Mr. Orval Roberts passes on - a great man

[Goatcher]

For those that did not know this Mr. Orval has passed away earlier this week.  His funeral was today in Columbia, LA.  http://www.riserfuneralhomes.com/fh/obituaries/obituary.cfm?o_id=1973676&fh_id=11543

For the dog man, it was a send off we all would wish to have.  I hate funerals, but had to make this on so took off from work and drove in from Mississippi.  There I met my son Adam and Mike Fradella who drove up independently from south Louisiana.  Adam and I still have Orval's plotts in our packs.  Orval was laid to rest in an open casket looking great, complete with overalls and plaid shirt like he was ready to hit the woods.  Beside him were hunting dogs collar, dog leash and even hog tie-up twine that he liked to use.  The preacher has hunted hogs with Mr. Orval and really hit home  with what he was all about.  Outside the funeral home one hunter had his hog dogs in vests and radio collars atop his dog box tribute to the legend laying inside.  I will post photo of that rig here.  All the seats in the funeral home were filled and the entry way was packed with standing friends.

As I sat in the ceremony thinking of my old friend it was hard to hold back the tears.  The preacher mentioned how Mr. Orval had him one time sit with him on the front porch of the "hunting cabin" his son's Donnie and Kim built for him drinking coffee.  I too have spent many an hour on that same porch and the one years ago attached to the old hunting lodge not far away, drinking Mr. Orval's famous coffee and hand-made biscuits.  One such event , Orval sat beside me rocked in our chairs and he asked me most sincerely , "Bud, tell me the truth now, I know you are are a wildlife biologist and all but you ever been a poachin?"  Orval had a twist to his north Louisiana dialect, so I was not certain what he meant by what I heard as "Poachin" (e.g., poaching).  Well in full respect to a man who was 17 years my senior, I confessed as a young man that in my mis-spent youth I had indeed taken a buck out of season and used to market hunt boar meat for sales to mexican labor camps.  After my long winded confession of my wildlife sins, Mr. Orval touched my arm and said its OK, now listen to what I have to tell you.  I looked into his eyes and saw a big tear roll down his cheek while in a very conflicting way h e was fighting back a grin from ear to ear.....   He then says, "Let me tell you Bud," as he began rocking very vigorously back and forth in his chair on that old camp porch, " We be PORCH-IN now, we be porch-in now! Ha! ha! ha! ha!    ---  I felt truly the fool.

On another occasion, one of the last few hunts we made with our plotts, I asked Mr. Orval why he no longer carried a catch-dog to the hunt.  He says, "Bud, you need to understand that in this phase of my life, my hog hunting is a lot like my womanizing....."  Mr. Orval was in his early 80's at the time.  "I now hunt like I romance, I love chasing them all day long, but no sense a man my age catch either one.  So need to own and carry a catch-dog in the hunt."   
 

I first met Mr. Orval in the early 80's in Tennessee at the Wildboar Conservation Association meeting.  We became fast friends.   In the early years we all had curs.  He had some of the classic ones, the best in Sadie and Kate.  One day he had me come to hunt and he produces a little 40 pounder saddle back brindle plotthound female he just brought

[BA-IV]

The world lost a true dog man when Mr. Orval passed.

[MrsLouisianaHogDog]

RIP to an influential dogman

[cajunl]

He will be missed!

[Goatcher]

from North Carolina.  This was his first plotthound, and we all thought he was crazy.   I was tasked with leading the plott in as she was not broke.  I believe the little dog's name was Gal.  The curs jumped a pack of hogs in back of Reggie's cattle farm in the swamp.  Orval did not have a tracking system then, he was still old schooling  it.  He has me cut Gal in, who was a bare pup.  The hogs scattered and curs as well and after a couple hours trickled back in one at a time from all directions.   Only missing in action was the new plotthound.  We searched for her well after dark and then I heard muffled barks from the banks of Castor Creek.  There we found Gal baying a shoat in a deep tunnel into the creek bank.  Gal was about all the way in the tunnel so we could not hear her most the time.  I pulled her out by her tail as it was all I could reach, and the hog rolled out into my lap where she caught it.   That dog was the beginning of the Orval Robert's Beacoup Plotthound legacy.

