Registered: Jun 2003
Location: Washington, NC
Posts: 3314

Lately My dog has been struggling on tracks, not saying anything on track, and just falling treed. Most of the time she has the coon but with the moon getting brighter she's missing more. I have corn out for deer (legal here) with a trail camera. I had three coons eating there every night and had let the corn run out. Put out more corn on Tuesday had 1 coon Wednesday night. She tried moving the track on Friday night and treed without the coon. I will be glad when the moon gets dark.

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Bill Harper
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Just curious, what makes you think it is the full moon that is causing her to slick tree?

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Dan

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Just wondering what the moon has to do with it?

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Registered: Aug 2019
Location: East central indiana
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And also, you think the dog was running a track on Friday that was left on Wednesday? I’ll take 2 hits of whatever you’re on lol

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Sam fox
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The moon is just an xcuse... 😁.

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Registered: Jun 2014
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I've been coon hunting for 60 years and every dog I've ever owned has been as bad on dark nights as on moon-lit nights.

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Donald Bergeron

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Location: Illinois
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Treeing squirrel would be my best guess.

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Registered: Jun 2003
Location: Washington, NC
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Trail camera shows that a coon had not been there since 0015 Dec 14. She does not mess with squirels and on good tracks she is very accurate. I have been coon hunting since the late 60s and I do know what I am talking about. The coons have just not been moving the last few days. The dog could smell coon where it had been feeding on corn but could not carry a track out and could smell coon on that tree.

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Bill Harper
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Have you had dogs that could trail a 48-hour old track? I didn't think a dog could trail a coon track that old.

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Donald Bergeron

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You got me beat, I've only hunted full moons for 35 yrs. Have yet to have the moon be the reason my dog couldn't run and tree the track it hit.

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Registered: May 2015
Location: IN
Posts: 2760

I don't think he's saying the dog treed slick bc of the moon, coon hadn't come to the feeder bc of the moon, thus she didn't find a track, at least one she could handle.

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Registered: Dec 2019
Location: Illinois
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I can read and comprehend all he wrote.

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Registered: Jun 2003
Location: Washington, NC
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Sleepy Head, you figured out what I was saying. Many people never realize how old the tracks are that the dogs work. Scenting conditions dictate this more than anything.

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Bill Harper
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The week before a full moon and a few days after in Dec and Jan are the toughest hunting conditions we generally have here in Indiana.. If we are not froze up and in. Cold weather, bright moon, the coon have been thinned out considerably from hunting and they don't move nearly as good.. Our deer season finally ends tonight and I can start branching out to some private ground.. thank God.. Our state ground has been pounded from dark until 11 pm or so about every night.. Still can tree coons there, but it ain't November anymore.

A dog can absolutely run a track just as well on a full moon night as a dark of the moon night, but he's not going to find nearly as many good tracks.. Hence the rough tracking and pulling up short at times.. These coons are slick and fat and will lay in the den for a week just snoozing in bad conditions this time of year.

I've seen three flying squirrels the last three nights while hunting as well and the Fox and Grey squirrels stir pretty good when it's bright at night. That can certainly be some dogs issues.. My pup treed one of the flying squirrels I saw earlier this week. Sounded good on it to. I watched the little bugger run up the tree when I pulled into the lane to cut loose.

I do not believe the moon cycle effects tracking one bit, cold weather and barometric conditions certainly do.. Coons just do not move nearly as good or as far when it's bright and clear.. Cloudy conditions and particularly rain during the moon cycle sees a significant pick up in movement..

I've hunted 6 out of the last 7 nights (full moon was last night).. Treed several coons, few slicks, several dead drops, several dens and holes.. Been the toughest hunting of the year for me.

The hunting has definitely been spotty and the dogs have had to cover a tremendous amount of ground to get treed. Friday was the best night of the 7.. Three singles, one for each dog and no bad trees or holes, three dead drops however.. Was cloudy and sleeting/raining.. Coons moved good early and were done by 9:00 for us. Last night I made three drops, put one in a hole, caught the old dog coming across the south road on the second drop and treed a den (good track going into it) at .5 on the third drop.. Clouds were clearing up and I packed them in and went home. November we would have treed several coons moon or no.. Still probably would have had some slicks and bad tracks, but nothing like Dec.

