Postby Amy Kovac-Thomas » Sat Dec 02, 2023 6:31 pm
The 2023 Tennessee Youth Showdown 4-Wheeler Hunt Final Four
By Amy Thomas
Dane Tedford
Handling Unknown Daisy
Being at the Tennessee Youth Showdown 4-Wheeler hunt is not the first rodeo for Dane Tedford or four year old Unknown Daisy, off of Waffles. Dane has been attending this event for the past three years. In 2021, it was Daisy who helped put Dane’s brother Drew into the Final Four of this event and then went on and won him the 4 wheeler that year. Now Dane is about to see what he and Daisy can pull off tonight for themselves and hoping to bring another 4 wheeler home to Arkansas.
Dane is the son of Chris and Megan Tedford. This young man has watched his father Chris and brother Drew compete hard and successfully in PKC and he is following right along with them. He has been competition hunting for the past three years. Two years ago, Dane made it into the Final Sixteen of the 4-Wheeler Hunt with Lawman. Last year was not as great and they lost early. This year though has been their best year yet!
The hound that Dane has been handling may be playing a big part in that success. Dane discussed why he decided to handle Daisy, “She has been looking good and treeing coons. Also, Drew has won it with her and with her looking the way she has been, I wanted to bring her. I have not lost a cast yet that I have handled Daisy in.”
Dane talked about how his casts went on Friday night, “In the early round, we cut the dogs and I struck Daisy for 100 points. Then Evan struck his dog for 75 points. The next dog got struck in for 50 points. Daisy went on and treed a coon and the other dogs treed holes or slicks for the rest of the hour. On the late round, one of the other dogs treed a coon. I struck Daisy, but got minused. The other dog had to have a slick tree and Daisy had to have a coon to win. In the end, the other dog had a slick and Daisy had a coon. I got lucky on it and squalled it out of the hole.”
Going into the Final Four, Dane shared what it is about Daisy that he feels she will be bringing as a strength, “She gives me a chance to win anywhere anytime. She could do good or she could do bad. We will find out.”
Now with how he feels about going out on this last and important cast, Dane shared, “I feel pretty good. Daisy has looked good up here. She is probably one of the best dogs I have hunted.”
Dane did want to be sure to thank some people who have helped him get to this place in the Final Four, “I would like to thank Roger Shabel, Will Heffington, and my dad for letting me hunt Daisy in this hunt.”
Daisy is going out tonight with some experience in her favor. She has brought home a new 4 wheeler from this event before. It would be quite a statement if she could bring home another one for the Tedford boys – Dane is about to find out!
Addison Gafford
Handling Gafford’s Bushwackin’ Track Rap
Addison Gafford is also not new to taking part in the Tennessee Youth Showdown 4-Wheeler Hunt. Her first time to come to this event was in 2020. Addison has not won a cast at this event until this year – it appears that she was banking all her cast wins for one big run and she is hoping for a third one tonight so she can bring that 4 wheeler back home to Tennessee.
Addison is the daughter of Stephen and Amanda Gafford. Addison comes from a long line of coon hunters with her Paw Paw Eugene Gafford and Uncle Shawn Gafford being in it and involved with PKC for a long time. Both she and her brothers have enjoyed being part of the youth program and Addison talked about what it is that she enjoys, “I enjoy getting to meet new people and see how Rap and the other dogs I hunt improve. I also like carrying on our family tradition.”
One of the biggest factors for Addison’s success tonight is the two year old hound that she is handling - Gafford’s Bushwackin’ Track Rap. Addison talked about him, “He is out of GCH Johnson Creek Rat and Stylish Lou. We got him when he was five months old and he has been a natural since he was little. I brought him here because I have been doing good with him. I won the 2023 Tennessee Youth State Hunt with him, got into the late round of the Youth World Qualifiers, and won my Saturday night open cast at the Youth World Championship. What I like about him is that he is different than the other ones that I have hunted and has a distinct mouth. I am confident in him.”
Addison shared how her casts went last night with Rap, “In the early round, he treed the only coon. He did take some minus points for leaving a tree, but he was not right on it and I knew I should not have treed him, but it happens. He then went on and treed the only coon we saw in last five minutes. On the late round, they went in and he struck a track about 200 yards from us and worked it back to 180 yards. Then he slammed it. I had 225 points on it. No one else treed a coon.”
Going into this Final Four, Addison talked about what it is about Rap that she feels he will be bringing in as a strength, “He is weird and he thrives in swampy water, rain, and big bottoms. I feel that since it is so wet from yesterday that he will do well. This type of weather is his go to and what he does better in.”
Now for how she is feeling, Addison said, “I feel pretty confident in my dog. Rap just has to go on in there and tree a coon. That is all he can do.”
Before going out, Addison wanted to mention some people, “I want to thank my dad and Grandpa for taking me to all these hunts. Without these two, I would not be where I am. I also want to mention Keith Hopkins that we got Rap from. Without Rap, I would not have everything that I have accomplished. Every big hunt that I have gotten in at has been with him.”
It is almost “Go Time” for Addison and her dog Rap. She is about to see if she can get her third cast win at her third Tennessee Youth Showdown 4-Wheeler Hunt. So far, this year’s event has been good to her and she is hoping to be able to “Rap” it all up tonight with the big win!