Later on he traveled to many states improving his lines, getting blood into his kennels from Grand Night Champion Sizzlin Heat for track speed and from Alabama Hammer for cold nose.   I had a fantastic gyp from what I call his "Generation 1" line, "Tigger" (see photo of red brindle with Orval and his blue male Jeb).   A half dozen times she stopped over 10 hogs in half a day and she barked trail.  So much for the nay-sayers on open trailing hog dogs.  She clearly had the track speed from Heat.   Later on my son and I obtained 4 females from what I call the Robert's "Generation 2" line, much faster smaller cat-footed dogs of 30-40 pounds, looking more like running fox hounds or triggs in shape than plotts.  But FAST!.   We still have 3 of those, never bred them, all are double bred with Orval's blue dog Jeb as grandather on both sides.  Two are blues.  

Mr. Orval will be missed by scores of us and will go down in history as important to the plotthound breed as any man.

[Goatcher]

sorry about the split post here, but I have not been on the forum in a while and see they no longer allow post-editing.  I had to post the first half as we are in major thunderstorms here and did not want to lose all my typing!

[Goatcher]

Goatcher's Tigger, Mr. Orval and his Jeb

[justincorbell]

Very sad to hear, rest in peace sir.

[Goatcher]

The funeral

[TexasHogDogs]

I been hearing Mr Roberts name since I was a kid .  Its hard when a great dog man of the game dies .  One thing about it he is running them hounds now in the big woods in the sky.  I bet he is happy !

R.I.P.

[Peachcreek]

Rip Mr. Orval, sounds like he was a very respected man.

[Lacy man]

Rip Mr. Orval, sounds like he was a very respected man.

X2

[Downunder]

I visited the USA last year. While at Uncle Earl's I was introduced to Mr. Orval as I love the American Cur Dog breeds and the Plott Hounds. Mr. Orval sat with myself and my friend for a couple of hours telling of his hounds and hunting hogs in general. I really appreciated such a respected man in the hog hunting world taking the time to talk with a couple of Australians.

RIP.

[Reuben]

I been hearing Mr Roberts name since I was a kid .  Its hard when a great dog man of the game dies .  One thing about it he is running them hounds now in the big woods in the sky.  I bet he is happy !

R.I.P.

x2...

[Jeep]

I was at a baying in Monroe la. An talking to Mr. Orval when a man beside us over heard us talking about his plotts an the man said he preferred silent dogs. Mr orval didn't say much about it but about 10 mins later a gentlemen turned a dog loose that didn't want any part of a hog a wouldn't bark at a hog at all. Mr Orval turned to man an said there's u a silent dog. I like to hear my dogs. I thought it was pretty funny an thought I would share that with y'all

[BOBDOG]

I was lucky enough to have sat on that same porch drinking coffee with Orval, The dog world has lost one of the great ones. One of the nicest men I have ever met. We have lost one of the greats.

[halfbreed]

  yep we lost another good one .  on that note what's to become of his hounds ?

[Rawhide Ridge]

Myself and his grandson have all his hounds. There will not be any sold. We are going to keep breeding his bloodline as he asked.

[JoshStokley]

Myself and his grandson have all his hounds. There will not be any sold. We are going to keep breeding his bloodline as he asked.

This needs a like button.  Keep them how they are.

[Coady Curbow]

I bought a dog that he had bred.  Best nose and the most heart of any dog that I have ever seen.  If you had other plans, you better not carry Ole Socks.  The only way you caught him was at a hog, and you better do that quick or he was rolling again.

I called Mr. Orval on the phone one evening and talked for an hour, made me feel good that he would spend that much time visiting with a young man that he had never even laid eyes on.  He was special.