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Just wondering which part of the race is your very favorite part. I know we all want to get to the tree and maybe that is your favorite part of it but some may find their heart skipping a little faster at different points.
Possibly:

The blow up off the rig platform, or maybe that cold strike on the ground. Maybe the point where you think they have lost the track and a major lose is recovered and the trail is progressed again. Maybe it's the jump or the locate just wondering if you have any one point that really stand out to you or is it just the overall experience?

Mike, I like the Change over from a Cold trail to where it starts to heat up .. That point when your heart beat starts a pumpin also..

Good Post..

I really like that first bark the one that breaks the silence... when the dogs are all amping up grubbing and smelling a track.. and you're holding your breath waiting for the bark..

Also the first bark after they make a loose.

I really like listening to three or four dogs work a bear that doesn't want to climb.I have had a few bears that would just stay in one drainage and run the dogs around and fight for an hour or two before treeing.I was able to get on a high spot and sit and listen the whole time.

Well I just can only say, droppen the tail gate starts my blood flow too getting amped-up ! And every second till that first tree locate bark is account able and logged in my head too savor, but then the dog is fully wooded up now and antisupation starts too gear em up hoter and its time too plan the route into the tree up and then ariveing at the tree and seeing the dogs proud and gleefully showing the world/ hey here he is I got em !!!!!
So I guess its all or nothen as a favorite for me, cause each track is so different even the endings and it all is really a box of chockoletts !

i like the middle after the initial strike when they finally get it lined out but it is still cold enough that they still have to grub it out. i like this part of the chase because usually i can keep up with with them or watch them from across a canyon and see who is doing what like if one dog is always coming up with the track after a lose or if the whole pack is contributing. it is just a really good part of the trail to judge the young dogs and see how they are progressing.

I have to say its a toss up on which is my FAVORITE between that first bark getting the track started and when they get the jump and start pouring the coals to it!!

But hands down, the BEST part is when the last dog is loaded and you reach in the cooler and grab an ice cold one!!

I'd have to say it was when the dogs have worked their butts off on a real cold one. One that you weren't sure they'd ever get going good enough to catch. Then the change over when you say to yourself (now we have a fighting chance). I love watching those dogs work hard and then get paid off for it.

I like when all the dogs are leashed and ya load the last one into the truck after a good race. Not real exciting but is usually a big relief. I like the old saying "alls well that ends well" ..Nursing back injurys all my life i always worried about not being able to get to the dogs. So this is my pick dgarrett

My favorite part has to be the calm right before the chain slammin' screaming strike. I like the calm afterwards too, where you forget to breathe listening so intently, just waiting for those few barks that let you know whats goin on, and where there headed.

After that its those few screams and the roar that comes when they got him jumped. Then when you get the frst glance at the tree, and see all the dogs are there, you fell relieved and less rushed. Or when the first dog see's you coming and the tail starts to crank and they get back ou on the tree and bark harder. That's where it's all at for me.

The strike has to be my favorite part. You're no where without it, and you can just tell everything by just a few barks and that look in the dogs' eye.

my favorite part....Hmmm....depends on species....
bear-Oh I love that blood pumping feeling when your sneaking in on that walking bay show and for the last two hours your walking and stopping dogs are baying and shutting up and baying and shutting up finally you look through the brush and get to SEE the show.OH WHAT A FEELING! LOL
Lion-that feeling when you been looking for three days for a track and you come around the corner and theres those dots that look nothing like the five million other tracks you've checked,you get up to them and your hand won't even cover them and you got take a damn long step to cover a stride.OH WHAT A FEELING! LOL
Cats-That feeling when the dogs have been locating and locating for a half hour,the winds whipping and finally somebody just starts hitting it,walk in and the dogs about fifty feet away standing on his hind legs treeing,follow the wind and theres a big old tom layed out on a mistletoe patch with that damn I zigged when I shoulda zagged look.OH WHAT A FEELING! LOL
Coon-I love that honest strike.You know turn the dogs loose,no babbling,alls quite 'cept maybe some bullfrogs or crickets,then that big ole bawl that breaks the anticipation.OH WHAT A FEELING!

Mike thanks alot for this post,now I'm feeling all warm and fuzzy.LOL

Good stuff folks!

Travis when it comes to coon hunting which to me was still my best hound education ever you nailed it. That cold frosty night, maybe a owl hoots or a coyote in the distance occasionaly you hear the rustle of leaves as old Blue skips thru the timber and then all is quiet. The stars twinkle a little and the sliver of moon peaks over the tree tops you wait and wait and then, it happens. Yooooowwwwwooooooooo oooo! dying off as he tells the world one has walked. Man that is what I miss most about coon hunting all those years I spent out there most of my youth in fact just me and the hounds night after night. I love big game hunting and coon hunting is pretty much out of the question where I live now, but oh the memories. Many a night in my dreams I hear old Earl's deep quivering bawl floating up out of a foggy bottom as I toss and turn in my sleep.

Which part of the race do I like?

Well I'm telling ya the truth here, my favorite part of the race is being in the woods, breathing clean air, no cell phone or noise pollution. Being with family or friends and thinking why on this earth "A BARK EATER" would want to end it for all. All the other parts of the race is just a extra for me.

Well put catch now get back in the cage and shut that calkins kid up maybe you can get him to bid fairwell like ike. LOL

I really like to listen to a couple dogs cold trailing on a cat, I'm sitting in a sunny spot maybe on a log or rock and soaking up the sun listening and wondering if they'll jump it or not, I love it.