2024 PKC Pup Shoot-Out Champion!

[R D Carnegie]

2024 PKC Pup Shoot-Out Champion
PCH Pro Pane Jane
Owned and Handled by Robert Burns

Robert Burns always has two goals when he starts out the PKC year: 1) Place in the top of the Missouri State standings and 2) Earn a truck ticket. For him, these are the two main things that he has his sights set on. This year added an extra bonus…a BIG extra bonus…not only did he earn his ticket to the 2024 PKC Pup Shoot-Out with PCH Pro Pane Jane, but he left Good Springs, Alabama in a new truck!!! It was a once in a lifetime moment for him!

Robert has been into dogs his whole life. He started with beagles and graduated to coon hounds. Terry Bennett got him started in competition hunting by having him handle for him at UKC hunts, but Mike Hensley introduced him to a different type of playing field when he told him about PKC. Robert hunted hard between 2009 and 2011 when he handled for Jeremy Armes and Katherie Hughes. Robert also learned the rules quickly and well as he has some top notch handlers in his area. He shared, “B J Hicks, Mike Hensley, and Darian Wiseman all made sure I knew the rules. They were tough. Now days, I draw Jeremiah Roller and Cheyenne Cummings often. We have a tough spot to compete right here, but it has helped me to grow up with the best. They gave me the tools to compete at the greatest level.”

Other connections that Robert has made in the sport also led to him having a hound with Jane that could compete on the greatest level. Jane is a 2021 model out of PCH Wipeout Hunter and CH Clean’s Big City Chaos. Robert has had her for about two years now. He talked about how he came to own her, “Zach McBee and Kirk Swanson had her together. Kirk did a lot of work with her when she was a pup. I had been talking to Kirk about her since she was around six months old. I really liked her tree style and mouth along with her pedigree. I went up to Kirk’s when she was close to a year old and thought I could buy her for half of what I did, but I could not. I went back to the motel and flipped a coin. If it was heads, I was going to buy her. If it was tails, I would not. It was heads. Kirk told me to hunt her for a week and if I did not like her then we could call the deal off. After two nights of hunting, I called and told him that she would be just fine. It was the most I ever paid for a dog and the most I probably ever will.”

Jane has paid for herself in this short time that Robert has had her and that is because of her skill set. Robert talked about her style, “She flies through the country, strikes quickly, and trees quickly. There is not much down time. Good Springs has good hunting, but it also has rough hunting. Jane is used to hunting in tough conditions. Over the years, I have always said that the best coon dog is not always the best to have for a competition coon hunt. It is the best competitor that you want. Jane is just that as she is good in coons, but she is also good when there are not a lot of coons because she does not make a lot of mistakes.”

Since owning Jane, she has been working on building a very nice PKC resume. Robert shared some of her bigger accomplishments, “The first hunt she was ever at was the Open Event of the Missouri State Championship as a one-year-old. She was second in the Missouri State Race, qualified for a truck ticket, and doubled up on cast wins at the PKC World as a one year old also. Last year, she won the PKC Missouri State Championship and was third or fourth in the state standings. Jane has gotten in Final Four of the Memphis, Missouri Pro Classic. This was her second truck ticket that she earned in August of last year. She was really young when she earned her first one. In fact, I think she was the youngest dog in the Final Four of this year’s hunt.”

Robert talked about how he felt taking Jane down to Good Springs, Alabama for the 2024 PKC Pup Shoot-Out, “I felt confident going down there this year. I felt as confident as anyone going could. I believe that with a hunt of this caliber that every dog that earned a ticket deserves to be there and you have to have luck. I know she can beat any dog out there on her night.”

Luckily for Robert, Jane was having “her night” each night that she was at the Pup Shoot-Out. The first cast of the weekend found Jane and Robert going up against Scipio Lewey handled by Jeff Pedrow, Martin’s Indian Bridge Arrow handled by Nick Martin, and Wipeout Black Zack handled by Barry Kiddy. Robert described how this first cast of the weekend went, “Pretty much Jane struck for 75 points and six minutes later, I treed her for 125 through the country on a tree on the edge of the Tennessee River. The Bluetick was with her on that tree. She had three coons in that tree, but it took us seven minutes to get them plused up. We could see them on the thermal, but could not get them to look. One finally moved up the tree. In that timeframe Zack took minus. Lewey got treed and Jane covered him on a big den. Lewey treed another den, the blue dog treed on a den, and then Jane treed and had a slick. When I recut, Jane went about 800 yards and treed again. She had a big den. She won that cast by hanging on to her plus points from the beginning.”

