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-- Now what? (http://forums.ukcdogs.com/showthread.php?threadid=928313579)

Now what?

I'm very new to starting young dogs. I have a 14 m/o male pup that will tree his own easy coon, but still struggling on tougher tracks which I'm assuming is ok due to the fact of his age. I'm wondering how many nights a week would be to much to hunt him and how long would you hunt him a night, how many coons would you give him, how much by himself compared to with other dogs, things like that...........now what? Thanks for any help.

Hunt the hair off him. Probably can't hunt him to much. If you have plenty of Coon. Feed em to him. Id hunt him alone 80% of the time. In a few months if he ain't doing what you want. Id start all over again. That's just because from what I've saw. By 17 or 18 months. If ones had a fair shake at hunting. It should be doing lots of things you like!

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Michael Ghorley

Maybe every other night if the weather is good. I do not give mine very many coon, but I would praise him alot when it trees a coon. I would hunt him mainly by himself and only once every couple of weeks with other dogs. I will say this every dog is different and requires different things. Good luck and enjoy the experience of learning your dog.

Like was said, once that light switch is thrown on, I am on their butts hard...I dont hunt em ragged...they are still young...but I hunt em and keep on em...2-4 drops a night 4-5 nights a week. If they have a bad night or 2 and learned some lessons I might lay em up a few days...



I start and hunt my dogs alone...I only keep 1 dog and want a dog with its own brain not big ears or ability to follow...


I also agree..if legal I drop the coon out of every tree till they are solid tree dogs...maybe not every tree...once a night usually..I'm not big on dropping coons for em except when they are starting....after that if they wanna chew on one they gotta catch their own or hope pelts are up and I am shooting them in kill season...

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Team Trackman!!

'PR' Trackman's Dizzy Duke

I also am new to training and have been a little hung up on what to do as far as managing coon populations. I have limited timber that I hunt, and I want to manage my coon populations, but I dont want to prevent my dog from progressing. My dog isn't a 120bpms dog, but he is a solid tree dog, pry somewhere in the 80s or 90s. Right now the biggest area he needs to work on is tracking and trailing. He gets hung up and sometimes he finishes them and sometimes he don't. Some of my friends say, I need to shoot more out to him. However I think it would be more important to have more coon for him to trail. I also don't see how shooting more coon out to him will help him learn to track better. What do you guys think? Please explain your reasoning behind what you do.

I would say every other nite is about right.But it depends on the result of the hunt each nite.Number 1,if the dog has a real good nite i will put him up for a nite or 2,let him think about it.If he has a bad nite get him back in the timber as soon as possible.I believe it is also very important to end the nite on a good note if at all possible.Now,some will disagree but i believe a tree dog is born,not made.Sure you can shock and whip a dog to make it stay but a real tree dog is born wanting to tree.Tracking,i believe is a learned trait.In other words a dog improves tracking ability by experience.As far as knocking coon out to a dog,watch your dog,he will tell you when he needs a coon.If you have to knock out every coon to your dog your shooting the wrong animal.These are just my personal opinions after around 50 years chasing these stinky old hounds.

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Always be yourself because the people that matter dont mind and the people that mind dont matter.Rock River Plotts

I agree with just about everything critter said, if you have to shoot out every coon you will be better off shooting the dog and starting over. The dog i am hunting now has about 4 or 5 coons a year shot out to him, maybe about 1 or 2 a week when he first started treeing them. I have been hunting about 50 yrs and have found out you dont have to shoot out every coon, some dogs more than others, but you can tell by watching your dog when he needs one.........Just my 2 cents worth.......

Thanks for the comments guys, much appreciated! Keep em coming! What are some signs, or red flags that you may see in a dog that would tell you he may be in need of having a coon dropped out to him.

At that age i like to give em a coon once every 8 or 10 that they tree, but be selective give em the ones they work for, not the popups. Most of the time killin the coon only makes the hunter feel better.

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Everything that makes them a COONDOG is on the inside

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Originally posted by Fisher13
I also am new to training and have been a little hung up on what to do as far as managing coon populations. I have limited timber that I hunt, and I want to manage my coon populations, but I dont want to prevent my dog from progressing. My dog isn't a 120bpms dog, but he is a solid tree dog, pry somewhere in the 80s or 90s. Right now the biggest area he needs to work on is tracking and trailing. He gets hung up and sometimes he finishes them and sometimes he don't. Some of my friends say, I need to shoot more out to him. However I think it would be more important to have more coon for him to trail. I also don't see how shooting more coon out to him will help him learn to track better. What do you guys think? Please explain your reasoning behind what you do.

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