UKC Forums (http://forums.ukcdogs.com/index.php)
- UKC Coonhounds (http://forums.ukcdogs.com/forumdisplay.php?forumid=4)
-- Troy Rankin&Lead (http://forums.ukcdogs.com/showthread.php?threadid=54187)

Troy Rankin&Lead

I just found some old film had it developed it and this was some of the pictures. One of my most memorable hunting trips. Mike

Thanks for the pictures Mike.Always wondered what Lead looked like.Do you remember how he hunted?

I had the pleasure of hunting with Lead at my house here in Il. and in Miss. He was the finest looking hound I ever had the pleasure of hunting with. Troy Rankin & Bob Wheat are two of the best people I`ve met while coonhunting. Lead was also a very nice hound in the woods. Mike L.

Boy he sure looked like a bog ole` old fashion blue dog. The kind I like. These are the type of hounds form the past i would like to have a night in the timber with. Thanks Mike!

Troy Rankin was my grandfather ... mr. bob wheat gave that dog back to him so he could spend his last days with his original master. My grandfather just passed this year himself and i miss him greatly. He was a great man not only in coon hunting but to everyone who ever met him. He suffered from a heart attack in 96 and had a triple heart bypass that still couldn't slow him down. He went from coon hunting to squirrel then rabbit hunting, and was still going alone not long before he passed. He had suffered another heart attack this year and they couldn't do surgery because they didn't have a target to reattach the by pass. The clogged bypasses left him short of breath, and if you knew my grandfather he didn't like to sit still. He told me in the hospital he was ready to go, and gave me his wedding ring telling me he wanted me to have it. I tried to tell him to keep it because he was coming home but he said even if he lived he wanted me to have it. He came home for two weeks, and he celebrated his 81st birthday and passed away soon after. My uncle whom stayed with him said that he actually through the whole ordeal had a peaceful death. He had said a prayer and a smile came across his face. He told my uncle john that he was going to lay down on the floor. My uncle said that he told him that he didn't need to lay down there. Yet he lay down anyway and went to be with his master and creator at that moment. I also had the privilege of meeting mister bob wheat at his funeral and he surely was a close friend of my grandfathers. i could see it has he wept that he was a true friend. I miss him greatly and appreciate everyone that has kept his legacy going. Thanks to all of you.

Donald Rankin Jr

Oh yeah if you still have those pictures i would love to see them and would appreciate it.

Troy and Bob Wheat

Here are a couple of pics that I have .Mike Lovekamp