James Monroe Avent along with Hobart Ames, was responsible for establishing the National Bird Dog Championship in Hardeman County. The bird dog trials continue to be held annually at the Ames Plantation in Grand Junction, Tennessee.

Avent’s house in Hickory Valley, Tennessee, was listed in the National Register on April 25, 2001, because of his role in starting and promoting the bird dog trials. Both Avent and some of the dogs he trained were notable enough to be placed in the Field Trial Hall of Fame.

Most celebrated of contemporary [bird dog] handlers is James Monroe Avent, 70, a shrewd and tight-lipped Tennessee squire who has been known to play poker with his competitors after a day in the field, who never divulges information as to good quail country which he knows more thoroughly than anyone else.