Three Run Breeze was galloping alongside 2008 Grand American Champion Ironman in her cast during Friday night’s coon hunt competition at the 44th Grand American Hunt and Show.

Both of them, and their handlers, had one goal in mind: to tree the most coons on a cold, rainy night in Norway.

Two other dogs in the cast had dropped out, leaving the remaining two locked in an epic battle.

Three Run Breeze and Ironman were striking the trails of coons together all night. Three Run Breeze decided to break from his fellow competitor and follow a different lead.

Through the darkness, the Treeing Walker had a laser-like focus to find the tree with the coon. When she found it, Three Run Breeze slowed to a halt and slid just shy of the tree.

The dog then threw her wet paws up against it. What happened next was music to the ears of her owner, John Jackson, and handler, Patrick Cribb.

Three Run Breeze let out some rapid-paced but staccato barks that pierced through the pitch-black atmosphere.

There was a coon in the tree. Ironman selected a tree that did not have a coon.

“That sealed the deal,” said Cribb.

Three Run Breeze finished with 1,250 while Ironman fell short at 1,100 points.

It established the dog’s dominance during the first night of competition. She had 500 points more than her closest competitor that won a cast.

The Treeing Walker from Lumberton, N.C., had quite literally made some noise at the Grand American in Orangeburg.

Jackson said the dog’s endurance is what put her over the top.

“She’s a hard going dog. She don’t quit. She’s got a big heart,” Jackson said.

Jackson is a breeder and relinquishes the dog’s handling duties to his partner Cribb.

Three Run Breeze has won multiple coon hunting championships and garnered $27,000 in career earnings, according to Cribb.

Cribb and Jackson formed their hunting partnership after meeting at a feed store.

“He stays in the woods every night and hunts hard. He’s a good handler, a great handler,” said Jackson of Cribb.

Cribb said his strategy for continuing Three Run Breeze’s winning ways at the Grand American is to rest her up and wait for the finals early Sunday.

Grand American President Donnie Infinger said the Friday night hunt went smoothly. Approximately 274 coon dogs participated.

Infinger said Saturday’s crowd was the largest he’s ever seen at the event.

The top two cast winners from both Friday and Saturday night’s hunts will move to a 4 a.m. showdown early Sunday to determine the champion.

Three Run Breeze and Jamie and Bill’s Trashy Amos, owned by Jamie Livengood of Dexter City, Ohio, are guaranteed a spot in the final cast.

A.J. Dovers of Douglas, Ga., and his Bluetick coon dog Looking for Timber Hanna fell short of making a spot in the finals Friday night. But Dovers was satisfied with his dog’s fifth-place performance.

He said Hanna had an independent streak that carried her to victory in the cast.

Dovers realized winning his cast and placing in the top 5 puts him and Hanna in some rare company.

“It’s definitely a good feeling. It’s a chance you might not ever get again as long as you hunt,” he said.

-- T&D Staff Writer Lee Tant can be reached by e-mail at ltant@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-534-1060.

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