2020 PKC Senior Dog Showdown Final Four Interviews!

The dogs, owners and handlers listed herein have won a prestigious PKC Truck Hunt in the years indicated.

Moderators: R D Carnegie, Kristi Denney, Jerry Moll, Shane Patton, Chris Freiberger

Jerry Moll
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2020 PKC Senior Dog Showdown Final Four Interviews!

Postby Jerry Moll » Sat Feb 01, 2020 5:42 pm

By PKC National Youth Director; Amy Thomas.

The weekend started off with 64 dogs trying to win the brand new pick-up truck from Earl Floyd Ford in Carrollton, Kentucky! Now only four dogs are left at the Senior Dog Showdown co-sponsored by Purina, PKC, and the Isle of Capri Casino. While others are excited to see who wins big at the Super Bowl this weekend, PKC coon hunters are waiting to see how things transpire tonight and which of our hound/handler teams will be heading home from Lula, Mississippi in their new truck. As we wait for them to get their pictures taken, load up to head to the woods, and unleash their hounds at the start of the clock, let’s take a moment to learn about them, their hounds, and how things have gone for them so far!

County Line Big
Owned and handled by Floyd Quire


For Floyd Quire coon hunting is something that he believes should be started when young and continued on. He began hunting with his grandfather when he was four years old and then as he entered his teen years, he ventured into competition hunting. He has hunted in all the major registries and been successful. Now Floyd is looking at winning a truck by making it into the Final Four of the Senior Dog Showdown with a hound that he took from a young pup and continued on with. Working with County Line Big from start to finish has made this weekend at the Isle of Capri a very special one for Floyd.

Though Floyd began competition coon hunting in his adolescence, when he entered adulthood and started his own family with his wife Christy, he took some time off. However, once their children got a little older, Floyd wanted to get back into the sport. That is when he began his search for the right hound. Floyd talked about how he came to own Big, “I began to look at dogs that were reproducing. That was when I called Kevin Cable about Big Money. Kevin told me about Michael Lester who had crossed his Kit Kat female onto Big Money. I called Michael and my wife and kids went with me and picked Big out. I have done all the raising up, training and hunting on him with the support of my family.”

Floyd talked about what it is about the now four year old Big that he likes, “Big has a lot of heart and drive. He is an honest strike dog and coon treer. When he opens up he finishes the track. Big does not make a lot of trees, but when you go to them he has coons. One of the things that I feel makes him special is how he can tree lay ups. The tougher the coon the better he looks.”

Some of the successes that Floyd and Big have had up to this point include making Big an AKC and UKC Nite Champion along with being a Silver Champion in PKC and getting qualified for this event and the Nationals. Floyd and Big also made it into the Top 5 of the Kentucky State Hunt last year. It was in February of 2019 that Big earned Floyd his first truck ticket which brought them to the Isle of Capri Casino this weekend. Floyd talked about how they achieved this, “This is my first time to the Truck Hunt and it has always been a lifelong goal of mine. It all started when my friend Timmy Lanham got off work and called to tell me that Clarksville, Indiana was having a double header. I went there and we doubled up. That gave me a good jump. Then the following weekend Cross Plains, Indiana had another double header and we doubled up again. Then I started hitting $30 hunts around house and stuck with it. Everything just fell into place.”

On their early round, Big and Floyd drew out with Ringtail Liquor handled by Tracy Thompson, Slow Talking Captain Hook handled by Will Byrd, and Spavinaw Creek Insane Emmy handled by Lane Denny. There were no big scores on that round in the end and Big won with a goose egg on the score card. It was the golden goose egg though because of what had transpired to get it there. His score of zero moved him and Floyd onto the late round. Floyd described how that round went for Big, “I ended up with zero. I took 150 minus on a slick. I also ended up treeing when I should not have. Then the little dog treed two coons to get us back to zero. Big treed again at the end of the hunt, but I did not have to tree in, so let time run out. He had another one there when I went to get him.”

