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Welcome back to the Holt Outdoors Podcast — it’s been a minute! In this solo episode, host Brennan Holt catches everybody up after a crazy stretch of life, finishing out CCS Season 2, and raising two little ones. He gives an honest recap of taking Shy to the UKC World Qualifier zones in Chadwick under brutally hot, dry conditions, and then opens up about the tough decision to finally sell him — and the handling arrangement that lets Brennan still take him to hunts.

From here on out, it’s all in on Little Nova (the Sticks × Xena pup). Brennan gets real about pulling out his hunting book and realizing he’s only hunted her 38 nights — not nearly enough — and lays out his plan to hunt her hard the next two to three months with the camera rolling again. He closes with the story of how he first fell in love with coon hunting, a reminder not to let social media steal that love, and the best dog-training advice he’s ever heard.

🎧 Prefer audio? The Holt Outdoors Podcast is on all major platforms.

Thanks to Johnson’s Telemetry for handling all our tracking system needs.

#CoonHunting #Coonhound #HoltOutdoors

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Holt Outdoors — working hounds, told straight.

Coon hunting, hound training, and honest stories out of the Southwest Missouri woods. We run dogs, we film it straight, and we put it all here — competition nights, young-dog struggles, and the wins that make it worth it.

What you'll find:
• The Coonhound Championship Series (CCS) — our head-to-head competition
series
• The Holt Outdoors Podcast — houndsmen, breeders, and the people who live it
• Hunts, training, and the dogs themselves

Gear for the people who follow the dogs out: https://holtoutdoors.com

New episodes regularly. Subscribe and run with us.

———
Shop: https://holtoutdoors.com
Instagram: https://instagram.com/holt_outdoors
TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@holt_outdoors
Facebook: https://facebook.com/HoltOutdoors
Podcast: wherever you get podcasts
Business: Holtoutdoors@gmail.com

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A while back I asked you all to help me find somebody who really knows breeding — line breeding, outcrosses, the genetics behind it. One of you sent me Chad's name. This is that episode.

Chad Showalter runs Simple Man's Kennel out of Grover Hill, in northwest Ohio, and he's been putting hounds on the ground since the early 90s. He judged the UKC World Championship finals last year. And he thinks about breeding differently than most people you'll hear talk about it: his whole program runs off the females, he won't keep a loose-barking hound at any price, and he'd rather have a blue-collar dog that trees three coons every night than a dog that scores 1,200 one night and minuses out the next.

The line that'll stick with you is this one — reproducers aren't made at the hunts, they're born. He'll walk you through why a female that never left the yard can throw better pups than her litter mate sister that won everything, why he judges a stud dog by his pups and not by the stud, and why there's one oddball in every litter no matter what you breed to.

We also spend a good while on layup dogs — what they are, why they show you coons you walked right past, and the patience most people won't give a young hound to learn it. If you've ever gone in and pulled a young dog off a tree because you figured it couldn't work it out, that part's worth your time. It made me think about a few nights of my own.

Get the notebook out for this one. There's a lot in here.

Thanks to Debbie Johnson at Johnson Telemetry for keeping my tracking gear right — good people, good products.

CCS Season 2 is rolling out — episodes 1 and 2 are up right now for channel members in early access. Become a member on YouTube to watch them early, and find merch + everything CCS at holtoutdoors.com.
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Everything Chad has going on is posted to the Simple Man's Kennel page on Facebook first — every litter. It's a private page, so you'll need to ask to join. He's asked that you not send personal friend requests; message the kennel page instead.

Got a female you're trying to figure out a cross for, or a young dog you think might be trying to tree layups? Drop it in the comments — I read them, and this is the kind of thing worth talking through.

Run with the dogs. Learn the work.

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Welcome back to the Holt Outdoors Podcast! This week we did something a little different and went live on Facebook to take your questions and talk through one of the most argued-about topics in coon hunting right now: babbling and barking dogs. Host Brennan Holt breaks down what the babbling rule actually is, why so many dogs bark out of excitement, when a dog should get minused, and why — at the end of the day — you just need a dog that trees coons and doesn't make mistakes.

