UKC Coonhound Weekly Bulletin, Episode 10
July 1, 2025
Source: Trevor Wade, Coonhound Program Manager
Email: twade@ukcdogs.com
What's up everybody?! This past weekend I was down in Elnora, Indiana at National Redbone Days, which was my last breed day trip of the year. I was able to attend five of the seven chartered breed day events this year, and I have to say, Im super impressed with the direction of the associations. In discussions and meetings I sat in on this year, each association and their membership were bouncing great ideas and conversations off of each other and put together some great plans for future events.
The Treeing Walker Breeders and Fanciers Association tried a new hunt format this year, that was truly more indicative of current coonhound events with Thursday and Friday being their big days and Saturday being a day for run offs and qualifiers. The American Black and Tan Coonhound Association is always cutting edge with their youth and incentive-based programs, and it sounded like they have some great ideas for the future in motion. The United English Breeders and Fanciers Association has made great strides over the past several years to advance some of their current programs, and to add more things for their members to compete in and for. The National Plott Hound Association knocked the youth stuff out of the park this year prize wise and then have ideas to elevate sectionals and more for the future. The National Redbone Coonhound Association had a great youth event this year in conjunction with their breed day weekend and had some encouraging dialogue in their meeting with plans to further recognize their members who are out running the roads representing the breed. Unfortunately, I missed the American Leopard Breeders Association and Bluetick Breeders of America meetings and events but have talked to folks in both associations since and look forward to attending their breed day events next year.
To sum it up, it seems like the youth of the sport has been a major topic and focus at each one Ive been to. The prize packages are great, the support is great, we just have to get the kids there. Also, we have to drive membership to these associations to support them and the breeds we love. We as houndsmen can always do more. We have to. If you need contact information or more information about a breed or even state association, reach out to me and Ill get you on the right track.
PAST EVENTS
There was only one event on the Major Event Schedule this weekend and that was National Redbone Days. I was able to take my oldest daughter, and man we had a blast. As a matter of fact, there were a lot of kids there. Its safe to say that wont be the last one she attends.
- National Redbone Days (includes National Redbone Youth Championship)
UPCOMING EVENTS
Things are going to slow down in the months of July and August on the major event front. There are, however, several youth championships happening the next few weeks, leading into UKC Youth Nationals on July 18 and 19 in Milton, Indiana.
This weekend there are two state youth championship on the Youth Championship Schedule. There are no major events or RQEs this weekend.
- Illinois State Youth Championship in Pocahontas, Illinois
- New Hampshire State Youth Championship in Swanzey, New Hampshire
* Anyone at those two events that could send me reports from the weekend, it would be very helpful. Remember, putting the youth handlers information on the report is important.
WHATS HAPPENING?
I woke up this Tuesday morning full of anticipation, excitement, and anxiousness. Two of UKCs biggest events of the year, Autumn Oaks and the Coonhound World Championship, both had their entries open up this morning!
Lets start with the granddaddy of them all, Autumn Oaks! Entries opened this morning and close at midnight EST on August 11th. The week is going to be full of stuff going on. Of course, you have the weekends nite hunts and bench shows but then you also have the National Dual Championship, Thursdays Specialty Bench Shows, three warm-up slams, and two Pro Slams. There is truly something for everyone. For the event ad, more information, or to enter the events, see here: Autumn Oaks
Now lets get to the main event of the year, the UKC Coonhound World Championship. Entries opened this morning and will close on September 2nd at midnight EST. With the World Finals going to Portland, Indiana this year, I expect a stacked field in both the Zones trying to punch their ticket to advance and hunt at the finals, and in the bench show at the finals. For the event ad, more information, or to enter your qualified hound, see here: Coonhound World Championship
I mentioned Pro Slams so I want to take a brief second to talk about them. Right now, we are gearing up for two that entries open for this month, one in Michigan and one in Florida. I also should have some event ads made up soon for a few more this fall and into the winter. Lets see what we have below:
Bandit Bash
August 15-16, 2025
Quincy, MI
$750 Entry Fee, 27-Dog Entry Limit
Hosted by: Reading Coonhunters Association
Online Reservations Open: July 15, 2025
See event ad here: Bandit Bash
Dog Days Pro Slam
August 15, 2025
Ocala, FL
$300 Entry Fee, 16-Dog Entry Limit
Hosted by: Central Florida Coonhunters Association
Online Reservations Open: July 15, 2025
See event ad here: Dog Days Pro Slam
I am currently working on publishing a few more Pro Slam ads for the Pro Slam web page that should be up soon.
- Autumn Oaks 500 August 27, 2025 Richmond, Indiana - $500 Entry Fee, 16-Dog Limit
- Autumn Oaks 1000 August 28, 2025 Richmond, Indiana - $1,000 Entry Fee, 16-Dog Limit
- MS State Pro Slam October 30, 2025 - Yazoo City, Mississippi - $300 Entry Fee, 16-Dog Limit
- SETWA Pro Slam November 7, 2025 Union, South Carolina - $300 Entry Fee, 16-Dog Limit
We are unfortunately still waiting on one report for the 2024-25 Next Generation Spotlight Series Standings. Again, any help getting in touch with them would be appreciated.