With the competition whittled down, Big and Floyd found themselves making it into the Semi-Finals. Though this alone was a big accomplishment after the early glitches that Floyd had experienced on the early round. The important thing was that he and Big recovered from them, but there was still one more round to try to make it through. This time Big and Floyd found themselves heading out with Wipeout Tebow handled by James Robinson, Taylor Run Jammin Jaz handled by Tyler Dixon, and Stanley’s Wipeout Dozer handled by Eric Stanley. Again, Big’s score was not reflective of his name, but his 25 plus points were all it took to get him into the Final Four and staying one more night at the Isle of Capri Casino to see what Saturday would hold. Floyd described Big’s performance on the late round, “Right out of box, we cut loose and Big got treed. It was a den and I took 75 circle points on it. I did not like the way he sounded when he got treed there, so I had hung back on calling him. After that tree, the dogs got into a wide open bottom field of mud from where water got up. It had a bunch of cypresses in it. Another one of the dogs treed there and it was circled. Then after that Big treed again and the others backed him. As we headed to them there was some ruckus and Big left out. Things had calmed by the time we got there. After that Jaz treed and had a circle. The others got scratched. When we got off Jaz’s tree, the six went on Big and we went out to the bottom to listen for him. When we heard him, Jaz was turned loose. With about fifteen minutes left in the hunt, I treed him. We walked the hunt out going to him. Big had two coons up a big oak.”

Now the time has come for Floyd and Big to see if they are going to be able to win a truck on this first trip to Lula, Mississippi. When asked what he hopes Big will bring to this Final Four, Floyd said, “That he brings his main game and tree coons like he has. It is still just a win, but I just hope he shows everyone what he is all about.”

Being in this moment has given Floyd a lot to be thankful for and he wanted to share some of his gratitude, “Of course, I want to thank our good God above as he looks over all of us as we travel to and from this event. I want to thank my grandfather Roger Kuhn for getting me into the sport. I am very thankful for my wife Christy and my children for always being there for me on all those long nights. I want to say thanks to PKC and all they do for hosting these hunts and making it all possible. I have to mention Austin Gregory for riding here with me and being my support. I appreciate all my friends that have shown their support. I also want to give a big thanks to Kevin Cable for breeding Big Money and putting me onto this pup!”

Big is no longer a pup, but Floyd is very proud that all the time and effort that he has put into him over these past four years has turned into a nice “pay out” at the Isle of Capri. Now he is about to see just how much he walks away with in his pocket from the casino or better yet, what he will be driving away in if all goes well on the Final Four! PKC wants to congratulate Floyd and Big on making it to the big moment tonight!



Pleasure Dog
Pearrow/Pearrow
Owned by Pearrow/Pearrow
Handled by Landon Pearrow


Our youngest handler on tonight’s Final Four is Landon Pearrow. Though Landon is still part of the PKC Youth Program, this young man has the experience of those much older under his belt when it comes to competition coon hunting. Landon has grown up in the sport with his dad Johnny and is now this young man is looking at driving home a brand new truck from the Isle of Capri Casino! Not too bad for someone who is not even old enough to put a quarter in a slot machine!

The hound that has advanced Landon to this point is six year old Pleasure Dog. Pleasure is out of Mojo and Wicked Table Dancer. Landon has owned him for about a year and a half now. However, Landon had handled Pleasure prior to that. Landon talked about how he came to own Pleasure, “I had hunted Pleasure for about six months for a guy before he sold him to another guy in Texas. I bought him from the guy that he had been sold to.”

Landon has owned and handled his own dogs and handled many for others. He has followed behind enough hounds to know a good one when he sees it and he saw what he wanted in Pleasure. When asked what it is about Pleasure that he likes, Landon said, “He is consistent and finds a way to win.”

Some of the wins that Pleasure has on his PKC resume include getting in at the World, winning the State Race, winning several Legacy hunts, and getting a Pro Classic win. It was last February that Pleasure earned his truck ticket. Landon talked about how they achieved that accomplishment that has them looking at the Final Four tonight, “I did not really run, but then we went to the Winter Classic. Mr. Eddie Simmons hunted Pleasure for us and got into the Final Four on Thursday. I hunted him on Friday and Pleasure got in the Final Four again. We hunted it off and got first place. After that I went to a couple hunts and got lucky and won.”