Along the way, Brennan answers a bunch of great listener questions, gives updates on Nova and Shy, shares tips for starting a young dog and breaking bad barking habits, and talks about going to competition hunts, judging, and the value of good mentors. A fun, honest, real-talk episode for the working man who just wants quality dogs.

🐕 Dogs mentioned: Nova (Moss Hill Picking Up Sticks × Rackem Up Xena), Shy (Redneck Backwoods Shack × Insane Hannah)

🎧 Prefer audio? The Holt Outdoors Podcast is on all major platforms.
👉 Become a member for early access to CCS Season 2!
👉 Subscribe & hit like!

Thanks to Johnson's Telemetry for handling all our tracking system needs.

#CoonHunting #Coonhound #HoltOutdoors
___

Holt Outdoors — working hounds, told straight.

Coon hunting, hound training, and honest stories out of the Southwest Missouri woods. We run dogs, we film it straight, and we put it all here — competition nights, young-dog struggles, and the wins that make it worth it.

What you'll find:
• The Coonhound Championship Series (CCS) — our head-to-head competition
series
• The Holt Outdoors Podcast — houndsmen, breeders, and the people who live it
• Hunts, training, and the dogs themselves

Gear for the people who follow the dogs out: https://holtoutdoors.com

New episodes regularly. Subscribe and run with us.

———
Shop: https://holtoutdoors.com
Instagram: https://instagram.com/holt_outdoors
TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@holt_outdoors
Facebook: https://facebook.com/HoltOutdoors
Podcast: wherever you get podcasts
Business: Holtoutdoors@gmail.com

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

Welcome back to the Holt Outdoors Podcast! This week, host Brennan Holt sits down with Brandon Gaines — a lifelong coon hunter, welder, and English dog man from Oklahoma who's spent years breeding, raising, and competing with his own line of dogs. Brandon's current dog, "Ears" (Crown G Music to My Ears), is a crossbred out of his old Rowdy dog and a Wipeout Walker female, and he's running around 90% accuracy for the year — including a stretch of 78 straight trees without a slick.

Brandon opens up about how he got hooked at 14, why he built his line on natural ability and consistency, the outcross that took his English dogs to another level, and how to start a young pup and set it up for success. He also shares two great stories about "Ears" that drive home his biggest lesson: most of the time, it ain't the dog — it's the handler. Tons of real, practical advice in this one for the working man who wants quality dogs.

🐕 Featured dogs: Ears, Rowdy, Diesel, Nova, "Plan B"

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Holt Outdoors — working hounds, told straight.

Coon hunting, hound training, and honest stories out of the Southwest Missouri woods. We run dogs, we film it straight, and we put it all here — competition nights, young-dog struggles, and the wins that make it worth it.

What you'll find:
• The Coonhound Championship Series (CCS) — our head-to-head competition
series
• The Holt Outdoors Podcast — houndsmen, breeders, and the people who live it
• Hunts, training, and the dogs themselves

Gear for the people who follow the dogs out: https://holtoutdoors.com

New episodes regularly. Subscribe and run with us.

———
Shop: https://holtoutdoors.com
Instagram: https://instagram.com/holt_outdoors
TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@holt_outdoors
Facebook: https://facebook.com/HoltOutdoors
Podcast: wherever you get podcasts
Business: Holtoutdoors@gmail.com

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

Welcome back to the Holt Outdoors Podcast! Host Brennan Holt sits down with Tyler Jackson of Berda, Arkansas — a full-time working dad who proves you don't have to hunt every night to have a champion-caliber coon dog.

Tyler and his platinum champion "Xena" recently came just one cast away from the finals of the $200,000 Jarvis Sanford Memorial Hunt, and he walks us through the whole run.

We get into balancing a 40-hour week and family life with chasing dogs across the country, Tyler's turkey-hunting obsession and his push toward the 49-state slam, why "Xena" is such a special natural tree dog, and his best advice for anyone wanting to get into competition hunting or just get more out of their pleasure dog. This one's for the average guy who works hard and hunts harder.

