th Vernon and Autumn Oaks at Richmond, about 80 miles distant. Hunters have been trying their luck for trophies at Autumn Oaks for 42 years now while PKC hunters, taking their awards a little more seriously, compete for a piece of the overall $25,977 purse up for grabs at North Vernon, now in its third year.
Looking back over the history of Autumn Oaks, which began in 1960 in Greencastle, Indiana, the hunt has been a roller coaster ride, rising into the 700 entry mark in the late seventies and plummeting into the 200’s by 1983. Bringing the hunt back to Indiana for its 25th anniversary in 1985, and keeping it there has seen the hunt return, possibly, to the numbers it enjoyed before moving it out of the Hoosier State in 1979. Amazingly, the PKC Labor Day Classic in North Vernon has reached those numbers in just three years with 781 hounds hunting in 2001!
Despite a full moon to illuminate the cornfields, creeks, and wood patches, scores at the PKC Labor Day Classic were consistently good, with highs in the 600’s and a score in the 300’s to 400 needed to make the Final Four each night. Admittedly, the scores at North Vernon were nothing compared to the 4-digit offerings at Autumn Oaks this year, but then they never are.
The 2001 edition of the PKC Labor Day Classic was held at the Jennings County Fairgrounds in North Vernon, IN., and hosted by the Clifty Creek Coon Hunters’ Association. At entry deadline on Thursday night, entries had increased twenty (20) percent over the numbers posted in 2000, with a total of 88 entries in the Pup Derby, and 136 entries in the Open Event. The following are Thursday night’s results:
Thursday, August 30th
Open Event – 136 entries
Overall Purse – $4240
Split Winners
4th – Viper
Dudley Jones, owner
Brad Herbert, handler
$415
4th – Raid
Mick Begley, owner/handler
$415
4th – Rumor
Gilliam/Swinford, owners
Tony Swinford, handler
$415
4th – Liz
Altman/Morris, owners
John Altman, handler
$415
Thursday, August 30
Pup Derby – 88 entries
Overall purse – $2920
Winners –
1st – Witch
Rattan/Crowson, Owner
Ryan Crowson, Handler
$763
2nd – Split
J C Ellis, Owner
James Love, Handler
$415
3rd – Jo Jo
Randall Ison, Owner
Dudley Jones, Handler
270
4th – Rock
Jack May, owner
Dorsey Riggs, handler
$212
The crowds at the entry tables on Friday night kicked things up a notch, totaling 285 hounds entering the Open Event and Pup Derby combined. The high score on Friday night was 650 plus.
Friday, August 31
Open Event – 185 entries
Overall purse – $6087.50
4th – Crank
Miller/Peel, owners
Jeff Wilson, handler
$540
4th – Reno
Larry Wagner, owner
Calvin Peek, handler
$540
4th – Patch
Danner/Stallard, owners
Tameico Johnson, handler
$540
4th – Ann
Russ Bellar, owner
Scott Engle, handler
$540
Friday, August 30
Pup Derby – 100 entries
Overall Purse – $3500
1st – Gem
Blaise Bauer, owner
Bruce Gilliam, handler
$825.50
2nd – Lexus
Elmer Jenkins, owner/handler
$477.50
3rd – Top
Duane Kehres, owner/handler
$332.50
4th – Liz
Morris Tart, owner/handler
$274.50
The Saturday night entry of 272 hounds, just short of Friday by 13 entries put the three-night total at 781, a new record for the PKC Labor Day Classic. I had the privilege of hunting with two fine young men, one of which had gotten in on Thursday night and won his cast the night before. As it would turn out, this young man would win his cast all three nights at North Vernon. Brad Herbert hunting Dudley Jones’ Viper dog won our cast with 150 points on the only coon we saw. We were in coons and two of us scored 500 circle points each but Ol’ Viper had the biggest share of the coon we saw by split treeing, allowing the rest of us to get just enough on it to whet our appetites. We got to see a wise ol’ ringtail give the dogs a slip in a fence row and come scooting trough the cornfield right beside us, leaving one hound hung up on a tree down the fence line and the other two split treed in the ground across the field. Score two for the coons! Each man in the cast struck and treed his dog and it went down to the wire in a very enjoyable cast under a Hoosier moon. It just doesn’t get any better than that!
Here are the winners on Saturday night:
Saturday, September 1
Open Event – 174 entries
Overall purse – $9700
Winners
1st – Tuck
Irvin Sutton, owner/handler
$888.00
2nd – Shag
Buddy Gilbert, owner
Steve Earnest, handler
$540
3rd – Reba
Don Hall, owner/handler
$395
4th – Victor
Langley/Woods, owners
John Langley, handler
$337
Saturday, September 1
Pup Derby – 98 entries
Overall purse – $5650
Winners
1st – Quick
John Roe, owner
Mike Newton, handler
$825.50
2nd – Lazer
Benny Decker, owner/handler
$477.50
3rd – Clint
Keith Medley, owner/handler
$322.50
4th – Henry
Bryan Flanigan, owner/handler
$274.50
Bobby Wilson, Mike Goodpaster, and all the guys and gals of the Clifty Creek Coon Hunter’s Association did their usual bang-up job of providing guides for the casts. Hunters at North Vernon don’t have to drive the long miles to the timber and the parity in scores from card to card show the playing field to be level. With all the coon hunting-related activities going on in Indiana and neighboring Ohio on Labor Day weekend, all in all the PKC Labor Day Classic is the place to be when the sun goes down. Thanks to each of you who came, who hunted, and who illustrated that big purses bring big smiles after midnight. It was great to see each of you! May your Labor Day weekend with your families be all you hoped for. Enjoy!
PKC – PROFESSIONAL KENNEL CLUB
“We’re professional in the way we treat each other!”
