Phit Wins 2012 PKC Pup Shoot-Out

See 2012 PKC Pup Shoot-Out Interviews and Final Four Play By Play below.





Amy Kovac-Thomas is currently interviewing the nervously excited Final Four contestants and they will be available to post shortly. At 5:00 PM CST we will have a photo session with the dogs and handlers in front of the Grand Prize, a 2012 Chevrolet 4 Door 4 X 4.

The Judge making the calls tonight will be Clay Young of Adamsville, TN, with assistance of Back-Up Judge Brad Durham of Athens, AL.

The three panel members going to the woods include; Tommy McQueen, Jackie Newton, Doug Compton.  Wesley Willard will be guiding the cast just inside the levee.

Drake Roberson will join the cast in the woods and relay the Play By Play back to Jerry Moll to share with you on the PKC Home Page. Hope you enjoy!

Here are the Final Four contestants as they appear on the scorecard:
Back row (L-R): Purina's Larry Walters, Brad Durham, Wesley Willard, Clay Young, Doug Compton, Tommy McQueen, Jackie Newton, Drake Roberson and Mark Hall.

Front row (L-R): Eric Piatt-Phit, Bradley Beaver-Chamber, Jerry Farmer-Woody and Justin White-Blaze.


CH Hissy Phit
Treeing Walker Female
DOB: 07/02/2009
Owned by Jeff Barnes of Lyerly, Georgia
Handled by Eric Piatt of Winchester, Ohio
Eric's lifetime earnings: $63,519.28
Phit's Lifetime Earnings: $3,621.74
Phit's Sire: PCH Boogar Hollow Mojo
Phit's Dam: Stylish Phret

The only female in this Final Four, Hissy Phitt may seem like the underdog, but this little gyp off of Mojo and Phrett has already proven that she is a winner. Having a seasoned handler like Eric Piatt, who has already been in a Final Four hunt off for a truck, behind her definitely helps. 

Eric Piatt has been coon hunting since he was old enough to tag along with his dad Greg. He started PKC hunting when he was fifteen years old. Since then he has won the Super Stakes with Wiggles, placed third in the Nationals with Jar, been in the Semi-Finals of the World hunt and in the Semi-Finals of  the Super Stakes with Molly.

Jeff Barnes has also been coon hunting since he was old enough to go along with his granddad Roy Cavin. Jeff got into competition seriously in 1995. Jeff and Eric would cross paths with one another through one seasoned PKC hunter Carlton Sonny Reynolds. The two started working as a team in 2006 with a dog named Wiggles who brought them closer together through her success. Wiggles would also bring them to this spot in the Final Four just a couple years ago and was the main reason they found Hissy Phitt. "Hissy Phitt was bought as a replacement for Wiggles. 

When Wiggles was getting to where she was finishing up with the Super Stakes, we started looking for a replacement. It took us two years to find the right dog. Jarvis and Matt Marchant had pups so we called them. From what they described, we felt she would suit us for what we wanted. Hissy Phitt was about twenty months when we bought her. Eric had to put her in a hunt to win a $100 on her so she could hunt in her first Super Stakes."

From that point on Hissy Phitt proved that she was indeed a good replacement and the two men are grateful that Jarvis and Matt let them buy her. "Hissy Phitt made the semi-finals of the one year old Spring Super stakes. She finished sixth in the state of Georgia last year. She is in the top five of Mojo pups for the Spring Sire Division and also in the top five of the Breeder's Division for Phrett. She was second in the Mojo Madness last year and placed fourth in this year's UKC World Hunt. 

Jeff Barnes told Eric Piatt the Thursday before the Truck Hunt started that he was going to be going up against some tough competition. "Even though it feels tough every year, this is one of the toughest fields of pups that I have seen in a long time."

Eric and Phitt squeaked through the early round with 25 plus points. "In that first round, we took some minus. Hissy Phitt came up short on trees. She had a den and two slicks in that first hour. Even though I was leading the cast, I thought after the first hour that it was done and we wouldn’t be moving on. Then we called timeout and one dog got out-of-pocket and got scratched. The other dogs that were in the cast had not really treed a good tree by themselves. Then Hissy Phitt went on and treed two singles in that second hour. That is what pushed us ahead for the cast win."

In the late round, Hissy Phitt went up against two of her siblings and won her cast with 400 plus points. When asked how he felt going against other Mojo pups, Eric said, "In all reality, that late round was on a bigger level, but it was not any different than when we are hunting against each other around home. We all live and hunt in the same area so we are used to drawing out against each other. It was just another cast."

