I can't answer the question above however, I just read it and thought to myself how I wish Big Kyle and I had been there for that hunt.

I don't know how we would have faired against the competition that you spoke of, but in my mind I wish I could see Big Kyle standing there holding Cadilliac, Fudge and Reese Cup, and in my hands, Hi-Ball Stride, Lil Mama's Shadow Dee, and True Grit Ziploc B.

Now, we might have gotten whipped, but man what a memory would have today to have been at the above mentioned hunt.

True Grit up and Lord Bless you all during this weekend would be my prayer,

True Grit,
Jonathan Blakeley

Now all you youngsters there is thought worth thinking---The '77 All American was my first, George Gill was the President---Hampy's Calloway Tammy won wearing #91---I came home after the third day, fed cows and dogs and pups and carried my hunting partner Jr. Brewer back with me for the last days running---About 10:00 that morning we drove up on a couple of hounds having breakfast on a pile of dead chickens---Sure as heck, #91 was the first one we saw---

The next year was the great '78 All American---The best outside hunt I ever attended---#44 Calloway Scout owned by Porky Landua won scoring a total of 1065 points---#122 Moody's Duke owned by Calhoun Perkins was second---I really liked this hound---His ole mommy was directly by Fourche River Rambler---He went to Virginia and did not prove to be a worthy sire---

Super Joe Collins won in '79 with Super Joe's Goldie---Super Joe got so excited waiting on the scores that he drove to Center to wash his truck---I think Goldie wore the #179---

The All American along with the Texas Open and Texas State and the Heart of East Texas were all run on these great running grounds---

One more trivia bit, Bud Davis snapped Powder Puff Guinea D. to my stake out chain when he bred her to Don Richey's stud dog Streaker Haggin---Bud was nice to me, he let me buy a pup for $2,000.00---I wonder what W-Way Bud would have cost if I had charged Preacher Davis to use my chain---

Come on boys lets bring it back to life---

Great thoughts Steve, thanks. I have enjoyed some really great running in the Boles Field pen both in field trialing and just Fri nite running. It is a very challenging pen and takes a tough hound to handle it. I know Troy and David and CD and the rest are certainly giving it a good shot. Hopefully we will still be able to make some more great memories there.

Steve there is never any better reading than this hunters such as you and Fred and the rest are very lucky and blessed to be at them great hunts with that caliber of hounds reading that story reminds me of sitting at Scott hoehners and listening to stories of hounds that him his father and john have had that are in much of our pedigrees today hell I think Scott said bandy even had a couple ....lol but I wish they still had them great stories in the horn.and I can't wait to attend a hunt at Texas.

My dad and Porky are still good friends to this day. I've heard stories about field trials and races that could only be imagined by us pen hunters. I've heard by several accounts that the 4th day performance of Callaway Scout at the '78 All American was quite possibly the most dominating day ever seen. I'm not sure what his exact score was, but It was unheard of at outside hunts at that time. All of that was before my time so I just have to take the word of the older hunters.

David we were sitting on the Hwy where they had cut through a hill, the coyote was crossing right by a small group of us, go out of hearing and come back. This was the last day. In that race was Scout, he was pounding him everybreath, Archie, a dog called Flying Red, a gyp called little fern,{Olen Meisenhemier} owned her, she could fly and a Trigg dog that belonged to a Black Guy. That was a picture perfect show case of a race for a great field trial.
Scout had that heavy chop mouth and when he came over the side of that hill through the pasture he was laying the hammer down and calling them on.
At that same spot I was leaning against a truck, and on the hood I watched a check being written for 12,000 dollars for White Cloud. I will never forget him saying, I don't want to sell him, but I have a son to put through college.
I was a young man then and thought if you weren't born a fox hunter, you just missed out on the best of life, heck I still think like that, but alot of my friends today are so young, wonder what that means

Steve, the black guy was John Curtis(?) and the trigg dog was Tuck. Is that correct?

I was born in 1980 and my dad quit hunting in 82 or 83. We started back around 93 on the outside with some locals here. All it took was one good red fox race for me and the rest is history. It's been in my head and my heart ever since.

