Registered: May 2016
Location: Palatka, FL
Posts: 5106

We have a lot of good things going for out hunting down here. We can pretty much do it year round, harvest coon if you have a pup that needs one. If your fortunate enough to be in a good club you have plenty of land.

There is one thing that I really dislike and I don't know an answer to the problem. That is the density of the trees you have to deal with when trying to find a coon.

I don't mind it so much for an older dog I have faith in. But when training pups you need to see what they have if anything. It is impossible on so many trees. You get in these swamps and the dogs get treed and you can't see up the tree for the other trees around it. Very frustrating. We made 3 trees last night and one out of the three we could see real good. The other trees maybe 20% of one tree and the other maybe 60% of the tree.

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Registered: Aug 2004
Location: Chattanooga, Tn
Posts: 22586

It sounds like you need a good Flir.

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Registered: Jan 2013
Location: Marietta
Posts: 10790

Bruce with the leafs off here you can kinda see but when the leafs on if you back up far enough to see the top you are under another tree and can't see the top.



Tar

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Registered: Jun 2003
Location: Washington, NC
Posts: 3315

Bruce, I feel your pain! Even with the leaves off you have a hard time looking at some treed, not to mention the pine trees! But the rules committee decided that ten minutes was to long to shine a tree. I've heard it said many times from the mid western states that "If you don't see the coon in four minutes, HE AIN'T THERE!" We often spend four minutes just finding a place where you can see part of the tree.

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Registered: Aug 2004
Location: Chattanooga, Tn
Posts: 22586

Mr Harper, we live in a fast paced world nowadays. Every thing is hurry, hurry, hurry. No one even knows what a rose smells like any more. Bruce your problem is not just in Florida. I had to crawl into this tree on hands and knees last night. There was no way to shine the tree. I just had to take their word on it.

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Registered: Sep 2010
Location: New Paris, Indiana
Posts: 7076

My old buddy Marv had a solution for that underbrush, he carried a small folding saw and he'd cut the woods down around that tree. You could at least get a light up.

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Registered: Aug 2004
Location: Chattanooga, Tn
Posts: 22586

It is a wonder that Marv doesn't carry a chainsaw in that side by side. Outlaw Bond used to carry one for den trees.

Last edited by Richard Lambert on 03-28-2018 at 07:46 PM

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Registered: Jun 2007
Location: jacksonville, nc
Posts: 2856

It's so thick here I carry one of those little folding saws. I cut down a bunch of little sapling and I can sometimes see the tree. I usually just call it a coon and go on. If it's a small tree, it's a possum. If it's a big tree, it's a coon. If you're not training or competing, what difference does it make?

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Registered: May 2016
Location: Palatka, FL
Posts: 5106

I could care less about seeing a coon in any tree a dog i have decided is a keeper. The fustrating part for me is when a young one gets treed and you cant see up the tree. The ony way to overcome that is hunt enough that they average out. Some you see up and some you dont.

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Registered: Apr 2015
Location: church hill tn
Posts: 5738

Richard, what kind of tree was that, I am guessing hemlock. We have our share of hemlock here in the mountains. Surprising, we find a lot of the coons treed in hemlock, only because they look. You couldn't find a bear in a big hemlock if it didn't look. Dave

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Registered: Aug 2004
Location: Chattanooga, Tn
Posts: 22586

It looked like a Vine or thorn tree to me. That was all I saw.

Last edited by Richard Lambert on 03-28-2018 at 09:16 PM

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Registered: Jun 2005
Location: North of Panama City Florida
Posts: 1014

what a lot of people dont realize is when all the trees touch the coons will cross out... and do!

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Registered: Aug 2004
Location: Chattanooga, Tn
Posts: 22586

It is not the trees but all of the underbrush and thickets.
The second drop ended up on a den in a guy's back yard. Look at the grass.

Last edited by Richard Lambert on 03-28-2018 at 09:15 PM

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Registered: Nov 2015
Location: st. augustine Fl
Posts: 311

You don't have any planted pines over there to start them in ? That's where I start my pups on feeders get an idea of how accurate they are . I'm using a nice block creek down one side and pines all down the other . The underbrush is thick and makes for hard walking thru briars but usually if there is a coon in it I can find it .

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