American Blue Gascons

[lmorgan]

There has been quite a bit of conversation lately about the French Gascons that liontracker and African are working with. Certainly there is nothing wrong with that and I applaud their efforts. However, just in case there was anyone new lurking in this particular forum, I thought that I'd mention that there is a huge difference between the European old blooded Gascongnes and the American Blue Gascon Hound. The American Blue Gascon Hound in it's current configuration probably has no more direct relationship to the French hounds than any other American breed of coonhound. For that reason, many, if not most, American Gascon fanciers prefer to call their hounds "Old Fashioned Blueticks" or simply "Big Blues". However, the American Gascon does seem to more closely carry many of the old country traits that are commonly associated with the European stock of hounds. They tend to have colder noses, longer ears, and larger size than any of the common American Coonhound breeds. For that reason, the name American Blue Gascon Hound was chosen as a name for the breed to differentiate it from the other strains of Bluetick coonhounds. The name certainly wasn't the perfect choice because it does pay more homage to the French hounds than is deserved, but there are also many strains of Blueticks today that are closely related to old lines of hounds that share none of the size, voice, or scenting characteristics. Simply put, there were as many "old fashioned" blueticks in the 19th and 20th centuries that were small, short eared, hot nosed and chop mouthed. For the people who prefer that kind of hound, they are no less "old fashioned" than our Gascons of today. But they ARE very different hounds.

I hope this clarifies the difference in the fine French hounds that liontracker and African are using from the American Blue Gascons that this forum is largely devoted to.

Don't forget to check out the ABGHA website, either. http://www.abgha.org