WEBVTT - Bluff Creek Plotts with Steve Herd 0:00:00.600 --> 0:00:03.800 You're listening to the Sportsman's Nation podcast network, brought to 0:00:03.800 --> 0:00:06.560 you by Interstate Batteries. Now. It's that time of year 0:00:06.880 --> 0:00:10.360 where we are trying to organize and prep and plan 0:00:10.480 --> 0:00:14.400 for the upcoming season, and some of the gear that 0:00:14.440 --> 0:00:18.000 we use takes batteries. Now, you should go visit your 0:00:18.200 --> 0:00:22.319 local Interstate Battery store or visit Interstate Batteries dot com 0:00:22.360 --> 0:00:25.880 to check out all the different varieties of batteries that 0:00:26.040 --> 0:00:29.720 they offer. They have truck batteries, they have batteries for 0:00:29.760 --> 0:00:32.400 your trail cameras. They have batteries for your range finder 0:00:32.479 --> 0:00:35.920 and everything else that is electronic that you use for 0:00:36.000 --> 0:00:40.320 your hunting equipment. They have batteries for that. Interstate Batteries 0:00:40.360 --> 0:00:49.199 dot Com awesome company. Check them out. My name is 0:00:49.280 --> 0:00:51.479 Clay Nucom and I'm the host of the Bear Hunting 0:00:51.520 --> 0:00:55.880 Magazine podcast. I'll also be your host into the world 0:00:55.920 --> 0:01:01.280 of hunting's icon of North American wilderness better. We'll talk 0:01:01.320 --> 0:01:05.320 about tactics here conservation, but will also bring you into 0:01:05.400 --> 0:01:09.000 some of the wildest country on the planet chasing their 0:01:18.160 --> 0:01:21.160 Welcome to the Bear Hunting Magazine Podcast. We're gonna be 0:01:21.160 --> 0:01:24.720 doing a couple of episodes here with Houndsman and their Hounds. 0:01:24.840 --> 0:01:27.880 On this podcast, we're meeting with my good friends Steve Hurt. 0:01:28.400 --> 0:01:31.080 Steve is seventy years old and they've they're pictures of 0:01:31.160 --> 0:01:34.000 Steve with with the plot hounds when he was four 0:01:34.080 --> 0:01:36.520 years old. Steve has been around in his whole life 0:01:36.520 --> 0:01:40.880 and he has has been instrumental and is that one 0:01:40.880 --> 0:01:43.440 of the well the main guy aside from his late father, 0:01:43.880 --> 0:01:47.800 in developing the Bluff Creek strain of big game and 0:01:47.920 --> 0:01:52.920 coon hounds. So this is super interesting podcast. Steve is opinionated. 0:01:53.680 --> 0:01:56.200 I like that. I like a guy that's confident enough 0:01:56.760 --> 0:02:00.840 to talk about truly what he believes. And so you're 0:02:00.840 --> 0:02:04.320 gonna hear Steve uh talk about his hounds and and 0:02:04.400 --> 0:02:06.760 he's proud of him and he's dedicated a good part 0:02:06.760 --> 0:02:11.000 of his life to breeding these dogs, and he's he's 0:02:11.040 --> 0:02:15.240 he's had dogs all over the country on every available 0:02:15.240 --> 0:02:18.080 type of game, and he's got he's got a lot 0:02:18.080 --> 0:02:21.000 of credential. You're gonna enjoy this podcast with Steve. And 0:02:21.040 --> 0:02:24.440 I just want to say that I I gravitate towards 0:02:24.480 --> 0:02:28.120 people who know who they are and that know what 0:02:28.280 --> 0:02:32.960 they have and so sometimes confidence and boldness can be 0:02:33.000 --> 0:02:36.800 mistaken for arrogance, and that's not the case here in 0:02:36.840 --> 0:02:39.400 my opinion. So you're gonna you're gonna like this podcast 0:02:39.440 --> 0:02:43.360 with Steve for sure. I want to bring your attention 0:02:43.360 --> 0:02:46.560 where we're talking about houndsman. I want to bring your 0:02:46.560 --> 0:02:51.320 attention to the Houndsman XP podcast. Chris pal and Steve 0:02:51.400 --> 0:02:54.680 Fielders good friends of ours, and they started a podcast 0:02:54.720 --> 0:02:58.200 several months ago. They they produced several well, I think 0:02:58.200 --> 0:03:01.680 they've produced. Uh, I don't know how any podcasts. Eight 0:03:01.720 --> 0:03:05.320 to tend podcast. Hey, these guys are dedicated houndsmen and 0:03:05.400 --> 0:03:08.960 their podcast is all about hounds. They're talking to coon hunters, 0:03:08.960 --> 0:03:12.000 they're talking to breeders, they're talking to big game houndsman. 