Hounds & Hunting
“The Beagler’s Bible”
119 Years of Continuous Publication
Dedicated Exclusively to the Beagle Hound and the Sport of Field Trial Beagling.
Hounds & Hunting magazine made its debut in 1903, the same year the Wright brothers flew the first motorized aircraft; the same year that Henry Ford introduced the “horseless carriage”; and Edison was working on the electric incandescent light – just a few of the history-making events Hounds & Hunting shared during the first years of the 20th century.
Hounds & Hunting was started from scratch. It was a dream in the mind of the original publisher who envisioned the potential popularity of the beagle breed and had enough faith in the beagle, as a breed, to devote time, money and effort toward making a dream become a reality. The magazine was created more out of love for the beagle hound, and as a challenge toward its promotion than because of any expectation of a profit, and certainly the first years of publication showed no indication that the magazine’s popularity would ever live up to the hopes of its creators.
From 1903 to 1916, the magazine went under several different names. In 1916 the first Hounds & Hunting was printed in Decatur, IL when the name was changed from Hunting, Camping & Fishing. Prior to that it had been Fox & Hound, a combination of Trappers World, The Fur Winner, Wildlife Beagle Fancier, etc. over a nine-year period. The new and last name, Hounds & Hunting was to better classify it as a monthly of information about beagles, foxhound and coonhounds, hunting and outdoor life.
The magazine, under the new name, was first printed by Fred O’Flying who worked it out one page at a time on a foot powered printing press in a buggy shed at Clarksdale, IL. Fred didn’t know much about beagles, but he believed some day they would be popular enough for a breed publication. Fred said, “The sell for good prices, are king of the rabbit dogs for cottontails and jacks, and field trials are pushing them to the front”. In need for better printing, O’Flying went to a former townsman and boyhood friend, Eugene Linxweiler, who had a printing shop in nearby Decatur. Later the magazine became Linxweiler’s to settle bills for printing, after a beagle book O’Flying had advertised but never compiled necessitated the refunding of hundreds of dollars in advance orders. It’s said this printing bill amounted to less than $1,000.00. Quite a sum of money in those days but would not be a drop in the bucket compared to today’s printing costs.
Decatur, the city, and Illinois, the State, proved to be a very good location for the magazine to get its start. It was a hot-bed of beagling, centrally located and with a profusion of sincere and dedicated breeders of both field and show hounds, so as a result, both beagling and Hounds & Hunting grew up together.
When the magazine title was changed to Hounds & Hunting and professed its intention of devoting its powers of influence primarily toward promotion of the beagle, there was a welcome response from all over the country. Beagle lovers had found a champion of their cause; a means of communicating with each other and an opportunity to exchange views, a chance to become aware of the success and characteristics of various hounds and bloodlines, and a place to look for advice and guidance.
In 1920, I.W. “Ike” Carrel became editor. A year later an equal partner until Linxweiler’s death in 1939. Ike and his wife, Anna, bought Linxweiler’s interest from his estate and moved the publication to Greenfield, Ohio, its home until 1954 when Robert F. Slike and his associates bought the magazine and moved it to Bradford, Pennsylvania. Slike’s sons, Robert, Jr. and Arthur bought out their father’s and his associates interests in 1976.
In 2010, Thomas DePriest purchased Hounds and Hunting and then later sold to Kaylynn Cole in 2018. Then, in December of 2021 John and Chris Porter bought the magazine and moved it south to Mississippi.
Today, Hounds & Hunting is prepared for press at its home office in Collinsville, MS by its new owners, John & Chris Porter, and sent electronically to one of the largest web printing plants in Illinois for processing, printing and mailing.
Hounds & Hunting holds the distinction of being one of the oldest continuous registered titles in the United States Patent & Trademark Office.
Since 1903, come rain or shine, every subscriber has been able to look forward with confidence to this great publication of beagle news and happenings. The magazine has survived WWI and WWII, the Great Depression, The Korean War, Vietnam War, and many other crises. It has a strong constitution and without a doubt will be strong far into the 21st Century.
Each month Hounds & Hunting features articles on the beagle breed and covers all types of field trial beagling: Brace Trials, Small Pack Field Trials, Small Pack Option Field Trials, Gun Dog Field Trials, Large Pack Trials, and anything that pertains to the Beagle Hound. Also, many feature stories of rabbit and small game hunting to hunting for large game are featured in the monthly magazine. There is something for every beagle hound fancier in this grand old publication.
Some information in this story was published from a previous issue of Hounds and Hunting Magazine.