Registered: Feb 2014
Location:
Posts: 12

Alright guys, this has always been a big debate between my hunting buddies and I. Just wanted to hear what everybody else thought about it!

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Registered: Jun 2006
Location: N.C.
Posts: 43

10 months.

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Registered: Dec 2013
Location: ky
Posts: 2264

Depends on the pup and how it acts. Seen some that was ready at 5 1/2 months old and seen some that was a year old. If they can get through the woods good ill hunt them a little at 6 months old. Careful not to burn them out. But soon as they open on track and tree i hunt the hair off them by their self reguardless the age.

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jason

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Registered: Aug 2013
Location: Seneca, Mo
Posts: 5926

Most my own personal pups I start right around 6 months . Here my pups are able to run loose & are running and treeing on their own by this age & I have all the ground work out of the way . Minding , coming when called , leading & by their previous woods experience they can already navigate the timber , fences ect & most have no problem actually going hunting & venturing out far enough to hunt . I don't start night hunting them especially with dogs before this age - they are just to little/young & would have a hard time keeping up & you can get them babbling behind dogs .
We run a pup training program here with other young pups - letting them run loose & getting them ready for the real thing . I would say the average age that most pups are ready is between 6-9 months depending on the pup . Some don't start theirs till 12 months this is more a personal choice than the readiness of the pup . Puppies are like sponges & you would be surprised what a young one is capiable of if put in the right circumstances . Your pup is never to young for walks in the woods , let them run & explore every chance you get from weaning on . Learning to run a track (no matter the track is more important than a pup that will tree on a cage) . I've said this before , you know what concrete & wire smell like - concrete & wire . Much of the readiness of an early starting pup is the ground work you've put into it . Work on disipline , give plenty of love & attention & when the time comes your hunting trips will be much more pleasurable - then when you take it with dogs nothing mean & something straight , pups find enough off game on their own .

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Registered: Oct 2007
Location: Medford, WI
Posts: 3312

I don't think there is a magic number of when to start them...

I start taking them about once a month till they either stick with the old dogs or don't just want to play the whole time. Then I bump it up to once a week until they show interest then i bump it up to a few times a week, one or two drops each.

Some i've had were ready at 3 months, some not till 18 months... and some that never were.
Also had some that never make it to the woods because I don't like something that they do at home.

I also allow my pups to play a lot in the yard, hunting is when they should be hunting but they ARE just puppies and I don't think they should be forced to quit acting like one just because they show an interest in coon, if that makes any sense.

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Last edited by RED REBELS on 03-04-2014 at 05:53 PM

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Registered: Jun 2003
Location: Weyers Cave Va
Posts: 13413

I usuallly start hunting my pups around 5 months old. I'll hunt them for about an hour or the other dogs tree a coon, then if I want to keep hunting I'll leave the pup in the dogbox the rest of the night. Hunting them like this I've had pups run and tree as early as 6 months and 3 days to 13 months. It all depends on the pup as to when they start.

I hunted two littermates each time I went hunting. One of them a female treed her first coon at 8 months old, she was split treed from her sire and dam which were both also split treed. She had the coon and they were both slick. Her Littermate brother was at her tree but not treeing. He didn't start till he was 10 months old.

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Registered: Aug 2013
Location: sw mo
Posts: 971

whenever they are ready i do the once every couple weeks thing cause i cant let them run loose you shiuld kno by the way they act

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