0:03:12.480 --> 0:03:14.600 They're talking to guys from the East, from the West, 0:03:14.960 --> 0:03:18.760 and uh, it's a great podcast. If you enjoy hounds, 0:03:19.320 --> 0:03:23.040 you need to be subscribed to these guys. Lastly, I 0:03:23.080 --> 0:03:26.600 want to talk about our friends at the Western Bear Foundation. 0:03:26.880 --> 0:03:31.520 The Western Bear Foundation is representing hunters and bear hunters 0:03:31.520 --> 0:03:35.560 specifically in the hot bed of the West where there's 0:03:35.600 --> 0:03:39.840 a lot of conflict mitigation that is going on between 0:03:40.360 --> 0:03:42.960 those that do not understand our ways as hunters and 0:03:43.000 --> 0:03:47.160 are against us and those that simply don't have an 0:03:47.200 --> 0:03:52.240 opinion about hunting but need to. And the hunters it's 0:03:52.280 --> 0:03:55.000 like there's three different groups, and Western Bear Foundation is 0:03:55.000 --> 0:03:58.040 is putting a great face on hunters and creating a 0:03:58.440 --> 0:04:02.640 new narrative. Western Bear Foundation their gold is to keep 0:04:02.680 --> 0:04:06.720 bears on the landscape and they're doing things with the 0:04:07.640 --> 0:04:10.760 finances that they produce, and just their mission is to 0:04:11.160 --> 0:04:13.320 UH is to keep hunters in the woods and bears 0:04:13.360 --> 0:04:16.480 on the landscape. And Joe con Dallas out there does 0:04:16.480 --> 0:04:21.080 a great job. There a membership driven organization, nonprofit and 0:04:21.120 --> 0:04:23.160 if you're a bear hunter, even if you don't live 0:04:23.240 --> 0:04:26.120 out there, I encourage you to be a member of 0:04:26.240 --> 0:04:30.320 the Western Bear Foundation. Check them out at the Western 0:04:30.320 --> 0:04:36.080 Bear Foundation dot org. Lastly, we're gonna, like I said, 0:04:36.120 --> 0:04:38.240 we're gonna be doing three podcasts. This first one with 0:04:38.320 --> 0:04:41.640 Steve Heard about Bluff Creek plots. The second podcast with 0:04:41.720 --> 0:04:45.400 Steve Heard is about breeding big game hounds, which will 0:04:45.440 --> 0:04:48.920 be released a week after this one. The third podcast 0:04:48.960 --> 0:04:52.680 about hounds, we we went to California. We went to 0:04:52.720 --> 0:04:58.560 the Greenhorn Mountains of California to interview Advance Advanced seventy 0:04:58.600 --> 0:05:00.760 eight years old, and he just wrote a book called 0:05:00.760 --> 0:05:03.920 Trained by a Hound Dog. It's an incredible, incredible book 0:05:03.960 --> 0:05:08.599 about his twenty five year career as an outfitter outfitting 0:05:08.640 --> 0:05:12.960 for bear and mountain lions in California, Montana, Nevada, and Utah. 0:05:13.760 --> 0:05:17.640 Incredible man, incredible story. So get ready for the next 0:05:17.680 --> 0:05:21.160 couple of hound episodes. And hey, if you're not a houndsman, 0:05:21.600 --> 0:05:24.480 listen to these. I feel like it's important for all 0:05:24.520 --> 0:05:28.080 of us to get behind all legal methods of hunting 0:05:28.320 --> 0:05:29.960 and to stay and how if we're gonna stand, we're 0:05:29.960 --> 0:05:33.200 gonna have to stand together. And I think you'll you'll 0:05:33.320 --> 0:05:37.279 enjoy learn about hounds, learn about these guys and here 0:05:37.320 --> 0:05:40.000 and the passion that they have for doing what they do. 0:05:47.440 --> 0:05:50.719 Welcome to the Bear Honey Magazine podcast. This is a 0:05:51.320 --> 0:05:53.680 this is a pretty special day for me to get 0:05:53.720 --> 0:05:57.720 to sit with uh a man that really has had 0:05:57.920 --> 0:06:00.560 quite a bit influence in my life the last few 0:06:00.680 --> 0:06:05.120 years through hounds, and that's Steve Heard and he's got 0:06:05.160 --> 0:06:09.320 with his son Colton Heard. Um we are we're at 