Case Earl
Handing Big Time Woody
Our next Final Four youth handler is Case Earl from Alabama. Case is the son of Brandon and Brooke Earl who are both coon hunters themselves. Between them and his grandfather, Case was born into the coon hunting life.
This is Case’s first year of being really involved in the competition side of coon hunting. He began earlier this year at the Georgia State Youth Hunt and he won it with seven year old Woody, off of Warren’s Snoop. He then took Woody to the Youth Nationals and won all of his early rounds there and doubled up on Thursday. Woody has been a big winner for Case and has been looking good at those two events and the smaller hunts in between. There was no doubt that Case was going to bring him to his first ever Tennessee Youth Showdown 4-Wheeler Hunt.
Case talked about why he decided to give this event a go, “It sounded fun and my buddies were also going. I am handling Woody here because I really like him and know him good. I know that he trees coons. The event has been fun and run really well so far.”
Woody lived up to his coon treeing part too because he got Case in on Friday night. Case described how their casts went, “He did good in the early round. He struck for 100 points and treed for 125 points and had a coon. Another dog struck for 50 points and got treed for 125 points and also had a coon. Another kid withdrew. The dogs never made another tree after that.
In the late round, Woody got struck for 75 points and treed for 100 points. We were walking to another tree and he was about a mile away by himself. I asked to stop and listen, the judge heard him and I treed him. The other dog we were going to stopped barking and took minus. Woody had that coon up a hollow tree. We walked the hunt out from there.”
Now Case is in the Final Four waiting to see if he will be bringing the 4 wheeler back to Alabama. When asked what strength he felt Woody would be bringing to this final cast, Case replied, “He normally strikes for 100 points and usually trees coons. Woody stays by himself most of the time and does not make a lot of mistakes. He is just an honest coon dog.”
When asked how he feels about this last cast, Case shared, “Nervous, but I think I will do my job and hope that he does good.”
When asked if there was anything or any people that he would like to mention before going out tonight, Case replied, “I would like to thank my sponsor Mtn. Dew. I have been running on that the past couple weeks. I would also like to thank those from around the house who have helped me out. I have a lot of supporters with my family and friends that I have made through coon hunting. My favorite part of going to these hunts is getting to see all the friends that I have made. I also want to be sure to thank Jason Hale and Cody Mayne for selling me Woody.”
We want to wish Case and Woody good luck as they get ready to embark on their last round at their first ever Tennessee Youth 4-Wheeler Showdown! They are about to see if beginner’s luck is going to be in their favor tonight!
Jacob Miller
Handling Millertyme’s Jewel Aka Hank
Kentucky youth handler Jacob Miller is feeling pretty sure about his position in the Final Four of tonight’s Tennessee Youth Showdown 4-Wheeler Hunt. He embraces the belief that it is important to not only have faith in the hound that you are handling, but in yourself. Now he is getting ready to go out tonight and give it his all.
Jacob is the son of Jacob Miller and Linsey Smith. He started coon hunting with his dad two years ago and competition hunting not long after that. He shared what it is about all of this that he likes, “I like going to the hunts and meeting new people. I also like watching the dogs learn and get better.”
This is Jacob’s second time to the 4-Wheeler Hunt. When asked how things went for him last year, Jacob stated, “It was not very good. I was hunting a different dog. I wanted to come back this year and try again because I like the environment and the people that run the club.”
Things are definitely better for Jacob on his second trip to Lexington, Tennessee and a big part of that is because of the dog power that he is packing. Jacob is handling Millertyme’s Jewel Aka Hank. He started hunting with her about two years ago after his father bought her. Jacob thinks pretty highly of her and shared why, “She is the best dog that we have. She trees a lot of coons.”
Jacob described how things went for him and Hank on Friday night, “In the early round it went good. She treed a coon. There was one other coon treed, but I had 200 plus on mine. In the late round, we won, but all the dogs treed in a hole. I had first strike and tree and by the time we got to the dogs, the hunt was over.”
Now Jacob and Hank are going to give it all to earn their last, but most important, cast win of this weekend. Jacob talked about what strengths that he feels Hank will be bringing to the Final four, “She gets by herself and she has coon.”
When asked how he feels about heading back out tonight, Jacob responded, “I knew when I was coming up here that I was going to be in the Final Four. I am confident. You have to believe in yourself.”
Jacob is not only self-assured, but he is also grateful. He wanted to mention those and what he is thankful for before heading out, “I want to thank God. I want to thank my dad. I want to thank my cousin Cody for helping me get the dog ready. I want to thank Hunter Threet for giving me a ride down her. I also want to thank myself since I am the one hunting this dog.”
Again, Jacob is definitely not lacking in the self-confidence needed to make the right calls in the woods. He not only feels sure of his skills, but he feels even more confident in his hound’s abilities. Now he is about to see if the two of them can bring it all together to pull off this last and very important cast win needed to bring home the 4-Wheeler!
We want to congratulate all four of these youth handlers that have made it into tonight’s Tennessee Youth Showdown 4-Wheeler Hunt Final Four. There were a lot of good handlers and excellent hounds who gave it their all to try to make it to this spot. However, there are only four who can get to this point right now. More importantly, there is only one of these top handlers who will drive away from Lexington, Tennessee hauling a 4 wheeler behind them on their ride home! Good luck!
Last edited by
Amy Kovac-Thomas on Sat Dec 02, 2023 11:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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