TREEING WALKER
NEWS AND VIEWS
PAST AND PRESENT
P. O. BOX 69
GRADYVILLE, PA 19039
Volume I No. 1
I will attempt to write a column about the Treeing Walker Breed maybe from a different perspective. Let me explain.
Years ago I was very involved with the Treeing Walker Breed. I ate, drunk, and slept the pedigrees and the breeding of this breed. I was weaned on this sport at a very young age and had a passion for this Treeing Walker Breed. I got out of the sport unplanned and unexpected. I had a chance to take a job that meant traveling in an area not suited for hounds or hunting. It was only going to be for 6 months, then another 6 months and another. And before I know it I am out of the sport.
If I had known it would turn out the way it did I wouldn't have taken the job. Through the years since I wasn't in areas where I could really have hounds or hunt them I didn't keep up with the sport. Didn't take the magazines or even stay in touch with people I knew. In my way of thinking I guess I thought if I wasn't going to be able to take part in the sport I loved so dearly it would be less painful not to keep up with what was happening in this sport I loved.
Every once in a while I would think I should at least take some of the magazines, but never did because I just felt like it would make me miss it even more. Well a couple of years ago I stopped moving with the job and actually got a place where I would be able to have a hound.
In January of 2008 I decided I would subscribe to the magazines and see what was happening in the world I loved so much. Little did I realize how much I missed the sport until I started getting those magazines again.
Shortly after I started getting the magazines and doing a little research on the Internet I realized if I was now just getting started and didn't know the history behind this sport and breed I could easily have a different understanding of history. With that in mind I have put up some websites where people who are interested in the history of the Treeing Walker Breed can go and research or just walk down memory lane.
More then enough about me for now. What would be some of the surprises a person in a 20-25 year time warp my experience in this sport?
One of my biggest surprises was that the same people were publishing American Cooner and Full Cry. Another was the direction Full Cry had taken. Back in the day American Cooner and Full Cry were THE magazines if you was interested in the sport of coon hunting.
One of the things I will do is comment on some of the changes in my view.
I remember when UKC decided to turn Bloodlines into Coonhound Bloodlines. For a while after this your licensed event had to be advertised in one of the THREE approved publications. After a while when CB's had not taken off as well as the ownership at the time had hoped, they made a very important change.
UKC in it's wisdom decided they would do away with clubs having to advertise in one of the three approved magazines and instead they would list all UKC events in their magazine for free and that would take care of the advertising requirement. Going back through the old magazines for my websites I come across things I haven't thought about and start thinking.
They said one of the reason's was to save clubs money but in looking back and thinking about it I believed I would have preferred the old owner ship to be more honest with their reasoning in my mind. "Our magazine is not catching on as well as we had hoped so by changing the advertising requirements we will be able to hurt our competition and maybe put one or both of them out of business." My thoughts but I wonder how much of that entered the decision.
One reason I am thinking of that now is that I notice the number of entries at UKC events and wonder how much of the low turn out has to do with the way events are advertised or not because of UKC requirements.
I believe clubs could help their turnouts with a small ad on the Cooner for your event. Maybe an ad for all of you UKC events for the year in one ad before your first event. I believe the increased entries will more then pay for the same ad.
From a person who was very involved and then 20 years later seeing it again for the first time I believe American Cooner has to be one of the most important magazines out there for our sport. Where else can all the different type of Kennel Club events be discussed so freely as in American Cooner for the Hound Breed.
Be it ACHA, NKC, AKC, UKC, or PKC you are welcome to report about it in American Cooner. Please consider this when you think about the magazine you should support.
In 1965 a man named John J. Monroe won the hunt that made people and dogs famous. The ACHA World Championship. That win brought the name John Monroe and the Finley River Chief strain of hounds to the attention of the coon hunting world. It was with great delight that I heard John had again won the ACHA World Championship and that he also handled the dog in winning this hunt 44 years later.
Thank about it guys, that is quite a feat. Have talked to John quite a few times and people are keeping him busy sending him congrats on the win and also hunting with Buck Creek Ike. I am running Ike's pedigree out and it is good to see that John won the hunt again that goes back to Finley River Chief so many times. Ike also goes back to Monroe's Finley River Joe a few times. I am sure John is proud of that fact.
I remember going up to John's place years ago when he was studding ole Joe. It was a night we shouldn't have even been in the woods. Cold, windy, snowing some and just not a good night. John insisted we take Joe out and after two coons treed I insisted we go back to the house. That was one of the things I always like about John, he would take you hunting with his stud dog.
Talked to Junior Lasseter the other day. He is working on a breeding program going back to his dad and his stock of hounds. Table Rock Flying Hawk was one of the finest looking hounds of his day. He was a grandson of Nelson's Butch. Hawk's grandmother was a half sister to Finley River Chief being out of Bixler's Supreme Sally. Junior has a litter of pups on the ground that he has a lot of hope for. They sure look nice from the pictures I have seen of them.
I hope to have a picture of a dog from the past in these columns. The one this month is Finley River Trap. A nice female that was bred by Robert Starke and sold to Thomas Wilbers. Tom and Bob both are proud of what Trap produced as well they should be. She produced many fine hounds. One of them being Finley River Zoom that John Monroe use to advertise at stud. Bob and Tom both are still raising these good blooded hounds.
