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The Plott Balsams - A talk with Von Plott
 The Plott Balsams
“A Talk with Von Plott”
by Dick Seitz, Big Game Editor/Hunting Dog Magazine
(Note: Hunting Dog was a periodical published for a limited period of time in the late 1970’s and perhaps into the early 1980’s.)
There are some men whose name and involvement in their particular field transcends time. Such a man is Von Plott of Waynesville, N.C., whose knowledge and experience in big game hunting with hounds is as much in tune with conditions of a century ago as it will be for any foreseeable time in the future of the sport. (PHOTO - An earlier photo from my collection of Von Plott with a couple of his Plott dogs. /SF)
Living on the original area settled by the family on the western slopeof the Plott Balsams, the 77-year old gentleman stands out as the epitome of the bear hunter and big game hound breeder. His comments reflect the era when the region was totally wild and untamed and will be true until there are no more wild animals left to chase in this country.
During our recent trip to the Balsams area, my wife and I were able to spend an afternoon talking with Mr. Plott at his home. The meeting had been arranged through Jimmy Reed, Waynesville outdoor writer and television film producer, who, along with Von’s son, Bill, shares an intense interest in preserving the history and heritage of the Plott family and there hounds.
Von Plott is one of the few real old time hunters left in this country who can talk about big game hounds the way it was meant to be. He has taken his dogs to all parts of this country in years past and knows bear hunting in its most basic sense. His pride in the hounds that carry the family name is unmistakable.
Now a widower, he lives near his son Bill on Plott Creek, just west of Waynesville, not far from where Henry Plott took a state grant on what was then called Richard and Dick’s Creek, but which now bears the family name. This was shortly after 1800, according to the best information.
Walking out into the yard of the neat frame and fieldstone house, Von pointed westward to the Plott Balsam Mountains, clearly visible in the crisp late April afternoon. Its peak was still white with the frost that accompanied temperatures in the low 30’s that morning. Stretching away toward the 6,022-foot mountain were fields of fine bottomland, part of the original 1700 acres the family settled long ago.
Only six hounds were being kept at the kennel near the house at this time, but each was unmistakably a perfect example of what a Plott hound should be. These were bear dogs, from the original stock, and not the Plotts that are now widely distributed throughout the country and being bred as coonhounds. I believe it is safe to say that the development as coonhounds over the years has changed both the appearance and temperament of the breed from those that have been strictly maintained as big game dogs.
The hounds were brindle without white markings and displayed the quiet shyness so noticeable in big game and wolf hounds, as often opposed to those hounds consistently handled in coon hunting, thus more used to strangers and crowds. A new kennel and pen stood on the wooded slope behind the house, indicating that age has not slowed Von in his enthusiasm to do things right and proper where his hounds are concerned.
Sitting in the comfortable living room in front of the stone fireplace, we looked though a large stack of pictures and other items from hunts dating back into the 1930’s and beyond. He vividly recalled and described anecdotes from many of these experiences and talked about dogs that he owned and hunted with 40 years ago with remarkable clarity. Proving that hunting is not all hounds, he showed pictures of a Colorado deer hunt with a half-dozen muley bucks hanging on a pole, all with antlers that would make any trophy hunter drool with envy.
 (PHOTO - Plott family dogs at about 1960.)
One picture of a group of dogs and hunters brought back bitter memories of a in the low country of North Carolina. “This bear led the dogs into a big swamp and then turned on them,” he recalled. “When we got up to where he had stopped, we found two good hounds dead and another dying. It’s pretty tough to lose three top notch bear dogs in one day.”
“No, we never got that bear. This is a big swamp, probably 15 miles long, and when they get into it, they usually get away,” he added.
Other pictures recalled memories of old time club hunts when vast amounts of game were taken. “I’ve hunted with all kinds of people,” he laughed, “congressmen, judges, lawyers, doctors, and bootleggers.”
Pride in the family heritage was obvious as he pointed out the Plott coat of arms on one wall and on another, a large, framed photograph of a clean shaven young man with a wide brimmed hat mounted on horseback.
“This is my father, Mont, “ he related. “He died in 1924 when he was 75 years old. He once told of killing two bears with one shot up in Porter Die Gap with a cap and ball rifle. The club was running beside the old bear and he didn’t even see it when he fired. In those days if you missed your first shot, the bear would be in the next county before you could reload.”
“If any of the old timers that hunted these mountains all of their lives could return now, they would probably get lost,” he said, commenting on all of the changes: highways, towns, dams, and similar “progress” that has taken place to alter the appearance of the landscape.
The mountain ranges that run for a hundred miles to the west of the Plott homestead still have in some measure retained much of their wild state in spite of civilization and the heavy tourist traffic. They still support some black bear and wild boar populations, although hunting is certainly a far cry from what the early settlers found. Many factors, including poaching, are making it increasingly difficult.
 (PHOTO - Steve Fielder with his son Chris in 1982 at the National Park Service sign that describes the Plott Balsam range.)
Von Plott was instrumental in getting recognition for the breed from the United Kennel Club in 1946 and has been a strong advocate of breed purity and type. Suffice it to say that the present family hounds can be considered to have descended with a minimum of outcrossing from the original stock which Johannes Plott brought to this country in 1750 and Henry Plott introduced to these mountains a half-century later.
Although their real national popularity has come about during the last 25 years when various hunters and breeders began using them on raccoon in greater numbers, the original brindle Plotts have had a solid reputation as big game hounds for 150 years before that in the western Carolina mountains. Stories of bear and wild boar hunts that came out of the region following World War II probably did as much to spread their fame as anything else.
There is little or no documented information on the type of makeup of the original dogs that were brought to this country originally, but in those days, the dogs that followed the men over the mountains had to do the job or they didn’t survive. These undoubtedly included many localized strains of foxhounds as well as mountain curs, feists, and mongrels of undistinguished origin.
Whether or not the best of the region’s big game dogs were fused early into the breed may be an interesting question that may never be answered. At any rate, the family closely guarded the development of the breed, which as has been indicated, was little seen or heard of outside of the mountains until it gained popularity as a coonhound.
All this speculation aside, the hounds that Von Plott proudly points out in the kennel behind his house carry the line breeding, tradition, and appearance of big game dogs. These are hounds that can strike and stay with a bear until he stops and then get a mouthful of hair and survive to fight another day.
Perhaps, hopefully, someone will someday have the motivation and resources to compile a complete documentary on the Plott family and their hounds. Many stories with bits and pieces of the history have appeared from time to time but noe have really researched many of the legends that are now taken for fact. In this case, I feel confident that it will ultimately develop that truth is indeed stranger and more interesting than fiction. The story of the Plott is indeed an important part of not only big game hunting with hounds, but also of the entire southern mountain region of the United States.
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Last Updated by: Mike Phillips
2/13/2007 10:14:30 AM
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