Plenty of Raccoon Hunting Supplies on Display as Grand American Raccoon Hunt Kicks Off the Year

03 Jan Plenty of Raccoon Hunting Supplies on Display as Grand American Raccoon Hunt Kicks Off the Year

For 54 years, the Grand American Raccoon Hunt has been the unofficial start of the United Kennel Club’s calendar of coonhound events. The Grand American has also been a boon to the host city of Orangeburg, South Carolina. During the three-day event, hunters and hunting fans fill the tables at local restaurants, check in to local hotels and fill up at local gas stations. They are joined by vendors selling a variety of raccoon hunting supplies and training equipment, ranging from hunting lights to Garmin accessories.

“Each year we anticipate between 27,000 and 30,000 incoming visitors and an additional 800 dog-owner participants. We also estimate around 100 vendors in attendance,” Orangeburg County Chamber of Commerce President Reyne Moore told The Times and Democrat. “It is one of the premiere night hunt events in the country. Visitors will come from all over the U.S. to enjoy the Grand American.”

This year’s competition, which was held January 3 through 5 at the Orangeburg County Fairgrounds, featured some of the finest coonhounds from around the country. We would like to congratulate everyone who came out to compete January 3-5, despite a rainy start and generally soggy conditions.

It looked like the heavy rain that fell Friday afternoon was going to favor dogs from South Carolina, who are used to hunting in the state’s wetlands. According to The Times and Democrat, which provided full coverage of the event, “The soggy conditions around the area from heavy rains through Friday afternoon still played both hunts to the experience of South Carolina dogs, who regularly hunt in wetland conditions. In the Friday Nite Hunt, 14 of the Top 20 scoring dogs were from the Palmetto State. In the Saturday Nite Hunt, 12 of the Top 20 scoring dogs were from the Palmetto State.”

Despite the strong showing from South Carolina coonhounds in both the Friday and Saturday Nite Hunts, the winner of the 54th Annual Grand American Raccoon Hunt was from North Carolina. Congratulations to all the top finishers, including”

1. All Night Polo, a Treeing Walker Coonhound from Marshville, N.C. owned by Eddie Huntley and handled by Dillon Bradshaw
2. Soggy Bottoms Sweet As Sugar, a Treeing Walker Coonhound from Coward, owned by Anderson Matthews and handled by Eric Franks
3. Orangeburg County’s own Bodacious of Norway, an English Coonhound owned and handled by Landon Sandifer
4. Hardtime Bam of Chuckey, Tenn., an English Coonhound owned by Paul Maupin and handled by Karter Maupin

If you weren’t lucky enough to be in Orangeburg for the big weekend, you can still get great deals on raccoon hunting supplies. Here at The Buzzard’s Roost we are proud to carry just about anything you could possibly need – from the Garmin DriveTrack to the PetSafe wireless dog fence, as well as a full lineup of Garmin accessories and Dogtra collars.