coon hunting

Dink · #1 09/14/06, 10:50 AM

Whats the best way to train your hounds?

big rockpile · #2 09/14/06, 11:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ----

Whats the best way to train your hounds?

Run them with an already trained Hound.

I have took Dogs by theirself and let them run Skunks and Possums try to get them on Coons once they get on them they seem to stay on them.But running with a Trained Dog is the best.

big rockpile

Dink · #3 09/14/06, 11:30 AM

Rock I was given and old hound for my son but the thing is im not sure if he would even tree a biscut hes been eat alive by a coon and I worry that he may be busted of course I havent told my son that.

I borrowed and old hound for my 12 yr old to take to field trials and he brought home a second place trophy Im afraid he will be really disapointed if he takes the blue tick that was given to him.

Do you think it would help if I bought some coon scent and trail it just to see how his new hound does?

or do I borrow another hound for the next trial?(grin)

I want a walker or an old english red tick.....

swamp man · #4 09/14/06, 12:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ----

Rock I was given and old hound for my son but the thing is im not sure if he would even tree a biscut hes been eat alive by a coon and I worry that he may be busted of course I havent told my son that.

I borrowed and old hound for my 12 yr old to take to field trials and he brought home a second place trophy Im afraid he will be really disapointed if he takes the blue tick that was given to him.

Do you think it would help if I bought some coon scent and trail it just to see how his new hound does?

or do I borrow another hound for the next trial?(grin)

I want a walker or an old english red tick.....

-I've never heard of a coon dog gettin' it's spirit broken from a whoopin'.Grandpas coon dogs had little in the way of ears left,but heart to spare.He named my mom after his best coon dog,which in a wierd way,the family took as an honour.
When I started my dog on squirrells,I didn't have a seasoned squirrel dog to train her with,but on the advice of a buddy,I tried this...maybe it'll work for a coon dog,too.

I took her huntin' with me a few times,just so she could get gun-broke,and get an idea for what we were after.
Next,I soaked a fresh killed squirrel skin in water for a few minutes,tied it to a string,tied up the dog,and let her see me walk into the woods,dragging my squirrel skin-on-a-string behind me.I took the skin several hundred yards into the forrest,climbed a tree,and hung it high.when I went back to the house and turned her loose,she jumped right on the trail,followed it to the tree,and "hollered one treed" on the very first try.The rest has taken care of itself,by way of time in the woods,and her fair share of the stew.
I dunno if this would work for a coon dog,but it's worth a shot.
Good luck

big rockpile · #5 09/14/06, 12:46 PM

I always like Black and Tans.I've had Dogs cut up bad from Coons seems like they just had more kill in them after that.

Maybe he can get someone to let him run his Dog with that he met at the field trials

Another thing you might try is catching a Coon in a live Trap,letting the Dog play with it,see what he does.

Years ago I had a good Hound,Guy offerd me $1,000 for it.I told him I couldn't sell the Dog because he was one of the Family.I came home from work one day all my Dogs were gone

I know the Guy took them and sold them the same day,I just couldn't catch him.I told him I really wish he would have taken my Wife,that she would have been easier to replace

big rockpile

Dink · #6 09/14/06, 01:20 PM

I always thought black and tans make the best bear dogs.

big rockpile · #7 09/14/06, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ----

I always thought black and tans make the best bear dogs.

Their good all around Dog.I always just used them for Squirrel,Coon,and Deer.

big rockpile

#8 09/14/06, 08:25 PM

Swampman has the right ideal. Start them out on squirrels first then switch them to coon. The best dogs I ever had were started on squirrels first and then trainned on a good experienced coon dog.

As for the breed a lot of compentitioners like the fast Walker hounds. I always had my worst luck with them as I couldn't keep them off deers and rabbits. So my favorite choice is Black & Tans, and Blueticks.

Goodluck in your coonhuntin adventures.

Dink · #9 09/14/06, 09:10 PM

Thank ya r.h. in okla

elkhound · #10 09/14/06, 09:47 PM

----...there are alot of coon hunrters in your neck of the woods.also swamp man has got it right about the training of dog.if i may offer one bit of advice.be sure of who you go with on hunts/and there dogs....a young dog also learns bad habits from grown dogs.all dogs are not good dogs just cuse they tree game.your dog will be more independent if you train it by itself.stay away from walkers.to many people breeding to many dogs has just about ruined the breed.unless you know exactly where the dogs come from and there heritage.the genes has alot to do with how a dog turns out.how old is your son?does he want just a coon dog or just a dog to have fun with?....barry

Paquebot · #11 09/14/06, 10:20 PM

One of the best I ever hunted with was a yellow cur with perhaps some collie in her background. She'd sit all night if she had to. In that area, there were two families which hunted coon from way back in the '20s. That family always insisted on long-hair female yellow curs. Our family swore by short-hair male hound types. The one thing that both agreed on was silent trailers. When it came my turn to uphold the coon-hunting tradition in 1962, I opted for a year-old Beagle-Walker mix. Took several years to completely break him off rabbits and to get him to stay at a tree more than 10 minutes. Opening night of the 1970 season, 22 coon!