When asked what strengths Hissy Phitt is bringing to this Final Four, Eric said, "She is very competitive. She gets her mouth open and is an excellent strike dog. She is a first tree dog with company, but looks to get to be by herself . You expect to see a coon when you get to her."

When asked if there was a particular dog in the Final Round that they were going to be watching for, Eric said, "There is no one dog that I will be watching for – I will be keeping an eye out on all three of them." Jeff added, "All of them earned the right to be here."

In the end, Eric Piatt and Jeff Barnes know that they are lucky to have been here at all. "We really appreciate Richie Foster and Travis Tate for being honest about their dog coming in heat, so we could have the chance to be here. We were just back ups. Doug Compton told us that this is how he got in and then went on to win his truck." Jeff was grateful that Eric has taken that chance to get her to this point. Now it is time to see if Eric is able to bring home the truck on his return trip to the Final Four.

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SCH Wipeout Hell Chamber
Treeing Walker Male
DOB: 04/07/2008
Owned by Bradley Beaver and Gary Thompson Franklinville, North Carolina
Handled by Bradley Beaver of Asheboro, North Carolina
Bradley's lifetime earnings: $13,160.16
Chamber's Lifetime Earnings: $9,126.27
Chamber's Sire: PCH Wipeout Hellbilly
Chamber's Dam: Fergy's Stylish Kasey

Wipeout Hell Chamber has entered the Final Four with the most consistent scores from the two previous rounds. Now it is time for Bradley Beaver and Gary Thompson to see if their Wipeout hound is going to hold tight to his average and have them driving a truck home to North Carolina.

Wipeout Hell Chamber is a three year old Walker off of Wipeout Hell Billy and Wipeout Casey. "Casey is a full littermate to Clover. I had gotten a pup off of Wipeout Moose from Mike Ferguson that got hit by a car. I went back to Mike for another Wipeout pup. We've had Chamber since he was eight weeks old." 

Both Bradley and Gary have been involved with coon hunting since they were young boys. Bradley comes from a long line of coon hunters. "I think it was bred into me." Gary started hunting with a friend of the family. Both men have been involved with the competitive side of the sport since they were in their early teens.

Even though the two attended the same school and knew of each other, it wouldn't be until they met up in the woods one night that they would really get to know each other. That would be the beginning of their friendship and eventually partnership in coon hounds.  Even though the two started in UKC, they quickly grew out of it. Brad was the first of the two to venture out into PKC.  "It is more professional and a higher caliber of dogs." Once Brad started, Gary also tried it and liked what he saw. "I liked the fairness and the better grade of dogs."

Getting Wipeout Hell Chamber has been a valuable addition to their PKC coon hunting venture. Brad shared Chambers progress since getting him. "Chamber would tree a coon tail from the time he was a little pup. When he was about eight months old, he started in the woods.

To this point, he won the North Carolina Jamboree last year, which is what earned him this truck ticket. Then he placed in the Top 16 of the North Carolina State Race and the Walker Breed. Chamber is qualified for about everything he could qualify for. Our next goal after this is Pro Hunts and the big events."

When Brad and Gary showed up to the casino, they also brought with them David Foster. David is the 'promoter' of this group and said "I'll be talking to you later at that Final Four interview." I told him to be careful about talking 'smack', but when he came in with David and Gary for this interview, he said, "I was not talking smack, I was just speaking the truth."

Things are looking good for Bradley and Chamber as they head out tonight for the last round.  They won the early round with 350 plus and then went on the win the late round with a comparable score of 325 plus. They had the best average of scores out of the Final Four. It will be time to see if that consistency pays off.

When asked what strengths Chamber is bringing to this last go round, Brad said, "Chamber is a good strike dog. He likes to be by himself and he is accurate." Then when asked which dog they saw as their biggest threat, Brad replied, "All three of them. They are all nice dogs."

In the end though, Brad and Gary have one main goal. "We want to win it for the Wipeout Line and continue their truck wins."

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SCH Boogar Hollow Woody
Treeing Walker Male
DOB: 05/07/2008
Owned by Allen Chenoweth of Grafton, West Virginia
Handled by Jerry Farmer of Dayton, Ohio
Jerry's lifetime earnings: $34,993.05
Woody's Lifetime Earnings: $5,400.40
Woody's Sire: PCH Boogar Hollow Mojo
Woody's Dam: River Rockin Tack

The popularity of Mojo pups was the motivator for Allen Chenoweth to get one and see just how it would turn out. After reading an ad on the internet by Donnie Ray Payton and Robert Raxter, Allen decided to go ahead and give it a go. That was when he bought thirteen month old Boogar Hollow Woody, off of Boogar Hollow Mojo and River Rockin' Tack, out of Rat Attack.