Last year, Landon had gotten into the Top Sixteen of the Truck Hunt, but that had been his best placement at this event up to now. Things were close at the end for Landon and Pleasure’s first cast of the night, but things went in their favor. On their early round, Pleasure Dog and Landon found themselves heading to the woods accompanied by Queen being handled by Kennard Little, Homebrew Blue Bo Diddly handled by Chance Irving, and Spotted Eagle handled by Cody Mayne. Pleasure would win that cast with 150 circle points. Landon shared how Pleasure performed that round, “When we turned loose, we did not hear a dog for about 20 minutes. Then Eagle struck in for 100 points, Queen for 75 points, and then Pleasure for 50 points. Eagle treed, but took minus. Pleasure treed and we went to him. It was a circle. Eagle treed at the end of the hunt for 200 points and if we found the coon he would have won, but we did not see it.”

Pleasure Dog’s advancement into the Semi-Finals sure made him appear to be more of the competition dog type than his name might imply! He and Landon were getting ready to see just what the next round would hold for them after such a tense ending to their first. The two were one cast away from the Final Four as was their competition for the late round. This time Pleasure Dog and Landon drew out against Main Street Blue handled by Trevor Hack, NCH Posted Land Bone handled by Rick Marshall, and Mojo’s Big Jed handled by Ki Roberts. Pleasure Dog and Landon would end up with 150 written on the score card again, but this time it would be in the plus column! Landon described how Pleasure Dog did on this late round, “We turned loose and Jed struck in, then Blue, and then Pleasure for 50 points. Pleasure went behind us. Bone treed in for 125 points and he had a coon. As we were walking back, the other two dogs treed, but Blue left. Jed had a circle tree. Blue treed again and had a circle. Pleasure fell treed and that ended the hunt because we had to walk way around the river to get to him. He had a coon.”

Landon and Pleasure Dog are now getting ready to head out on the Final Four. Landon shared what he hopes that Pleasure will be bringing to this last and very important cast of the weekend, “I just hope he does what he does and stays by himself and trees coons.”

When asked if there were any people that he wanted to thank, Landon had some very important ones. He shared, “I want to thank my mom and dad for all their support. I also want to thank Mr. Eddie for all he does.”

Landon’s parents and Mr. Eddie’s support helped Landon have the opportunity to earn a chance to compete at the Isle of Capri Casino this weekend with Pleasure Dog. It does not matter if one is young or old, being one cast win away from winning a new truck is a pretty exciting moment and not one that happens every day. Landon is just ‘lucky’ to be getting his shot at this at such a young age! PKC wants to congratulate him on his successes with Pleasure this weekend and making it to the Final Four!



Dark Side of Skuna River
Owned by Smith/Smith
Handled by Jason Smith


For Jason Smith, making it to this Final Four has been an experience that he truly considers “lucky”! It is common knowledge that to win big you have to bring a good dog to the hunt that has the potential for winning, but you also have to hope that all the needed pieces fall into place. That is exactly what happened last night for Jason Smith and his six year old female Dark Side of Skuna River.

Jason has been competition hunting for twenty-four years now. He can be described as a hunter who can win big in any registry and River has helped him achieve that status. The two of them have won Autumn Oaks, the Indiana State Hunt, and a Gold Champion degree. It is with great pride that Jason can say that he was the one behind River’s creation.

Jason bred his female Maniac’s Dark Side of the Moon to Skuna River Fred Bear also known as Hank. This was a very reproducing pairing and Jason made it twice with great success. River was a product of this breeding program. Jason talked about what it is that he really likes about River and why she has been so successful for him, “River has consistency. She always gives you a chance to win and to be in the hunts. She does not miss and is very accurate.”

However, River would not have had quite the chance to show off her abilities if Jason had not met up with Duell Murphy. With three kids that are active in sports, Jason and his wife Lindsay find themselves very busy and getting around to hunts is not something that is easy for Jason at this time in his life. Luckily, he knew Duell and considered him not only a talented dog handler, but also a trustworthy person. Jason approached Duell to see if he was interested in partnering up and the two have been working together since. Jason shared, “Not all partnerships work, but this one has!”

