UKC Forums (http://forums.ukcdogs.com/index.php)
- UKC Coonhounds (http://forums.ukcdogs.com/forumdisplay.php?forumid=4)
-- finally..... (http://forums.ukcdogs.com/showthread.php?threadid=113720)

finally.....updates....

got sometime to get in the woods and finally trapped another bandit(that's a whole nother story..lol). it's been a while since my boy had seen a coon. he went to the woods with an older dog and didn't fair to well....explored the woods but didn't join in the reindeer games..lol.

well tonight i took the ringtail and poured water on him in an open field(but covered in waist high weeds/shrubs. i went to the truck walked him to the edge of the field and let him go. 1st this dog is fast, i mean he can cover some d**n ground(excuse my french). we he found the bandit real quick but he gave me only one locate, then he went to exploring the field and coming back to me...i didn't say anything to him he just kept going back to the caged coon and running around the field...finally i walked over to the cage and he started up, kinda like the first time he ever saw a coon. after about 20sec he was hot and heavy on the bawling. i kicked the cage a little bit to get mr.coon good and awake and boy did ole sye get going then!

after i kicked the cage he got about .5 - 1 times louder than what he was and he was attacking the cage now. he was trying to find a way to get in the cage. i then clipped my tree lead to the cage and started to drag it towards the truck(i had my son, 3years, with me so i couldn't stay too late). well mr. coon is hissing and growling and sye hasn't let up one bit. he is right behind me bawling and following the cage. i put my boy in the truck, just letting sye continue withe cage, then i put sye up and mr.coon up as well.

i was pleased with how quickly he picked up where he left off. tomorrow night i have to scout, but when i get in i'm taking sye and bandit out and let sye find him again bawl him up for about 3-4 min, then i'm going to put sye in the box, then go to another location and lay a drag for him, pulling mr.coon up the tree. i want to see if he can track and tree a trail. he probally won't do all that great but we'll see and hope for the best....if you got any suggestions please let me know...

update

well my buddy punked out on me, so i was in the woods solo . i took the caged coon to the woods about 30-50 yds from the beginning of the woods. sye pissed and ran around a little, then he was waiting on me to do something for him..i told him to go get him and started walking real slow(light on lowest setting). he finally went out looking(turned my light off). he found him and gave me a locate, he bawled about two times, by this time i turned my light on and started walking faster towards him, praising him and telling him to "get em". he left the cage and came to me, i immediately turned off my light and stopped walking and talking to him, he turned around and ran back to the cage and started up again. i praised him for about 2mins then the 'fun' really started....

i tied him about 20yds away from the cage and started to lay a drag about 30yds in i hear him coming(silent) and he hits the cage and he's started up again. while i'm glad he is really hating the coon i wanted him tied to the tree, he chewed through the day glo part of the tree lead. i leave the coon lead him out the woods to the truck, get some rope tied him to the tree, couldn't find the coon on my own so i let sye go so i can find the stinking coon. well he finds him. i then tie sye to the tree with the rope, in the middle of my drag again he has chewed through the rope. at this point i'm pretty pissed because he won't let me help his smart butt. i rig my lead around a tree and get him tied so he can't let go...well by this time i'm thinking he's followed/tracked several times let's go with the released coon.....again here is the 'fun'....

i take the cage to about 3-5yds away from the sye i let the coon go(light is on so as to make sure sye sees that the coon leaves the trap. mr. coon is slow to take advantage of his new found freedom so with the help of some sticks i get him going. soon as the coon has left the sight of the light i let sye go. i turn my light off he circles me and he starts to go in the direction of the coon. i hear him open up a couple of times, then i hear what is either him catching up to the coon on the ground or he has found the tree he is in..i really can't tell, but it gets quiet. the entire time i'm following the bawls and hoping he is doing well and finds the tree. well next thing i know my boy comes running back to me, i guess the coon gave him the slip.

he lost him in a cluster of small pine trees. when he came back to me i just said 'go get em boy, go find em'. he kinda circle me again and he seemed to go back where he last had the track and followed it up to where i was then he seemed confused, like he didn't know what to do next. i want to say that he opened on track, the only thing is that i know where the track started and he didn't open when he hit it, he opened a good ways away from me. i want to believe that he opened and tracked but i really don't know to be completely honest.

i think if my friend had answered his phone then this would have been 1.easier and 2.more successful. i say easier because he could have taken sye and held him so that he didn't get away so i could lay a drag for him, pulling the cage up the tree so he actually knows that i want him to tree. i think we would have been more successful because after he tracked and treed then i would have released the coon then released sye and if and when the coon treed he would have known what to do.

first i would like your take on the night(good night, bad night, showing potential, not showing potential, above avg results, avg results, below avg results, etc.). next i would like to know the things i did wrong and the things i did right. i want to know if i'm doing something to mess my dog up and if i'm doing things that is putting him in the right direction. finally i would like to know what i need to do next time to get better results so as to give my dog the best chance possible to reach his full potential.....

oh yeah the dog is freaking fast....he got deep kinda quick and he has a nice and loud bawl....sorry no pics, had the camera though...