0:06:09.320 --> 0:06:15.400 a truck stop not far from Stillwell Water, Still Water, Oklahoma, 0:06:16.360 --> 0:06:20.760 and uh we live about six hours apart, and UH, 0:06:20.800 --> 0:06:22.279 I was gonna come all the way to see it, 0:06:22.320 --> 0:06:25.200 and he said, Steve said, well I'll meet you. So 0:06:25.240 --> 0:06:29.920 that's what we did. But I'll give a little introduction Steve, 0:06:30.240 --> 0:06:32.480 with my history with you. That what we're gonna be 0:06:32.560 --> 0:06:35.719 talking about, um, and then I'm just gonna turn it 0:06:35.720 --> 0:06:37.599 over to you and you can just talk all you 0:06:37.640 --> 0:06:42.320 want for two hours. Now. Now, Steve, Steve heard is 0:06:42.360 --> 0:06:46.560 A is a and this is the truth. A legendary 0:06:46.760 --> 0:06:51.239 iconic Plot breeder. He and his dad. His father's passed away. 0:06:51.279 --> 0:06:54.680 But Steve, Steve's how old are you? Steve six seventy 0:06:54.760 --> 0:06:58.800 years old? Okay, Steve seventy years old. Steve has been 0:06:59.160 --> 0:07:00.760 And this is what we're gonna get into, is your 0:07:00.839 --> 0:07:06.040 history with Plot big game hounds. UM. But uh, the 0:07:07.080 --> 0:07:11.760 breed strain of Bluff Creek Plot is what Stephen Colton 0:07:11.840 --> 0:07:16.440 have have perpetuated. Yes, it's a family line of dogs. 0:07:16.440 --> 0:07:18.760 And let me just give a little bit of a 0:07:18.960 --> 0:07:22.200 little bit of context for people who may not understand 0:07:22.680 --> 0:07:25.200 big game Hounds or may not even understand what's going on. 0:07:25.240 --> 0:07:28.200 But so the Plot hound is a is a u 0:07:28.320 --> 0:07:34.440 k C registered breed of hound. UM. And but inside 0:07:34.680 --> 0:07:39.760 of this breed there's different strains. There's many different strains. Yeah, 0:07:39.760 --> 0:07:43.080 and so and so like big game hunters, coon hunters, 0:07:43.120 --> 0:07:45.480 hog hunters. You would know if your plot man, you 0:07:45.480 --> 0:07:49.000 would know, you know what strain is better for what 0:07:48.840 --> 0:07:51.200 for what right and and and there would be like 0:07:51.240 --> 0:07:56.480 these household names like Bluff Creek and and where we 0:07:56.600 --> 0:07:59.320 kind of varied off most people was so many people 0:07:59.320 --> 0:08:02.200 were breeding straightly for bear, strictly for hoges. I would 0:08:02.280 --> 0:08:04.800 name names, but I won't yet or or you know, 0:08:04.880 --> 0:08:07.880 or or strictly for night champion coon dogs. And we 0:08:07.960 --> 0:08:10.880 believed still do that you can take a really well 0:08:10.880 --> 0:08:14.640 bred dog if it's bread right and you and you 0:08:14.760 --> 0:08:17.600 give them the opportunities. We believe that a well bred 0:08:17.640 --> 0:08:20.880 dog can be used on all game, and we have 0:08:21.000 --> 0:08:23.840 the dogs to prove it. And a lot of people do. Okay, 0:08:23.840 --> 0:08:25.280 we're not. We're not the only ones. But I'm just 0:08:25.320 --> 0:08:27.960 saying that that some people believe that when I bread 0:08:28.000 --> 0:08:31.720 grand night champion dogs into my bear dogs, that I 0:08:31.720 --> 0:08:34.319 would lose some bear qualities. And what I did was 0:08:34.679 --> 0:08:38.120 I increased a lot of the qualities of intelligence and 0:08:38.200 --> 0:08:42.200 locating that people had lost by breeding only for bear 0:08:42.360 --> 0:08:45.079 or only for hoges. And and and when you on 0:08:45.080 --> 0:08:47.960 once again in cats in the mountains, are in Bobcats. 