A Missouri man took home the 2009 American Coon Hunters Association World Championship from the hunt in Vicksburg last month.

A two-year-old Treeing Walker Coonhound named Ike took the top spot, while two Vicksburg residents won hunts for women and youths.

Wanda Cook took the women’s title with her 2-year-old Treeing Walker named Chief, while Ryan Malone won the youth competition for ages 13-17.

About 200 hounds, their owners and handlers were in Vicksburg over a February weekend hunt, the first here in the ACHA’s 62-year history. Jerry Cook, vice president of the Three Rivers Coon Hunters Association — which brought the hunt to Vicksburg — said the competitors from 12 states who converged on the city gave both the hunt and Vicksburg glowing reviews.

“We had people tell us they had not been to a hunt in 20 years where they were shown so much hospitality. They were very, very happy with the hunt and asked us to bid on it again,” said Cook. “With the economy like it is, I think we had a real good turnout.”

Not a shot was fired and no raccoons were harmed in the hunt, in which hounds were released into hunting locations around Vicksburg and judged on a behavior-based point system.

The dogs’ goal is to pick up the trail of a coon and trap it up a tree for 5 minutes. The hounds can lose points for barking up the wrong tree, abandoning a tree with a coon in it before time elapses and other infractions.

John Monroe, of Glenwood, and his hound, Ike, were announced the champions in the early morning hours of Feb. 28, and awarded the championship ring and other prizes.

The Delta Sportsman Association in Tallulah, Northeast Louisiana Coon Hunter’s Association in Rayville and Jerry Clower Coon Hunter’s Association in Yazoo City assisted in the evening and nighttime hunts.

The ACHA World Bench School Championship was awarded to a 3-year-old English Coonhound named Hill’s Little Charlie Brown, owned by Gussy and Tina Allen of Shepherdsville, Ken.

Eight hounds from Mississippi placed in the top 20 of the championship hunt, with four hailing from Vicksburg. Here’s a rundown of top runners-up in the ACHA World Championship:

* Second place — Stroker, owned by Larry Toller of Berry, Ky.

* Third place — Gritz, owned by Wendell Pope and Grate Cager of State Line, Miss.

* Fourth place — Dream, owned by Lavaughn Tisdale of West Monroe, La., and handled by Burt Stephens.

* Fifth place — Tammy, owned by Dean Warren, Bush and Tommy Paul of Pendleton, Ky.

* Sixth place — Repete, owned by Bide Brown and James Hunt of Vicksburg.

* Seventh place — Slim, owned by Rusty and Austin Rhodus of Sandersville, Ga.

* Eighth place — Big Stuff, owned by Alan Johnson of Cory, Ind.

* Ninth place — Ben, owned by Jay Tidwell of Vicksburg, and handled by Clarence Steelman.

*10th place— Cat, owned by George Norman of Houlka, Miss.

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Contact Steve Sanoski at ssanoski@vicksburgpost.com.