by C. G. DeLaBruere

When I say we use it all I mean we use all the harvest. Bear Bacon has been in brine all week and just placed on the smoker at the right time. 

Early Bear Season started September 1st! The months/years of training before always pay off. The 3:00am alarms, mostly the dogs saying it’s that time! These will never get old. 

What we do with our dogs is magic, they were bred for this, their history dating back to 1750 when two Plott brothers fled Germany, settling in North Carolina. I won’t bore you with the amazing history that has been recorded about this breed of hound. But they do live up to their name and it’s a wonderful story. I couldn’t imagine not having a Plott Hound in my family. 

Just like the original family took pride in their line, every houndsman and woman I know does too (Plott or not). They are working dogs and they are family. The amount of time and love put into their well-being is more than most pets. They are trained athletes who use every aspect of their body to purse and bay or tree the intended game. 

So when you are traveling and you see a truck or two with dog boxes and men, women and children on the side of the road PLEASE slow down because we can hear our family and we know they are coming to cross. The last thing we want to do is lose a member of our family. 

We aren’t ignorant hillbillies who have no heart. We are men and women who work hard, putting the time and money into our hounds for outcomes of listening to the dogs sing and sometimes… we put bacon on the smoker. 

Author is a Hounds Woman of Wheelock, VT.