If you enjoy the show, become a member for early access to CCS Season 2 (out July 14) and a bunch of exclusive content. Check out the newly revamped website for merch, hats, and everything Holt Outdoors.

🎧 New episodes every week.

📌 MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Rocky Ridge Ammo Company (hand-rolled TSS turkey & waterfowl loads)
Johnson's Telemetry (tracking systems)
PKC / UKC competition coon hunting
Jarvis Sanford Memorial Hunt

👉 Become a member & shop merch: holtoutdoors.com

#CoonHunting #HoltOutdoors #HoundHunting

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Holt Outdoors — working hounds, told straight.

Coon hunting, hound training, and honest stories out of the Southwest Missouri woods. We run dogs, we film it straight, and we put it all here — competition nights, young-dog struggles, and the wins that make it worth it.

What you'll find:
• The Coonhound Championship Series (CCS) — our head-to-head competition
series
• The Holt Outdoors Podcast — houndsmen, breeders, and the people who live it
• Hunts, training, and the dogs themselves

Gear for the people who follow the dogs out: https://holtoutdoors.com

New episodes regularly. Subscribe and run with us.

———
Shop: https://holtoutdoors.com
Instagram: https://instagram.com/holt_outdoors
TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@holt_outdoors
Facebook: https://facebook.com/HoltOutdoors
Podcast: wherever you get podcasts
Business: Holtoutdoors@gmail.com

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

Shy did it. After more losses than wins, he won a UKC Regional Qualifying Event in Chadwick, Missouri — and punched his ticket to the World Hunt. It came down to the last 15 seconds, with a 150-minus mistake of my own making nearly costing us the whole thing. That's the real side of it, good and bad, like always.

I walk through the whole cast — a rough draw against titled dogs, climbing the side of a mountain to get to a tree, a kitten coon hanging in a snag, and the call I botched that you can learn from. Then I break down the UKC closed-tree rule in plain talk so you don't repeat my mistake, and answer a couple of your questions on starting young dogs.

Thanks to Debbie Johnson at Johnson Telemetry for keeping my tracking gear right — good people, good products.

CCS Season 2 drops Tuesday, July 14 — channel members get early access. Become a member on YouTube for the early look, and find merch + everything CCS at holtoutdoors.com.

Got insight on that UKC rule — or know someone who really knows breeding (line breeding, outcrosses, the genetics)? Drop a comment or message the Holt Outdoors page on Facebook. I want to talk to the right person.

Run with the dogs. Learn the work.

#coonhunting #coonhound #UKC #treeingwalker #houndsmen #worldhunt #RQE #HoltOutdoors #huntingdogs #dogtraining

___

Holt Outdoors — working hounds, told straight.

Coon hunting, hound training, and honest stories out of the Southwest Missouri woods. We run dogs, we film it straight, and we put it all here — competition nights, young-dog struggles, and the wins that make it worth it.

What you'll find:
• The Coonhound Championship Series (CCS) — our head-to-head competition
series
• The Holt Outdoors Podcast — houndsmen, breeders, and the people who live it
• Hunts, training, and the dogs themselves

Gear for the people who follow the dogs out: https://holtoutdoors.com

New episodes regularly. Subscribe and run with us.

———
Shop: https://holtoutdoors.com
Instagram: https://instagram.com/holt_outdoors
TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@holt_outdoors
Facebook: https://facebook.com/HoltOutdoors

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

We're back! After a little time off — a move, welcoming our second daughter, and some extra days in the NICU — the Holt Outdoors Podcast is officially back, and we're picking the pace back up with a podcast every week.

In this episode, Brennan gives an honest update on his two dogs: Nova, a young, naturally independent pup, and Shy, a streaky but talented competition dog with 3 UKC cast wins and a PKC cast win under his belt. We talk through the real highs and lows of raising and competing coonhounds — and why being honest about your dog matters more than excuses.

Plus: a full breakdown of the PKC leash lock rule being removed from all events, what it actually meant, and how it could change the way competition coon dogs are bred going forward.

Big thanks to our sponsor, Johnson's Telemetry, for handling all my Garmin needs.

