TN Youth Showdown 4 Wheeler Hunt Final Four Interviews

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Amy Kovac-Thomas
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TN Youth Showdown 4 Wheeler Hunt Final Four Interviews

Postby Amy Kovac-Thomas » Sat Dec 19, 2020 8:19 pm

The 2020 PKC Tennessee Youth Showdown Four Wheeler Hunt
Final Four Interviews

The Tennessee Youth Showdown Four Wheeler Hunt is in its fourth year and it is a moment for young PKC handlers to get some experience in hunting for a big prize. One of the most coveted achievements for PKC hunters is to win a truck and this event with a four wheeler as the big prize has become the youth handler equivalent to that. We are now about to learn more about these four finalists.

Trysten Green

Our first handler tonight is fifteen year old Trysten Green from Lucendal, Mississippi. He is the son of Jordan and Jennifer Green. This is his first time here to the Tennessee Youth Showdown Four Wheeler Hunt. Trysten talked about why he decided to attend the event, “My friend Mr. Bubba Andrews came up to me at a hunt we were having down home and told me about it. He asked me if I wanted to go and I ended up coming. My dad had to stay back home, but my family is all excited to see how things go tonight.”
This has been a very big moment for Trysten also. He talked about his experiences in the sport, “This is my first time here, my first PKC hunt, and the biggest event that I have ever been. I started coon hunting just a year ago this January. Clint Sumerall is the person who got me into coon hunting. He is the vice-president of our coon hunting club and he goes to our church where my dad is a pastor. He told us we should go and we went and were hooked.”
The hound that has brought Trysten into the spotlight tonight is his dog Buddy. Trysten shared some information about Buddy, “He is an English Bluetick. We got him in the beginning of October. He has won a total of five UKC hunts and I won three of those with him. He does not go far and 90% of the time he has a coon.”
Trysten talked about how the casts went for him and Buddy on Friday to get them to where they are tonight, “On the early round, our whole cast did not tree a coon. My dog had a circle tree. We went to the other dogs when they treed and they had minus. One dog withdrew. Buddy was .6 away from us and when we got back to him, I had already won. I just shined for a few minutes and we circled it. The second cast was way better than the first. We cut them and Buddy went 270 yards and I struck him in. He trailed about 50 yards and he put the track up a tree and had a coon. Then he had a slick on a log where a coon had freshly defecated and that took him down to 50 plus. We recut. He and another dog treed and we circled them up”
Now Trysten and Buddy are in the Final Four and it is a moment that they will not forget. Trysten talked about how he is feeling, “I feel great about it. I came up here knowing he is a good dog, but I did not know what to expect, but here we are now.”
Before heading off to the woods, Trysten wanted to share some words of gratitude, “First off, I want to thank God for giving me the ability to do this and me. I want to thank my dad and the rest of my family for taking me coon hunting. We have been hunting Buddy two nights a week to get him ready for this. I want to thank Josh Green for giving us Buddy. I want to thank Clint Sumerall for introducing me to the sport and Bubba Andrews for bringing me up here.”

Eli Ford

Our next handler is twelve year old Eli Ford from Lincoln, Alabama. Eli is the son of Michael Ford and Nicole Dulin. Eli is not new to the Finals of this event, last year he placed third and he is back this year to see if he can bring home the four wheeler. Today is his birthday, so it would make for a very memorable moment in his life.
Last year was Eli’s first time at this event and when asked why he decided to return, he said, “Last year was my first year and I decided third place was not good enough, so I came back here this year. I like this hunt because there are only kids doing it and I want to win a four wheeler.”
Eli has been hunting for pretty much his whole life with his family. He really got into it about eight to nine years ago with his dad. It was also his father who introduced him to competition hunting about four years ago. Eli has a very special dog that he has bonded with and that is his Bluetick Zeus, who is the reason that he is heading back out tonight.
Eli talked about Zeus, “I have been hunting him for five years now. We had his dad and raised him up from a puppy. I like him because 99% of the time, he is going to have a coon. I hunted him here last year and then I had him in a Youth Double Header Hunt and got second both times.”
Eli talked about how his casts went Friday night to get him into this Final Four, “On the early round, he treed the only coon on the cast. Then on the late round, we won with zero.”
When asked how he feels about heading back out tonight for the Finals, Eli said, “I am happy. I think Zeus is going to do a good job for me tonight.”
Eli also wanted to be sure to thank some people who have supported him with his coon hunting to get him where he is tonight and shared, “I want to thank my dad, my Pa, and my great uncle Stanley. They all got me into coon hunting.”