- Polk County Coon Club - Cedartown, GA - 5/30/2025
Lastly, to follow up on the write up I did a couple bulletins ago about the 2026 calendar shift, I added tentative dates for the 2026 Major Events here (under the 2025 dates): Major Event Schedule. If you are a part of an event or association and the date you see doesn't work or I need to edit it, let me know ASAP so people can make plans to attend.
DOG OF THE WEEK
How can I talk about Autumn Oaks and the World Championship and not think about one of the winningest dogs of all time, NGRNCH WLDNITECH GRNITECH 'PR' House's Mr Clean? It may be a product of when I came into the sport and especially the competitive side of the sport, but no hound has captured my imagination more than Clean. Before I dive too much into his win history, lets find out a little more about him.
Name: NGRNCH WLDNITECH GRNITECH 'PR' House's Mr Clean
Breed: Treeing Walker Coonhound
Date of Birth: 2/5/2005
Owned by: Bryan Whitted and Michael Thomas of Huntington, Indiana
Bred by: Jeff Duvall/Tom Bates
Three-Generation Pedigree:
--- NITECH 'PR' Medley's Hardwood Swamp
- CH GRNITECH 'PR' House's Hardwood Hunter
--- 'PR' Goose Creek Lou
NGRNCH WLDNITECH GRNITECH 'PR' House's Mr Clean
--- GRNITECH 'PR' McMahan's Stylish Hammer
- 'PR' Sandys Stylish Gail
--- NITECH 'PR' Anderson's Nocturnal Sandy
Clean earned his NITECH title shortly after his 2nd birthday in June of 2007. Then finished to GRNITECH four months later in October of 2007. Most of those wins happened at local clubs, including a RQE win in March which would be his first of four times qualifying for the World Zones (spoiler alert, eventually he wouldnt have to qualify any more). After making Grand he was mostly pushed on the major event level, which was customary at that time.
What was most impressive about his competition career was the span of his peak. While some dogs can get hot for a season or even a year on the circuit before being burnt out, Mr Cleans run spanned half a decade. He earned his first national title in 2010 in Columbia City, Indiana when he bested the field and became the 2010 Coonhound World Champion by putting on an absolute coon treeing clinic on that final cast scoring 1,075+. If you havent seen the account of that final cast, you need to find that magazine and read it. Not wasting much time, he was able to add some more length to his UKC name by winning the 2011 Autumn Oaks, the 2nd year under the newly implemented (at the time) Grand 16 format.
After an impressive runner-up finish at the 2013 Autumn Oaks, Clean cemented his legacy as one of the best of all time when he became the second hound in history and the first since 1973 to win Autumn Oaks two times by bringing home the crown of National Grand Nite Champion of Autumn Oaks again in 2014. In what would be his last run in UKC as a 9-year-old hound, Clean made one last splash at the 2014 World Championship finishing 19th place and putting a bow on one of the most illustrious careers by any coonhound, ever.
UKC HUNTING OPS PODCAST
This past week, Allen and I answered some of your questions in a mailbag edition of the podcast. We tried to get to as many as we can. If we didnt get to yours, dont worry. We plan to start doing them more regularly. Some of the questions we answered included the calendar shift for 2026, treeing but not declared treed when judge arrives vs coming in after the judge arrives, next available tree points, Tractive collars, double header bench shows, and much more! Give it a listen.
UKCS ALL-QUARTER CENTURY CAST
Finally! I have been pumped up for this series for a month now and we are finally getting it rolling this week with our first round of voting. So what is this?
Im a sports junky. I spend probably too much time not only watching games but reading, doing fantasy, and listening to podcasts. One of the popular topics amongst MLB, NBA, and NFL writers and content creators this year is creating the All-Quarter Century teams. Sorting through the past 25 years with all the great players and only making a single team is nearly impossible, but it does make for fun dialogue and discussion while also highlighting a lot of folks who deserve recognition.
I wanted to do something similar for coonhunting. While on a 10-hour drive, I thought and thought and finally came up with something that I think would be fun for everyone, while also highlighting some of UKCs biggest winners of the past 25 years. UKC now has four administered events each year that crown a champion. The World Championship, Autumn Oaks, Winter Classic, and the Tournament of Champions (I would say Youth Nationals is more about the kids than the dogs). So if we could whittle each of the four events to just one representative, we would be left with a perfect four-dog cast.
So starting this week, you all are going to cast your vote and determine which four dogs deserve a spot on UKCs All-Quarter Century Cast. Each week a new poll will go up where you will cast your vote between 5-7 dogs and the winning dog will advance. By November 10th, we will have our Final Cast and if Im thinking correctly, it will be a great representation of UKCs major events over the past 25 years.
Lets get to it! Our first poll will actually be choosing between the five UKC Tournament of Champion winners. Since we only have five winners in the history of this event, the winner of this weeks poll will actually punch their ticket to be on UKCs All-Quarter Century Cast. Vote wisely. Lets look at the representatives you have to choose from. Just so you know, this poll will close on July 7th at 11:45 PM EST.
