The Legends Of ACHA
By Don Nicely
P.O. Box 69 Gradyville, PA 19039
don@finleyriverchief.com
www.finleyriverchief.com
(c) 2012
The Legends Of ACHA Lonnie Mears and Finley River Dan.
In it's own way the ACHA World Hunt was similar to American Idol. It gave a huge platform for dogs and their owners to be introduced to the American hunting public. An unknown could become famous overnight by winning this hunt. Also just by placing in the hunt could give you the attention to prove to the public what you were.
In thinking back on the ACHA World Championship in it's day when it was the one. And then the current happenings of today I think of American Idol. A show where people are introduced to America. Sometimes the winners become famous and very successful and sometimes they don't. Sometimes the people who don't win become more successful and famous then the ones that do win.
In it's own way the ACHA World Hunt was similar to American Idol. It gave a huge platform for dogs and their owners to be introduced to the American hunting public. An unknown could become famous overnight by winning this hunt. Also just by placing in the hunt could give you the attention to prove to the public what you were.
Once you got the attention it was up to the dog or breeder to take advantage of that exposure. Winning or placing in the World Hunt wasn't a guarantee of success but it was a guarantee people would pay attention to you for a while and if you had something to offer and benefit the sport, you could find success.
One of those times was in 1970. By placing 6th in the 1970 ACHA World Championship our sport was introduced to Lonnie Mears and Mears' Finley River Dan. Lonnie had advertised Dan a little but not much. He was just another son of many of Finley River Chief and not a lot of attention had been paid to him. In the fall of 1970 that was going to change.
Another son of Finley River Chief was the World Champion the second one since 1965 but also the 6th place dog was a son of Chief. By placing so high in what was at the time THE hunt everyone wanted to win focus was placed on Grand Nite Champion Mears' Finley River Dan. The interest in this hound Lonnie Mears owned had increased very much after the ACHA World Hunt.
Grand Nite Ch. Mears' Finley River Dan and Lonnie Mears
As Lonnie told me you probably wouldn't even know who he was if he hadn't placed with Dan in the ACHA World Championship. With the success Lonnie had that begun with Dan I don't know if that would have played out that way or not but for sure placing in the ACHA World Hunt gave Lonnie and Dan a chance to prove to the world that there was something special going on with this hound.
With the interest in Dan growing more females were being bred and with that more pups on the ground from Dan to prove his worth in the stud pen. Most people that know anything about the history of the Finley River Strain and the hounds in it believe Mears' Finley River Dan is one of the best reproducing sons of Finely River Chief. Many think he is the best reproducing son of Chief.
With the platform that the ACHA World Hunt gave Dan to show his worth Lonnie started a breeding program that was based on Finley River Dan as the foundation and today 42 years after that hunt the program is still intact on the basis of its foundation.
From Dan came Mears' Finley River Dan III. A Dual Grand Champion plus a World Show Champion. Dan III didn't get the chance to breed as many good females as maybe he deserved because he was standing at stud along with his sire until he was past 8 years of age.
World Show Ch. Dual Grand Ch. Mears' Finley River Dan III
Another stud dog Lonnie offered was out of Dan III. His name was Jackson's Finley River Tom. Tom was a Grand Champion Nite Champion that needed only one more win to be a Dual Grand Champion but met an untimely death in a dog box.
Grand Ch. Nite Ch. Jackson's Finley River Tom
Also another dog Lonnie offered at stud was Dual Grand Champion Mears' Finley River Jeff who was also a son of Dan III.
Dual Grand Ch. ACHA Night Ch. Mears' Finley River Jeff
From the mating of Finley River Jeff to a grand daughter of Finley River Tom came a dog named Grand Ch. Nite Ch. Blue Mtn. Finley River Lonnie. A hound that would again put Lonnie Mears in the picture of the ACHA World Championship. But first lets visit the impact Finley River Dan had on the ACHA World Hunt and the Treeing Walker breed.
In 1975 Grand Nite Ch. Finley River Dan Jr. placed 9th at the ACHA World Hunt. You will find Dan Jr. in many pedigrees but two places are Nite Ch. Kalal's Minnesota Cookie who produced some very good hounds when crossed with Dual Grand Ch. McCallister's Finley River Banjo who was a grandson of Dan. Also the 1998 UKC World Champion Daniel's Duke was a grandson and a great grandson of Finley River Dan Jr.
Grand Nite Ch. Finley River Dan Jr.
In 1978 Grand Nite Ch. Finley River Horse another son of Dan placed 2nd at the UKC World Hunt.
Grand Nite Ch. Finley River Horse
in 1980 Grand Nite Ch. Easy Goin' Eileen a daughter of Finley River Dan placed 1st at the ACHA World Championship. At that same hunt a son of Dan, Hern's Red Eagle Dick placed 2nd.
Grand Nite Ch. Easy Goin' Eileen
In the 1981 ACHA World Hunt Grand Nite Ch. Hern's Red Eagle Dick came back to win the hunt.
World Ch. Dual Grand Ch. Hern's Red Eagle Dick
Grand Nite Ch. Mears' Finley River Dan was bred to Grand Nite Ch. Magill's Lone Pine Jill. From that cross came Grand Nite Ch. Logan's Wild Julie. Julie is the grandmother of 1990 UKC World Champion Tony's Wild Joey.
UKC World Ch. Grand Nite Ch. Tony's Wild Joey
That same year 1990 Lonnie Mears would enter the picture again with the ACHA World Championship with Blue Mtn. Finley River Lonnie a hound that was line bred back to Finley River Dan. The year before in 1989 Blue Mtn. Finley River Lonnie placed 27th in the ACHA World Hunt just barely missing the Top 20 because of call that was made at the end of the cast. But in 1990 the two Lonnie's placed 3rd. Again in 1991 they were in the top twenty by placing 13th. One last time Mears' took Lonnie back to the ACHA World Championship in 1992 and placed 5th.
Grand Ch. Nite Ch. Blue Mtn. Finley River Lonnie and Lonnie Mears
To place 3 years in a row at a World Hunt is a task that is hard to do and there is more then just luck working for you for that to happen. To place so consistently 20 years later with a hound that is line bred back to the hound you started with shows what type of breeding program Lonnie Mears had with Finley River Dan as his foundation.
There is so many more hounds I could go into that go back to Mears' Finley River Dan but the few I mentioned will give you a number of threads to the different lines of hounds to give you an idea of the impact he had on the Treeing Walker Breed. One of the best crosses on Blue Mtn. Finley River Lonnie was with Grand Ch. Mears' Finley River Trap.
Grand Champion Mears' Finley River Trap
This cross produced numerous good hounds including Grand Ch. Nite Ch. Mears' Finley River Zoom.
Dual Grand Ch. Mears' Finley River Zoom
Now
20 years after those hunts Lonnie Mears is still active in the sport
and the Treeing Walker breed. He is not able to competition hunt
these days because of health reasons but he is still very active in
showing the hounds and breeding these spotted dogs. He has gotten a
bad rap of just being a show guy but if you are newer to the sport you
may have only known him as that but that isn't a fair description.
True he has World Class show hounds but he also had numerous World
Class Coon Hounds before the health issues that were Grand Nite
Champions and would compete in such hunts as the ACHA World
Championship.
Right now Lonnie is campaigning GRAND CHAMPION MEARS' FINLEY RIVER THUNDER a son of his GRAND CHAMPION MEARS' FINLEY RIVER RISKIE. Yes he does go back to Finley River Dan numerous times.
Grand Champion Mears' Finley River Thunder
Lonnie Mears and Finley River Dan just some of the legends introduced to the coon hunting world by the ACHA World Hunt.