Carter Harbison

Our next Final Four Finalist is sixteen year old Carter Harbison from Edmonton, Kentucky. Carter is the son of Chris and Kelly Harbison and this is also his first time to the Tennessee Youth Showdown Four Wheeler Hunt. Carter saw the event advertised on the internet and his uncle Scott Browning decided to bring him to it. Carter talked about his impression of the event so far, “I really like it.”
Carter has only been coon hunting for two years and it was also his uncle Scott who introduced him to the sport and supplied him with Flatrock Lou, the hound that won both rounds for him last night. Carter talked about Lou, “Her dad is Cuz and her mama is Patch. She is a full sister to Topper who just won the PKC World. I have been hunting with her the past year or two, but this is my first time handling her. What I like about her is that she is a good strike dog with a good mouth.”
Though this was Carter’s first time handling Lou in a competition event, the two have made a good team and now they are just one more round away from winning the four wheeler. Carter described how his casts went last night, “On the early round, I struck her for 75 points and I treed her in, but I knew it did not sound right. She sounded muffled and when we got to her, she was in the ground. That was circled for 100 point. When we turned back loose, I struck her in for 25 points and she treed on a big oak that every branch went into a pine, so it was circled. On the second cast, I struck her in for 50 points and then I treed her in about 700 yards away. She had the coon. She got 150 points on that one. When I recut, I struck her in again, but the hunt ran out.”
Carter talked about how he felt about being in this Final Four, “I feel pretty good and I hope I win it. I am a bit nervous. I was so nervous on the first cast, but I felt better on the second round.”
Before heading out, Carter also wanted to say some thanks. He shared, “I want to thank my uncle Scott Browning for taking me hunting for so long. He got me into it and look where I am now.”

Elijah Ward

Our last (but not least) finalist for tonight is sixteen year old Elijah Ward from Edina, Missouri. Elijah is the son of Miranda and Robert Ward. This is also his first time to this event. He talked about why he decided to come to it, “I heard about it and my friends were going, so I decided to come. It has been a pretty good event.”
Elijah has been coon hunting for about four years now. He has spent two of those competition hunting and he has had a pretty good run of success. Elijah shared how he got into it and some of his bigger wins, “My friend Davin York went and I went with him. Then I decided to start going myself. I was in the Final Four of Bear Creek Classic and won the Youth Championship part of it. I was also in the Final Four of Black and Tan Days and I have had other cast wins.”
Tonight, Elijah is hunting Lady, a Walker that he just bought at the PKC World Hunt. He really has not had a whole lot of time with her since she was in heat when he bought her. However, he described what he has quickly learned about her, “She is loud and good about having coons. She is usually independent.”
Elijah talked about how his rounds went on Friday night to get him and Lady into this Final Four, “My first round was not very good. We went into sudden death with circle points. The other dog treed a slick. On the late round, she covered on a coon. Then she went and treed a coon herself. After that she treed a den but that did not matter for the win.”
When asked how he felt about being in this Final Four, Elijah replied, “It is very exciting. I plan to just strike and tree my dog.”
Before heading out tonight, Elijah also wanted to express some words of gratitude and shared, “I want to thank my dad for helping me go to these events. I also want to mention Davin York and Wyatt Monen; we hunt together quite a bit and go to the hunts together.”

Now we are about to find out which one of these four youth handlers is going to have to a moment that they will never forget by winning a brand new four wheeler. It is going to be a wet, but memorable evening for these four young men! We want to wish them each the best of luck in this endeavor!
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Rick St.Clair II
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Re: TN Youth Showdown 4 Wheeler Hunt Final Four Interviews

Postby Rick St.Clair II » Sat Dec 19, 2020 9:33 pm

Very nice. Congrats too all


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