0:08:48.000 --> 0:08:51.480 Anywhere you you need a locating building and a lot 0:08:51.480 --> 0:08:54.600 of people have bread that out and we intentionally use 0:08:54.679 --> 0:08:58.600 the intelligence and the locating ability to to solidify our 0:08:58.640 --> 0:09:02.520 strain and make it make it so that people everfore 0:09:02.520 --> 0:09:05.160 we're looking for can And also, you know, people call 0:09:05.240 --> 0:09:06.880 me for hog dog, we have them. If you want 0:09:06.880 --> 0:09:08.800 a cat dog I had, you know, we've had them 0:09:09.200 --> 0:09:11.480 and our bear dog. Yes, I mean, I'm not saying that. 0:09:12.480 --> 0:09:15.240 I'm not saying that other strange don't. But we but 0:09:15.320 --> 0:09:18.400 we specialized in having dogs that could you could just 0:09:18.440 --> 0:09:20.560 turn loose. And people say, well, how did you do 0:09:20.640 --> 0:09:22.480 you tell that dog when you go to Bearer Country 0:09:22.480 --> 0:09:24.720 that that that's what you're supposed to run? For some reason, 0:09:25.320 --> 0:09:28.440 we've been really lucky or something, and we go hog 0:09:28.520 --> 0:09:31.240 hunt country, we run hogs. If we go to Bearer country, 0:09:31.280 --> 0:09:33.360 we run bear We go coon hunting out a U k. 0:09:33.480 --> 0:09:36.400 C Hunt, we hunt coon. So and it's maybe it's 0:09:36.440 --> 0:09:40.920 intelligence again. Well, we let me give a little bit 0:09:40.960 --> 0:09:44.559 of context too of of how I know you Okay, 0:09:44.600 --> 0:09:47.920 four years ago I think so, Well, it was about 0:09:47.960 --> 0:09:51.040 four years ago we started to do the legendary Bearhound 0:09:51.080 --> 0:09:53.280 series and Barony magazine. You were the first one, Steve. 0:09:54.880 --> 0:09:58.400 Somebody told me, well, I saw a picture of bear 0:09:58.440 --> 0:10:02.800 Path Gunner. Uh somewhere. It wasn't in the magazine. I 0:10:02.840 --> 0:10:05.240 think it was on social media and uh. And it 0:10:05.320 --> 0:10:08.200 was just this beautiful picture of this big plot dot 0:10:08.200 --> 0:10:10.280 well not a big plot dog, beautiful plot dog with 0:10:10.320 --> 0:10:13.000 a big bear. And somebody said, this is a legendary dog. 0:10:13.320 --> 0:10:15.679 And I I said, man, I'd like to write an 0:10:15.760 --> 0:10:19.280 article about that dog. I didn't know that dog from Adam, 0:10:19.280 --> 0:10:22.720 not from Adam. I've sent a few messages and I said, 0:10:22.720 --> 0:10:25.000 do y'all know anything about this bear Path Gunner dog? 0:10:25.559 --> 0:10:29.200 And four people at the same time, said Steve Hert. 0:10:29.240 --> 0:10:32.040 I mean it was like messages coming in from every direction. 0:10:32.480 --> 0:10:35.080 And uh. And somebody gave me your phone number. I 0:10:35.080 --> 0:10:36.680 called you. I said, I'd like to write an article 0:10:36.679 --> 0:10:39.280 about this dog. I want to say that since that time, 0:10:39.400 --> 0:10:43.520 the Legendary Bearhound series in our magazine has been highly successful. 0:10:43.559 --> 0:10:47.320 Fantasy I think we've done twenty six articles. Uh so 0:10:47.360 --> 0:10:50.640 I think we're on twenty six right now. But so 0:10:51.960 --> 0:10:54.600 let's let's just start right there. And Colton, I want 0:10:54.640 --> 0:10:57.880 you to jump into because you've been around these dogs 0:10:57.880 --> 0:11:02.440 your whole life. And uh, um, but we can well okay, 0:11:02.960 --> 0:11:07.240 then I'm getting ahead of myself yourself. He he. We 0:11:07.280 --> 0:11:11.120 wrote this article, I got to know you, and uh 0:11:11.360 --> 0:11:14.800 two or three months after the article came out, we 0:11:14.800 --> 0:11:17.600 were looking for a dog, and honestly, we weren't even 0:11:17.640 --> 0:11:19.800 looking for a hunting dog. It was just the kids 0:11:19.800 --> 0:11:22.240 were of age. We hadn't had a dog in several years, 0:11:22.679 --> 0:11:25.240 and I thought, man, it'd be cool just to have 0:11:25.720 --> 0:11:27.560 just a hound dog that could just be our pet, 0:11:28.000 --> 0:11:30.160 because I'm an old coon hunter. But I had been 0:11:30.160 --> 0:11:33.120 out of coon hunting for twenty years. I really had 0:11:33.240 --> 0:11:36.960 and had no plans of getting back into it. Um. 0:11:37.080 --> 0:11:41.199 I called you, said, Steve, I'm looking for a dog 0:11:41.360 --> 0:11:44.360 that we could just I mean, I don't even know 0:11:44.360 --> 0:11:45.920 why I