Registered: Feb 2015
Location: Rossville Indiana
Posts: 66

My story is so unique that I have never heard one similar. Was just wondering if anyone else's was like mine. None of my family or friends hunted. Actually nobody I knew coon hunted. I had no Idea what a coon hound was. Being busy in school with stick and ball sports I was not exposed to hunting and fishing. My Dad did not hunt or fish but did do many things we enjoyed together. Motorcycles , truck pulling , golf and boating to water ski. But nothing involving the hunting world other than mushroom hunting in the spring.

Long story short , a stray Black and Tan coonhound showed up on our farm. I just thought it was a stray dog and did not know it was bred for hunting. I tied it up and tried in vain to find it's owner. It had a collar but no name tag or identification. I was ready to take it to the dog pound but one afternoon the vet was at our place to care for our pigs and asked me where I got the coon dog.

My initiation to coon hunting was with a stray Black and Tan. My first hunt was by myself with a two cell flash light and absolutely no idea of what the dog or I was supposed to do. Lol.... Even though that dog did nothing but get us smelling like skunk and caught a possum on the ground in the several times we tried , it lit a fire in me to coon hunt.

That was 35 years ago and it amazes me how some chance happening has had
such a big impact on my life. It has led to many good friendships and much enjoyment through the years. My first real coon dog was a Finley River bred Walker named Dewey. He was a year and a half old when I got him and my third try at owning a hound. He was loud and wild but what fun we had. He died at my place at age 12.

To this day my parents and relatives think I'm crazy for following a dog around all night long. Lol... But I'm lucky that my wife understands the enjoyment I get from the sport.

Getting ready to head to the woods , got a 17 month old dog that needs some timber time.

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Registered: Jul 2012
Location: Odessa, Mo
Posts: 2066

Purdy good story, except the part were you started hunting walkers instead of B&T's. Lol. Deffently shows how life can take you down some strange paths.

My story is similar in ways. I hunted some with my grandpa and uncle as a kid. They lived in Arkansas, I lived in the heart of big ole Kansas City, Mo. Was 100% a city boy. Well grandpa passed, and my uncle couldn't hunt anymore from a injury. I was about 12 years old the last time I went. Now fast forward 17 years, a wife, two kids and a mortgage later to 2011. One day I woke up and decided I wanted to get into coon hunting. I googled B&T, and found the Assocation website. Been consumed by it all since. Probably will be till they kick dirt over me.

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Registered: Jan 2015
Location:
Posts: 333

My brothers friend took me out with his dads black mouth curs when I was 14 years old they didnt do a thing I dont think that they even got out of the light they did catch a posumm on the ground one night but never had nothing looking down but I was hooked something about being in the dark in the woods with dogs. Fast forward to 20 years old a friends little brother indroduced me to a man down the street he had walkers first night out with him that old male dog of his took a track and treed it I shot that coon out he fought it for a little and it was over for me thats all I could think about we would go 4 nights a week most weeks I helped train a male and female pup he had he gave me the male jack he dided shortly after he started to turn it on but kim is still alive and treeing Arch the man that got me hooked for life passed away 2 years ago we spred his ashes in the mountains were we hunt the first night of kill season the other year. He left me the dogs he always wanted to breed his old male and female but didnt get the chance to last year they were bred I have in my eyes 2 of the best pups any houndsmen could ask for I know he would be very happy with them

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Registered: Not Yet
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Well for some reason back in about 1963 when I was about 14 I wanted to hunt with dogs. I was born and raised down in Miami, FL and it was generally a good ride to find some woods. I would read the classified ads in the paper looking for a hound puppy. There were not many in South FL at the time. I found this blue tick cross pup and then I started taking it to the woods at night. Never forget the first night it barked at something and then started treeing. It was a possum but I was hooked. I then found a registered walker pup and became friends with the person selling them and started to coonhound with him. I met a few other coonhunters and it branched out from there. I remember many a night sitting on the front porch of my moms house with some type of hound dog beside me. I would talk to the dog and tell it someday I would be driving and we would be hunting. The dogs were good listeners and didn't say much. They allowed me to dream out loud and I guess that is why I loved them so much.
Everyone wanted to know why in the world I took up coonhunting as it was very rare in South Fl. No one in my broken family even hunted. When I was about 40, I discovered some information about my grand dad and found out he loved to coon hunt and then I read an article Mr. Wick wrote discussing people being genetically inclined to coon hunt. I really don't have a clue if that is right and it does't matter. Something inside got me interested and I Thank God for that.