There's a time to hunt hard and there's a time to take a few days off and lay up.. Someday I'll get smart enough to do that!!

Probably your slick treeing issue will go away as the conditions improve. I don't like a dog who slicks, but I feed mine and he still does at times. But I would just as soon have a bad tree here or there as a dog leaving a track and coming in.. My rambling thoughts anyways..

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Registered: Apr 2015
Location: church hill tn
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quote:

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Originally posted by Larry Hall
The week before a full moon and a few days after in Dec and Jan are the toughest hunting conditions we generally have here in Indiana.. If we are not froze up and in. Cold weather, bright moon, the coon have been thinned out considerably from hunting and they don't move nearly as good.. Our deer season finally ends tonight and I can start branching out to some private ground.. thank God.. Our state ground has been pounded from dark until 11 pm or so about every night.. Still can tree coons there, but it ain't November anymore.

A dog can absolutely run a track just as well on a full moon night as a dark of the moon night, but he's not going to find nearly as many good tracks.. Hence the rough tracking and pulling up short at times.. These coons are slick and fat and will lay in the den for a week just snoozing in bad conditions this time of year.

I've seen three flying squirrels the last three nights while hunting as well and the Fox and Grey squirrels stir pretty good when it's bright at night. That can certainly be some dogs issues.. My pup treed one of the flying squirrels I saw earlier this week. Sounded good on it to. I watched the little bugger run up the tree when I pulled into the lane to cut loose.




I do not believe the moon cycle effects tracking one bit, cold weather and barometric conditions certainly do.. Coons just do not move nearly as good or as far when it's bright and clear.. Cloudy conditions and particularly rain during the moon cycle sees a significant pick up in movement..

I've hunted 6 out of the last 7 nights (full moon was last night).. Treed several coons, few slicks, several dead drops, several dens and holes.. Been the toughest hunting of the year for me.

The hunting has definitely been spotty and the dogs have had to cover a tremendous amount of ground to get treed. Friday was the best night of the 7.. Three singles, one for each dog and no bad trees or holes, three dead drops however.. Was cloudy and sleeting/raining.. Coons moved good early and were done by 9:00 for us. Last night I made three drops, put one in a hole, caught the old dog coming across the south road on the second drop and treed a den (good track going into it) at .5 on the third drop.. Clouds were clearing up and I packed them in and went home. November we would have treed several coons moon or no.. Still probably would have had some slicks and bad tracks, but nothing like Dec.

There's a time to hunt hard and there's a time to take a few days off and lay up.. Someday I'll get smart enough to do that!!

Probably your slick treeing issue will go away as the conditions improve. I don't like a dog who slicks, but I feed mine and he still does at times. But I would just as soon have a bad tree here or there as a dog leaving a track and coming in.. My rambling thoughts anyways..

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Dave Richards Treeing Walkers Reg American Saddlebred and Registered Rocky Mt. Show Horses

Last edited by Dave Richards on 12-19-2021 at 09:18 PM

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quote:

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Originally posted by Bill(Chew)
Trail camera shows that a coon had not been there since 0015 Dec 14. She does not mess with squirels and on good tracks she is very accurate. I have been coon hunting since the late 60s and I do know what I am talking about. The coons have just not been moving the last few days. The dog could smell coon where it had been feeding on corn but could not carry a track out and could smell coon on that tree.

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Dave Richards Treeing Walkers Reg American Saddlebred and Registered Rocky Mt. Show Horses

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Bill what you mentioned is a typical problem with feeders. They are used regularly and the area holds coon scent. Whether it is a tree the feeder is on or if it is a box feeder. The area around the feeder gets saturated with scent. Makes for some interesting drops. I was in a cast one time and had a slight lead. The guide who was a good wise friend took us for the last drop to a feeder that hadn't had corn in a while. His plan and it worked is my dog would slick tree there. Coonhunting has so many twist and turns, the only good way to look at it is. There is always tomorrow night. Even without feeders. I have seen certain trees is an area. That would be a problem tree for slick treeing. Seemed like the coon liked one tree and they hung out in it. Except when my dog was treed on it.

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