English Days

English Days was a gathering of coon hunters, especially those who hunt English dogs, in Lima, OH. Zeb, Zach, and I decided to go and hunt Joe on Thursday night. Our friends, Josh and Steven Reed went along also. We left after Bible Study on Wednesday night. We met the Reeds in Ashburn and their Dad, Rod, prayed with us. He asked that we would meet people who would encourage us and people we might encourage in the Lord as well. God heard and answered his prayer.

We drove above Atlanta on Wednesday night and stayed in a cheap hotel. Jessica thought it was hilarious when I told her that we took Joe into the room for the night. We wanted him to have an air conditioned place to sleep as well. I think he really enjoyed it because he kept wagging his tail and putting his muzzle into our faces while we tried to sleep.

We arrived around 3 PM on Thursday at the location of the meeting. I had arranged to meet a gentleman who purchased Speck from me. I decided not to breed her to Joe after all and did not need another female of her age. We enjoyed a meal at the English Breeder's Association. That night, Zeb, Zach, and I hunted Joe in a 1 hour hunt (Josh and Steven hunted Annie in the youth hunt). Our cast traveled about 90 miles north toward the Michigan border. I was amazed at the coon hunting---a lot of coons and easy access to the trees. Joe did great. He came in 2nd out of the 20 Grand Nt Champions hunted. We came up 25 points short of winning the Grand Nt contest. We would have won but time expired and seconds afterwards Joe treed. That would have given him 575 points but we settled for 375 points. A man named Chad won with 400 points. However, we were really excited just to be in a great hunt no matter what the final scores were. The cast was enjoyable, the hunt was great, and the location was terrific.

We met a lot of nice people who shared with us knowledge of coon hunting and the English breed. When I saw Rocky II I could not believe the size of this hound. I was able to pray and talk about the Lord on our trip with several folks. Also, Josh and Steven had several people mention what nice young men they were. Too, we run into several people who publicly owned Christ as Lord. In this way Rod's prayer was answered. We do praise the Lord for His work of grace among his people in all places. "Do all to the glory of God" (1 Cor. 10:31).

Joe and Annie

Joe, Annie and Speck (not in picture) treed in about two to three feet of water last night. We saw the coon looking down at us. Abi, Gracie, Zeb, Zach, and Lydia had a blast walking to and back to the tree through the water. I made sure we were careful on returning home not to make a mess with our wet clothes. No reason to make Mama do anymore work than she has to!

Speck, She Trees With Energy

Always quit when you are ahead. Speck was two for two; two drops, two coons. So we (Hannah, Abi, Gracie, Zeb, Zach, Lydia, Steven, Josh, Sarah, and I) thought we would make one more drop before heading home. That drop was at 10:30 PM, and I left for my house without Speck around 3:00 AM. Thankfully, she had a tracking collar on, and I found her the next morning about a mile from the drop off location.

That same group as mentioned above have had some experiences of late. The time prior to this hunt, on my way to drop off the Reed kids (Steven, Josh, and Sarah), my lights on my truck began to go dim. I met their father, Rod, and he led me back to my house-I stuck my flashlight out the window as my lights were completely out by this time. As we drove into the driveway the truck cut off and I coated to my carport. My alternator quit. Rod, as he was leaving, said, "You are making memories." I responded, "Yes, but it is going to cost me come morning."

Speck & Joe

NtCH Speck (female on the left) and GRNTCH Big Time Joe (male on the right). The low is to reach down to 50 degrees tonight. Guess where we will be after prayer meeting?

Swamp Rooster

Swamp Rooster is the all time reproducing sire in the English line. I have been privileged to own a male from Swamp Rooster, Big Time Joe. This week we added to our kennel a NTCH female also off of Swamp Rooster. She has not disappointed us and we hope to breed them in July. Above are the two of them treeing an ol' ringtail together.

ZZZZZZ

New Puppy

Last night I participated in a night hunt in Waycross, GA. I was hoping to win the dog box that was awarded to the high scoring dog. My cast consisted of Big Time Joe and a 90 lb Black and Tan named Mighty Joe. My Joe and I did not do so well: circle points, a coon that looked once at me that nobody else saw, and Joe catching one coon on the ground left us way behind in points. Mighty Joe and the owner, Ray Lily, scored 900 points and was the high scoring dog. He was a really nice dog and Ray was a gentleman and took home the silver dog box. It was, however, a lot of fun even though we lost. Both dogs looked and sounded good. I was glad to have Gracie with me. She did a fantastic job. I should have listened to her when she elbowed me and whispered, "Joe is treed." I didn't listen and it cost us.

Jessica and all the kids went too. Since I got back from Cambodia I have been extremely busy and haven't spent much time with my family. It wasSpring break for the kids so we got a room last night at the Holiday Inn. There was a hunting and fishing expo along with the hunt. We got to watch a hog and dog baying contest and walk around and view exhibits. Ira, my brother, has a business where he sales hunting bags and supplies. He and his wife, Holly, had a booth so we visited with them. Zeb had $9.00 and was able to purchase a knife set with two knives. He is keeping one and giving the other to Zach.

There was a couple there with English pups. They were the grandpups of Swamp Rooster. They were pretty dogs, long ears and big, blocky heads, and the price was reduced to $100. Well, we brought a female home. At first we thought we would give it to a friend, but she is really sweet and already has a big mouth. Too, we like her breeding and might keep her for a while. That is the pup in the picture. I'll keep you informed.