2016 PKC Youth World Championship Final Seven Interviews

Round by Round match ups and results from the 2016 PKC Youth World and World Championships October 21-22, 2016 in Salem, Illinois.

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2016 PKC Youth World Championship Final Seven Interviews

Postby Jerry Moll » Sat Oct 22, 2016 10:11 pm

By: PKC Youth National Director, Amy Thomas

Alex Houghton -

Eleven year old Alex is the son of Ryan and Sara Houghton. He lives in Brashear, Missouri and believe in the “Show Me” motto because he has been doing just that this weekend. That is pretty impressive since this is his first time to the PKC Youth World Championship. He is down here with his cousins Kellen and Kennedy and his uncle Darrin. When asked how he feels about this first trip to Salem, Illinois for this event, he said, “I think it is pretty cool!”

Though he is young, Alex has been at this sport for a long time (in his time frame of life). When asked how he got into the sport, he shared, “I have been coon hunting since I was two years old. My dad was really big into it. I like it because it is a great sport and I get to spend time with my dad and sister. I like that I have a rally good dog and she is my baby.”

Alex has been competing for the last two years, but not consistently. He likes this side of it. He did well at the PKC Missouri State hunt. His cousin Kellen won and he was right behind him for second place. Alex also won the LaPlata Youth Hunt.
Alex is here with his six years old Tree Slamin Hope. She is out of Tree Slammin’ Page and Tree Slammin’ Frankie. He shared the history behind her, “We bought her from Jeremiah Blanch and have had her for three or four years. I like that she is so huggable. She is also really accurate.”

Alex won early with 75 plus and then won late round with 100 plus. He discussed how his night went, “In the early round, there were mistakes made in that round. We were the only ones to tree a coon. I had to wait forever before going out late and that was good because my legs were hunting. In the late round, I struck for 100 points and treed her. I think I treed on a locate and my dad later told me that she was running. I took minus. Then I treed her for 100 points about ten seconds after that and she had a coon. Then I turned her loose again and treed her with another dog. That dog and my dog had a circle. I turned her loose again, not much after that. I struck her for 25 points. She had another coon, but she had minus and it did not help her score.”

When asked how he feels about tonight, Alex said, “I feel very confident. I was very nervous in the first hunt. I guess I am not as nervous now.”



Mason Williams -

Fifteen years old Mason is the son of Billy and Dawn Williams. He is from Hudson, Michigan and made the trip to Salem, Illinois with his dad Bill. This is not Mason’s first trip here, he also attended in 2014.

Mason started coon hunting when he was eight years old with his dad and uncle Troy. When asked what he liked about the sport, he said, “I like listening to the dogs run.”

Mason did quit hunting for a while, but he got back into it about 3 years ago. He talked about what got him back into it and some of his success, “I started hunting a lot when Rick St. Clair let me hunt his Molly female. I was in the Final Four of the Michigan State Youth Hunt and I got Reserve.”

This trip Mason has brought three year old Classic Country Queen with him and she has brought him far out of 110 youth. Queen is an English female owned by Mason’s uncle Troy Williams. She is out of Main Street Jack and a double Rooster female. When asked what he likes about her, Mason replied, “She likes to get by herself and has a coon a lot of times. She also has a really nice locate.”

Mason and Queen won early with 50 plus and then again in the late round with 250 plus. He shared how the casts went on Friday, “The early round was bad. Queen looked good on the first tree, but then backed on slick tree. I got lucky when the other guy ended up with a den tree, so I won with the 50 plus. In the late round, we went in there and she didn’t go hunting real hard. She was only out about 125 yards and the others jammed a coon. Then Queen got a coon. When they got cut loose, one dog treed, but the coon was a few trees over. My dog went about 75 yards over from where she treed on the first coon and she had another one.”

When asked about how he feels about tonight, “I am excited, but a little bit nervous.”



Michael Box -

Eighteen year old Michael is the son of Tommy and Kimmie Box. He is from Winfield Al. Michael was here the year before, but could not come last year due to a broken arm. This is his last year and he is excited to be in the top seven.
Michael said that he thinks has been coon hunting ever since he came out of the womb. He stated, “My dad took me before I could walk. I like the sound of the hound and the thrill; it is just fun.”

He has been in competition hunting since he was around five or six years old. He said, “People would have to tote me across creeks.”

He went on to talk about his successes, “I got first registered in the Alabama State Hunt. I had a dog that got killed and won a big youth hunt with her. I have qualified quite a bit for this hunt. I got handler of the month one time. This year between school and work, I got just enough won to come here and also make him a Nite Champion in UKC.”

Michael is here with his newly turned two year old dog Sipsey River Speck, He a crossbreed out of Junior and a Redman bred dog. When asked what he likes about the dog, he replied, “I like that he has a cold nose, is consistent, and can get off alone.”

Michael and Speck won early round with 325 plus and then the late round with 226 circle. He talked about how those casts went, “Speck treed three coons in the early round. He split and had one by himself. In the late, coons were not running as much when it got cold. We made a bunch of dens and had circle trees.”

When asked how he feels about tonight, he stated, “I am feeling good. I think it is going to go pretty good.”



Michael Woods -

Sixteen year old Michael is the son of Thomas and Patty Woods. He is from Lexington, Tennessee. This is his first time to the PKC Youth World Championship and he is here with his parents and his little brother Shane. Michael got qualified by going to some small local hunts in August with Ace.

