A man named Billy Coleman rescues a beagle under attack by another neighborhood dog. He takes it home with him so that its wounds can heal. In light of this event, he has a flashback to when he was a ten-year-old boy living in the Ozark Mountains. Billy wants nothing more than a pair of Redbone Coonhounds for hunting. After seeing a magazine ad for coonhounds, Billy spends the next two years working odd jobs to earn the $50 he needs to buy two puppies. Billy's dogs are delivered to Tahlequah, over 20 miles away. Billy decides to walk the distance. As he returns with the dogs, he sees a heart carved on a tree with the names Dan + Ann and decides to name the puppies Old Dan and Little Ann. With his grandfather's help, Billy teaches his dogs to hunt. Both dogs are very loyal to each other and