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Registered: Oct 2013
Location: Maryland
Posts: 2633

I was always interested in hunting dogs. When I was in high school this area had as many quail as anyplace in the U.S. There was always several coveys on every farm and so a lot of guys had bird dogs. That interest led to the idea of hunting big game. Bear hunting was often discussed when I went with a neighbor to his cabin in West Virginia. I saw an article in a magazine about different breeds of hunting dogs and there was a section on dogs used for big game. They really got me interested in the paragraph about Plott hounds...
In high school a buddy of mine had a Plott female that he used for coon hunting. I had known him for a year or so but the topic of coon hunting had never came up. When it did he asked me along and having never seen a real Plott {or any other coon hound} or been on a actual coon hunt {at this point I had killed a few coons, but it wasn't a "real" coon hunt because we didn't use dogs!!!} i jumped at the chance.
That night the dog did a perfect job and we made three trees and saw three coons. She really made it look easy and we had a very good population of raccoons back then.
I was hooked....and thus began the "school of hard knocks!!!" Nobody in my family even hunted, much less knew anything about dogs. I was on my own but have been at it ever since. I have owned two Plott's in my time.

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Registered: Mar 2008
Location: Western N.Y.
Posts: 4005

I started back in the 60s as a teenager. The guy that used to shoe some horses for us had an old redbone that was a pretty good dog, he invited me along one night and i was hooked after the first tree. Coon back then were bringing about 30 bucks and I have to admit that for a kid at that time that was BIIIIG money. We put 100 nice prime coon in the freezer that year between Nov. 1st and the end of Dec. I can still remember that check from the fur buyer was for 2,763 dollars. To give a little perspective at that time that was about enough money to buy a almost new pickup truck.
Somewhere along the line it became more about the dogs and less about the money. And now even if i never shoot another coon i will (long as im able) still enjoy hearing a old hound work a track, and i still get excited walkin into a tree after all these years.

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

i recall as a kid watching my older cousins dragging a skin around the yard with some dogs trying to get it. they put the skin up a tree and the dogs were trying to get it. that's my first memoary of treeing dogs. when i got older i started going fox chasing with my grandfather. i was nothing but his helper and was suppose to look after him. then my brother and i started hunting squirrels. it was over after that until i was 50 years old and about to retire. i'd spent my life chasing a career and didn't know what iwas going to do with myself. i went to a guide who took me rabbit hunting and i got my limit and realized i would never be able to have a pack of dogs where i lived. so i considered squirrel hunting and that's what i did but i wanted to hunt more than a few weeks a years. so i started taking my sorry feist out at night. i walked miles and sometimes they'd tree possums and that was fun. i went coon hunting with a guy in ashville with his treeing tenn. brindles curs. then i went coon hunting with HOBO and his walkers. then i got a stephens cur and she did better at coon. then i got a kemmer cur and she got better. now all my dogs hunt coon, though none of them do it very well. i've come full circle. i'm 66 now i do more fox chasing than coon hunting. if only my grandfather was here now.

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Registered: Jan 2015
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Posts: 333

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Registered: Jan 2015
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Posts: 333

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Registered: Oct 2014
Location: East Texas
Posts: 442

I grew up with a large family of hounds men..deer squirrel coyote fox hog and coon hounds can't remember not having hounds...only been comp huntin a couple years and enjoy it so far...

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Registered: Sep 2003
Location: Kilkenny, MN
Posts: 893

I read "Where the Red Fern Grows" in 5th grade and could not get it out of my head. I kept bugging my parents about it then lo and behold my uncle ends up with a bred English female. She had her puppies and promptly died. After three weeks I managed to annoy everyone to the point that they let me have a female just to shut me up I think. The rest is history.

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Registered: Apr 2015
Location: Kansas
Posts: 42

We had an old catahoula farm dog that was good at killin them out of the barns me and my little brother liked it and the old dog got to where he would tree one every once in awhile we started turning him out on some local creeks ran into another guy out coonhuntin and we had a great time the ol boy had a get deep straight up coon dog that hunted to hard for him and he gave him to me that night and me and that old dog and me made memories that I still dream about today and been hooked ever since I would give anything to have one more hunt with that old dog he wasn't a world beater but he was honest and gave me 100% every drop I think me and that dog burnt out just about anybody that came to hunt cause I couldn't get a steady huntin partner lol heck I still can't maybe it's me all this time an that ol dog got all the blame goin to hard

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Registered: Jul 2009
Location:
Posts: 60

I got a Mt. cur that didn't care much for squirrels but hated a coon. After the third daytime coon I decided to try him at night. First tree and live been hooked ever since. The peace of the night being broken by the sounds of a dog treed deep in the swamp.

