On Wednesday night, March 21, 2018, the Top 20 Hounds, Sires, Dams and Kennels, from 2017 were recognized at the Master’s Leaderboard & Field Trial awards banquet held at United Methodist Church in Manning, SC. Approximately 100 hunters and family members attended the event. The banquet was catered by Manning restaurant, owned and operated by Brandi Wheeler. The food and comradeship was outstanding to say the least.

In reality, no one can plan or guarantee their destination to finish in the top spot in any given sport. Individuals who finish on top do it because of their preparation, their hard work, the lessons learned from failures and their drive to be successful. Competitors thrive on attention and “true” houndsmen embrace everything a field trial competition has to offer. The greatest competitors tend to be the best performers; the ones who look at the biggest moments as opportunities; the ones who welcome pressure; the ones who thrive on attention.

The leaderboard awards for 2017 totaled over $26,000 in cash and prizes from the leaderboard fund, and our 5 sponsors, The Hunter’s Horn Magazine, Pride Feeds, Mid-South Showtime Feeds, Specialty Feeds and Johnson Telemetry. In 2017, a total of 339,318 points were tabulated from 174 trials. These 339,318 points represented 1,438 hounds, 579 sires, 972 dams and 588 kennels. As you can see, finishing in the top 20 in the country is one tremendous accomplishment and everyone should be exceptionally proud. In reality, just finishing within the Top 20 put you in the Top 1.4% of hounds, top 2% of dams and top 3% of sires and kennels in the entire USA and Canada.

This year’s winners for each of the 4 categories were:
HOY – Forty Creek Spot, owned by Forty Creek Kennels, NC
SOY - Whisenant’s Jimmy B, B&B Kennels, VA
DOY – B&B’s Pearl, B&B Kennels, VA
KOY – B&B Kennels, VA

Congratulations to everyone from the leaderboard committee:

Clif Parker
Kelly Parker
Terry Walker
Mike Carr
Brandon Whisenant
Larry “Bird” Saucier
David Futch
Kelly Parker
Chris Graham
Shane Painter

The following reflects the final Top 20 standings as calculated per the leaderboard rules. The Top 150 will be posted within a few days and will be sent into the Hunters Horn magazine for printing in the next issue.

2017 Hound of the Year

Forty Creek Spot 2329.5
Ray's Dixie 2208
P&J's Dallas 1735
McMillan's Brownlee 1724.5
B&B's Lil Pearl 1553
P&J's Roach 1534
Clark's Money Maker 1503.5
B&B's Nancy 1489.5
Hoehner's Earl Ray 1435
Copeland's Mojo 1425
Rowdy Allen 1365
McMillan's Pharoah 1363.5
B&B's Katie 1348
MK's Roxy 1299
Copeland's Emma Jean 1250
Opie's Spot Rock 1195
Lil Biloxi's Tan Man 1187
McMillan's Big Man 1171
Dean's Flame M. 1160
Town Creek's Rock On 1143

2017 Sire of the Year (Best 12 Trials)

Whisenant's Jimmy B. 12887
McMillan's Little D 7574.5
D&S Mighty Man 5248
MK's Moe 4668.5
Buckshot's Hardrock 4408
Ray's Ace 4174
Bond's Wheeler 3589
Jason's Rampage 3543
White Lightning Ray 3466
V.B.'s J Bird's Big Eddie M. 3428
Fatboy's John Deere 3410
Fras. Bros. Business Man 3268
Cox's Raj 2949
J.W.'s Busey Boy 2730
Thompson's Yellow Jacket 2714.5
Lakehill's Millionaire 2627.5
Pinedale Swiper B. 2596
BBK Rondo 2590
High Cotton Rowdy 2519.5
Jet Pilot Ray 2487

2017 Dam of the Year (Best 12 Trials)

B&B's Pearl 3550.5
Atkin's Lucy 2971
High Cotton Martina 2589.5
Opie's Kitty 2354
Bond's Rita 2346
Quick Catch Spitfire 2305.5
Patterson's Mindy 2230
Patterson's Jenny 2229
Howard's Dis Is Peggy 2155
W.T.'s Trixie 2020
Harrison's Oreo 2008
Gator Creek Lilly II 1990
White G. Allen 1925
Valentine's Sandy 1851
J&L's Miley "C" 1733
Kennedy's Reba A. 1720
Round Mtn. Venus 1714
Bobby's Miss Cotton 1603
Whisenant's Jaguar B. 1566
BBK's DB's Wildfire 1530

2017 Kennel of the Year (Best 12 Trials per registered Kennels in 2017 KOY)

B&B Kennels 10548.5
Ronnie McMillan 7620.5
South MS Boyz 6669
Copeland Kennels 4833.5
Strictly Mafia Kennels 4785.5
Triple "B" Kennels 4655
Bukskin Creek Kennels 4551
Evil Empire Kennels 4162
Power Drive Kennels 3847
W.T. Davenport 3700
J.W. Webb & Clyde Ely 3604
Lakehill's Kennels 3604
Fras. Bros. Kennels 3531.5
Dog Pile Kennels 3453
Opie Kennels 3377
Forty Creek Kennels 3143.5
Top Flite Kennels 3057.5
Hoehner Boys Kennels 2834
SWS Kennels 2627.5
Stock Reload Kennels 2581.5

Congratulations to my many friends who are at the top of the game. Your hard work paid off in these Awards. I want to congratulate my good friend Ray Castine on his fantastic hound Forty Creek Spot. Ray is the model of what we need in fox hunting. Thanks for all you do friend keep up the good work and wish you all the luck with Spot and the many more great hound you will probably have whipping us with.