In this episode, Steve travels to Columbus, Georgia, home of the U.S. Army’s Fort Benning to attend the graduation of his granddaughter from the Army Advanced Infantry Training school.  He recounts his visit to the National Infantry Museum and the impact it had as it reminded him that his father completed basic training at Fort Benning in 1939 prior to WWII.  

The account of Steve’s trip to Fort Benning provides a perfect segue into the episode’s purpose, the recognition of all the volunteers that make possible hundreds of events that are enjoyed by so many. 

In the episode, Steve recalls several standout members of the Volunteer Army, many who have gone to their heavenly rewards.  Listeners will recognize many of these standouts but will be reminded that anyone that sweeps the floor, flips the burgers, or manages the paperwork at a club is a soldier in the army and is valuable to the very last woman or man. 

Steve lands the interview with one of his most-highly sought-after guests in this episode.  Al Metcalf of Barnesville, Georgia is a tree dog enthusiast like no other.  His transformation from a 32-year veteran of the Georgia Highway Patrol to what can only be described as the renaissance man of tree dog enthusiasts, Medcalf is a throwback to a time when men hunted for food and the tree dog was essential to their survival.   Medcalf’s mantra “If it climbs, it’s not trash” and his waste-not-want-not attitude toward tree game reveal the soul of a real hunter and woodsman, the kind rarely seen today.  Medcalf hunts a mixed bag of Plotts, Mountain Curs and Plott/Cur crosses, with little concern for popular breeds or bloodlines and proves, when the record button turns red, to be a storyteller par excellence.   You’re going to love this episode.  

This episode finds its roots in a text message in which a listener asks Steve if he’s going to do a podcast on Field Trials and Water races.  Steve’s immediate response is, “I’m going to now.”

Nate Hickson is a brand shiny new tree dog enthusiast, but not at all new to training dogs.  In fact dog training is his vocation, it’s just that his is not the type of training we normally associate with trail and tree dogs.

Nate had lots of questions for the old timer and Steve doesn’t hold back.  The origin of field trails as the precourser to Nite Hunts is a good place to begin the conversations and things sort of accelerate from there.  Citing the UKC’s centenial publication The First 100 Years as a reference source, Steve, who authoring many of the articles in the book, takes Nate, and the listener on a fact-filled journey back to the 1930s in this interesting look at the genesis of hound games and ends by asking the question, will the Field Trails and Water Races be the game of the future.  It’s an interesting question framed in a lot of interesting accounts and rememberances.  Enjoy.

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/

When Steve and his partner in coonhounds Mark Miller made the decision to offer their young Quadruple Grand Champion Bear Pen Fever at stud, a young couple from southeastern North Carolina were the first to book a breeding.   Lucas and Kayleigh Clemmons, both in their 20s decided to take a chance on the unproven stud dog after losing the hound that had intended to use.   The bitch the Clemmons duo wanted to breed was a two-year old Plott female they named Lean Mean Jolene

In this episode Steve talks with the Clemmons’ about the decision, the surprise the litter of twelve provided them and the decision to raise the entire litter in their home.  This is a great conversation for hunters wishing to get their spouses involved in their sport and addresses the advantages to be had and the pitfalls to be avoided.   Lady listeners will particularly enjoy Kayleigh’s perspective on hounds and hunting from a woman’s point of view.

With so many young hunters entering the hound sports today, this episode provides the answer to the age old question, is coon hunting strictly a man’s game. 

Houndsmen and hound women join the hound-hunting sport chiefly for one purpose, to experience the audible thrill of the chase, the proverbial music of the hounds.  Imagine if you will, a consummate hound hunter since youth, loving this sport above all other experiences and facing the real possibility that he will lose his hearing, rendering him no longer able to experience the sport that which he truly loves?

Our guest this week was that hunter.  His story includes his failed attempts to join the military, his early days of competition hunting, his affinity for bluegrass music, his discovery of a hidden talent which he exhibits for our host, and the story of his fear that surgical attempts to save his hearing could leave him totally deaf.   It’s a story of faith, determination,and overcoming seemingly impossible obstacles.

Brad Hall works for jet engine manufacturer Rolls Royce in Indianapolis.  He is launching a new venture in the form of a podcast to bring coon hunters of faith to his microphone to share their stories, all of which center around the sport of raccoon hunting and include testimonies of faith.   Steve takes the opportunity to explore the content Brad plans to bring to his show as the two longtime friends share this common interest.   

Steve met Matthew Huff three years ago on social media.   The hunters shared a love for tree dogs that brought them to a personal meeting at the 2022 Grand American Coon Hunt in South Carolina.
Huff’s story is unique.  It begins in California and moves eastward to Georgia.  The catalyst for his mostly urban coon hunting activities came in the form of a mixed breed, mostly hound, with perhaps a shot of Treeing Walker dog named Sargeant.

As his travels took him across the nation Huff continued to hunt the orphaned Sarge mostly by himself on public grounds and parks until a purebred Bluetick entered the picture.  That’s were we find Huff today, treeing coons with regularity and assuming the more common role of hound and hunter with a traditional coonhound breed.

Mentioning Huff as an urban coon hunter, he now lives in metro Atlanta.  Activities inspired by the Orthodox Christian Church with whom he affiliates, have taken him to the mountains of West Virginia and to the Carolinas helping those in need, something that comes naturally to the humanitarian. 

This is an interesting episode that proves that hounds can lead us in many directions, some of which we may never had expected.  

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Bear hunter Holt Collier, who was the guide for the famous “teddy bear” hunt that earned President Theodore Roosevelt his nickname, can lay claim to taking a sitting president bear hunting.  That’s a distinction similar to that of our guest but not quite.  Our guest Mark Israel of Smithfield, Georgia, took the 39th President of the United States coon hunting and not just once, but several times following the family friend’s term in office.

Steve met Israel during his PKC days and Mark related to our host, several stories of his hunts with the peanut farmer from Plains, Georgia turned governor and ultimately president of the United States, Jimmy Carter.  Carter’s famous farm in Plains sits a mere six miles from the Israel family’s homestead.

Carter served the State of Georgia as its governor from 1971 to 1975 and the nation as president, from 1977 to 1981.  He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his humanitarian work.

This exclusive Gone To The Dogs podcast presents an interesting conversation involving hounds, coon hunting, secret service agents and an inside look at a man that once was the most powerful man in the world.   

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/

https://www.youtube.com/@DoubleUHuntingSupply/podcasts

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/

https://www.youtube.com/@DoubleUHuntingSupply/podcasts

In this episode, Steve talks with five hunters from as many states that came to hunt raccoons with hounds in the White River National Wildlife Refuge in Arkansas this year.   Hunters from the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, South Carolina and Tennessee are included in the conversations.

The episode offers more than three hours of content that collectively describe the hunts and the types of hunting the refuge offered this year.  Perhaps more so than any of the previous fourteen years Steve has hunted the White River Refuge, this year presented many challenges which are discussed in length in the episode.

Whether you take in the full volume of content at one time or carve it into bite-sized pieces to enjoy in coming days, you will enjoy meeting Billy Carter, Robert Cromer, Caleb Griffin, John Staib and Brandon Taylor as they tell their stories in our White River Recap 2004.  

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/

https://www.youtube.com/@DoubleUHuntingSupply/podcasts