Noteworthy Biggame Houndsmen

[Lost River]

I had a chance to visit with three different houndsmen this weekend. I have been lucky enough to travel around and meet some interesting hunters. It got brought up to me about a week ago I should write a book about a couple of these guys. I have been a cop for over 18 years now and I am not a proffesional writer, but being a cop it is often my job to basically tell the story of what happened.
I am curious about who you folks would like to read a book about. I am thinking a book that would include tales from one or two of their most memorable hunts, some training tips and their thoughts on breeding. A book with 6-8 hunters featured. Who would make your list of who you would like to read about... thinking of taking this project on and not sure if there would be much interest. Happy hunting, Casey

[Brent Sinclair]

Mike Leonard / Dean Hendrickson / Rod Hardie

Make one great read if you had a few guys like this in it!!!

[tman308]

Do something like Bruce Kennedy did and get an aspect from all around the country. Hit up the guys who are making it happen and not always spending time inflating themselves. Sam Derringer out of AZ would have some dang good dry ground stories for ya.

[jcathunter]

Personally, I'd like to read about hunts and happenings pertaining to hunts in story fashion if that makes sense. It would also be nice to hear stories from people who have hunted with great houndsmen who are not with us anymore. Sometimes the best stories are told by the eyes watching.

[chad85]

maybe people with different breeds of dog and different terrain to make things interesting anywhere from hounds with big game to curs with hogs to terriers with alittle bit of ground work and big game u get the picture it would be interesting due to the fact of different style of dogs and all the different game in the country

[Paul Conway]

My feeling is if it hasn't been told yet, has been told but you have slightly different angle, etc, tell it. I think you need to mix the folks that have a bit of a name in with the folks who fly under the radar, but are none the less pretty accomplished with an interesting story to tell to give it some initial interest. Also getting the perspective of folks that were around the old timers but are still here themselves, as someone mentioned, would be a good read. I think if more folks that can write and have an interest in hounds and houndsman do the better, were losing a bunch of history year to year and decade to decade, along with it a lot of knowledge.
We have a local fellow here in PA trying to single handedly perserve the history of coal mining, and some major local landmarks and happenings, one video at a time. From coal mining, to the old railroads that fed the growth of our region, to the amusement park that dominated recreation in years past, to the mine fire that created a ghost town back in the 70's, etc. He goes down into the old mines and films while telling the story of the mine and other mines in the area. He may not get rich out of it, but his efforts sure are appreciated. he's collected lots of old mining equipement from canary cages to carbide lamps to hand drills, etc,etc and set his restaurant so the entrance resembles going into a mine with a section set aside for the things he found with explainations of them and pictures of everything from mining to the old amusement park that dominated the area decades ago, mine disasters that made national headlines, to the undergound coal fire that caused a town to be evacuated in the eighties, etc, etc, etc, watching films of folks that grew up in Centralia and relocated as teenagers remembering the heat the red hot sink holes, the fog and haze, the few folks that stayed when the town was abandoned is fascinating and will be lost forever as the decades pile on one another. I for one eat that stuff up and would very much appreciate some additional books on the houndsman of the past and present. Good luck Paul Conway

[bency]

X2....tman308

[Dads dogboy]

Great Idea!

Two Great Hunters/Houndsmen from the mid 20th Century would be the Snow Brothers from Texas....their stroies from Texas, AZ, NM and South and Central America as well as their background many would find of interest!

Also a mon who is still alive and has produced Game on 3 or 4 contenients is Mr. Roy McBride from Alpine, TX. His and his Son's stories while they have taken place under the Radar are quite fasinating!

High Lonesome Books from Silver City, NM can be helpful if you decide to go forward!

CJC

[blackpaws]

if you choose to do this it would be neat to see stories and interviews from different parts of the country and different terrain and different styles of hunting. i hunt and am very good friends with an old timer that started hunting at a very young age and now is in his mid 60's. has a lot of very interesting stories of his past hunts and dogs all the way up to his current status. moved out to colorado about 15-20 years ago to be able to run lion in the winter. His old cabin here in wisconsin is loaded with some very memorable pictures, dogs and hunts. very neat place to sit and have a few cold ones and hear about the old hunts and how it used to be bear hunting in wisconsin.

[pegleg]

noteworthy can mean many different things. I personally like those stories that happen to the guys learning. they tend to be more interesting.once someone gets it all figured out they don't tend to make those mistakes that get you laughing.
another interest is those guys who are turning out hounds that make a real name for themselves regularly and seeing the difference in strains and their hunting style. a chapter from each of those breeders or about them that helps everyone understand where, when, why that type of hound was developed and proven successful in their area.

[tedsmith]

If you want to write a book about bobcats talk to Hooty shaw, and the man that he told me, who I have never met, who was three times the bobcat hunter he was, Finney Clay. Those boys are living legends. Cat hunters and dog trainers for those of us who would like to be.

[Cold Track]

Warner Glenn -AZ., Sam Derringer-Az., Charlie Leeder- UT, Clint and Mclain Mecham-UT, and Rocky Mcbride-TX or wherever else he might be. I don't know if you could type enough to put all of the great stories these men would tell.

[Kevin D]

Well Casey, if it'll help, I'll make myself available for interviews....

[HoundDawg]

Casey,

I think Kevin makes a good point. Isn't it about time someone tell the story of the darker, seedy side of hounding and the lifestyle that comes with it?

And interviewing Kevin at Hawn's over a period of two or three nights would be the perfect place to start. Start at the bottom and work up from there!

And if you got a Credit Card we can lay down at the bar for a tab, I'll be happy to come up and keep the big Queens at bay and off Kev while you interview him.

I realize it is a generous offer of me, but as you know I just have a big heart!

Come on down and start your book off at Hawns... you could start the book off by showing what Kevin's life has come to, how low he has sunk. Then trace his demise from the beginning...

When he was young, bright, full of hope and had a future in front of him with unlimited possibilities. Then the book could track his life from that point, to the first hound puppy he bought and that excitement of catching lions and bears, and then just follow the slow painful downward journey that is inevitable with hounds... to the point where he is now, just circling the drain of morality and productive living...

Isn't it time someone tell the REAL story of hounding? And who better to show that than Kevin?

And I'm happy to keep an eye on your credit card and bar tab, and keep this large bar queens at bay for a few nights so you guys can focus...

[Arkansas Frog]

I bet Brent SinClair has some good stories and I know Mike Leonard has.