🐾 CCS Season 2 drops soon — members get early access. Keep an eye out!
🛒 Merch, info, and everything Holt Outdoors: https://holtoutdoors.com

⏱️ Chapters
0:00 Welcome back — where we've been
1:03 Sponsor: Johnson's Telemetry (Garmin)
1:18 CCS Season 2 + early access for members
1:57 New website & merch at holtoutdoors.com
3:17 Life update: moving + welcoming our second daughter
6:18 Tonight's topic: my two dogs
7:23 Nova's story — breeding, independence & first trees
14:42 Shai's story — cast wins and the ups and downs
19:33 Riding the highs and lows + being honest about your dog
23:30 PKC leash lock rule removed — what it was, explained
27:53 Could this change how coon dogs are bred?
30:41 What's coming: weekly podcasts, Coonhound Chronicles & GoPro hunts

💬 Sound off in the comments: How do you think dropping the leash lock will change the way dogs are bred?

👍 Like, subscribe, and turn on notifications so you don't miss CCS Season 2.

#coonhunting #coonhound #HoltOutdoors #PKC #UKC #competitionhunting #houndsman #treeingwalker #dogtraining #hunting

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Holt Outdoors — working hounds, told straight.

Coon hunting, hound training, and honest stories out of the Southwest Missouri woods. We run dogs, we film it straight, and we put it all here — competition nights, young-dog struggles, and the wins that make it worth it.

What you'll find:
• The Coonhound Championship Series (CCS) — our head-to-head competition
series
• The Holt Outdoors Podcast — houndsmen, breeders, and the people who live it
• Hunts, training, and the dogs themselves

Gear for the people who follow the dogs out: https://holtoutdoors.com

New episodes regularly. Subscribe and run with us.

———
Shop: https://holtoutdoors.com
Instagram: https://instagram.com/holt_outdoors [confirm handle]
TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@holt_outdoors [confirm handle]
Facebook: https://facebook.com/HoltOutdoors [confirm]
Podcast: wherever you get podcasts [add Spotify/Apple links if live]
Business: Holtoutdoors@gmail.com

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

In this powerful and deeply personal episode of the Holt Outdoors Podcast, we are joined by Jason Pratt, shipping lead at Southern Missouri Container and a deacon at Passion Assembly of God. Jason shares his incredible journey from a "stubborn Bootheel boy" struggling with a 20-year addiction to methamphetamine and a 15-year prison sentence to finding complete redemption through the Adult & Teen Challenge program. If you have ever felt like you were at "rock bottom" or are interested in the intersection of faith and the outdoors, Jason’s story is a testament to the fact that it is never too late to turn your life around.

Brennan also provides an update on the kennel, including a bittersweet move from his 40-acre farm to a new 65-acre training ground in Missouri. We discuss the transition from working with Shy to starting HBK’s Midnight Nova, an 8-month-old female out of powerhouse lineages (Stix x Zena). Whether you’re interested in hound performance, technical dog training tips, or the healing power of chasing Walker hounds in the middle of the night, this episode offers a unique look at how the woods can serve as a place for both hound training and spiritual therapy.

Inside this episode:

A Life Redeemed: Jason’s raw account of surviving prison, overcoming addiction, and serving in Springfield ministries.

The "Bootheel" Style: A look at the diverse hunting grounds of Southern Missouri, from the Ozarks to the Cypress swamps.

Starting Nova: Brennan’s plan for his new pup and why he values a "natural start" without over-exposure to cage coons.

Ministry in the Woods: Why Jason considers running his dog Boon to be his primary "therapy" and time with God.

Support Systems: Advice for families of those struggling with addiction on how to set boundaries and find recovery resources.

#CoonHunting #HoltOutdoors #RedemptionStory #FaithAndHunting #DogTraining #MissouriHunting #HoundHunting #ShaiTheDog #AdultTeenChallenge #GarminAlpha

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Holt Outdoors is an online video and podcast series focused on making memories, having fun, and sharing tips and tactics to help you be more successful in the outdoors. We bring you authentic, genuine outdoor content — just as nature intended.

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