One time of year that does work out well for Jason to be able to get to competition hunts is the month of May. For the last two years, Jason has earned River’s truck ticket that month. He talked about this, “I have won almost $1000 the past two years in May. It makes it easier because we have the PKC Black and Tan Days and Tri-State Jamboree which both are an hour away. These two events draw big numbers of dogs and I have gotten lucky to get in Final Fours of them.”

Jason and his Dark Side of Skuna River cashed in on that May Truck Ticket and made their way down to the Isle of Capri Casino for this year’s Senior Dog Showdown. For their first go round of the night, River and Jason drew out with The “Wicked” Vapor handled by Tony Smith, Jekyll and Hyde handled by Dewayne Matlock, and Git Ready II handled by Josh Thornhill. This would also be an early round with low scores. However, River’s 25 plus points earned her the win and a ticket into the late round. Jason described how this round went for River, “I made a bad call early and treed her when she was not. She does not like to be around other dogs and another dog came in and I was trying to get in for higher point. I took a gamble. We all basically just started out with minus. Then River got in deep and treed a coon. She did have an insurance coon at the end, but I did not have to tree her because another dog was in a hole.”

Dark Side of Skuna River and Jason were now in the Semi-Finals. Though named after the Skuna River, this female was finding her trip to hunt along the Mississippi River to be a fortunate one for her! This time for the late round they would be in the company of Moss Hill Smoke Ring handled by Joe Manning Jr., Trackmans Late Nite Tripp handled by Bobby Brown, and Sauer Trax handled by Luke Boles. The hounds and handlers had changed for this round, but River’s final score of 25 plus did not. Once again that score earned them the cast win and their spot in the Final Four tonight! Jason talked about how River performed on this late round, “She treed a circle tree. I made another bad call right off bat trying not to get beat on points at a tree. Two of the dogs did not have any minus on our cast. Then River got lucky again and treed a coon. Three of the dogs were treed at the end with the chance to win it if they had a coon, but they did not. I just got lucky.”

Now Jason is looking at a 1 in 4 chance of winning a new truck. With this Final Four looming ahead, Jason talked about what it is that he hopes River will bring to this final round, “I hope she actually looks like she can look. She is not a dog that makes a lot of trees, but I hope she gets off by herself and gets some coons. I am hoping for two coons and all the dogs splitting.”

With the clock counting down on what the evening will actually bring, Jason wanted to take this chance to express his gratitude to those who have helped him and River get to this point, “I want to thank Duell Murphy of course. He is my coach and he tells me what I am doing wrong more than my wife. I want to thank my wife Lindsay and my kids. They give up a lot so I can do what I love. I want to thank Jeff Maggard for teaching me everything I know about coon hunting. I also want to thank Coon Hunting supply and Razor Lights for backing us and being best sponsors I could have. Last but not least, I want to give a shout out to the Fulton County Coon Hunters.”

So far, River has edged her way into the winning position on her casts. It does not take a big score to take it all home. Jason is just hoping that lady luck continues to be on their side as they leave the casino and head off to the woods tonight! Good luck with your next step towards bringing home the truck!



Hillbilly Knot
Owned by Roberson/Standridge
Handled by Brent Roberson


Brent Roberson has been coon hunting on and off for the past thirty years and he has a long history in PKC. Over these three decades, he placed sixth in the World in 1999 with his Hillbilly Honcho. He won the Arkansas State Leader in 2002 and State hunt in 2003 with Lady. He placed second in the 2004 Babystakes and second in the 2005 Futurity. Brent also had Angel who he got into the Semi-Final of the Super Stakes. He has placed and won in Pro Hunts and gotten into the Semi-Finals of the World. He even has history with the truck hunt. Though this is his first time hunting in it, Brent had a dog in it when it was still called the Handler Hunt around 2000-2001. He has also been at the event two or three times judging.

Now Brent is in the limelight himself by making it into tonight’s Final Four with five year old Hillbilly Knot. Knot is out of Fail Me Knot and Hardwood Sophie. Brent has owned Knot for the past two years after buying him from Scotty Burrow and Kyle Baker. Brent talked about how he came to own him, “I drew out with Knot at a couple local hunts and he had looked really good. Knot’s time in the Super Stakes was up and Scotty and Kyle usually sell them after that point, so I got him bought.”

