On Wednesday, March 15, 2017, the Top 20 Hounds, Sires, Dams and Kennels, from 2016 were recognized at the Master’s Leaderboard awards banquet held at Quevas Fish House restaurant in Picayune, MS. The 2016 awards totaled over $12,000 in cash and prizes from the leaderboard fund, and our 5 sponsors, The Hunter’s Horn Magazine, Pride Feeds, Mid-South Showtime Feeds, Specialty Feeds and Johnson Telemetry. In 2016, a total of 311,963 points were tabulated from 178 trials. These 311,963 points represented 1,508 hounds, 625 sires, 999 dams and 630 kennels. As you can see, finishing in the top 20 in the country is one tremendous accomplishment and everyone should be exceptionally proud. In reality, just finishing within the Top 20 put you in the Top 1.5% of hounds, top 5% of dams and top 3% of sires and kennels in the entire USA and Canada.

This year’s winners for each category were:
HOY – SS Flo Jo, owned by Sky Scott, Marianna, FL
SOY - Whisenant’s Jimmy B, B&B Kennels, Zuni/Powhatan, VA
DOY – Opie’s Kitty, Opie Kennels, South Hill, VA
KOY – B&B Kennels, Zuni/Powhatan, VA

In reality, no one can plan to finish in the top spots, it just works out if all of the stars align and each one of the top finalists are blessed for their hard work and efforts that go into making a great cross and training and recognizing an exceptional hound. Congratulations to everyone from the leaderboard committee:

Clif Parker
Kelly Parker
Terry Walker
Mike Carr
Jarrod Vaupel
Larry “Bird” Saucier
David Futch
Kelly Parker
And Chris Graham and Shane Painter (added for the 2017 year)

The following reflects the final Top 20 standings as calculated. The Top 200 will be posted within a few days and have been sent into the Hunters Horn magazine for printing in the next issue.

2016 Hound of the Year

SS Flo Jo 1999.5
MK's Taylor 1905
McMillan's Terminator 1567
B&B's Lil Pearl 1520
MK's Drifter 1299
Bennett's Bruce Leroy 1242
Josh's Princess 1216.5
McMillan's Big Man 1169
Opie's Duchess 1153
W.T.'s Big Sam 1140
Bond's Holly 1130
Haynes' Fancy 1105
B&B's Poison 1096
MK's Whiteface 1060
Hollow Oak's Two-Tone 1052
Borum's Big Stick 1047
CMK's Calvery IGWT 1023
Efird's Lightning Bug 1000
Hine's Tall Boy R. 990
Cade's Meagan 971

2016 Sire of the Year

Whisenant's Jimmy B. 9217.5
McMillan's Little D. 6202
D&S Mighty Man 4818
Lakehill's Chili 4230
Crisco's New Bern 4023
Bonner's Humpy 3689
Kyle's Remington 3446
High Cotton Rowdy 3232.5
Hill's Night Time 3128
Lakehill's Jaybird 3077
Buckshot's Hardrock 3051.5
Opie's Gigolo 2941
Guyotte's Wishbone 2405.5
Lakehill's Hillbilly 2345
Pinedale Swiper B. 2301.5
Top Notch CJ 2273.5
Bonavita's Flake 2261
Vaupel's Fed Ex 2223.5
BBK Rondo 2170
Opie's Rock On 2170

2016 Dam of the Year

Opie's Kitty 3491
Atkin's Lucy 3010
Atkin's Penny 2288
Pinedale MyMy B. 2270
W.T.'s Sally 2136
B/C Dot 1930
D.B.'s Wildfire 1930
Webb's Red Gal 1853
Triple Crown Bobbie 1849.5
Bond's Rita 1665
Bobby's Miss Cotton 1645
Shelton's Minnie J. 1625
Kelsey's Eva 1509
Bond's Lacy 1496
Pinedale Blondie B. 1456
Jeff's Macy 1436.5
Loy's Meagan 1425
Hurst's Flying Spook 1417
Kennedy's Reba A. 1384.5
Morris' Popcorn 1383

2016 Kennel of the Year (per registration in KOY)

B&B Kennels 8428
Mark & Mike Kennedy 5815.5
Ronnie McMillan 5032.5
J.W. Webb & Clyde Ely 4649.5
Opie Kennels 4426
Strictly Mafia Kennels 4419
SS Kennels 3905.5
Triple "B" Kennels 3622
Big Kountry Kennels 3257
Fras. Bros. Kennels 3163.5
George Hill & Son Kennels 3101.5
Pinedale Kennels 3100.7
Hoehner Boy's Kennels 2997
Dog Pile Kennels 2931
Top Flite Kennels 2762
Hollow Oaks Kennels 2744.5
Buck Hole Kennels 2400
Killam Hill's Kennels 2221
Hurricaine Kennels 2205.5
Lakehill's Kennels 2106