Stud dog video brings coon hunting home
5/29/2005 8:10:10 AM
By Steve Fielder
When I was a young buck, the only way a guy could actually hunt with one of the nation’s top stud dogs was to load up the jalopy and to go and see for yourself, driving hundreds of miles in the process. That’s not a bad method actually but not often practical, especially with the cost of travel these days. Brian Oglesby has solved the problem with his Tomorrow’s Legends series of stud dog videos. Brian brings the nation’s most-advertised studs right into your home.
In making Tomorrow’s Legends volume one, Oglesby drove more than nine thousand miles to capture the interviews and the on-the-tree footage that made the effort one of the best and most popular coon hunting videos to date. Tomorrow’s Legends II, the sequel gets ‘er done even better in my view.
The format Brian chose for the first video carries through to this one. There are still photos of each side of the stud, the pedigree, the contact information, a short description of the dog by the owner, and action footage of the dog on the tree, at night, on real live raccoons. Much of the treeing footage also finds Brian’s camera searching out the raccoon in the limbs high above the treeing hound. Because we see the three basic elements that we would if we went to see the stud dog in action in this video; the dog’s pedigree, the owner’s sales pitch, and the dog in the timber, with the exception of sweating bullets and scratching mosquito bites, we’re duplicating the actual experience.
I like this film even better than the first and not for selfish reasons. Brian did invite me to participaate this time and it was fun. But I believe his choice of personalities to interview such as legends John Monroe and Duane Clark, of Finley River and Spring Creek fame respectively, and modern stud owners/promoters David Fletcher, Jess Dickerson, and Russ Meyer broadens the scope of this film and reaches an even more expansive audience than before.
Tomorrow’s Legends II is certainly entertaining. You’ll see still photos of places of interest along his route, you’ll hear the country artistry of Oglesby’s friend, Branson, Missouri country entertainer Splinter Middleton, and may recognize the gospel stylings of Amy Rutledge, who also appeared in volume one.
The cast of hounds on this video is fundamentally different from the first but there certainly are plenty of heavyweights, including some of the nation’s biggest winners and they are not all males. Oglesby features all-time money winner Millcreek Molly and pup sensation Heart Attack on this volume, a departure from the boy’s club format in volume one. There’s even a Bluetick on this tape, the lone hound not of the Walker breed in the entire repertoire. Volume one featured one “off-colored” hound as well, Tam and Clay Young’s Hardrock, a crossbred Black and Tan.
While Oglesby didn’t indicate the price when he shipped a review copy to my office, I recall the first volume could be had for a couple of 20’s plus shipping. I’ll post the price and a photo of the jacket with the full lineup of the dogs and interviews the film features, on the Message Board in a thread titled “Tomorrow’s Legends Volume II.”
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