The Southeastern Treeing Walker Coon Dog hunts and shows have returned to the Rowan County Fairgrounds for the 25th year in their 40 years of competition.

I also like the Walker coon dogs because some breeds can get on a deer trail or another trail rather than a coon, and will try getting something other than a coon.

Some 200 coon dogs — an assortment of Walkers, Redbones and Blueticks, but no other types of dogs allowed — rest in the shade of the oaks at a place the coon hunters once called Sugar Creek Camp.

A prized treeing Walker coonhound named Minnie Pearl was the dog who fell to its death Monday night in the pursuit of a raccoon, a family member said. “She came from a highly regarded bloodline ...