EP 98: Gone to the Dogs with Keith Durkee

Steve has spent at least four Decembers at the White River Refuge hunting camp with the featured guest of this episode.  The two hunting buddies take a break from the camp’s routine of eating, sleeping, hunting, and yarn-stretching to record an episode chronicling the life of one of coon hunting’s most unique figures, retired Army veteran Keith Durkee.  As the resident Yankee in a camp full of southern rednecks, Durkee gives as much as he takes when the North vs. South ribbing starts.  Keith has coon hunted all across the nation and is a veteran competition hunter.  He won the prestigious AKC World Championship with a Treeing Walker hound of his own breeding.  The depth of his hound knowledge is legion and his insight into the way the competition game works is educational.  You’ll enjoy the story that begins on an island off the coast of Maine, moves to the Pacific northwest and settles in the piney woods of central Alabama.You’ll learn what a “yad” is and come away with the feeling that interpreting the English language may not always be as easy as it seems.  With the December Arkansas sun peeping through the bunkhouse window, Durkee and Fielder get down to the nitty-gritty of why they follow the hounds of the night, and will put a craving on the listener to put it all into motion when the sun goes down.         We would like to thank those who support this podcast.  Special thanks to Double U Hunting Supply for sponsoring this episode.  www.dusupply.comhttps://www.youtube.com/@DoubleUHuntingSupply/podcasts