Hunting Sense

I would guess that anyone who’s seriously into coon hunting hasn’t at least heard of O.L. Beckham. He wrote a monthly column for Full Cry magazine and was called the “Worlds Greatest Dog Man” and “King of Traders Row” by many. He loved dogs, and coon dogs in particular, and bought, sold, and gave away many dogs throughout his life.

One of my two dogs I will always remember fondly was one that came from Beckham. Someone had dumped two mixed breed dogs by my house, like happened often, and they were able to tree squirrel with some work. Not needing squirrel dogs, I loaded them up and drove to Joplin, Missouri to pay Beckham a visit at his Hardly Able Ranch. I had been there quite a few times before for the monthly sale and field trial events and although he didn’t know me well, he remembered me.

After telling him how I came to have the dogs and the situation, I asked him if he’d be interested in trading for a coon dog for them. He smiled and said sure he would and lead me over to a small but solid built Walker hound. He told me what he knew about the dog and after checking him over, I agreed to the trade. While his wife, Frances, found the papers for the hound, Beckham did some magic tricks and told stories from his childhood to my brother, nephew, and me.

It wasn’t long till I realized that everything Beckham told me about the small Walker, who I renamed Thunderheart after a recent movie, was dead on. Actually, “Heart” surpassed it. He was one of those rare all-around great dogs a coon hunter always hopes for. And when he treed, he had a steady chop that you could follow with all the ease in the world.

Thunderheart and I hunted together for many years. I entered him in competetion hunts, shows, and field trials and by the time he died, the titles in front of his name on the registration papers were long enough to fill up more than a few lines on a sheet of paper. And throughout the years, we made many trips to Beckham’s monthly event where we never lost a treeing contest. In fact, people would ask if we were there or not before they would enter their dog because if we were, they had little chance of beating us.

Beckham always remembered me and “Thunderheart” and he was glad to tell anyone there that he I had got that small framed Walker hound that could chop like no other on the tree from him. Even after his passing in 1995, I kept in touch with his daughter, Rose, for some time and “Heart” was still talked about.

“Thunderheart was a great dog, and I owe the privilege of having owned him to the “World’s Greatest Dog Man”, O.L. Beckham. I’ll remember both till the day I join them in that great hunting ground beyond. Until then, I hope they’re enjoying the chance to hunt together.

hunting, coon hunting, hounds, O.L. Beckham, Missouri