Walt Hannar blames his son, Ben, for the death of his prized coonhound, Sweet Lou. Ben prays for an opportunity to regain the closeness he once enjoyed with his father. His hopes soar when his father purchases a Redbone hound from a kennel in far off Arkansas to take Sweet Lou's place. Perhaps the new coonhound will help his father forget the past and eventually forgive Ben. Ben's hopes prove short-lived. To the utter embarrassment of his father, Ozark Red, the new coonhound, runs the wrong scent and makes a fool out of his father in front of half the hunters in Licking County. Emma Jean, Ben's sister, insists that he make things right with the dog breeder that cheated their father before the whole family falls apart. Ben is dismayed. If their father, a former policeman, can't get a new hound or his money back from a crook five states away, how could he?