Young Guns

T Dog I do try to stay with proven crosses altho like you said they are not always proven. I had a Nite Ch. Plott gyp and bred her to a Grand nite Ch. male. That first cross was great and I kept the worst one of the litter. He would tree squirrels and coons but just didnt have the go to them. Two out of that litter went to competition hunters and made Nite ch. out of them and others went to pleasure hunters but they made coon dogs. I make that same cross again and there was only one in that 2nd cross that made a coon dog. So much for proven crosses but overall I will stick to them.
Twice in my life I have come close to running out of dogs and swore that would never happen again. I keep enough now that I cannot hunt them all but have enough variety in them that I can breed to different studs and not back myself into a corner although they are all related. The only time I really need that many is Feb. when we really run into alot of boars in the marsh and have to lay alot up from injuries.
I find myself leaving trained dogs at home just to hunt the young dogs.