Dog the Bounty Hunter is back in Alabama with ‘all the outlaw energy you can handle’
Fans of Dog the Bounty Hunter can meet the reality TV star in Alabama this weekend, but he’s not here chasing fugitives or corralling criminals.
Duane Chapman — who earned fame for an A&E series that chronicled his life as a bounty hunter and bail bondsman — will be in Guntersville on Saturday for the second annual Dog the Bounty Hunter Festival. The festival started Friday with a worship night and continues on Nov. 9, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., at Marshall County Park 1, 19348 U.S. 431 North at Lake Guntersville.
Folks who attend on Saturday can expect “live music, food trucks, vendors, and all the outlaw energy you can handle,” Chapman says on his Facebook page. He also promises meet-and-greets, photos and autographs, Dog the Bounty Hunter merchandise and guest appearances from family members Leland Chapman and Cecily Chapman. (That’s Dog’s son with his first wife, La Fonda Sue Darnall, and his adopted daughter with his fourth wife, Beth Chapman.)
Tickets are $25 for general admission on Saturday, $175 for a VIP dinner on Saturday at 7:30 p.m., available via Ticketleap. Perks for the dinner include face time with Chapman and his wife, Francie Frane Chapman; a Q&A session with Chapman; an autographed photo; and an autographed copy of Chapman’s book, “Nine Lives and Counting: A Bounty Hunter’s Journey to Faith, Hope and Redemption.”
According to organizer Micah McCreary of TruX-TV, proceeds from the festival will raise money for Marshall County’s Shop With a Cop, a program that matches police officers with needy kids and helps the children to shop for Christmas presents. TruX-TV, based in Northeast Alabama, has a YouTube channel with videos on fishing, hunting and other outdoor activities.
In September, Chapman became involved in the search for Sebastian Rogers, a missing teen who disappeared in February from his home in Hendersonville, Tennessee. Part of the proceeds from the Dog the Bounty Hunter festival will be donated to Rogers’ biological father, Seth Rogers, Chapman said in an Instagram video. The goal is to establish a college fund for the teen when he’s found or help with whatever he needs in the future, Chapman said.
The Dog the Bounty Hunter Festival made its debut in Alabama in August 2023 at Guntersville Civitan Park. Chapman visited the state that month for another reason: to see his son Garry Chapman graduate from the Northeast Alabama Law Enforcement Academy. Garry Chapman is now a police officer in Guntersville, according to his Instagram page.
Duane Chapman posted photos on Facebook and Instagram on the day of his son’s graduation, showing Garry posing in uniform with his father and other family members. Garry is Dog’s son with the late Beth Chapman, who co-starred on the “Dog the Bounty Hunter” TV series. She died in 2019 after a battle with cancer.