called you, because it was stupid to call you, 0:11:45.920 --> 0:11:48.079 because you don't you don't give You don't sell dogs 0:11:48.080 --> 0:11:51.040 of people that don't really hunt. These aren't pets. But 0:11:51.120 --> 0:11:53.600 I called you and you said, man, will you tell 0:11:53.640 --> 0:11:56.680 me what you said? Well, you you told me what 0:11:56.720 --> 0:11:58.280 that you were looking for. And I said, you know what, 0:11:58.520 --> 0:12:01.520 you have kids, and and I'm I just love it. 0:12:01.640 --> 0:12:03.480 I mean, this is this is how some people get 0:12:03.480 --> 0:12:05.040 a dog. For me, is that they have young kids 0:12:05.280 --> 0:12:07.400 and they're wanting those kids to see something for real 0:12:07.520 --> 0:12:10.240 for the first time maybe. And so I decided, you 0:12:10.280 --> 0:12:12.679 know what, I had a really well bred puff and 0:12:12.720 --> 0:12:15.320 I knew how what this pup probably do on Okay, 0:12:15.320 --> 0:12:17.360 should have went to a bear hunter, probably, but I 0:12:17.400 --> 0:12:19.840 just kind of knew what this was gonna do. And 0:12:19.880 --> 0:12:22.600 she was kind of a leftover from litter. She was 0:12:22.640 --> 0:12:25.800 six months old, but she was already doing the right stuff. 0:12:26.040 --> 0:12:27.679 So I said, you know what, I have one. I 0:12:28.000 --> 0:12:29.840 have one right here, and I'm just gonna go ahead 0:12:29.840 --> 0:12:31.400 and move you up on the list and let you 0:12:31.400 --> 0:12:32.960 you know, if you want this this dog, will you 0:12:33.080 --> 0:12:35.480 meet me and and we'll you know, we'll meet and 0:12:35.600 --> 0:12:37.120 you take this dog. And I think she's going to 0:12:37.160 --> 0:12:39.240 be exactly what you're looking for, not only as a 0:12:39.240 --> 0:12:41.760 friend for the family, but also as one of the 0:12:41.800 --> 0:12:44.640 best hunting dogs that you've seen. Well, and let me 0:12:44.679 --> 0:12:47.160 tell you what I tell everybody, Steve, at that time, 0:12:47.200 --> 0:12:49.520 I hardly knew you. Okay, this is several years ago, 0:12:50.160 --> 0:12:53.960 and we met you and Colton was there, and uh yeah, 0:12:54.120 --> 0:12:57.679 Randy was there and Uh, here's this little you know, 0:12:57.880 --> 0:13:01.160 skinny plot dog six months old and you told me, 0:13:01.480 --> 0:13:04.120 you told me everything that that dog would be doing, 0:13:04.360 --> 0:13:07.040 and when it would be doing it. You were like, 0:13:07.240 --> 0:13:09.920 nine months old. It's gonna start doing this and this 0:13:10.000 --> 0:13:11.320 and this, and you're gonna have to run it with 0:13:11.320 --> 0:13:14.160 pretty good coon dogs or it's gonna it's it's gonna 0:13:14.240 --> 0:13:16.880 do under the tree. You're gonna have to and and 0:13:16.960 --> 0:13:18.679 I walked away, and I'm gonna be honest with you. 0:13:18.720 --> 0:13:21.600 I said, if this dog does half of what Steve 0:13:21.679 --> 0:13:24.440 heard said it's gonna do, I'm gonna be happy. And 0:13:24.520 --> 0:13:28.439 I mean to the day that dog did everything that 0:13:28.480 --> 0:13:31.439 you said and let me just jump to the chase. 0:13:31.840 --> 0:13:36.199 It became to us a legendary hound. Ferns five years old. Now, 0:13:36.440 --> 0:13:38.439 wells should be five and November it should be five. 0:13:38.480 --> 0:13:41.040 And November we started hunting her. We hunted her a 0:13:41.120 --> 0:13:44.240 hundred knights the first uh. And again we weren't even 0:13:44.240 --> 0:13:46.400 looking for a coon dog. It was just like we 0:13:46.440 --> 0:13:48.920 started hunting and the kids started loving it, and Fern 0:13:49.040 --> 0:13:51.760 was tree and coons and doing good stuff and we 0:13:51.880 --> 0:13:54.560 just had the time of our life. And it, uh, 0:13:54.600 --> 0:13:56.800 I mean, really, my kids will never forget that when 0:13:57.000 --> 0:14:00.280 when we went from the time she was uh nine 0:14:00.280 --> 0:14:02.560 months old till the time she was about two years old, 0:14:02.880 --> 0:14:05.440 we just hunted the hair off of her. Here, here's 0:14:05.440 --> 0:14:07.440 what I was trying to costion you. If you go 0:14:07.520 --> 0:14:10.880 hunting with somebody that has other breeds of dogs and 0:14:10.960 --> 0:14:15.280 little Fern opens first, or a plothhound opens first, a 0:14:15.280 --> 0:14:17.840 lot of people immediately say the pups gotta be running trash. 