Second dog was a male Black & Tan that ran with the B-W from a pup. Named Mortimer from the beginning since he looked and acted so damned stupid! For 3 years, that dog never once barked tree. No need to bark when the B-W was there to do it! But when it came time for him to hunt alone, he was a classic at standing on the tree and baying. Heartworm got him before we even knew it was a problem around here.

Final dog was a departure from the family tradition in that it was still a hound but a female Black & Tan. Because she was such a quiet one as a pup, she was named Tinker Bell. Only problem is that Peter Pan's Tinker Bell had no voice and that was the same with this dog. She'd run coon all night but never bark unless she caught one on the ground. We could only hunt her on quiet nights with bells on her collar. When the bells stopped in a certain area, we knew she was at a tree since she would at least stay for awhile.

With the first dog being on the small side, twice had helper dogs in case of some old fighters in a corn field. Best ever was a male Samoyed. Didn't have a good nose but would just sit and wait for that B-W to bark and he was gone. All I had to do then was look for something big and white sitting under a tree! And if there was a coon on the ground, there was no escape. They'd run that coon in circles until the Samoyed could grab its neck. With those curved canine teeth, there was no escape. His life was cut short by canine distemper which affected coon in our area for awhile in the early '70s.

Another effective helper was an old female Golden Retriever. Hadn't planned on it but friend had this super bird dog and a divorce meant he needed a home for it in a hurry. Samoyed's kennel was empty so I ended up with that dog. First night out, all excited about the B-W having something up in a tree and me going to shoot it. As soon as that coon hit the ground, she ran to grab it and just as quickly dropped it. Fur was not her thing! Next few nights, same thing but no participation. Then I just clipped a big old boar coon and he came down all full of fight. B-W was having all he could do to keep that coon busy and suddenly the Goldie went in laying on her belly and ready to take on that furry thing! Totally fearless from then on and got many coon by herself strictly as an air-tracker. When I'd see her nose go up and sniff the air, I knew that there was a coon around and she'd find it. Only problem was that she was so independent that she wouldn't let the B-W near a coon that he may have chased for a half hour and she would often tear the hides. Only used her for two season and gave her to a proper bird hunter.

Oh, easy way to start a dog on coon. Drive around at night in coon area until you see one cross the road. Park just beyond and walk the dog on a leash down to where the coon crossed. He'll smell the track. Turn him loose and tell him to go get it and you follow. That's a start. To break a dog off an animal, same thing but a scolding if he wants to follow that track.

Martin

chrisl · #12 09/15/06, 10:41 AM

----,
I've owned hounds and coon hunted since I was old enough to carry a light. One thing I've learned is 80% of a coon hounds ability is breed into them the other 20% is what they learn. That being said the quickest way to ruin a coon hound is to train it with a so-called "pup trainer" or "old dog". Dogs are competive and I've ruined several good pups trying to train with an older dogs. A good Coon dog is an independant dog, and should be trained as such. The following is a good training program.

1. Break the dog to lead, to load, and to obey. (This is harder than what you think)

2. Buy the bigest longest handle dip net you can find.

3. Start playing with the pup using the dip net. Get it to chase it to bark at it.

4. Start playing hide and seek with the dip net. Drag it on the ground to leave sent and then let the pup loose to find it.

5. Hang the dip net in a tree and get the pup extremely excited about it, make him tree it.

6. Take the dip net with out the pup seeing you after you excited him with the dip net make a trail and put in a tree and then turn the pup loose make him work the trail out. Start small and work up to longer trails and higher tree placement of the dip net.

7. When the pup starts getting this down, its time to introduce a coon. Start off with fresh road kill (you may need to talk to your local game warden), Make sure the coon is fresh, discard daily if you have to to keep it fresh.

8. Put the coon in the dip net and repeat steps 3 thru 6. You may need to moisten the coon with water to lay the coons sent down better, just don't drench it.

9. After the hound is doing this well, its time to take day trips out in the timber. Try to go to areas where you know there will be deer and squirles. I like to put them in deer country early to break any ideas they may have about running deer. If you encounter deer, hold the dog, tell him NO and chase the deer of if he tries to follow correct him. This is good bonding time puts the dog in the element he will hunt but you have the advantage of daylight to watch him.

10. This is where a live coon comes into play, repeat steps 3 thru 6, wet the coon down for good results.

11. When he masters this its time for the timber. Live coon works good here, wet it down. Turn it loose give it a head start and turn the dog loose. It may take a few times but he will get the hang of it. (sometime the dogs at first get so excite they out run the track).

