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World Finals Cast Play-by-Play

On Saturday night, September 24th, around 8:00 pm EST, tune in to this very thread for the play-by-play of the World Championship Final Cast.

This year I will be teaming up with a special guest to bring you a play-by-play of this most anticipated and exciting 120-minute contest as it unfolds to decide the next UKC World Champion coonhound. I'll be with the Final Cast in the woods reporting the action to Mr. Steve Fielder at the headquarters. Steve will be posting a play-by-play of the action to you right here on this thread.

Those in attendance at the Finals in Greencastle, Indiana will be able to watch the action at headquarters on the big screen.

I'm excited to be working with Steve on this year's play-by-play. Given his legendary knowledge, experience and expert writing skills, I am confident we can bring you all an excellent account of the Final Cast as it unfolds.

Mark your calendars...... Saturday, September 24th, 8:00 pm EST.

Folks, we are getting close to show time. The judges and handlers will meeting at 7:30 to go over hunt details before heading out for the the final hunt in the World Championship. I will turn it over to Steve Fielder, who should start with his first report around 8pm. Should be an exciting hunt.

All I ask is that you use a different thread to comment on anything with regard to the final cast, until after it's over. That way the play by play on this thread does not get saturated with comments and buries the play by play. Thanks for your cooperation.

Good evening coon hunters across the Fruited Plain. This is your reporter for the evening Play by Play of the 2016 UKC World Coonhound Championship coming to you live from the Putnam County Fairgrounds in Greencastle, Indiana. I'm Steve Fielder, reporter for the evening and we will be bringing all the action of the most important UKC cast of 2016 year in just a little while.

I'm sitting in the headquarters building at the fairgrounds. The interviews are posted on the UKC Facebook page for your viewing pleasure. The handler's trucks are lined up inside the building, the hounds are loaded in the boxes awaiting the signal to leave the fairgrounds for the night's hunt.

It's going to be a dandy. We have four seasoned handlers and hounds seasoned in the tough UKC World Championship that began with the R.Q.E.'s, continuing through the Zones last weekend and now into the final night's cast. The activity of the following hounds will keep our attention for the next few hours so pop the corn, pop a top, kick back and get ready for really exciting Nite Hunt action that only a final cast at the UKC World Championship can provide.

The dogs hunting tonight are:

NITECH 'PR' Lone Pine Biffy Sue, a four-year old Treeing Walker female owned by Dale Montgomery and Randy Smith of Kittanning, PA and handled by Rick Strauser.

GRNITECH 'PR' Westrick's Wipeout Zoom, a five-year old Treeing Walker male owned and handled by Jordan Westrick of Defiance, Ohio.

GRNITE 'PR' Handsome Tucker, a seven-year old Treeing Walker male owned by Nick Brady and Phil Peterson of Buckhannon, WV and handled by Nick Brady.

GRNITE CH CH 'PR' Clean's Swamp Blaster, a three-year old Treeing Walker male owned by Bryan Whitted and Jody Jessup of Huntington, IN and handled by Jody Jessup.

We are awaiting the signal from the UKC officials for the cast to venture out into the Hoosier night to get this cast underway.

Please stand by.

Final Four Interview Video

The Final Cast will be leaving the fairgrounds at approximately 8:30 PM Eastern Daylight Savings Time. They will drive southeast of the fairgrounds to the hunting spot which is a mile-square section. The harvest process has begun here in central Indiana and part of the crops have been taken out at our spot and that should provide good walking.

The cast intends to complete the two-hour hunt in one spot unless they run out of hunting territory. This spot has not been hunted all week and should be prime for our purpose and that's to give four hounds the opportunity to show the skills that brought them to the Final Four.

While we are waiting, you may want to check out the video of the interviews with the Final Four owners and handlers at the following link:

https://www.facebook.com/UKCcoonhounds/

For anyone interested in coonhound history, coming to Greencastle, Indiana is like returning home. The first Autumn Oaks was held here at the Putnam County Fairgrounds in 1960 and was won by a Plott Hound owned by the late Dale Brandenburger. The dog's name was Pioneer Drum. After moving to Paducah, KY and to Kalamazoo, MI, the Oaks came back to Greencastle for a twenty-year run.

In 1978 UKC decided to establish the UKC World Coonhound Championship program as a follow-up to the Champion of Champions program. The inaugural hunt was held in Beaver Dam, Ohio. Forty-one years later the Grand Old Lady of UKC competition hunts is still going strong. I was privileged to serve as a UKC Field Rep in 1978. History.

The last time the UKC World Championship was held in Greencastle, a Treeing Walker female named Charley Creek Tara owned by Dick Brothers, then of Wabash, Indiana was named UKC World Champion.
Tonight there is one female in the final cast? Will history repeat and the new World Champion by a female. We'll know for sure a little later on.