2021 Winner - GRNITECH(2) 'PR' Stovers Charley Creek Bad Butch
Treeing Walker Male
Owned by Bill Stover of Guysville, Ohio
Out of GRNITECH(2) GRCH PR Charley Creek Big Mike & GRNITECH PR Trick Magic Trudy
Born 7/3/2018 and bred by Craig Cooper
Resume:
2021 UKC TOC Champion
Advanced to TOC Finals with 1,512 + double cast win in Mt. Gilead, OH Region
Qualified for UKC World Zones 3 times
Advanced to World Finals in 2021 with 875+ double cast win in Quincy, MI Zone
High Profile Cast wins at Walker Days in 2023 and TOC Region in 2024
27 UKC cast wins on record
7,574 plus points in 27 wins, averaging 280.5+ in wins
2022 Winner - GRNITECH(3) PR Willys Conor McGregor
Treeing Walker Male
Owned by Billy Wolf of Hamilton, Alabama
Out of WLDNITECH GRNITECH(2) 'PR' Gray's Rack Em Willy & GRNITECH PR Johnson Creek Abby
Born 8/18/2019 and bred by Nick Imel
Resume:
2022 UKC TOC Champion
Advanced to TOC Finals with 650+ double cast win in Lancaster, KY Region
Qualified for UKC World Zones 2 times
Advanced to World Finals in 2021 with 575+ cast win in Tell City, IN Zone
High Profile Cast wins at Winter Classic in 2021, Walker Days in 2021, Double Cast Winner Winter Classic in 2022, Double Cast Winner at Alabama State in 2023
29 UKC cast wins on record
11,100 plus points in 29 wins, averaging 382.8+ in wins
2023 Winner GRNITECH(3) PR Stricks Hardtimes Hobo
Treeing Walker Male
Owned by John Strickland, Doug Galbreath, Ashley Oxendine of Springfield, Kentucky
Out of GRNITECH 'PR' Bussrow Creek Josie Wales & PR Bussrow Creek Casey
Born 6/27/2019 and bred by Chuck Cliver
Resume:
2023 UKC TOC Champion
Advanced to 2023 TOC Finals with 825+ cast win in LaGrange, IN Region
Advanced to 2024 TOC Finals with 750+ cast win in LaGrange, IN Region
Qualified for UKC World Zones 4 times
Advanced to World Finals in 2021 with 525+ cast win in Quincy, MI Zone
Advanced to World Finals in 2023 with 825+ double cast win in Portland, IN Zone
9th Place in 2022 World Championship
Made Grand 16 of 2022 Autumn Oaks
3rd Place at 2024 Walker Days Pro Slam II
High profile cast wins at 2024 Grand American, 2025 TOC Region
Highest Money Winner on UKCs list with $54,250 won across TOC, Coonhound World, and UKC Pro Slams
29 UKC cast wins on record
11,425 plus points in 29 wins, averaging 394+ in wins
2024 Winner NITECH CH PR Maxed Out Mad Money
Treeing Walker Male
Owned by Ammon L Marner of Loogootee, Indiana
Out of GRNITECH CH PR Money Max Out & PR Whats Up Handsome Ann
Born 6/14/2020 and bred by Jeremy Jones
Resume:
2024 UKC TOC Champion
Advanced to 2024 TOC Finals with 575+ double cast win in Conway, AR Region
11 UKC cast wins on record
3,625 plus points in 11 wins, averaging 329.5+ in wins
2025 Winner GRNITECH(2) PR Willys Little Ann
Treeing Walker Female
Owned by John Strickland, Ashley Oxendine, Doug Galbreath, Randy Smith of Springfield, Kentucky
Out of WLDNITECH GRNITECH(2) 'PR' Gray's Rack Em Willy & PR Wipeout She Squirms Alot
Born 12/28/2019 and bred by Nicholas Jones
Resume:
2025 UKC TOC Champion
Advanced to 2025 TOC Finals with 937+ cast win in LaGrange, IN Region
Qualified for UKC World Zones 2 times
Advanced to World Finals in 2023 with 875+ double cast win in Portland, IN Zone
14th Place in 2023 World Championship
2023 UKC Triple Crown Winner
High Profile cast win at 2023 Walker Days, double cast winner at 2023 Winter Classic, cast winner at 2023 Autumn Oaks, cast winner at 2024 Winter Classic
27 UKC cast wins on record
9,075 plus points in 27 wins, averaging 336.1+ in wins
Guided by the belief that dogs make a difference by being the best partner a human can have in the field, on the job, or in a competition event, UKC is a community for people and dogs to pursue excellence together. Founded in 1898, UKC has been dedicated to enhancing the lives of Dogs That Do More, and their owners, by providing essential resources to help owners and breeders make informed decisions. The dog-human bond is celebrated through family-friendly programs highlighting the instincts and heritage of purebred and mixed-breed dogs alike at over 18,000 licensed events annually.