Climbing over the ridges that make up the mountains of the southern tier of the Catskill range, Paul Colavito of Howells knew that they must be close to the dogs. The loud baying of the seven hounds could be head clearly as Colavito, who was on his first bear run, approached. Veteran trainers Greg Larsen and Kevin Dunleavy, both of Pine Bush, had once again treed a bear.
     The black bear, weighing approximately 350 pounds, had been treed five miles of eluding the dogs. Bear of any size in close corners can cause anxiety in any man. When this bruin decided to drop down form the tee within 10 feet of Colavito, who had just leashed up a dog, Doc, Paul had his moment of fear before the bear bounded away.
     The excitement builds as you listen to the dogs follow their nose in hot pursuit. If you have ever been raccoon hunted, you can understand why the trainers get as excited an the dogs. A good hound is amazing to watch. After a few time running with them, you learn to understand their language, how their tone changes as the trail runs cold or hot.
     The DEC has used the houndsman on many occasions. This spring, in Westchester County, Hounds were Responsible for treeing a nuisance bear. The DEC then tranquilized the bear and moved him to a different area, away from suburbia.
     The DEC has also called in the hounds when a bear decided to set up in a farmer’s corn field. A bear in corn is the hardest one to trap because of the abundance of food. The hounds can move the bear out, serving the farmer and giving the trainers a chance to work them.
      Hounds have also helped by treeing bear for tagging purposes, a vital practice for biologists to monitor bear health, behavior, and how environmental changes affect them.
      July days are usually reserved for fishing, barbecues and swimming pools. For some, the mornings are spent running with the hounds.

 This is part of a article from the coonhound bloodlines May 1997 by Jackie Carpenter E-mail jcarpent@knox.net National Plott Hound Association.

Greg Larsen sent plott dues and some pictures of his Plotts from the State of New York. We originally e-mailed each other on information  about the Plott Association. Greg said he started hunting with hounds on coons back in 1980. He was a diehard hunter, going out just about everynight of the week Then in early 1990, the rabies hit there and stopped their hunting. His friend Kevin Dunleavy stopped at his house asked him to go bear hunting. This was his first bear hunt in Canada. He liked it so much that he decided to get a dog and go. The problem was they had no season in New York. This held him back for a couple years. In 1995 New York finally got a training season, so he went out and got a dog. The first dog he got was a Walker, and then he got a Plott Hound. He is a Wicham breed dog, by Bruce Mellon. The last two dogs he got were also Plott Hounds. They were bred by Chris LaFIamme.
Greg usually runs with Kevin Dunleavy, Bob Albreecht and Danny Longo. Most of the bears they run in New York State are nuisance bears. They work as a team along with Dick Henry of the New York State Department of Conservation. They chase the bears and tree them and then they call in Dick, and he relocates them to a safer location. Greg would like to thank Kevin Dunleavy,
Danny Longo, Bob Albreecht, Dick Henry and the Sullivan County Coon Hunters for all of their support in this exciting sport of bear hunting.