3 Days. All 6 hunts will be reviewed by the Review Committee.
Breeders' Cup, Masters, Wolfhound Classic/Derby Classic, Southern Star,
Top Gun and the World Cup.

The Executive Committee will approve Judges for the 6 Major Masters Hunts Breeders’ Cup, Masters, Wolfhound Classic/Derby Classic, Southern Star,
Top Gun, and the World Cup.

All Tracking and Training devices are to be turned off during
(5 hours) running for the 6 major Masters hunts, (not required for other Masters Affiliated hunts, but recommended) Device can be turned on after call off.
If caught with anything being on or in use 100% by at least 2 Hunters and
or 1 Judge. The Hunter and the Kennel Partners will be Eliminated from the Hunt and All Hounds entered in Kennel Name or Person involved.
It will be the duty of the Master’s Owner Ronnie McMillan, Hunt President and the Master of Hounds to make a ruling after the complaint is filed. Second offense will be 6 months’ probation.

This will go in to effect at the 2014 Wolfhound Classic/Derby Classic

These rules are in the New Rule Book, but just in case you missed it.

Number blankets can ONLY be used in a ONE DAY 8 Hour hunt.
In order to qualify for Leaderboard Points. (No other exceptions)

Figuring Combination Winner:
Bench Points will be awarded as follows:
100 for 1st place dropping 5 points to 55 for 10th place.
In a Grand Total Points Hunt 1st place in the Field will receive 100 points dropping 5 points for each place down to 55 points for 10th place
See Page 15 in the Rule Book.

I would like to know why we can't use number blankets on dogs in a two day or three day? It is easy less time and a lot cheaper.

Is there someway I can order a rules book once everything is put in place?

The Rule book is on the front page of Masterfox,(at the bottom of the page) you can download it and print it off. It was updated 9/2013. The rules that passed in March 2014 have not been printed yet.

Too easy to swap dogs. That's why blankets won't be allowed.

Yep.

Of Course - if you caught someone swapping dogs , and you banned them from the affiliations (National and Masters) for 5 years they might think twice.
10 years for 2nd offense , if they were dumb enough to try it again.

You know, there are not enough police in the world for the criminals - the only thing that stops most crime is the promise of harsh punishment. Once there is no harsh punishment, the crime runs rampant.

I like the rules changes - thanks for posting them Hank.....

Lenny

You'll have to give Brenda credit for posting them, I'm sure.

I didn't.

it was well written..

thanks Brenda

You are right about swapping dogs. We should look at it this way If you gonna cheat then you will know matter what. Here is something to think about who ever is putting the hunt on they supply blankets.all they would have to do is put a event band around dogs neck and there is no way of cheating.and if for some reason one came off in the hunt you can not come out of pen without talking to master of hound about the that way he can put another one on.

Always a clown in the bunch.look how smart you are they have them with the numbers already on them.and one more thing the no name post is what hurts the fox hunters and most likely is a cheater. God Bless you happy hunting!

So if hunter A has high scoring dog the last day, and hunter B and C do not like it, they can report A hunter as having turned on his device.

Wow - Hope people do not complain when they ban guns and knifes for all when something bad happens at one incident like a shooting or stabbing at school or in a public place by a few individuals.

Never going to cheer when the mass is punished or restricted from doing something because of the actions of a few. At least I hope it was a few doing the bad deed with the shocking collars and not everyone standing to my right and left.

I guess I will conform or not compete, but this is sad when you really think about it.

Jeff Brinchek

I'm not a clown but do consider myself educated! Paint your dogs , don't be lazy , keep the blankets on the racehorses and turn your handheld into the master after cast and enjoy the sport we all love!!

It sure ain't as much fun as it was ......I can tell you that.

So does this mean no tracking collars at all? Or can folks still use the Astro 320 & 220 just not the Alpha?

You can still use the alpha, just have the handheld turned off from cast til calloff.

I think there needs to be a rule that states that every hunter that enters a Masters Affiliated hunt must judge a 3 day hunt as well. There should also be consequences for not fulfilling that duty as well.

If every hunter on this board would take time and judge a 3 day field trial you wouldn't hear near the complaining of cheating, turning off of collars and whining about changing the rules. All the complaining is what is keeping hunts from getting enough honest men/women to come help now.

What I wanted to know is if you can still have your 320 or 220 turned on during the hunt. You are not really "using" your Alpha if it has to be turned off until the hunt is over.

The way the rule is written could be interpreted to allow use of Astros and radio telemetry during the hunt or it could be interpreted that no trackers of any description may be turned on. Maybe someone who knows will clear that up.