GRAND CHAMPION FINLEY RIVER TRAP
The mother of many fine hounds!
Just got my Cooner today. Great job by Amy Kovac-Thomas on an article about John Monroe. Well done Amy.
I have rambled on enough this month.
Any old pictures or comments welcomed.
Breeding Today For Hounds Of Tomorrow
Don
TREEING WALKER
NEWS AND VIEWS
PAST AND PRESENT
P. O. BOX 69
GRADYVILLE, PA 19039
Volume I No. 2
After being out of the sport for so long, it had also been that long since I had read the rules. I was lucky enough to get a female that went back to my dogs 21 times. As I was looking for shows within a reasonable driving distance to start showing my puppy, I thought I would just crack out the UKC Rules for Bench Shows.
The show I was going to try and show her in she would have just turned 5 months old. Too my suprise in UKC you can no longer show a pup until they are 6 months of age. As I was going through some old magazines to try and get caught back up I noticed these two pups.
HONEY BEE a Grand Show Champion
at 4 months and 14 days of age.
CODY BOY a Grand Show Champion
at 5 months and 4 days of age.
Now I had good luck with pups years ago but this is still hard for me to wrap my mind around. If anyone could have a pup to do it, one of these guys would sure be one of them. Just the time frame, even if you are in a lot of areas where their might be a lof of Friday and Saturday Bench Shows seems amazing. You have to make a Champion and then show in the Champion shows. This is not making a Champion at 4 and 5 months of age but a Grand Champion.
I guess it was a little after this that the age restriction was put on the bench show. I don't know the politics behind it but can only imagine some people got their nose bent out of shape by getting beat by pups.
After I read the Current rules I thought the way it read I couldn't show my pup at under 6 months of age. Got a hold of Todd at UKC just to make sure and glad I did. Can you imagine driving a pretty good ways to show and when you try to enter your dog learn the dog is too young?
Raymond Lasseter Jr. had some bad news. Junior is line breeding back to his Hawk dog and had a litter of pups he really had high hopes for. Here is what Junior said happened.
"It is a sad day at Table Rock Kennel,
I got home from work last evening,our youngest grand daughter was waiting on me at the door as she is every evening to go ,as she says it "food the pups".
When we got to the pen my pick female from "RUBY and LUGER" was dead. They had gotten the cord pulled inside the dog house from the fixture for the heat light that I fixed for winter pups, all except the plug. She got over the cord then turned around and she twisted it so tight around her flank it stoped her circulation.
Freek accident but it hurts like crazy to lose her.
She was in my opinion the best pup I have raised since "MUNDO JR." was a pup. I wish all of you could have seen her, It would have done your heart good.
" Table Rock 10 Carot" you will be missed!!!!!
I think Junior may still have a pup or two out of this litter he is going to let go.
Junior can be contacted at jlasseter@netzero.net
Heard from Roger Wilson. Roger was good enough to get me some information on the ACHA Hunts and Shows. Roger is also one of the directors of ACHA and is working hard for the Association. He has a litter of pups he is excited about seeing what they will do.
Go back more on their pedigree and you will find a lot of Finley River Blood.
Roger can be contacted at progolfer26@yahoo.com
***************Cook's Speed
*************Brookshier's Uncle Lee
***************Brookshier's Backwater Kate
**********Brookshier's Finley River Driver
***************Bark Busting Bush Hog
*************Brookshier's Finley River Sally
***************Brookshier's Backwater Kate
Pups
***************Rock River Bang
*************Merchants Tree Basher
***************Scioto Lacey
**********Knock Out Cry Babe
***************Ball's Stylish Harry
*************Merchant's Lou
***************Night Heat Dixie 2
FINLEY RIVER DRIVER
KNOCK OUT CRY BABE
Speaking of Finley River talked to John Monroe the other day. His 2009 ACHA World Champion Buck Creek Ike is doing John a good job. He also bought a litter mate to Ike. Buck Creek Walter. Also got a letter from John the other day when he was sending me some information and he mentioned that his old Harry II dog is throwing some real nice hounds. He wrote that a son of Harry II had just won the Corn Field Classic.
I have been running out Buck Creek Ike's pedigree. Still have a ways to go before I am finished but for sure Ike goes back to Finley River Chief 33 times (I am sure it will be more as I follow a few more thread of his pedigree), Bixler's Supreme Sally 36 times and Shelter's Sonny Boy 50 times.
John can be contacted at 660-457-3658
JOHN J. MONROE
ROUTE 1 BOX 94
GLENWOOD, MO 63541
Had a good talk the other day with Dick Whitmore from
Tennessee. Dick has been a great friend of the site
and the effort to put out the history of our great breed.
He and I agree about what a real coonhound is and I
always enjoy hearing from Dick. He has hunted with a
lot of the greats of the breed.
Also had a couple of emails from Bill Crow of Crow's Boss fame. It was great hearing from Bill after all of these
years. He too has hunted with a lot of the greats and has a lot of history knowledge of a lot of these hounds.
Any old pictures are always welcomed. Also we welcome any old pedigrees. We always make copies and return the originals back to the owner. This helps us a great deal with the database of pedigrees we are putting together.
