22 PKC Youth Nationals Spotlight on Thur Semi-Finalists

[Amy Kovac-Thomas]

We have another group of young handlers who have made their way into Saturday's Semi-Finals. Let's learn more about this next successful group!

Chesney Cribb

It was quite the trip for fourteen Chesney Cribb to make from Whiteville, North Carolina to attend the first every PKC Youth Nationals, but when she arrived for her first night’s attempt on Thursday, she pulled off her double cast wins with Cribb’s Skeeter. These two definitely worked through the jet lag and hot humid temperatures to make an arrival statement and earn them a spot in the Semi-Finals.

Chesney is the daughter of Patrick and Courtney Cribb and she made the 10 hour trip to Kentucky with her dad. It was a great way to spend the weekend leading up to Father’s Day as it was her father who introduced her to competition hunting where she found her way to the PKC Youth Program. Chesney shared her background with the registry, “I have been in the program for about three years. I was going with my daddy to the PKC hunts and I decided that I wanted to start hunting in PKC hunts. I like winning money.”

The PKC Youth Nationals has quite the pot for Chesney to try to win with a $5,000 pay out. Chesney shared why she made the decision to make the trip to Paducah, Kentucky, “I wanted to get some more experience and to see how well I could do.”

To try to win big at this first of its kind youth event, Chesney made the decision to bring Cribb’s Skeeter. She shared why she made that choice, “I have had Skeeter since she was a puppy and my dad and I raised her up and trained her. She has been with us a long time. Cecil Simmons owned Skeeter’s momma and I won some hunts with her too. What I like about Skeeter is that she is quick and can run a good track along with treeing lay ups. She has a good mouth and locate. She also is my best friend.”

It is easy to see why Chesney thinks so highly of Skeeter when her beloved hound earned her double cast wins on their first night of participation. Chesney described how that casts went for her on Thursday night, “On the early cast, Skeeter did good and treed a coon. We started out the cast having to call time out because two of the dogs treed across a really high creek. Skeeter was treed and another dog was there with her. We could get to Skeeter and the other dog, but not the other two across the creek. When we recut after calling time, Skeeter treed a coon. Another dog made a circle tree and another dog took some minus on a tree.In the late round, it went good again. Skeeter and another dog treed two coons. We recut them and she went on, but then she ended up going back to the tree. Luckily it did not cost her since there were only two minutes left in the hunt. The other dog left the tree and took minus.”

Chesney now has a shot at winning it all by having a secure spot for Saturday night. She is looking forward to seeing what it hold for her. She has enjoyed her time at the Youth Nationals so far and shared, “It has been fun. It is very laid back and there is no pressure.”

Ryan Lehan

Seventeen year old Ryan Lehan secured his spot to hunt in the Semi-Finals of the 2022 PKC Youth Nationals on Thursday night with Holbrooks Lockdown Blue Image. Ryan and Image may not have made it in the first night of the event, but they did not give up and that persistence paid off for them. It may end up paying $5,000 for them if things continue going their way.

Ryan made the trip to Paducah, Kentucky from Greenville, Tennessee with his grandparents Johnny and Elizabeth Roberts. This trip together means a lot to him as it was his grandfather who got him into coon hunting. Ryan talked about how he got involved with the PKC youth program, “My pawpaw and I have always pleasure hunted. I always like to do more with things and I told him that I wanted to go to a competition hunt. He told me to find one to go to and I have not looked back since. I have been going to the youth hunts since I was about 16 years old. I think I went to my first hunt the day I started driving. I am pretty much somewhere every weekend.”

The PKC Youth Nationals was definitely something that Ryan knew he wanted to attend when it was announced. He shared why he decided to travel to the event, “I love the bigger PKC hunts especially the bigger youth hunts. The big prizes make it worth your trip and the PKC youth program puts on great events.”

The hound that Ryan is handling at this event is Holbrooks Lockdown Blue Image. Ryan discussed how he came to the decision to bring him to this event, “I did not chose him at first, but my three year old Bluetick got killed. I hunt a lot of dogs for Travis Holbrook and I went up to central Ohio to hunt some of his dogs. He told me to take my pick of what I wanted to handler for this. I chose Image. I really like him. He is really super quick out of the truck. He strikes well and will get tree somewhere.”

Image did make Ryan a bit nervous when they cut loose on their early round Thursday night. Ryan described how things went for them that night, “On the early round, when we turned loose I took 100 minus right out of the truck. Image had struck for 100 points and then got off in a ditch. He was barking like he was treed. We went to him and he was there just barking. I think he was barking at his reflection in the water. After that, I ended up treeing him in again and this time he was in a hole. I got him out of it and recut him. He struck for 25 points and then treed a coon for 100 points. All the other dogs had circle points. He had 25 plus. In the late round, I do not think the coon were moving well. I drew out with Razor and Speedy. Image struck for 50 points and treed for 100 points on a den. Speedy struck for 100 points and treed on it for 75 points. We recut and the dogs made quite a few trees, but we never treed a coon. The other dogs took some minus and Image had those circle points. It was a fun cast even if we did not tree any coons.”