0:14:17.880 --> 0:14:20.480 But you know what that they she was bred to 0:14:20.560 --> 0:14:22.600 have a better nose than those other dogs. She just 0:14:22.680 --> 0:14:25.520 simply was and and and and and also she was 0:14:25.560 --> 0:14:27.760 read to be independent. She was read just to not 0:14:27.880 --> 0:14:29.600 have to have somebody show her how to start to 0:14:29.640 --> 0:14:32.880 do something. She was She was just naturally. Everything is 0:14:32.880 --> 0:14:35.120 supposed to be natural. And that's reason I've never owned 0:14:35.120 --> 0:14:38.320 a shocking color. I've never shot. We don't shock our dogs, 0:14:38.360 --> 0:14:40.080 and we want everything to be natural. If you have 0:14:40.120 --> 0:14:41.840 to shock them off of this and shock him off this, 0:14:42.200 --> 0:14:44.640 then the next puppies that they have, you're shocked them 0:14:44.640 --> 0:14:46.640 off and shocked them off. So we just let them 0:14:46.680 --> 0:14:50.160 do natural training and it worked. It's still working. Yeah, 0:14:50.200 --> 0:14:52.400 I've been doing this since. You know, if you want 0:14:52.400 --> 0:14:54.640 to back up sixty six years. Now, Well, that's a 0:14:54.640 --> 0:14:57.560 great place to start. So I've told my story. Tell 0:14:57.560 --> 0:15:00.560 me about your history with Buff Creek. Po Okay. We're 0:15:00.560 --> 0:15:02.160 sitting there in the house and Dad got a True 0:15:02.160 --> 0:15:07.720 magazine and in it was a story called the the 0:15:07.840 --> 0:15:11.040 Hounds of Plot Valley, and my dad sit down and 0:15:11.040 --> 0:15:13.920 read this this thing. He was just so intrigued. And 0:15:13.960 --> 0:15:15.520 then he's tried to read it to my mom and 0:15:15.600 --> 0:15:17.480 she was, uh, huh, yeah, how she was doing the 0:15:17.480 --> 0:15:20.120 dices or whatever. But I, with my big ears, I 0:15:20.280 --> 0:15:22.720 was sitting there just thinking, oh my gosh, I love 0:15:22.800 --> 0:15:25.640 these stories. A dog that has the nose of bloodhound, 0:15:25.640 --> 0:15:28.240 the speed of a grayhound, the grid of of a 0:15:28.360 --> 0:15:31.640 of a pit bull, the intelligence of a colleague. This 0:15:31.720 --> 0:15:33.680 is what they actually said, you know. Yeah, I mean 0:15:33.680 --> 0:15:37.080 that they were all exaggerations, but but so much more. 0:15:37.360 --> 0:15:38.720 And Dad said, I've got to have one. I've got 0:15:39.040 --> 0:15:40.520 to have one of My mom said yeah, sure, and 0:15:40.800 --> 0:15:43.480 so so he was just he just had to have him. 0:15:43.480 --> 0:15:46.320 So there was two. There was two Plot Hounds for 0:15:46.360 --> 0:15:49.040 sale locally, and Dad went about both of them, and 0:15:49.120 --> 0:15:51.320 both of them were decent dogs, but they still weren't 0:15:51.360 --> 0:15:53.800 quite what he was looking for So he started writing 0:15:53.880 --> 0:15:58.720 letters to people in North Carolina, Arkansas, Uh, any place 0:15:58.760 --> 0:16:01.000 in there where may be there might be some kind 0:16:01.000 --> 0:16:04.440 of Plot influence. Well, he just put a man's name, 0:16:04.520 --> 0:16:07.600 you know, Clyde Chiller, Cody that here, and and and 0:16:07.600 --> 0:16:10.160 and a town, no zip code, no nothing. But we we 0:16:10.200 --> 0:16:13.880 didn't happen back then, okay. Well, most of the letters 0:16:13.880 --> 0:16:17.000 were returned, but sometimes he would get a letter back. 0:16:17.320 --> 0:16:19.080 And all of a sudden he started hearing from some 0:16:19.160 --> 0:16:21.160 of those old people Rags