When asked about his beginnings in coon hunting, Michael replied, “I have been coon hunting for three years. I got into it when my dad and I went out with a friend of ours Curtis Burton. We had a dog, but not as good as Ace. That night Curtis’ dog went and treed two coons and it had me from there. I really like it.”

Michael has been part of our PKC program for about two years. He talked about how he got into it, “I bought a dog and it had puppy papers and was Super Staked, so I got the papers.”

Michael is here with his eight year old Hopper’s Stylish Ace. Ace is a Walker owned by Jason Hopper and is out of Hard Knocking Rocket and Wipeout Tonya. He talked about how he ended up handling him, “Jason is my cousin and he bought a Trackman pup that he wanted to push. He told me that I could push Ace. I like him because he is the best dog that I have been with. I have not been in it too long, but he is pretty good about having a coon when he goes to a tree.”

Michael won his early round with 150 plus points and then the late round with 175 plus. He talked about how Friday night went for him, “In the Early Round, it went pretty good. I was a little late on tree call, but it is what it is. In the late round, it was a little tougher with the competition.”

When asked how he feels about tonight, he said, “I feel pretty good because I feel I have a decent chance of doing good.”



Wendel Bruton -

Fifteen year old Wendel is the son of Charlie and Karen Bruton. He is from Montrose, Michigan. He is here with his dad and he has been to this event twice now. He talked about what it is that he likes about this event, “I like the scholarship money and I want to win the money.”

Wendel has been coon hunting since he was seven years old. He went with his dad. He talked about what it was that has kept him in it, “I liked all the action with the dogs treeing.”

It was his dad that encouraged him to be a part of PKC. He said, “It was about five years ago that my dad got a young dog going and he wanted to put it into the hunts. He wanted me to start hunting in PKC.”

Wendel got qualified with Trouble by going to several events. Six year old Trouble is out of Road Trip and Snickers. They bought him about two and a half years ago. Wendel talked about what he likes about him, “His strength is being off by himself.”

He talked about the successes he has had with him, “At the Michigan Madness, I got into the Final Four.”

Wendel and Trouble won early with 225 plus and then late with 300 plus. He talked about how Friday night went,” On the early round, we had split tree and the dog was by himself. Then in the late round, it was same thing when the dog was by himself split again. We almost had to cross a lake to get to him.”

When asked how he feels about tonight, Wendel replied, “I feel pretty good. He is looking good.”



Chase Blevins -

Sixteen year old Chase is the son of Clayton and Stephanie Blevins. He lives 15 miles north of Richmond, Indiana in the small town Hagerstown. Chase was joined at his first PKC Youth World Championship this year by his parents along with his sister Maddie and brother Ethan. He got qualified in the spring at the Liberty Spring Classic with a little female they had.

Chase has been hunting with his dad since he was old enough to walk. He talked about his history in the sport, “This is my first year to qualify and come to the Youth World Championship. I hunted UKC since I was old enough to hunt in them. Then my dad took me to a youth hunt and pretty much made me hunt in it. I just fell in love with it. I have not seen near as much arguing or trouble. People know what they are talking about and I just have not hunted UKC much anymore.”

Chase is here with four year old Bawl’s Spud Lite. Spud is a Walker out of Harry Bawls and a Trackman female and is owned by Jonathan E. Wyatt, his dad’s long-time friend. They bought Spud after he was on Prohound Website and drove a long ways to try him out. Chase talked about how things went after they brought him back, “We had him a couple weeks and they had a double header to Peru. We took him to see what he would do and he blew them out of the water in the first round. We knew from that first round that we had something special.”

Chase and Spud won early with 425 plus and then again in the late round with 125 plus. He talked about how Friday went, “In the first round, it was coon treeing contest. It came down to the end with me having a coon. In late round, all it took was one. I was nervous as heck both times especially the last five minutes.”

When asked how he feels about tonight, Chase said, “I am a little nervous. I am going to let the dog do what he does and call him for what he does. I just hope to not make any mistakes.”



Matthew Osborn -

Sixteen year old Matthew is the son of David and Christy Belcher. He lives in Hudson, Michigan and is down her with his dad. PKC is the first program that Matthew has ever competed in and he started when he was thirteen. He won his first cast and has been hard at it ever since.

Matthew has been coon hunting since he was six years old. He got into it with his grandpa Charles “Chum” Osborn. He said that he likes the sport because it is fun and he liked the people in it. He also stated, “I like hunting my dogs. They are a big part of my life.”

Some of his bigger wins include winning three nights at the Michigan Madness this year. He also got in the Final Three in the Michigan State Youth Hunt. He added, “I have won a lot of smaller hunts. I have also been to the Breeders’ Showcase three years and I have gotten in every time.”

Matthew got qualified for this year’s PKC World Youth Championship with six year old Lewie, a Crossbred he owns. Lewie goes back to Clover. His sire is Stylish Stubby. Matthew talked about what he likes about Lewie, “He is usually by himself and has a coon when he trees. He is deep and lonely with two looking down.”

Two of Matthew buddies from Michigan are also in tonight. Matthew won early with 300 plus and then again in the late round with 50 plus. He talked about how his Friday night went that got him here tonight, “In the early round, it went good. The first coon I did not think I would win because it was a bare tree, but it fed into the tree where the coon was. The second tree was about 100 yards from that first one. It was a big oak and it had a coon in a fork sleeping. The late round was pretty good, I got a quarter and quarter on the very first tree. The others drew some minus and then I treed a den tree at the very end of the hunt. That gave me the cast win.”

When asked how he feels about going into tonight, “I am confident. I have a lot of confidence in my dog and as long as he does his job, I will do mine.”

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