12. When he trees the coon after the second time tie him to the tree and make him tree the coon for at least an hour or more. I like to start around an hour and then work up to at least 3 hours. After each time shot the coon out to the hound. Make sure that you head shoot the coon, a young dog can be made worthless real quick if a coon gets ahold of it to early.* Note start shoting around your hound as early as when you start to break them to lead. espcially with the dip net training, use the .22 CB's they don't make much noisce but the hound will start to expect with the gun goes off thier reward is going to fall out of the tree.

13. Finally your ready for the timber. Take him out, don't be to eager to rush to his aid, let him figure stuff out on his own, remeber he is working on the 20%, correct him when he needs corrected. Coon feeders are great for this stage, put out a coon feeder for a month filling it up daily and then hunt that area.

14. Have fun and enjoy a very rewarding sport.

Chris

Dink · #13 09/15/06, 11:32 AM

Thanks Elkhound,Paquebot and chrisl LittleMan is 12 almost 13 I am hoping he will take up hunting to keep him out of trouble.On my side of the family there are hunters a long line of them esp bear hunters.His stepdad is a good man but hes a bit of a city boy and he wouldn't kill anything if his life depended on it.So that kinda leaves me to get little man going on the right track.And yes we have our yard dogs but he really wants to hunt and heaven knows we could stand to thin out the raccoon population.

Muskrat · #14 09/15/06, 05:57 PM

I've never owned a black-and-tan. My best coonhounds have mostly been blueticks or redbones, but they were bred to be that. My Walkers don't like to tree, they like to run, so foxes and deer are more to their liking. My Plotts like to catch stuff; treeing is only fun if someone's going to knock whatever they've treed out to them so they can fight it.

I agree a little bit with almost everyone who's posted. Most of what a dog's going to do is a part of him. You're just going to be directing him. A lot of dogs at first don't quite grasp the concept of something climbing a tree and disappearing from the trail; the family cats usually teach mine that, but squirrels will do. The difference is that cats also teach them that things that climb also scratch.

I always train my pups with older dogs. That's the way that suits me and my set up. All my older dogs are not good trainers, but some are.

----, if your dog has hunted coon to the extent of being chewed up, he probably has a grasp of his trade. I would bet on the side of him hating coons, rather than being afraid of them.

Instead of taking him to a trial, where an inexperienced trainer and an untried dog can spell disappointment and disillusionment, get him out into the woods. If your son likes the dog as a companion, the dog won't have to perform like a field champ for them to enjoy their hunting. Teaching the boy to accept the dog for what it is and helping it to learn more and get better within its limits will teach him more than winning trials will.

If the dog is field trial acceptable, then take him. If not, take your son to the trials and let him watch the trainers. Field trials are about gamemanship as much as about excellence in dogs. Let him talk to the people running the dogs. They're like most of us here, willing to talk and share, especially with a kid. While he's learning, he can also be evaluating the breed and style of dog he wants for his next dog.

'Cause everybody needs at least two hounds. Or four. Or ten. Over twenty is excessive, unless of course you have specialists for coons, for foxes, for bears, for training. Then of course you have to raise pups to pay for this.

Dink · #15 09/22/06, 06:06 AM

Well today is another big day were having another trial my son and my daughter are both going to be in it.And yes I borrowed old man (redtick)he did so well on the first run my daughter borrowed a black and tan but I dont think he will do much.At any rate littleman and his sister are already blowing as to who's dog will do the best.And both of them are fighting as to who is going to wear my boots

dont think there going to leave me a leg to stand on. Ive even found a good place to try the new hound out.(grin)

wish us well I sure wouldn't mine another trophy or the coon light there raffling off.

big rockpile · #16 09/22/06, 10:53 AM

Good Luck to the Kids ----!! Man I wish I was young again.

big rockpile

Dink · #17 09/22/06, 11:01 AM

Thanks Rock I have a feeling my daughter would give up the notion if she were to go on a real hunt.My first time out I went with a bunch of 6ft tall guys to say the least trying to keep up with there long strides was hard because Im every bit of 5 ft.

elkhound · #18 09/22/06, 11:39 AM

hope ya'll have a good time.hope you win the light.even if you dont coonhunt those lights are great.if people tried one they would buy one for the homestead.they are spendy though.i busted the head on mine and dread paying for a new one.i got to order it soon and get it on the way here.

Dink · #19 09/22/06, 11:54 AM

Thank ya Elkhound I just hope they have fun.

Dink · #20 09/23/06, 08:44 AM

Guess who needs a trophy case

My daughters dog brought second place.My son brough home a trophy and the guy that got first gave little man his trophy.I had planned on comming home after it started but had to drive the girls to all the drop off points so I got to hear the dogs.My daughter had mud from one end to the other.