I remember my dad telling he was judging horse back at the 1978 All American.And on the last day he said he made a crossing at the Old Strong School and Scout was dominating a pack of hounds when he crossed the road he said the race didnt get out of hearing and it ended.He Said he could hear another race going on toward what we call the Arch Taylor Hill and took off on his horse has hard has he could ride and its proably a good 5 miles around the road but not the way a crow flys and i remember him telling when he made the crossing at the Bysiepe bridge Scout was calling on the pack he said that was the most dominating performance of any hound he had ever seen the last day of 1978 All American.

david it could well have been, the Trigg Dog was a good hound.

Porky and Bear Cat, Hinkel Shillings, Randy Bonner.

First time I ever met Skinny was at the All American, thats when he was a Hippy though

Got to know Ron Sheridan from there, were some good times.

I ended getting to know those guys later on in life. Porky still hunts and has some good hounds. He is loaded with his old bloodlines last I talked to him. He lives around Brenham and has his own pen. I got to know Bearkat while working at a feed store in Center. He'd come in and harrass everybody. he was a Character. He passed away 2-3 years ago If I remember right. Mr. Hinkle passed away a while back. His mind was real sharp still.

Steve, next time I'm around you ask me to tell you the story of him announcing the Texas State on the local radio station.

Attended the All-American at Huxleys, in 1981, I think. Jack Coldiron from Virginia won it with a very good gyp.
Four of us drove down from Canada, stopping at Waco Kentucky to watch George Hill's hounds run red fox on his home grounds.
We spent three or four days in Benton, Arkansas running one day with Don Richey and another with Gary Westbrook.
We accompanied the two of them and Jim Raper to Huxley's Bay for the All-American. The first morning we turned loose four-hundred-and-some hounds on the outside. It was an unbelievable sight after our small Northern trials.
Some of the hunters I can remember, off the top of my head were Mose Hill, Marvin O'Dell, Sonny Boy Nicholls Jr., Art and Toby Spurlock, Porky Landua, the Willeys brothers, Bill Austin and many others.
Ron Sheridan and Dave Lawson had driven down from Canada, making a half-dozen Canucks a long way from home.
Bobby Hatcher was there with several Guinea hounds out of the old Streaker Haggin hound that was back home in Steve Watts' kennels. He had been bred and trained by Ron Sheridan and owned by Don Richey at one time.
In addition to the trial, we got to visit the home of legendary Texas hound breeder, Hinkel Shillings and spend some time in Nagodoches, the oldest town in Texas, with sheriff and hunter John Lightfoot, who was a friend of Don Richey's.
It was pretty heady stuff for a young Canadian hunter who'd only been trialing two or three years.
I can still remember those horse judges thundering through the pines down those red dirt roads and the pen-quality running every day long before there were pens.
There were coyotes all over the place and very few deer. It was heaven-on-earth for a houndsman.
The final day, they turned loose the top scoring 35 hounds. I'd carried a Streaker male that had been high scoring hound on the third day of the 1980 New York State trial, but this was a little bigger fish fry. He finished the three days but didn't qualify for the final.
We did place one of our hounds, a Prairie Haggin male, sixth or seventh HGA. The highlight of the last day was a 15-hound race that I believe is still the absolute best coyote running I've ever heard. We got to witness Mr. Coldiron's gyp do a tremendous piece of work at one crossing, saving that race and were extremely glad to see such a fine hound win such a great trial.
I'll quit before I write a book, but I almost could. Unforgettable place and trial.

Never made many big hunts but the best hunt I ever attended was the Miss/La hunt at Norwood La.in I thing 1968 or 69.Mr. David Hellums was there and won first and second in derby with Top Job and Clyde Hellums. We were third in derby.Derby ran three days then. Henry Corcoran won the All Age in impressive fashon winning hunting trailing Speed and Drive and endurance. This female was named Sheree's Dream and was by Fourche River Rambler. We caught 13 red fox the second day and this was on the outside.This female went to the All American in Feb of the next year and led it for three days scoring all across the board all three days with large speed and drive score and had lit it up the fourth day and was caught well after call off driving hard but had been scratched for loafing at around 6:30.She was bought for a very large price by J.R.Porch of Scottsboro Alabama at the end of the hunt.The winner of this hunt was a hound called Carrie Tatum.

