Episoder
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What happens when an active raccoon and bear-hunting houndsman is faced with a debilitating injury at the onset of hunting season? Does he become discouraged to the point of giving up or does he purpose to overcome adversity and forge into the future with a firm resolve?
The subject of our episode this week personifies the latter. Mark Miller of Taylorsville, North Carolina is a houndsman in the prime of life, a guy that approaches hound hunting like a rookie fireman on his first five-alarm run. His determination to take a green pup all the way to the Quadruple Grand level in the coonhound game is evidence of just how hard he goes at it. Unfortunately, Miller finds himself dealing lately with a severe back injury that so far is devoid of a clear long-term prognosis, a situation that would get a lesser man down.
Steve and Mark spend the duration of the podcast talking about Mark’s personal battle, about the hound that the two friends co-own and finally, about a new prospect that Steve hopes will follow in his sire’s footsteps.
Despite the variety of subjects at hand, some with a serious degree of uncertainty, the friends manage to see light at the end of the tunnel in the upcoming Grand American and American Plott Association upcoming at the first of the year. It’s an hour of the “dog talk at its finest” you’ve come to expect in this spot each week. Enjoy.
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In this episode, Steve records with Randy Smith of the famed Lone Pine Kennels in Kittanning, Pennsylvania, renown producers of world class Treeing Walkers Steve recently spent seven nights hunting with Randy. Randy’s son Troy and video and podcast content producer Clayton Stark of Stark Outdoors joined Steve and Randy on some of the hunts.
In what could also be described as “A Trip To The Lone Pine Museum” Steve questions Randy about several of the photos and paintings found hanging in the guest quarters and the answers are a walk through the annals of Lone Pine history.
This episode is the next best thing to driving to western Pennsylvania and hunting with the Lone Pine hounds in person. Enjoy.
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Mangler du episoder?
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Fred Moran, a frequent guest to the Gone To The Dogs podcast, is eighty-seven years old. The remarkable octogenarian coon hunter continues to hunt raccoons regularly with his beloved Redbones at an age well past the point most coon hunters have retired from the game. Not only is Moran still hunting, he continues the pursuit of good hounds wherever they may be found. In this episode he discusses going to Mississippi to try a new hound. This is a vintage Fred Moran conversation that listeners have come to appreciate over the life of this podcast. Enjoy.
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The Gone To The Dogs Podcast is nothing if not a gathering place for the nation’s best known and most revered raccoon hunters.
The week the podcast features a big helping of “Dog Talk At It’s Finest.”Steve brings one of the sports most respected and longest running breeders of Treeing Walker Coonhounds, the renown Jim “Wildman” Meeks to the Gone To The Dogs microphone. Meeks, a first ballot inductee into the North Carolina State Coon Hunters Hall of Fame, is possessed of a wealth of knowledge all areas of the coon hunting game.
This one literally oozes Old School coon hunting from the first drop to the final tree. Steve and Jim discuss a gamut of subjects from hunting gear to pup training and a little of everything in between. With hunting seasons upon us, this one is for the guys that do it simply for the love of the hounds, as told by one of the true purists in our sport.
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Jones describes first-hand what it’s like to see entire towns, bridges and highways swept away with no warning. This frank conversation exposes the insensitivities of those outside the region and the shear hopelessness felt by citizens of the region, many of them hound people themselves.
Jones describes the devastation and recounts the terrible tragedy as a fellow coon and bear hunter on a rescue mission with his boat is swept under a bridge and has not been seen. It’s not the average feel-good episode but it does reveal the importance of living each day as if it is the last.
I felt it important to do this podcast at this particular time if for no other reason than to bring help and comfort to those that are so badly in need. Jones emphasizes the importance of looking to those nearby that may need our help and doing what we can for them first. It’s a sobering episode but one that we all need to hear at this very difficult time.
We would like to thank those who support this podcast. Special thanks to Alpha Dog Nutrition and Double U Hunting Supply for sponsoring this episode. Want to learn more about Alpha Dog Nutrition? Check out the links below
https://www.dusupply.com/alphadog
www.dusupply.com
https://alphadognutrition.com/
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Georgia's Peach State Shootout winner Gregory Mitchell joins his father Greg Mitchell and event founder Caden Riley to discuss Gregory’s recent success in capturing the prestigious year-long coonhound series designed exclusively for youth hunters.
Riley was a guest in June of this year to discuss the event already in progress. Barely out of the youth competition age group himself, Riley is the architect of the event which consisted of eight qualifying events across the State of Georgia with successful cast winners vying for one of the Top Nine spots in the final.
Listeners get the full account of the event from both the management and participant's perspective. This is big league youth hunting at its finest and the listener will realize it from the opening bell until the final tree is scored. Enjoy.
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In this episode we catch up with Casey Maggard of Hyden, Kentucky just three days after the Treeing Walker female owned by his uncle Jack Maggard won the prestigious UKC World Coonhound Championship. WLD NITE CH GRNITECH (2 Little Lacey won four casts without a loss at the championship finals held in Marshall, Illinois one week before this episode airs.
