This Old Dog Still Has a Few Tricks!



Recently, Mr. Fred Sanders at the young age of 80 decided to come out of retirement and return to competition coonhunting. Don’t get me wrong, Mr. Fred still pleasure hunts several nights a week and has always had good hounds but this story is a little different.

The story begins when his long time friend Mike Crockett bought a female pup off of Lawton Robinson’s Dual Grand Brigman’s Black Bo and Clinton Bennent’s Dual Grand Southern Kelly. Both of these hounds go back to Mr. Fred’s all time favorite hound Sander’s Hank. Although he is quick to tell you that he was not perfect, just the closest to perfect he has owned. Sander’s Hank can be found in a lot of the dogs we hunt today and has had a very positive impact on the breed.

Back to the story, Mike bought the pup and gave it to Mr. Fred. She became Sander’s Little Girlee. Step forward a couple of years to May 17, 2008 when a friend ask Mr. Fred to ride over to Gill, Arkansas to a UKC hunt. At the last minute he decides to load Girlee. Well we are glad he did because she scored 350+ and won a 1st place win. A couple of weeks later the Mississippi State Coonhunters was holding a benefit hunt in Holcomb, Mississippi. Mr. Fred and Girlee loaded up once again scored 325+ and 1st place.

Mr. Fred said this cast had a little extra excitement with one of the trucks having a blowout and having a run in with a five foot rattlesnake with 14 rattlers. However, Mr. Fred and Girlee were on a roll, so on June 6,2008 they loaded up again and headed to Byhalia, Mississippi where they scored 75+, which once again it was enough for 1^st place.

Mr. Fred and Girlee at a combined age of 82 in a span of 21 days went to 3 UKC hunts winning 3 first place wins to finish to Nt Ch. As always Mr Fred is very modest of this accomplishment, but to all of us that look up to him this is just another bar that Mr Fred has set that we can all try to achieve but likely never will.

Congrats to Mr. Fred and NITECH ‘PR’ Sanders Little Girlee!

-submitted by Steven Gambel / MS

In This Issue of Coonhound Bloodlines... "Success Isn't Going To Happen Overnight" Laura Bell In the outreaches of Owatonna, Minnesota, you can often hear the sounds of late night barks emerge from the woods, while the owner of the coonhounds contently listens to the track unfold. The track barks fade and soon the Walker hounds have fallen treed deep in the timber, and without a doubt, they have the coon. Making his way to the hounds is their owner, 16-year-old Brandon Becker, who spends many nights like this in the woods with his hounds - nearly every night in the week, he says. Read more here Learn more about Coonhound Bloodlines

This Weekend At UKC Bluetick Days Robinson, Illinois - The nation’s largest UKC Bluetick event for six years running, National Bluetick Days will gather Bluetick Coonhound fanciers in Palestine, Illinois from May 15 to 17. Sponsored by the Bluetick Breeders of America, a UKC Chartered Breed Association, and hosted by the Wabash Valley CHC, the event kicks off Thursday and will feature coonhound nite hunts and bench shows, with Purina Points events Friday and Saturday. For more information, check out the upcoming events page. Find an event in your area.

About UKC Coonhounds Hunting with hounds is an American Tradition that still enjoys immense popularity. UKC's competitive hound programs offer events for coonhound enthusiasts belonging to over 1,300 clubs throughout the United States and Canada. In fact, one of the UKC's series of events enters more than 17,000 coonhounds annually and ranks as the largest sporting dog event of any kind in the world! Read more here.