Hey Steve skinny was a hippy lol wait til the next hunt and I see you guys ?????lol

.

AWSOME READING!!!!

Sure wish I could have had the priviledge to have been around some of that "history"!!
GREAT POSTS!!

And Ducote must really be a whole lot older than he looks, to have been around back then!!

I know Eric is old...but he has a pretty dang good memory!!

ALLAN BISHOP
(JABBER JAW)

PS: MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Allan, At my stage, 30 years ago comes in fairly clear. Yesterday is a friggin' blur.

Allan, I still have a pretty fair memory, like a good friend's dog box flying out his truck, and the Chief had to restore order

Merry Christmas

Before the unfortunate incident at Little Big Horn, Sitting Bull was said to have a vision of blue-coated soldiers falling from the sky into the Lakota camp.
Do you think maybe, Whitey's 'vision' of Walker dogs falling from the sky was a premonition of the carnage he's been creating the last few years.

Eric all I have been able to vision for the last couple weeks is them 2 Black-n-Tan walker dogs taking 3 yrs to circle that Fawn! Good Story
Merry Christmas to all

Whitey, Merry Christmas to you and Brenda. The Big Valley, that part of Missouri and the hospitality you guys showed Ted and I are other memories I'll treasure for a long time.
p.s. They were black and tan coon hounds, NOT Walkers.

A very merry Xmas to all from the West Rideau Kennel

I can remember Bill Austin headed out for Texas to that All American bringing back the most red mud on a truck i ever saw.We had several hunts at the NC State just like those in Texas. Gas was pretty cheap but, we didn't use any. I can remember pulling up near Nebo church and never cranking my truck for 5 hours as the races never got out of sight. The 1983 NC State was the best i ever went to. Jimmy's Sam B won. Then he went on to win the Georgia State. I guess having hunted in that era is the reason i find it hard to go to a pen trial. Feels like i'm in jail hanging on the wire for 5 hours wishing i could be standing beside the road watching the crossing.

Barry, It rained hard the second or third day. Those red dirt roads were great when they were dry but real gumbo when it rained.
Bill Austin was one of the most colorful in a cast of colorful characters.
If we had a place like Huxleys Bay, I'd never want to go to a pen trial, either. However, I'd rather have wall to wall running on coyotes or fox than the alternatives most outside hunts today offer.

great story, about those old hunts cant remember if my dad attended any all americans in texas. but i do know that jack coldiron gyp could fly,she could move anything she ran,fox and deer.so iam not suprised about the coyote was the first for her.she was a litter mate to l&w rook jr mother.man i am like hilton on this one outside hunts were you could tell what your hounds was doing.litle nellie s. was the gyps name.

Malcolm, The Coldiron gyp was in a pack of hounds the last day, where it seemed like ALL of them could fly.
We drove like maniacs to get in front of this race and did, just in time to see the coyote shoot straight across the road.
The first hound in the pack hit the road, took a right turn and tongued hard right up the middle of the road. The next two hounds followed her. The Coldiron gyp was running fourth at that time. She never missed a beat, taking it straight across the road and into the woods. Hounds that had pulled to the babbler began harking to her and the race continued.
To be able to run with that kind of speed and control the line that well took a special hound. We were tickled to see her win the All-American.

i thought i saw her in a pedigree here lately [n page38 semtember chase issue j.m. slammer top side 4th generation bred to hills kelly lawyer. hideaway kelly which was traveling man dam. double cross of her.dean wilder had rook jr he could dominate a race.all night bring him home.he never put him up that evening he would be running a deer on the lake.plus breed two ******* before the race and after. produced pretty good also .red lawson,haskell spires, several had good hounds out of.him.

Had the pleasure of running with Mr. Lynch a few years ago. He was the 'L' in L&W Rook.
We ran in Greystone Pen which got pretty much demolished last year by wind, from one of the hurricanes, I believe.
It was a gorgeous spot, overlooking the Smokey Mts. Mr. Lynch still had some hounds that could get their part and more in a race.
A lot of Rook blood still in Tennessee hounds, as well as many other places.

i hunt with mr lynch 2 times a month going tuesday night . good talking with you i dont know if i met you or not but would like to sometime. oh yeah steve i dont believe i ever seen gerald simmons young