We talk to Casey about his origins with Lacey, how she came to live with the Maggards and how she began her climb to greatness and achieved the ultimate by winning the most prestigious coonhound world championship in the competitive coon hunting sport We talk about her breeding, her hunting style and most importantly, Casey takes us along with his play by play account of her ascent at Marshall from round one all the final important seconds of the World Championship final cast.
If competition is your game, if you like staying on the cutting edge of that game, and if you are possessed of a genuine interest in what it takes to succeed at the game, this one’s for you.
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Gone To The Dogs with Shininger and Cable
Monday, September 23, 2024
When the Autumn Oaks interviews suffered a hit by unexpected electronic foes, the onsite conversation with Plott aficionado Bill Shininger and youth handler/hunter Hannah Cable had to be rescheduled after the event. What would seem to be a disappointment, lacking the on-site flavor of the crowd at Oaks, the interview turned out to be an easy-listening episode that listeners are sure to appreciate.
Shininger is no newcomer to the podcast while Cable is a first-timer. The exchange runs the gamut of all things Plott dogs. Shininger is a breeder and fancier that has hitched his kennel’s star to a standout stud dog named Lazarus, winner of the trifecta for Plotts with three-in-a-row victories at the prestigious Plott Days event hosted annually by the National Plott Hound Association.
The name Cable is legendary in the coonhound world through the exploits of Hannah’s older brother Kevin, handler and promoter of the famed Big Money-line of Treeing Walker dogs. Kevin’s seventeen-year-old sister Hannah has also earned considerable acclaim but with her Plott dogs. Showing and sometimes hunting Gambler, her first Plott and Joe, brother to Shininger’s stud dog Lazarus, Hannah has compiled a long list of wins, largely in Bench Show competition but not all.
Shininger and Cable appear in this episode because of their demonstrated willingness to give back to the sport they love. Shininger’s efforts in encouraging hunters to preserve their hounds through frozen semen and Cable’s efforts to encourage and help other youth to excel in the hound sport she loves make them both worthy of your time. The inspiration and encouragement they bring is infectious.
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Steve’s guest is Tennessean T. L. Jones. Many of Jones’ friends know him as Tracey. Tracey is a third-generation houndsman and bear hunter. He is also an ordained Baptist minister and a newly-published author. He appears as our guest in this episode because he is a great speaker and an altogether interesting fellow on many subjects. Tracey has written a unique book titled The Old Men. Born in 1970 in East Tennessee, much of his boyhood was spent in the company of old men, farming, hunting, fishing and as he puts it, “loafering” in the Appalachian Mountains. Jones’ book consists of eighty-four essays representing conversations with the old men of his experience that help boys become men. Steve and Tracey are longtime friends. They share a love for the Plott Hound and much of the conversation in this episode centers upon their experiences with the special old houndsmen in their lives. For Steve, it’s the many years he hunted with his dad. For Jones, the experiences with his dad and his grandfather continue to inspire his pastoral work and his writing. Each attribute their attitudes and accomplishments to the good sense to listen to the old men. Whether you are young or old, you are bound to find something to enjoy in this unique episode.
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In this his final episode, at least for now, Corey joins Steve in recalling their memories of coon hunting in Michigan. Each served on the staff of Michigan-based United Kennel Club, albeit some ten years distant in times served, and they share, in this episode, many memories of hunting one of the very best states for coon hunting in the nation.
As summer winds down, what better way to usher in fall than stories of hunts under a harvest moon with corn shocks rustling and hound voices echoing across the fields, swamps and woodlots of Pure Michigan?
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Jamie Estep is the busiest man in the coon hunting game. He's a sharp guy with boundless energy and a winsome personality. Not only is he a Field Representative for United Kennel Club, he serves as an official interpreter of UKC rules, anchors the annual YouTube broadcast of the UKC Tournament of Champions, is President of the West Virginia State Coon Hunter’s Association, the president of his local coon club, the principal of a Christian school and serves as a full-time pastor of his local church. Recently Estep was the overseer of a very successful West Virginia Championship which he and Steve discuss at length in this episode.
Being from the State of West Virginia, Jamie and Steve have a lot of common memories of hunts and hunters of the Mountain State. This one presents Dog Talk At Its Finest, Appalachian style It's a good one.
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The conversation moves to the topic of the Autumn Oaks shows. Currens is an octogenarian that was a hard hunter but remains very active by showing his Treeing Walkers in major competition.
We talk about the judges UKC has selected for “The Event Where History Is Made” and talk about Lee’s experiences having judged the event three times.
The “Dog Talk At Its Finest” mantra is well-supported in this episode as two veterans discuss many facets of the coonhound sport by way of their many years of experience, Steve as the manager and Lee as a major competitor. This one provides an enjoyable look at one of the nation’s most important coonhound events
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The boys engage in the usual “dog talk at its finest” in the opening minutes of the episode before cracking the lid on a can of mayhem and confusion centered on the age old “just who gives you the right” challenge. Triggered somewhat by comments on recent social media, Corey opens a discussion about who gets to decide what quality is in a given breed of hounds? And, beyond that, who has the authority to call the shots when it comes to breeding quality dogs? Does simply owning a great dog make the owner the be-all, end-all authority on the breed? Opinions in this episode are flying like starlings in the wind, the opinions no more authoritative than the flapping of wings yet no less passionate.