Nichols, and some of those 0:16:21.200 --> 0:16:24.600 old Clyde Burnett and some of those old timers that 0:16:24.720 --> 0:16:28.000 were part of the Plot family either through lineage, you know, 0:16:28.040 --> 0:16:30.040 through being cousins or whatever, or had got some of 0:16:30.040 --> 0:16:32.880 the early stock. So Dad said what he was looking for, 0:16:32.920 --> 0:16:37.320 he wanted a true plotoun Okay. So after cutting through 0:16:37.360 --> 0:16:40.720 the chief and what year would this have been? This 0:16:40.720 --> 0:16:45.280 this would have been nineteen spring of fifty do probably okay? 0:16:46.120 --> 0:16:49.160 And I would have been four years old, okay. And 0:16:49.200 --> 0:16:53.440 so finally he found out what he wanted. He wanted 0:16:53.720 --> 0:16:56.200 the bloodline of smoke in Cubby, which would have been 0:16:56.240 --> 0:16:59.240 like Smiths, North Carolina, Tom or Nickel Stormy. But then 0:16:59.280 --> 0:17:03.520 on the bottom side, he wanted plots Fanny and at 0:17:03.520 --> 0:17:06.480 a lady plot because all good dogs at the time 0:17:06.560 --> 0:17:10.399 that that the super dogs went back to lady plot. Okay, Now, 0:17:10.960 --> 0:17:14.320 at this time to plots just became uk C registered. 0:17:17.080 --> 0:17:19.440 I think, yeah, forty seven I was borning for you. Yeah, 0:17:19.560 --> 0:17:22.000 and so this is kind of like a new breed 0:17:22.080 --> 0:17:25.200 of But they were established in the in the southern 0:17:25.200 --> 0:17:30.000 Appalachians in North Carolina. They had a terrible reputation other 0:17:30.040 --> 0:17:33.200 places around the states because people were reading brittle dogs 0:17:33.359 --> 0:17:35.080 that had no plot let in them and sending them 0:17:35.080 --> 0:17:38.680 off his plotound trying trying to Okay, So anyway, Dad, 0:17:38.960 --> 0:17:41.520 The main thing that that Dad learned, and the main 0:17:41.600 --> 0:17:43.760 thing that I got up picked up then and still 0:17:43.800 --> 0:17:47.000 carry with me now is don't don't don't take the phonies. 0:17:47.119 --> 0:17:49.600 Make sure make sure that what you get is the 0:17:49.680 --> 0:17:51.719 real true plotoun So they said, well, what pedigree are 0:17:51.720 --> 0:17:54.399 you looking for? I mean, he asked them, what should 0:17:54.400 --> 0:17:56.199 I be looking for it? They told him. So all 0:17:56.240 --> 0:17:58.080 of a sudden he opens up Full Crime magazine. There's 0:17:58.119 --> 0:18:01.600 a little bit ad in there from Rube Rosander from 0:18:02.040 --> 0:18:06.040 from New Mexico, and it says one one plot mail 0:18:07.680 --> 0:18:11.400 fifteen months old, I believe, rear Grand Chief, and then 0:18:11.480 --> 0:18:15.480 one plot female rear Grand Trouble, her sire North Carolina, 0:18:15.560 --> 0:18:18.720 Tom her mother plots Fanning, and my dad just, oh 0:18:18.760 --> 0:18:21.240 my god, oh my god. So he had some surplus 0:18:21.600 --> 0:18:24.080 World War two weapons, him and him and a cousin, 0:18:24.680 --> 0:18:28.040 and they sold those and immediately sent sixty dollars and 0:18:28.080 --> 0:18:30.440 fifty cents or whatever it was down at to buy 0:18:30.520 --> 0:18:33.800 those two dogs. Okay, and within about two weeks I 0:18:33.920 --> 0:18:35.720 was there, walked out of the house and Dad had 0:18:35.760 --> 0:18:38.360 just got back from the train station in Protection, Kansas, 0:18:38.960 --> 0:18:40.960 and two big heavy wooden crates set him on the 0:18:40.960 --> 0:18:43.600 ground and out step for real, like from where the 0:18:43.640 --> 0:18:46.520 red fern grows, exactly an out step rear Grand Trouble 0:18:46.520 --> 0:18:49.160 into my heart started founding, Oh my god, I've never 0:18:49.200 --> 0:18:51.240 seen a dog that looked like that. Look at this thing. 0:18:51.280 --> 0:18:53.200 And if you see the pictures you understand what I'm 0:18:53.200 --> 0:18:56.639 talking about hand right then was was the start that 0:18:56.720 --> 0:19:01.160 day was a startup. So we took her hunting by herself. 