Deer Creek Coon Hunters hosting UKC World Championship

Local Deer Creek Coon Hunters will be hosting the United Kennel Club Coonhound World Championship Finals at the Putnam County Fairgrounds in Greencastle Sept. 22-24.

This weekend’s competition is the final leg of the UKC Triple Crown Challenge sponsored by Black Gold Dog Foods. Participants compete for prizes and the prestige of being named the 2016 World Nite Hunt Champion and the 2016 World Bench Show Champion.

In accordance with UKC rules and regulations, no game is taken and no firearms are allowed, but handlers and their dogs are required to perform an actual hunt in the local area with a guide and judge.

This is the first time the competiton has made it to Greencastle.

Four local men competed last weekend to qualify for the event: Tyler Pettit of Reelsville; Cody Carter of Cloverdale; Chuck Wells and Matthew Newport of Brazil. Although they didn’t qualify for the World Championship, Jared Hutcheson, a member of Deer Creek Coon Hunters who placed 13th in the world three years ago, said they should still be proud.

“It’s a really big accomplishment to play in the 100,” Hutcheson said. The local qualifying competition the men attended had 180 entries; only 28 made the cut. The most local qualifying competitor is Jerry Carter of Elletsville. Of the 644 coonhounds that competed in the U.S. and Canada, Indiana qualified the most at 79. Ohio was the runner-up at 51.

Competitors from all over America and Canada start in the thousands at the beginning of the World Championship, but more than 150 Regional Qualifying Events and seven Semifinal Events will have whittled those down to just 100 by this weekend.

“The UKC World Coonhound Championship is without question the most sought-after title in the sport of coonhound competition hunting,” UKC Senior Vice President Todd Kellam said. “At the World Championship Finals in Greencastle, a dog must string together as many as five consecutive wins against other world-class hounds in an effort to secure the World Championship title. The accomplishment is nothing short of heroic in the world of sporting dogs.”

Thursday and Friday will feature four rounds of the World Nite Hunt Championship. Saturday will feature the final round of the World Nite Hunt Championship and the World Bench Show Championship (starting at 9 a.m.), which spectators are invited to attend and meet the coonhound/owner teams. No pets are allowed as only dogs registered to compete are allowed on the event grounds.