This is a lively discussion that’s bound to stir a reaction or two within every houndsman, color and conformation preferences aside.
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We’re taking about cheating. When Steve was with the registries he dealt with it on a fairly frequent basis. Determined to keep coon hunting in a positive light, he rarely wrote publicly about the subject, choosing to let the system deal with perpetrators behind the scenes. Now, unburdened by what was before, he and Corey spotlight the pencil crooks, the blind voters, the dog pitchers and catchers, and the movers and switchers in a sport that was built, and owes its very survival to the premise that honor belongs to whom honor is due.
You’ll enjoy this eye-opening look at the sport behind the scenes and, believe it or not, may come away feeling better about it in the process. There’s no substitute, no better remedy, for correcting the ills of dishonesty in competition than a good working knowledge of the rules of the game by all participants. The problems and solutions of keeping a level field are all here in this episode. We not only see the elephant in this episode, we skin it out and tack its hide to the wall.
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Steve and Corey touch on track dogs and tree climbers in this episode from the front porch on a dog day afternoon. Steve has some pretty serious views on the subject of climbing trees when training hounds and offers a strong admonishment to those tempted to apply the method to their training regimen in a single word, don’t!
Whether your drink of choice is sweet tea or a mint julep, pour a tall one and enjoy an hour or so with us, rocking to the Summertime blues
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Wes and Steve have known and have made many hunts with Heath over several years. It was on a Freedom Hunter’s Adventure with Heath that Steve and Wes became well-acquainted. This week the two come together to discuss some “Hyatt-style Adventures” that adequately spill the beans on the professional trainer. Woodyard credits Heath with bringing him into the hound sport and when he asked for the opportunity to give credit where credit is due on a podcast, Steve was glad to comply. The episode illustrates the importance of mentoring new hunters into the sport.
This is a feel-good episode that just goes to show that while bringing someone into the sport isn’t always easy, it can pay big dividends. Woodyard, formed in the Hyatt mold, is an extreme hound hunter that never shirks the hard stuff when it comes to hunting and harvesting black bears. Every hunting party needs one like Wes. You’ll enjoy this one.
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Hot weather is abundant and so are summertime tales in this episode. Recent exploits of the boys Plott dogs as well as the announcement of the upcoming nuptials of Corey’s female Goldie to Bill Shininger’s stud dog are front and center. The talk moves to the latest accomplishments of Steve and Mark Miller’s Plott Fever in field and water events and progresses to the realm of deep-thinking about how to decide when and to which stud to breed with an admonition to owners of females “not to wait too long.”
With Autumn Oaks less than two months away, the boys share some of their favorite humorous stories from experiences at “The Event Where History Is Made.”
This one is jam-packed with good information concerning how to improve club membership, explores the dangers of a once-common practice of climbing trees and culminates with a very interesting conversation on the importance of track dogs in the sport. The boys discuss the all-important question “which is more important, the track dog or the tree dog?” If you don’t listen to anything else this week, check out this portion of the podcast. It’s good stuff!
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Co-host Corey Gruver and Steve have been addressing various aspects of treeing in reference to coonhounds in previous episodes. In this podcast, Whatley joins in a discussion based on exploring the many aspects of trail or track dogs in our sport.
Whatley, in his competition days was well-known for following some mighty-good Bluetick hounds and Steve is not hesitant to explore with the man that fed them, the attributes of those dogs in regard to whether or not they could be identified as good track dogs. All the aspects of what it means to be recognized as a “track dog” are explored in this episode. Dex is very knowledgeable, can be extremely humorous and speaks with an accent and with the demeanor of one that is definitely Lone Star to the bone. Enjoy.
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Desiring to do something to stimulate activity and participation in coon hunting among Georgia’s youth, Riley approached Professional Kennel Club’s National Youth Director Chris Freiberger for ideas. The result is the Peach State Shootout series of qualifying events held throughout the summer that will advance the overall winners to a championship to be held in the fall.
This episode spotlights coon hunting from the perspective of a young man that totally enjoys and totally gets it. You are going to be energized by the demeanor and knowledge of a young man possessed of ways of thinking usually reserved for hunters much older than he. If you love the sport and I know you do, you are going to especially enjoy it from the perspective of Caden Riley.
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In this episode Steve picked up the phone on the chance that he talk with his longtime friend and was lucky enough to catch Moran before he headed to the woods. The conversation that ensued was vintage Moran with stories of hounds and hunts of the past, humorous antic dotes and amazingly detailed trips down memory lane that winds through virtually every states when raccoons are pursued with hounds..
As listeners will see, Moran’s mind is a sharp as a double-bladed axe fresh off the grinder permitting the vintage coon hunter to hone his stories, including names and places, to a fine razor’s edge. If you are a Moran fan, and we know you are, you’ll really enjoy this episode.
- Se mer
