Jim Avant

"Mr Jim Avant from Hickory Flat,” one of the four well-known dog breeders and trainers mentioned in The Reivers, is almost certainly intended to be J.M. (James Monroe) Avent was a well-known owner and trainer of pedigreed bird dogs. He co-established the National Bird Dog Championship and in 1930. Time magazine called him the "most celebrated of contemporary handlers," citing too his nickname the "Fox of Hickory Valley," his home in Tennessee. Faulkner either misremembered or misspelled his name in this novel, and he also relocated hi m - perhaps on purpose.