When asked what it was that appealed to him at first about the young dog, Allen said, "Looks!" Woody looked even better after he started treeing coons for Allen. The problem that Allen had with Woody when it came to competing him had nothing to do with the dog, it had to do with Allen's hearing. He needed someone to handle the three year old Walker at this event. 

Jerry Farmer had handled dogs for Allen before and he knew that Jerry was getting ready to start PKC hunting again. When asked why he decided to put Woody with Jerry, Allen once again said, "Looks!" Jerry Farmer is a big boy and does not look like a handler that someone would start any issues with. He sent Woody to Jerry just a few months before this event. 

Jerry Farmer lives in Ohio and started coon hunting with his father Jerry Farmer Senior. He started competition hunting in 1989 after a friend of his asked him to go to a competition hunt one night. "I placed eighth that night and was hooked ever since." After that Jerry went on to win the AKC World hunt, UKC Winter Classic, PKC Spring Classic and place second in Super Stakes.  

After a 'break' from PKC hunting, Jerry's time away was lifted this February 13th and he has come back to the circuit with a bang. "I had plenty of time to practice." Allen's lack of hearing has definitely been made up by Jerry's good hearing. His wife, Paggie who rode with him to the casino added, "Jerry really does have good hearing." Jerry agreed that being able to hear well and figuring out which dog is his has been an asset of his.

That was a strength that he would need on the early round Friday, "We had big issues with those strong winds and the dogs getting split. They would get out of hearing and then we would have to call time to round them up. Woody had a coon treed during that time out." Woody walked away from the early round by winning with 75 minus. It got better for them in the late round. "The wind died down quite a bit. Woody treed two coons and then took minus on one. After that, we treed a few den trees."Woody walked away by winning that round with 225 plus points."

When asked what strengths Woody was bringing to the Final Four, Jerry said, "Consistency. Woody is very independent and accurate." When asked which dog he felt would be the one to watch for, Jerry said, "Hissy Phitt. She is a good one and Eric is a good handler." When asked if he felt any pressure to bring home the truck for the Mojo supporters, Jerry answered, "No. I have learned over the years that the dogs are going to do what they are going to do and people tend to forget about the luck factor that plays into it."

Now the time has come for Allen Chenoweth to see if his hound and his handler will have the talent, luck and looks needed to grace the cover of Prohound and start the beginning of Mojo pups winning trucks.

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SCH Wipeout Blaze
Treeing Walker Male
DOB: 09/19/2008
Owned and handled by Justin White of Sterrett, Alabama
Justin's lifetime earnings: $5,434.79
Blaze's Lifetime Earnings: $9,011.17
Blaze's Sire: PCH Wipeout Zeb Again
Blaze's Dam: CH Georgia Cyclone

Justin White was supposed to make the trip to Mississippi with his wife Aubrey, but the storms that ravaged the South especially his home state of Alabama kept her at home with their children. With the worry of what was going on back home with his family, Justin White managed to keep his head and advance to this Final Four of the truck hunt.  He also would add the second Wipeout Hound to this hunt off of Mojo versus Wipeout pups. 

Justin has been coon hunting since he was a kid and went out with his grandfather Marcel White. He got into the competition side of the sport in the late 90's. When asked why, he replied, "That is what you do when you hunt isn't it?"

Since competing, Justin has experienced the thrill of the win when he won the Breeder's Showcase two years ago. He also made some connections in his competing that would bring him to where he is tonight with Wipeout Blaze off of Wipeout Zeb Again and Georgia Cyclone. "This is the same litter that produced American Express, Mercy, plus two others that passed away Wall Street and Zone." 

Justin heard about Blaze through James Paynter. "James is a good friend of mine and knew I was looking for a good dog. James always knows where there is a good one. He told me that Jack Maggard had one. I got to talking to Jack and we worked it out for me to buy Blaze." When asked what he thought of him when he went to hunt him, Justin said, "I just bought him over the phone. When you talk to the right people and ask the right questions, they will steer you in the right direction."

When he finally did take Blaze to the woods, his trust in others paid off and he was happy with what he saw. "Blaze was just a big hunting dog that gets by himself and trees coon." Justin felt that those traits would be the strengths that he would bring to this Final Four. He has brought those to the woods to have success in the hunts before now. "Blaze has won a lot of open Finals. Jamie Paynter got him in the Breeder's Showcase several nights, Blazed also placed in Texas, the Michigan Madness, and the Labor Day Classic. I think they got his truck ticket won in Georgia last year."

