Tahlequah’s Red Fern Festival Celebrates Book & Coon Hunting
Anyone familiar with the classic book Where the Red Fern Grows probably remembers Tahlequah, Oklahoma is where Billy Colman travelled to get his two redbone coonhound pups, Old Dan and Little Ann. Tahlequah is also where both the 1974 and 2003 versions of the films based on the book were shot. So, it shouldn’t come as any surprise that one month ago, Tahlequah celebrated the book and coon hunting with a unique event, a Red Fern Festival.
With plenty of events during the festival, like old car shows, it was something for the entire family. But the main attraction for me has to be the events for the coon hunters and their dogs. Although I’m not sure of the accuracy, since I mainly attended UKC, PKC, and NKC events, it was billed as the first AKC sanctioned event to be held in Oklahoma.
There was an AKC Night Hunt one night, with Field Trial events, like a Treeing Contest, the following day. Although not mentioned in the article I read about it, found here, I would bet that there was also an AKC sanctioned Bench Show. If not, I would be highly surprised and would guarantee it will eventually be added.
With the history of Tahlequah with coon hunting and the book, Where the Red Fern Grows, I expect this will become a very popular and long running event. Next time I’m back in Oklahoma at the right time, you can bet I’d like to go and enjoy the festivities and get the chance to listen to the coon hounds as they tree.
I’ll try to find out some more information about the Red Fern Festival and post on it when I do.
hunting, Hunting Sense, coon hunting, coon hounds, AKC, American Kennel Club, Tahlequah, Oklahoma, Where the Red Fern Grows, Wilson Rawls, Red Fern Festival, Night Hunts, Treeing Contest, Bench Shows
May 28th, 2007 at 10:56 am
Cliff
Great post, Made me remember,one small,
Walker coondog,His title was bigger than him.
Oh,how he could tree,I was hunting him,the night he won,the Oklahoma State Championship.
Just one,of the special,dogs we had.
No wonder he was the Oklahoma,Kansas,Missouri, State,Tree Champion.
May 28th, 2007 at 11:01 am
Sorry,I forgot to add his name,
Cliff’s Raggin Thunderheart
The name says it all
May 28th, 2007 at 12:14 pm
Lol, yes, his name was awfully long when you included the titles before it. Cliff’s Raging Thunderheart, that did say it all, he was awful raging when it came to coon.
June 3rd, 2007 at 10:01 pm
Tahhlequah, Ok. Isn’t that the “home office” of either the Cherokee or Comanche tribes?
October 3rd, 2007 at 3:34 pm
Yes, Talequah is the seat of the Cherokee Nation, if I recall correctly.