That put Jane and Robert in the late round. This time they would draw out with Muddy Creek Skeet handled by Daryl Guess, Heather Island B Good Cowboy handled by Duell Murphy, and Clearwater’s Shy handled by Johnny Chisholm. When asked how this round went, Robert replied, “It was a mess. There were several questions on that cast and lots of trouble. The cast started out when Daryl struck Skeet under the minute and got minused for babbling. Then I struck Jane for 100 points when she was about 400 yards away. Duell struck Cowboy for 50 points and Johnny struck Shy for 25 points. I treed Jane for 125 points and Duell treed Cowboy for 25 points. We walked in there and had a coon. We then turned around to go back to the last place we had heard the other dogs. We walked about 400 yards and heard a dog behind us, so we recut. It was Shy that we heard and Johnny treed in. Daryl treed Skeet through the world somewhere. No one knew where. The judge took his call. We then started to Shy, but the two caught him. We went back to Daryl and walked about half a mile and then came to a road. Jane was treed again .7 miles away. There was a truck parked in the road. It was odd that it had been moved as it was one of our cast member’s truck. With 16 minutes left in the hunt, there was no Daryl or his dog. The judge called time out at that point and we caught dogs. I found Daryl and picked him up. The panel listened to all our questions. The panel ruled that we should hunt 25 minutes instead of 16 minutes from when the judge called time out. Duell, Daryl and I had to go back out and hunt for the time. At that point, I had 225 plus, Duell had 75 plus, and Daryl had 100 minus. We cast the dogs. Daryl struck Skeet for 100 points. I had to strike Jane for 75 points. Duell struck Cowboy for 50 points. Jane came treed with 10 minutes left in the hunt. I ran the stationary time down to 4½ minutes. No one else got treed. We went in and Jane had a big den.”

Jane’s first night, which was “hers” hands down, put her into the next night for the Final Four. Jane and Robert were going to be hunting against Rivale Merge Stroker owned by Rivals Merge Kennels and handled by Jeremy Cox; Hoosier Daddy owned and handled by Nicholas Imel, and Kansas Top Notch owned and handled by Blaise Bauer. Robert shared how that last and very important cast went, “We drove to a spot, got out, and walked 500 yards to the timber. We cut the dogs down towards the river. I do not remember how they all struck, but Jane took 25 points and shortly thereafter treed for 125 points. Blaise and Jeremy’s dogs treed with her for 25 points. We walked to them and it was rock bluff with a hole in it. We pulled them off and walked to the top of the hill. We ran the six and recast the dogs. I did not hear Jane for a while. When I finally struck her, I treed her shortly after. The dogs were hard to hear as they were below a bluff. Both Jeremy and Blaise’s dogs were there again with Jane. We had the same scenario – rocks with a hole and dogs all buried in there. We got them out and went back up the hill. We heard the other dog that was out on strike so we recast them. That other dog that had been out on strike came in to us. The dogs treed and Jeremy treed his dog. I had circle and so did Blaise at that point. The two was working on Jeremy’s dog. I treed Jane for 25 points to break the two. As we walked in, Jeremy’s dog came to us. Jane was up a tree this time. Jeremy and Blaise’s dogs were at the tree also. The other dog was at the tree, but not handled, but I did not know that at that point. It was a big tree. As we were shining, the dog that was not handled got struck. I questioned it. We finished scoring that tree. We walked up the hill and started the six. With three minutes left in the cast, nothing else happened, so I dropped the question.”

When asked how it felt to win the truck, Robert replied, “It felt great. It has been a long time that I have been working for a big win like this. It is my biggest win so far. I have doubled up at the Super Stakes and the World Championship. I won some Pro Hunts and got sixth in the Super Stakes one time. In my mind, I feel the PKC Truck Hunt is one of the hardest to win. It takes the most work to qualify to get in and then you have to hunt against the top 64 pups that earned it. This is what separates PKC from other truck events, you have to earn your spot to hunt in this event.”

When asked about if there were any people that he wanted to mention in conjunction with this win, Robert shared, “First off, I want to thank God. I also want to thank my wife Cassandra and my kids for their support. I especially have to thank my wife for putting up with me doing this forever. She has never once argued about me going hunting or to the hunts. I also want to mention Kirk Swanson, who did all the work on this pup before I got her; Zach McBee, who owned the stud; and Shannnon Biggs who was Jane’s breeder. They played a big part in this win. I have made way too many friends in this sport to mention them all, but they are all greatly appreciated.”

Robert and Jane did not have an easy feat with this win. Each cast was hard earned, but they did their parts to get the job done. Having to hunt rough conditions against tough competitors at home definitely prepared them for what the weekend at the Pup Shoot-Out held. It also helped make possible for Robert and Jane to return home to Missouri in a new truck! Congratulations on winning the event that earning a ticket for has always been a big priority each year. That dedication and fortitude paid off in a big way with PCH Pro Pane Jane being the Pup Shoot-Out Truck Champion!!!