David, someone should send you the animal crackers for best rule proposal of 2014. Some of the most successful field trialers will not get involved in judging. Some folks are only interested in how they can directly benefit. Mostly though I think you hit the nail on the head. These successful field trialers do not want to damage their reputation by judging a hunt. They know they will get slandered and accused of cheating.
A while back I asked a good foxhunter to judge a hunt and he told me he would not be a part of something as crooked as a field trial. It was shocking at the time but he was right. It isn't worth risking your reputation over. Virtually every judge I know has been accused of wrongdoing at some point or another.

I AGREE WITH DAVID AND HEATH EVERYBODY NEEDS TO JUDGE A 3 DAY HUNT.I'VE JUDGE FEW 3 DAY HUNTS IN LAST 3 YEARS. BEFORE THAT I HEARD ABOUT ALL THE CHEATING GOING ON. I NEVER SAW ANY PROBLEMS WITH ANY JUDGE. I BELEIVE THE RESULTS OF THE HUNTS I HELPED JUDGE ARE HONEST RESULTS!

The phrase used above is "all tracking and training devices"
It could mean "all tracking devices and all training devices" or it could mean "all devices with capability for both tracking and training". The Garmin Alpha is a "track and train" device. One device with 2 features.

One more thing to consider:
The old Tritronics system we have doesn't have an off switch on the handheld. If the collar is on then it will tone or shock if the button gets pressed. It isn't a good design because accidents can happen. The only "safety" on it was if you only used 3 or less collars (either the solid colors or the striped ones) you could toggle the selector to the other set set of collars. If you run all 6 collars on that system and a button gets bumped then some dog is getting shocked or toned. No way to turn it off when not in use. Maybe they design them better now but that is how the ones we have are designed.

New rules will not make this go away, enforcing the ones that are already in place may help. Steve said in one of his post that there was documentation, in another post of someones it was said that they knew there was a "situation" at the BC. If all of this is true then enforce the conduct rules you already have whether they be a "Pro" field trialer, in a leadership role with the Masters, or just plain ole Joe. Coddling someone to keep there reputation intact is just as harmful as the offense itself.

The rule change says "ALL TRACKING & TRAINING DEVICES"!!

The way it is written, no Alpha's, no Tritronics, no Astro 320's or 220's. & your "beep-beep" box must be off as well!! ALL means EVERYTHING!!

ALL is totally "INCLUSIVE"!!

Enforce the current Master's Rules, & you won't have the problem!!
And enforcement, ie, BANNING the culprit would give the Master's organization even more "credibility" for adherence to the rules!!

I think this mess is opening "Pandora's Box", in more ways than one!!

Allan Bishop
(Jabber Jaw)

Haven't hunted much lately, busy working and raising a family. Tried to get rid of all hounds a couple times but just can't do it-- love to hear them run and like to field trial to much.

I Just got a couple nice young hounds again, pleasure running, was hoping to go to a couple trials. Until now, i haven't commented, just been reading the boards. I wouldn't mind not turning my alpha on during hunt( although I did pay for it so I could "watch" my dogs at a hunt). The problem I and a lot of others have is the alpha is now the only tracker I own. If there was a problem at a hunt, that hunter should be dealt with, not the rest of us. At minimum, name the new rule after him. The problem is there's no consequence at all for original offender but the rest of us suffer while a cheat remains anonymous Once again

Why hasn't this person been exposed to all the hunters that will probably never know. Don't want too offend???

Why haven't they been exposed?

The National banned Arthur Purvis and his entire family and all he did was forget to return a challenge trophy.

The problem is integrity of the participants and the fact that it is a piddling sport for most.
Self policing is a must for survival.
The fact that people don't go to jail for misdeeds in this sport will be its ruin.
Heck, know someone who is trying to join peta as I type.

JEREMY,IF THAT IS A HUNTER I HOPE THAT YOU WILL EXPOSE EM SO THAT US HUNTERS WANT BE AFFILIATED W/EM!!!

Some of these problems have the problem of DEFAMATION. Look it up. Proof on civil matters goes both ways. It will be hard to prove things one way or the other at a trial.

I got a thought don't give out the 1st and 2nd day scores sheets.Just the scratch sheet and let all the scores be known the last day.Then you could set back and wait.

to the above post, that all sounds real simple and great to strap on a collar and put away the receiver. this will never happen. these same folks will leave the grounds within distance of their receiver and monitor their hounds. these same folks will ease away out of sight if they got a couple towards the top the last day and will take turns if they have partners. BAN THE PROBLEM. ENFORCE EXISTING RULES !! if you have documentation of someone altering the running TAKE ACTION. its understandably a no win situation but with the evidence that's already in place combined with no way to police the whole situation simply ban the tool.

The most straight forward and truthful post about this subject yet. It couldn't have been said any better. Since ??????? didn't sign his name, I'll take credit.