World Championship - Wednesday Report

As this report is being filed, the masses of coon hunters that have jammed the Tennis Center all day have gone to the timbers in a 50- mile radius of Aurora. It’s do-or-die night in the pursuit of the illusive double cast win, a necessary component in fulfilling the dream of owning a PKC World Champion coonhound. The enormity of the win, the $30,000 check and the title, have hunters drooling at the prospects of taking the bounty home come Saturday night. Now the nightly vigil begins with owners waiting on the return of their handlers or perhaps families awaiting Dad to return with good news of a cast having been won on the road to glory.

We’ve had a great hunt thus far and no doubt, with the last night of qualifying for the semi’s underway we will have questions for the panels to decide. Watching panels at work is just one of the fascinating aspects of the World Hunt. PKC hunters believe a jury of their peers to be more to their liking than to cast their fate upon the judgement of a single individual as in the case of trophy hunts.

I had the pleasure of hunting in a cast at Clinton on Wednesday night. Thunderstorms and high winds whipped through Aurora at dark, once again plunging the Tennis Center into darkness for a time. The storm had already blown through Clinton before I arrived, courtesy of Danny VanMeter who shared the luxury of his new quad cab Ford. Ride sharing is a common activity at Aurora. When I arrived at the club at 6:30, the casts were promptly called and I met with our judge and guide, along with cast members Jeff Stallard of Ohio, Landon Dodd of Texas, and Curt Ahring of Missouri. I enjoyed this cast in somewhat of an abstract way. I lost it by 25 and have thought a lot about it since then. I know I made a judgement error and I know of one that my dog made but I did take satisfaction in seeing her split tree and have her coon in such illustrious company. These guys were packing some fine hounds.

Before the night was over two hounds would be scratched on the one hour after time was called. Brandon would fall in a creek, getting soaked from head to toe and making the decision to abandon the race back to the meeting spot. Curt would experience the ultimate bummer when a new light failed leaving him in the dark with a dog to catch. Stallard would find his hound and race across several acres of west Kentucky real estate to make it back with 4 seconds to spare! He and I would ultimately end up riding on the dog box back to the club and arrive chilled to the bone. But the chicken and dumplings waiting there soon warmed our innards. Stallard would occupy the spot in the late round that Dodd, Ahring, and I wanted but that’s the way the game goes. All dogs were safely recovered and another winner was added to the list of hounds hunting in the late round. The point is, whatever can happen in a Night Hunt cast will, and it pays to be prepared to take the bitter with the sweet. For the following hunters, two cast wins on Wednesday night was sweet indeed:

Slugger
Frank Johnson, owner
Gary Miller, handler

Power Booster
Reynolds/Taft, owners
Dennis Taft, handler

Jeff Davis
Green/Murphy, owners
Carl Murphy, handler

Rosie
Irvin Sutton, owner
Stanley Nichols, handler

Cody
Bates/Bullis/Wilson, owners
Scott E. Bates, handler

Sally
Kevin Poss, owner/handler

SCH Kaskaskia RVR Cooner
Yvonne McKinnon, owner
Randy Fowler, handler

SCH White Trash
Jody Schlosser, owner/handler

Hardwood Crook
Richard Ray, owner/handler

Sackett III
Shawn Gourley, owner/handler

CH Gator
Edward Geary, owner
Phillip Conway, handler

CH M&P Lay Up Sandy
McKinnon/Pratt, owner
Timmy Pratt, handler

Rock River Doc
Harold Hopkins, owner
Mike Tramble, handler

Kiddy’s Wipeout Ruby
Barry Kiddy, owner/handler

Bull
Charles W. Parsley, owner
Jeff Stallard, handler

Dina
Cody Swink, owner
John Granberry, handler

Doc
Jerry Gardner,owner/handler

Dano
Chan/Swink, owners
Johnny Swink, handler

CH Stem Winder
Coomer/Smith/Vogel, owners
Jack D. Coomer, handler

Set’um Up Charm
Dewayne Matlock, owner/handler

CH Bellar’s George W.
Russ Bellar, owner
Bryan Whitted, handler

CH M/F’s Wipeout Kate
McQueen/Ferguson,owners
Mike Ferguson, handler

We congratulate the winners on Wednesday night. Those of us who are still trying are envious but none the less proud of their accomplishments. We wish them well.

Watch this spot for more winners from Thursday.

PKC - On Thursday Night, "IN" Is Where You Want to Be!