Alan Kalal Coon Hunting Veteran... - Huntinghoundsmen.com

Nite Champion ‘PR’
Kalal’s Minnesota Cookie
“And back in those days, the hunts were three-hour hunts.
So, all night long, I did a lot of learning even though I sure
wasn’t winning. This learning came about, thanks to many
of the good hunters of surrounding states, like Jim
Rosenwald, Dave Nelson, Denny McNelius, and Clint
Coburn, to name a few. These men always handled good
hounds and they were never too good that they wouldn’t help
me out with rules clarifications as we hunted. That first
summer was a real learning curve for me. Then, when Star
came in heat, I took my dad’s eight-year old female — her
name was Kalal’s Minnesota Rose — and won my first hunt
with her and also made her a Nite Champion.
“I didn’t hunt any more hunts that year, but instead pleasure
hunted all fall and really studied and learned everything
I could about Star. That winter, my dad and I took Star down
to Missouri and bred her to Dual Grand Champion
McCallister’s Finley River Banjo. A few months later, she
had a litter of pups and it was the greatest thing to me to
raise those puppies.
“As I recall, I sold all but two of the females that I kept for
myself. When Star was ready to hunt again, it was off to the
hunts and shows with her for me. In the very first hunt I
entered her, we got a first place win. Then, I entered her in
more hunts and shows until I needed a fifth place or better,
and also a Best of Show to finish her to a Dual Champion.
“Well, luck was on my side, because in the very next show
and hunt she did win her Best of Show and she also took
third in the hunt. Star became my first Dual Champion. So,
then I started working the two pups on the bench that I’d
kept out of her and things worked very well with them. They
both became Grand Champions and one ended up winning
the 1977 Minnesota State Show.
“At that same State Hunt, I hunted with Clint Coburn and
he told me about a female he had and said he’d sell her to me.
Then, I went to Wisconsin to try her and I liked what I saw.
Needless to say, I came home with her. Everything worked
out fine with that deal, because a guy called and wanted to
buy the two Grand Champion females I had. I sold them to
him so that I could put all my time in my new female. I
named her ‘PR’ Kalal’s Minnesota Beauty.
“I hunted her in the fall of 1977, and liked her a lot. That
winter, I wanted to breed her, so dad and I again went to
Missouri to the same dog I’d bred to Star. That was Dual
Grand McCallister’s Finley River Banjo. And Beauty got
heavy with pups that spring, so I had nothing to put in the
hunts.
“While looking and reading in the magazines to find one to
push while Beauty was out of commission, I talked with Ken
McCurdy from Arkansas. He told me about a female he had,
and since he was coming to Iowa, we met him there and I
bought my next female. I named this one ‘PR’ Kalal’s
Kalal’s Minnesota Candy, entered in four
casts, won three 2nd place wins and one
4th. She died at the young age of two
years old.
Grand Nite Champion ‘PR’ Kalal’s Minnesota
Misty went from nothing to Grand Nite
Champion in ten total hunts and was my
second State Champion.
Minnesota Cookie. She was one of the best pressure tree dogs
that I have ever seen up to now.
“In the hunts, winning came easy for us. Well, that is, with
the exception that we had trouble in getting that first place
we needed to finish out. We won everything from third to
tenth and had five second place wins, but we just couldn’t
pull off that first place finish. I remember one night, I had the
best night I’d ever had in a hunt and won the cast with a
score of 900 plus, but the last cast to come in that night had
975 plus! We ended up with another second place.
“However, the very next week Cookie won her cast again
and finally won her first place to finish to Nite Champion.
By this time, Beauty had whelped her pups and I ended selling
the litter. I got her back in shape and started campaigning
her again and things started out good for us. We placed in
a few hunts and at the 1978 Minnesota State Hunt she won
first place on Friday night and second place on Saturday
night, this finished her to Nite Champion. Beauty became
my very first State Champion.
“At this time, I decided to push her harder and we entered
some Nite Champion casts. We did manage to pick up a win
that fall, but my goals were set to push her in the spring of
1979. That winter, I raised another litter, and this time it was
out of Cookie.”
“Let me guess,” I interrupted. “Did you go to Banjo again?”
“Ha,” Alan laughed. “You bet. We made another trip to
Missouri. This time, I decided to keep a female pup to try
and train for myself. This was a new adventure, but I had to
give it a try. And while waiting for Cookie to have her pups,
I pushed Beauty in the hunts and finished her out. So, she
became my very first Grand Nite Champion.
“Back to Cookie’s puppies. I studied them over and over
and finally picked a little female. First, I started working her
on the bench and then later on I worked her on drags and
caged coons. I called that puppy ‘PR’ Kalal’s Minnesota
Jodie.
“Things were working fairly well as we went along. Then,
along came the spring of 1980, and I started to show Jodie.
She finished quickly into a Show Champion, but I felt she
needed more time to get ready for the hunts. By late summer,
she won two first places and a fourth to finish to Dual
Champion. Up to this point, Jodie was the hardest hunting
dog I’d ever seen or owned.
“However, tragedy struck in 1981. That February, my dad
had a heart attack and died — he was just 48 years old. Then,
that spring, I took Beauty and Jodie out hunting, and on a
tough night out there and on a bad track, Jodie was hit and
killed by a car. Then, to make matters worse, I could tell
something was wrong with Beauty.
“A month or so later, the vet said that she had diabetes and
he suggested that she be put her down due to her age. I was