Ryan put in two nights of hunting and he and Image pulled off those two needed cast wins to keep them in the game on Saturday. Ryan is hoping that their luck continues to bring them the big win in the end. He shared what he thinks of the event so far, “I really like this. When I saw it was going to be in Kentucky on the event ad, I did not think I would like it, but it has been some of the best hunting. I really appreciate Trader Inc., Joy Dogfood, and Purina Dogfood for making this possible and a great event. I am also very grateful that Travis gave me a chance to have a dog to handler here.”

Carter Harbinson

Hunting in Kentucky is nothing new for eighteen year old Carter Harbinson. This young man lives here in Edmonton with his parents Chris and Kelly Harbinson. This young man is also hunting Cuz’s Flatrock Lou that goes back to well-known Kentucky coon hounds. Carter and Lou made their first appearance at the 2022 PKC Youth Nationals on Thursday night and they earned their spot to return for Saturday nights Semi-Finals with their double cast wins.

Carter has been a part of the PKC Youth program since he was fifteen years old. He talked about how he became involved with the program, “I started hunting with Scott Browning about three years ago and he suggested that I do some hunts. I did my first one then and have continued with it.”

This is Carter’s last year in the PKC Youth Program and he was not going to let the opportunity to hunt in the first every Youth Nationals pass him by. He talked about his decision to be a part of this prestigious event, “Scott sent me a picture of the ad when it was first put up on Facebook. We decided that we were going to come to it and give it a try.”

The hound that Carter chose to handle at the Youth Nationals is Cuz’s Flatrock Lou. He shared why he made the decision to bring her, “She has always been a good, consistent hound. She is pretty fast and has a big mouth. She is also a good strike dog. When she gets treed, she either has a coon or she has a good den that you just cannot find it in.”

Carter’s first attempt at hunting at the Youth Nationals was on Thursday night. He shared how his rounds went for him and Lou, “On the early cast, I struck Lou I in for 100 points and treed her in for 100 points. She had a coon. Since I was ahead, I thought I would play defense from that point on. On the next tree, I struck her in for 50 points and treed her in for 50 points. She had another coon. In the late round, I struck Lou in for 75 points and treed her in for 100 points and she had a coon there. When we recut, I struck her in for 25 points. She ended up getting treed again for 100 points. It was a big monster tree and was circled. I struck her back in for 25 after that, but that was how it ended.”
This Kentucky duo are now hoping that Saturday night will be just as bountiful for them as their first night participating in the event was. They get to rest up a night and then head back out there to see if they can make a big win possible in this last year as part of the youth program. Carter shared his thoughts about how the event has been so far, “I think it has been fun and exciting. All I have left for youth hunting is to the end of the year and I am done, so I am glad that I got to be a part of this.”

Jase Michaelis

Eleven year old Jase Michaelis has grown up in Trader Inc. country living in Mercer, Missouri with his parents Josh and Heather Michaelis. When Jed Finley and Trader Inc. decided to put up a big pay out for the first every PKC Youth Nationals, Jase knew that he would be giving it his all to bring that money back home. Jase started making this a reality by earning his spot in the semi-finals on Saturday night with Trader’s Pourin Rain on Thursday night.

Jase started his time in the PKC Youth Program four years ago when he hunted Con at the Trader Inc. Youth Challenge. He shared, “I was seven years old and won my first cast there. I have been part of the program ever since.”

Jase discussed why he made the decision to head down to Paducah, Kentucky to hunt in this event, “I came to Youth Nationals because I like coon hunting and I really like competition hunting. Since this was the first Youth Nationals, I really wanted to go.”

Jase brought two hounds along to hunt in the event. He hunted Witch Hazel on Wednesday night and then switched to Rain for Thursday night. He talked about why he chose to handle these two hounds at the event, “I brought Rain because I have hunted with her before with my dad and Jed. We brought her as a backup in case something happened to my dog Hazel. We decided to give Hazel a rest after the first night and hunt Rain the second night.”

That decision paid off for Jase also because Rain got him in for Saturday night. Jase talked about what it is about Rain that he likes, “She is a good dog and has won a lot of casts. She is easy to be around and to call in the woods. Rain is just a good dog overall.”

Jase shared how his Thursday rounds went for him and Rain, “In the early cast I got 200 points right out of the truck on a coon and that made the cast a lot easier from there. Rain treed two coons to win it. In the late round it went pretty well too. It was not as good as the first round because on the last tree, I could not hear her to tree her and she sat on the tree for a very long time before I could tree her. It was a big relief when we got her handled and we saw the coon.”

Now Jase has the big relief of knowing that he is still in it for Saturday night. He gets one night to take it easy and then he will be back at it for the Semi-Finals. He has two cast wins in his pocket and only two more to be able to put a big check in that pocket! Jase shared his opinion of how the first ever PKC Youth Nationals has been so far, “I like the way the event is set up with qualifying nights. I like the rules and the event overall. The casts I drew were great too because everyone was so nice.”