0:19:01.800 --> 0:19:03.879 The male dog would not hardly run it. He was 0:19:04.040 --> 0:19:06.040 wells bred, and he would not hardly run a coon 0:19:06.119 --> 0:19:08.960 at all, okay, a raccoon. And but we took Trouble 0:19:09.000 --> 0:19:11.320 by ourself and she went up the creek that took me. 0:19:11.440 --> 0:19:14.840 I followed with him right there where you live, Oh yeah, 0:19:14.880 --> 0:19:16.720 right out right on Bluff Creek. And she went straight 0:19:16.760 --> 0:19:18.960 up Bluff Creek, had a track, ran a coon down, 0:19:19.000 --> 0:19:20.600 went the hole, got it, pulled it up, killed it, 0:19:20.880 --> 0:19:23.840 just just like that. Dad said, Yep, that's what they're 0:19:23.840 --> 0:19:25.560 supposed to do that. That's what he's supposed to That's 0:19:25.600 --> 0:19:27.639 what they're supposed to do right there. So so and 0:19:28.040 --> 0:19:31.320 on that day and Bluff Creek plots where yeah, they 0:19:31.320 --> 0:19:33.480 were steff and he used the name Herds for the 0:19:33.520 --> 0:19:37.760 first for the first three letters, and then he thought 0:19:37.760 --> 0:19:39.119 it would just be kind of cool. We lived on 0:19:39.119 --> 0:19:42.239 Bluff Creek, so he changed some by Bluff Creek by 0:19:42.280 --> 0:19:44.920 Ozark Chief to Trouble Letter, Bluff Greek Drive, Bluff Greek 0:19:44.920 --> 0:19:48.280 Cindy Sue, Bluff Creek Leader. You know all those dogs 0:19:48.280 --> 0:19:52.040 okay on that letter. So so and uh we had 0:19:52.080 --> 0:19:55.080 and said where you're Protection cans is, Maybe we have already. 0:19:55.119 --> 0:19:58.280 I'm I'm a losing track of you. You guys live 0:19:58.320 --> 0:20:00.680 in Protection, Kansas, So Bluff Creek is in Kansas. Oh 0:20:00.720 --> 0:20:03.760 oh yeah, oh yeah, it just comes around on the 0:20:03.760 --> 0:20:06.480 west side of Protection, Kansas and it goes right through 0:20:06.480 --> 0:20:09.360 our farm. Uh. If you have a real good arm, 0:20:09.480 --> 0:20:12.480 you can throw a baseball from my house into Bluff Creek, Okay. 0:20:12.600 --> 0:20:14.600 And and all of our pups, every pup that we've 0:20:14.600 --> 0:20:17.360 ever had, including Fern and Bold and all that letter 0:20:17.400 --> 0:20:20.200 and every pup we've ever had, including when I was little, 0:20:20.280 --> 0:20:21.879 my dad would let me take the pup that we had, 0:20:21.920 --> 0:20:23.920 puffs running loose, and when we would take a twenty 0:20:23.920 --> 0:20:26.720 two single shot rifle my brother Stanley and go down 0:20:26.760 --> 0:20:29.119 and sometimes three raccoons in the middle of afternoon with 0:20:29.160 --> 0:20:30.800 those block pups, you know, and we shoot it out 0:20:30.840 --> 0:20:32.439 to him and dragged home by the tail, you know. 0:20:32.560 --> 0:20:35.480 Sometimes they weighed ten pounds or seven or something. But 0:20:36.680 --> 0:20:39.359 so that but we've always been right there. And and 0:20:39.480 --> 0:20:42.280 so your dad was wanting to get these dogs for 0:20:42.440 --> 0:20:45.840 what well, because he was he was coon hunting dogs 0:20:45.840 --> 0:20:48.320 from from Missouri. And they were high tan dogs. Okay, 0:20:48.359 --> 0:20:51.040 they were black saddle with black with with with yellow 0:20:51.040 --> 0:20:54.280 trim Okay, buckskin trim buck and Lady was their name. 0:20:54.760 --> 0:20:57.800 So he but he wanted that. But he also because 0:20:57.840 --> 0:21:01.080 they were bare bread, he wanted to sin puffs, sell pups. 0:21:01.119 --> 0:21:03.320 You know, everybody got a little everybody that farm back, 0:21:03.320 --> 0:21:05.600 they need a little extra money. And so he wanted 0:21:05.600 --> 0:21:07.480 to be able to sellpups. He was hunter, oh yeah, 0:21:07.480 --> 0:21:09.760 oh he could hunt it hard. But from the beginning 0:21:09.840 --> 0:21:13.440 he had in his mind that he wanted to send 0:21:13.000 --> 0:21:15.480 But but I hate to even tell this, but I'm 0:21:15.480 --> 0:21:18.680