Bear hunting with hounds in the rugged southern Appalachians requires a special level of toughness and dedication. Hounds and hunters are tested to the limits of strength and endurance by the rugged terrain. Hunters here not only revel in joys of the successful hunt, they also deal with the heartbreak of losing a prized and best-loved hound to the perils of the chase.

In this episode Chris and Steve visit with Virginia houndsman Randy Fielder, co-host Steve Fielder’s brother and son of West Virginia Bear Hunter’s Hall of Fame member and renown Plott breeder Homon Fielder. Perhaps lesser known than his brother and dad, Randy is no less the experienced houndsman, having owned and followed hounds on the chase for many years.

In this segment, Randy talks about coon and bear hunts with his brother and his dad and pulls back the curtain to reveal the family’s mountain world of coons, black bears and the hounds they use to catch them. Randy’s memories of hunts with standout members of the Bear Pen pack are the stuff of which great hound stories are made. This segment climaxes with his heart-rending account of the loss of a great bear hound that was killed in action in its prime.