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Registered: Jun 2003
Location: N.E. Arkansas
Posts: 1042

I started coon hunting by accident. When I was a young boy all my folks run coyotes. I had made a pest out of myself wanting my own dog so one of my uncles gave me a bluetick cross. Blue would run a coyote but would tree a possum or a coon when he crossed a track. That couldn't be tolerated so he gave me the dog. I was probably 12-13 years old then. Now I'm 65. I have never forgotten the thrill I had when Blue treed me my first coon. I still get that same excitement when I see Mr. Ringtail up there looking down at me.

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Registered: Sep 2012
Location: WV
Posts: 197

Started dating my wife back in high school. Her dad was a Baptist minister and a coon hunter. I had to go to church and coon hunting with him so I could date her. We will soon be married 55yrs. and I still go to church and I still coon hunt.lol

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

i'm really enjoying this thread. For every coon/possum hunter there is a story of beginning. i hope many more will share their story. I've notice how so many hunters got started by exposure to coon hunting or dogging as a kid. i've seen many folks start as adults, get excited and then lose interest. it seems that most of the time one must be imprinted with dogging as a kid if it's to be a lifetime interest, but not always.

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

quote:

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Originally posted by croatankid
then i went coon hunting with HOBO and his walkers.

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Registered: Dec 2008
Location:
Posts: 235

Many years ago , very early 70's
My oldest brother would pick me up occasionally.
{More than likely when no one else would go] LOL
Always liked it up until my Senior year in High School
[Other Priorities}
Then met my wife now of 33 years, whose dad and brothers coon hunted [Redbone},&a English Bluetick, which by the way the English was one of the best I ever followed.
I enjoy more of my days now following the Curs trying to bushwack a few Tree Rats

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Registered: Mar 2005
Location: north dakota
Posts: 2363

My uncle Phil introduced me to the sport back in the fall of 75 or 76 I think it was.. I was 10.. Been hooked every since..almost 40 years ago.. Got my first hound dog in 78 . was a jungle him bred redbone pup. Out of wyoming red Joe from a fella named Drake in Casper wy. We lived on deer creek south of glenrock, wy. then.. I Had an old elk hound named jake that Treed coons down on Deer creek before I Got the red pup. Man That's a long time ago now...

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Registered: Feb 2015
Location: Rossville Indiana
Posts: 66

quote:

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Originally posted by DICK B.
Started dating my wife back in high school. Her dad was a Baptist minister and a coon hunter. I had to go to church and coon hunting with him so I could date her. We will soon be married 55yrs. and I still go to church and I still coon hunt.lol

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Registered: Aug 2006
Location: milan,mi
Posts: 1379

My dad and grampa had setters for pheasant and grouse hunting . That was my exposure to hunting dogs when I was real young. As for the coonhounds, I was around 13 and spending study hall time in the school library. I read a story in outdoorlife or field & stream about these Minnesota coonhunters running the dogs and knocking these 30 lb coons out. Sounded like fun. So I bugged my dad until he set me up with a guy named ron purple. He had 2 walkers and he took me out in july for a SE Michigan cornfield race and I have never been the same since. LOL

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Registered: Aug 2013
Location: sw mo
Posts: 971

I was 16 and my buddy had a rat terrier that would run em out of his barn up trees i got a kick out of it i skipped school drove 450 miles in a beat up truck and bought a 6 mth old bluetick! Ind traped coons to turn loose for him. had a blast he got run over and a guy just gave me a walker female opened my eyes she could tree them coon! Deffinantly turned into an obbsession!

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Registered: Aug 2013
Location: sw mo
Posts: 971

Met alot of good folks since

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Registered: Dec 2010
Location:
Posts: 1202

I started rabbit hunting with my uncle. I liked it ok and still do. He invited me to go coon hunting one night I will never forget it. We treed 3 that night and it became all I studied. I was just 12 my dad didn't hunt and $ was tight at the house so I believe I seen more treed that night than I did for the next three years. Lol. But I didn't give up. I did finally get a walker male when I started college that was a coontreer that I trained. I got a scholarship to play baseball and was always made fun of. We would be on our way home from a baseball game and the team would be planning how big the party was going to be and I was headed home to go coon hunting. I got made fun of quite often.

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