That's a tough question if I ever heard one. I've seen fist fights started and friendships ruined over that question. All breeds have their pro's and con's.

Walkers are quick to learn and quick on track, but GENERALLY, they are a little more trashy. They are more likely to run a deer, or tree some off game. Also, because they are so popular right now, they have really been over-bred. There are still a lot of good ones out there, but my personal opinion is that the over breeding is really hurting the breed. Everybody with a halfway decent dog is trying to breed, regardless of it's faults. That kind of breeding can't continue for ever without doing some damage to the gene pool.

Black and Tan's are good solid dogs with a cold nose, but ever since they became an AKC breed they have really become kind of hit and miss due to breeding for "confirmation only". They also tend to be a little slower.

Plotts are great bear dogs. The only Plotts that I have ever been around have been a little mean at the tree. It kind of soured me on the whole breed.

Redbones are very pretty, but I have yet to hunt with one that was worth feeding.

Blueticks(my personal choice) are slow to start, sometimes infuriatingly slow, but when they do turn on, they tend to be VERY solid, and very reliable. There is nothing I like better than seeing a good slobber-mouthed bluetick hammering a tree. The other thing that I like is that almost every Bluetick that I have ever hunted with had a voice that could blow the leaves out of the trees.

English Coonhounds are very similar to Blueticks(mostly because blues are an offshoot of English). They may be a bit quicker to start. But they are still great dogs. I've only hunted with English dogs a few times, but I never saw anything that I didn't like.