The next report will come from Allen Gingerich in route to the hunting spot. It's been unseasonably warm in central Indiana this week. The woods are dry and still. We've had no rain the entire week and conditions will definitely favor the trail dog tonight. However, the area is ripe with raccoons and the dogs should have no trouble getting struck. It should be a good test, as any Final Four cast should be, of the quality and skill-sets of the competing hounds.

The judges for tonight's cast are;

Guide: Mike Comer

Judges: Jacob Barton of Kentucky and Derek Goldman of Indiana.

Allen Gingerich of UKC is our man-in-the-woods and will be feeding us the action as it happens.

The cast is rolling toward the hunting spot.

The hounds of the Final Four range in age from 3 years to 7 years.

Swamp Blaster, the male handled by Jody Jessup is the youngest of the group. Handsome Tucker, handed by Nick Brady is the oldest. Zoom is five and Sue is four. All are obviously in their prime as coonhounds. Will age play a part in the cast? Maybe. Will more experience offset the enthusiasm of youth? We shall soon see.

Three of the four hounds hail from fairly mountainous terrain wherein the Zoom dog comes from the flat lands of northwestern Ohio. The terrain around Greencastle is varied with some hills and hollows but when compared to the eastern mountains, the terrain is fairly tame. I don't think it will be a factor in the night's hunt although at times a deep-hunting hound can get out of pocket here.

The judges and handlers held a pow wow at the fairgrounds and so no time will be wasted when they get to the woods. It shouldn't be long now.

The cast is at the hunting spot. Allen says they are parked in a cornfield with woods all around. The cornfield has been cut.

Thankfully there are no laws against texting in coon hunting, at least when you are a UKC official. Allen has special dispensation to use his electronic device during the cast, self-approved I'm sure.

Has anyone checked the line in Vegas. This is big stuff and it's about to happen NOW!

8:59 the Judge says, "Cut'em" and they are loose!

One babble bark from one dog but that's it.

Zoom struck to the right of the cast for 100. Tucker strikes right behind him for 75.

Strike Sue for 50 right in front of the cast for 50 and Blaster strikes for a quarter.

Zoom treed for 125! He's about 200 and at 2 o'clock from the cast.

Tucker is trailing farther to the right.

Sue is working a track right in front of the cast all alone and lonely.l

Sue treed for 125! She's barely 75 yards from the cast. The cast is backing out to give her room and walking around her heading toward Zoom.

Three minutes are gone on Zoom's tree. Tucker is treed for 125 to the right. There's a three-way split as it stands right now. So much action Allen can barely keep up!

The time has expired on Zoom's tree.

Sue's tree is dead. The back-up judges is headed to her tree with the handler Rick.

Zoom is handled. Blaster can now be heard trailing another 200 yards behind Zoom.

Zoom is on a big red oak. Allen says he's a real nice tree dog. Sue is loud and sounds like a male. She's a real tree dog too.

Sue's tree is dead. The back-up judge is headed to her tree with the handler Rick.

Zoom is handled. Blaster can now be heard trailing another 200 yards behind Zoom.

Zoom is on a big red oak. Allen says he's a real nice tree dog. Sue is loud and sounds like a male. She's a real tree dog too.

Blaster can now be heard as well but no call yet. The cast is still shining Zoom's tree.

Blaster is called treed for 125! Sounds like everyone likes that first tree and won't settle for less. All dogs are declared treed. Zoom and Sue are each handled.

Tucker's tree is also closed but he is yet to be handled. The hunters are waiting for seven minutes to expire on Zoom's tree in order to squall. It's expired and they are blowing the reeds out of their party horns.

Blaster is called treed for 125! Sounds like everyone likes that first tree and won't settle for less. All dogs are declared treed. Zoom and Sue are each handled.

Tucker's tree is also closed but he is yet to be handled. The hunters are waiting for seven minutes to expire on Zoom's tree in order to squall. It's expired and they are blowing the reeds out of their party horns.

It's party time here at headquarters; pizza, pop corn, sodas, coffee and lot's of chatter as the posts are displayed on the big screen.

Zoom's tree was hard to shine and is circled up as time expires. The tree is a legitimate circle according to Allen.

There was one hour and 35 minutes hunting time left at his last report.

Zoom's tree was hard to shine and is circled up as time expires. The tree is a legitimate circle according to Allen.

There was one hour and 35 minutes hunting time left at his last report.

The dogs are being scored in most convenient order. Sue has been handled, Blaster has been handled, and they are on the way to handle Tucker. We'll give you the results as the trees are scored. Allen is getting a workout.

SCORECARD:

Zoom - 100 strike circle, 125 tree circle

Tucker - 75 strike open, 125 tree open

Sue - 50 strike open, 125 tree open

Blaster - 25 strike open, 125 tree open