Justin had consistent scores with Blaze in his rounds before this one. In the early round, he won with 200 plus. "The early round went good. Our judge Moody did a good job. We went to woods about forty minutes from here. The wind was so bad that it made it hard to hear. Blaze got treed and we burned up most of the hunt walking to him. He had a coon on the outside of a huge cedar den. I did not think we were going to see it as we were going into that tree." 

In the late round, Blaze then went on to score 225 plus and beat Karma, one of Mojo's pups. "In the late round, immediately out of the truck, I gave him a 100 minus. I made a bad call with all the wind. Blaze came back strong in that cast and treed two coons to help me get out of the hole."

When asked if there was one dog that he was going to keep an eye on in this last round, Justin replied, "Blaze. I am going to do all that I can to just keep my eye on him." Then when asked if he thought about the Mojo/Wipeout response on the internet about this last round, Justin said, "I think that have been a few more trucks on one side than the other, but I can say that it is going to be a tough hunt with a good cast. There are four good guys and four good dogs in this and it will be a good competition."

The main lucky break that Justin is happy for has nothing to do with this hunt, it has to do with his family back home, "We were fortunate that nothing bad happened with the weather" Now is it time for Blaze to make his own 'good' news for the state Alabama? We are about to find out!

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The dogs have been cast about 7:20 CST.
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Phit struck for 100, Chamber 75, Woody 50 and Blaze for 25.
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Cast is tighting up
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Dogs are getting deep, cast is working hard to keep up.
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Phit treed for 100, two working off and on.  Phit minused 100-, off trailing
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Dogs still getting deeper.  Phit treed back in for 100
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Two working
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Two broke, Blaze and Woody trailing around the area of Phit,  Chamber is left handed
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Tree is dead with Phit being lonely
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Woody and Phit are handled at her tree.  Blaze is treed through the country for 100 and minused 100-.
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Circle up Phit (200) and delete Woody's 50 strike
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Woody and Phit are recast, Both are re-struck for 25.
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Woody and Phit are going right handed, Chamber and Blaze are left
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Woody and Phit are getting through the world, Chamber is trailing close, Blaze has been quiet
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Phit treed for 100.  Her tree is dead and the cast is headin' that-a-way
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Plus up Phit 125+ and recast her toward the others
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Re-strike Phit for a quarter
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Tree her for 100 after the stationary rule was working for just a bit.
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Phit's tree is dead and the cast is headin' toward her.
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Plus Phit up once again for 125+
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Recast Phit, tree Woody for 100 and Blaze for 75 THROUGH THE WORLD.
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Re-strike Phit for a quarter with a line.
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Woody and Blaze's tree is dead, going that way.  They have a LONG way to go and some water to walk around.  Time to take a bathroom break and get you a refreshment. 
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Phit is barking "treed" again around the same area that she treed her first coon.  The stationary rule cannot be applied at this point as the cast is walking away toward Woody and Blaze.
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The cast arrived at the tree, but Woody was not present, minus him 100-.  Plus up Blaze 100+, this puts him back to zero.
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Blaze is recast,  scores stand: Phit: 150+, 25 open Chamber: 75 open Woody: 100-, 25 open Blaze: 0
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Blaze is restruck for 25.
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Stationary rule is now working on Phit.
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About 20 minutes to go.
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Could be a GAME CHANGER.  Chamber is treed for 100 through the country.  The stationary is broke on Phit.
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Eric followed suite, Phit now treed for 100
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Chamber's tree is dead
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Phit's tree is closed
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Ten minutes remaining
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Blaze is split treed for 100
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Three minutes remaining in the cast.
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Tree Woody for 100 as the hunt expires
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These trees will tell the story. 
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No placements are locked up
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Plus up Chamber and delete Woody (he was handled at Chamber's dead tree). Chamber's Final Score: 175+ Woody's Final Score: 100- Going to score Blaze and Phit in that order
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Plus up Blaze, his Final Score is: 125+
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Finally at Phit's tree...
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CH Hissy Phit wins the truck.  Plus her up!
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First Place CH Hissy Phit with 275+
Second place is SCH Wipeout Hell Chamber with 175+
Third place is SCH Wipeout Blaze with 125+
Fourth place is SCH Boogar Hollow Woody with 100-

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Congratulations to all!!
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