Hello my name is James Arlen Wanta, founder of Bearjaws Plott Kennels. I started hunting hounds in ‘79 with two walker dog. I did a lot of coon hunting and soon was introduced to bear hunting. As I got into bear hunting I decided that we needed to have enough dogs so we could hunt when the brother-in-law and I had off work, so I started my own kennels. I got a hold of a Bearpath Gunner bred female, she was a good dog. Then got into the Wisconsin Bear Hunters Association for a while on the board of directors.
One day I called a man from Arkansas by the name of Clyde Neader and got into breeding his line of dogs. This is mostly the line of breeding that I have stuck with over the years. I've made some out crosses' but continue to breed back into the line of dogs that go back to Plunger, Cubby, Rowdy, Zeb and the endless line of once in a lifetime dogs they say you only get one of. I've been into these dogs for almost 30 years and pride myself in not having spent much money or time at the vets. I like a dog with brains, enough to learn to bay a bear not try to catch. I've been thinking of retirement and going into full-time dog training and the grandchildren are going to be helping papa.
Thanks for visiting my website and enjoy the stories and pictures.