Drawing out with a hound several times is a pretty good way to figure out if they are one that you would like to have in your pen. Brent knew exactly what he had in Knot and he shared what it is that made him want to own him, “Knot is just a pleasure to hunt and a pretty solid dog. He is good about having his coons.”

Knot’s ability has not gone unnoticed by others after Brent bought him. In fact, Jared Standridge came in on as a partner with Knot. Brent discussed how this came to be, “Jared has coon hunted off and on his whole life, but got into competition hunting this past year. My son was handling for him. Jared got with me because he wanted to get in on Knot, so we worked out a deal on him.

Brent talked about Knot’s accomplishments that reflect why he and Jared were so interested in a hound of his ability, “In 2018, Knot got into the Semi-Finals of the PKC World. Then in January of 2019, Knot got second at the Lone Star Pro Classic. In March, he got in both nights at the Deep Fork classic and we split both nights. Then in April, Knot got into the Final Four at the Chaching Classic. He recently got second at the Black Eye Ped Pro Classic.”

It was in October of 2018 that Knot earned his truck ticket by qualifying with the $30 open hunts. That ticket is what has added to the history that Brent has with this event that though the name has changed, the nature of the game as stayed the same with trying to be the handler and hound team to win a new truck.

Hillbilly Knot would start off Friday evening with a very nice score of 250 plus. Knot and Brent drew out for that early round with Rdg Top Stylish Cannonball handled by Aaron Clayton, Musclemans Nellie handled by Scott Engle, and Stylish Slide handled by Jeffery Waugh. Brent talked about how Knot performed on that first cast of the night, “He looked pretty good. He treed two coons and had 25 and 100 on the two of them.”

When it comes to the previous scores of tonight’s Final Four, Hillbilly Knot had consistently put some big scores down on his score card for both the early round, but mainly on his late round. Brent and Knot would find themselves heading back out Friday night in the company of Pickin Up Styxx handled by Chris Simmons, Gracie Express handled by Chad Doolin, and Meet Joe Black handled by Jeremy Michaelis. Hillbilly Knot would find himself battling it out with Gracie Express for the win. Both hounds ended the evening with 500 plus, but Hillbilly Knot would emerge as the winner thanks to his placement on the first coon of the night. Brent described Hillbilly Knot’s pressure filled late round cast, “The whole cast scored on six coons. Right off the bat, Knot and Gracie treed on coon. He had 75 and 100 on that and she had 100 and 75 on it. The Black dog treed a coon for 50 and 100. Styxx was with us on our tree for 25 and 25. Afterwards, Gracie made a den and then treed a coon for 200 points. Then Knot treed a coon for 200 points. The Black dog had a circle. Then Knot treed for 25 and 100 and Gracie treed for 25 and 100 points. In the end that first tree made all the difference.”

Hillbilly Knot had a good showing on both casts Friday night and it has now come down to this very last round to see how he ends up for the weekend. Brent chuckled as he talked about what he hopes Knot will bring to this Final Four, “I hope he has as many coons that it takes to win it! No really, his strength is that he is pretty accurate and is just a solid dog.”

It has been quite the weekend already for Brent and as he finds himself in such a prestigious position, he wanted to be sure to express his gratitude, “First off, I want to thank our Lord for allowing us all to do this. Of course, I want to thank my wife Bailee for letting me do what I do. I also want to thank my son Riley for helping me hunt Knot when I cannot. I want to thank my partner Jared Standridge for the support he has shown throughout the year. I also want to say thanks to all my close hunting buddies. I would like to thank PKC, their staff, judges, and guides. I also want to thank Dog and Hunt Supply and Big Show Game Calls for their support.”

The PKC Truck Hunt has evolved over the years that Brent Roberson has been a part of the registry. He owned a dog that was hunted in it when it was the Handler Hunt, he has been a judge for it, and now he is one of the handlers hoping to leave the Isle of Capri in a brand new truck if everything works out for him and Knot in tonight’s Final Four. No matter how it turns out, tonight is another memory of success that Brent has with competition coon hunting in PKC. Good luck tonight as you head out on the last and most important cast of the weekend!


~ Amy

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