Registered: Dec 2017
Location: VA
Posts: 128

Night 32

The sun had already faded and the moon was high and bright by the time we got to the woods last night. Misty and I ventured into the night with a buddy and 2 green pups. Probably a recipe for disaster but I believe that a dog needs to be exposed to all sorts of situations, so why not?

We loaded up in the UTV and rode over the hill onto the neighboring farm where I just gained permission to hunt some beautiful rolling timber. I was surprised to see misty kicking up leaves when I dropped the tailgate and it did not take long at all for her to strike. She chirped her way down through the oaks to a small stream, followed it downhill then made a sharp left back up on the oak knoll and located like I was hoping she would. She rolled into her chop and we eased her way with young dogs in tow. Misty was treeing her heart out on one, of the only 3 pines in this block of timber.

I looked the tree over with the red light and never could say with certainty whether she had it or not, I would like to think she did, but I can’t call what I can’t see. I pulled her off the tree, led her about 50 yards and cut her loose again. She made a bee line directly back to where we came from and I feel like she was trying to tell me “I swear it’s right here” but upon another look I still couldn’t see anything in all the needles. I told her to leave it and we hunted this patch of timber out without anymore action.

We made a loop through and back to the UTV and headed for another small block on the farm that consists of majority pines with some hardwoods in it as well. We cut the dogs again from the tailgate and misty struck directly under our feet and started chirping up the hill. She seemed to have it lined out pretty quick then all of a sudden she quit the track. I have my suspicions of what she was fooling with now, but at the time I wasn’t sure what she was trailing.

We eased on up the hill with misty doing a fair job of getting out and covering some ground. As we topped the knoll misty pulled another strike, and tree, on the same bark, or so I thought. She was definitely treeing, but she wouldn’t settle on a specific tree. She was winding hard dancing around on her hind feet in a 20 yard area. It was obvious she was winding something in the night breeze, but I wasn’t able to locate exactly what it was. I would like to think it was a coon, but I have no hard evidence.

I leashed her up and we were about to call it a night as we eased back around he knoll and headed down hill towards our ride. For the first time the green pups got some gumption about them and tore into the edge of the woods, right behind a possum. Misty couldn’t stand the excitement and I welcomed the opportunity to make a correction. By the time I cut her loose the pups had already apprehended the slick tailed fool and he was playing possum.

When misty arrived she was greeted with some stimulation, which proved it wasn’t enough initially, so I bumped her again a little hotter, then a little hotter, then one more time before she realized that she didn’t care for that smell anymore. We finally called it a night and we headed back for the house but not before we busted a few turkeys off the roost. I believe that this is what misty was winding on earlier, but once again I can’t be certain.

All in all we had a productive night, misty showed me ambition, she hunts a little better each time, I’d like to give her benefit of the doubt in the pine tree, but I also think she was messing with turkeys and possibly trailing on a possum. We definitely still have plenty of room for improvement, but as long as she keeps taking baby steps, I’ll keep putting my hunting boots on. Until next time Yal stay tuned and keep em in the woods!

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Night 33

We got in the woods about an hour after sunset tonight and the bright moon in conjunction with the wind didn’t inspire a lot of confidence, but misty was itching to go so we went. We headed back to hunt my old stomping grounds that haven’t been touched this season yet.

I casted misty from the driveway and into the timber we went. We were hunting a patch of pine and poplar that is surrounded by farm land and a major creek. Misty was a little tight at first so I sat down on a log and listened as her footsteps in the leaves got further and further till they got out of hearing. She hunted out a couple hundred yards so when she looped back by I eased out the logging road and found a nice poplar to lean and listen on.

I was on top of the ridge with a small game field to my left and a steady stream below me to my right. The shadows from the trees danced in the moonlight as the wind steadily reminded me that it was still there, even though it can’t be seen. Misty performed her own dance in the wind as she stood on her hind legs and tried to use the wind in her favor. She kept venturing down the hillside then back up to the top then down again. Stopping only to stand on her hind feet and make circles like a circus dog.

After several minutes of watching her do this in the moonlight she got out of sight but I heard her stretching out checking trees and snorting like a pig. Why is it when you’re anticipating something minutes always seem like hours. Wait for it, finally; there she is. Tree misty, although she didn’t sound as confident as normal she was treed. I walked in to see her on a massive pine, of course; and I flicked on the red light in hopes of catching a glimpse. I shined for several minutes from a few different angles without any luck and just as I was about to pull her off and go on I saw what I thought was a tail just 20 feet above her. Sure enough there he sat all curled up near the bottom limbs.

I guess I am so used to seeing them balled up at the top of the pine I didn’t even think to look low. I gave misty some extra loving and I felt a little prouder than normal as I don’t believe she treed this one off a track left on the ground, I don’t know that for sure but if I was a betting man I’d say she pinpointed a layup. This tree was enough for me so I snapped the lead on her and we were headed back for the truck when misty started pulling on the lead and chirping. This is out of the ordinary for misty as she leads extremely well. I cut her loose and she chirped her way 240 yards then located and rolled over.

As I headed to her I heard her locate again, and roll into a chop. After a brief silence she located yet again and was chopping when I got there but bouncing back and forth between two pines about 15 feet apart. The red light reflected off the coons eyes in the first tree and there was no doubt this tree was right. I looked the other tree over for quite some time but couldn’t find the coon. I would like to think after her performance so far that she had a coon in each, but I can only confirm one.

I petted her up when she locked back down in the tree that I know the coon was in, and with this we called it a night. She hunted out decent tonight, showed that she can play the wind a little bit, and showed that she has the motivation to take a track if we cross it. Another night in the right direction, and I’m glad we took a stroll. Until next time Yal stay tuned and keep em in the woods!

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Night 34

Another late start last night and the moon and the wind were waiting on my buddy and I, along with Misty Queen and Lucy. We hunted familiar turf and I’m starting to notice that Misty seems to hunt out a little better if she knows where she’s at. We’ve had spring like weather the past few nights and we’ve done our best to take advantage of it as the weather man and the department of transportation believe that we have more cold weather coming.

We cut the dogs into the moonlit timber and eased up the logging road as we’ve done several times before. I thought I heard misty chirp a good ways off so I checked the Garmin to see that she was really working an area 260 yards from us at the moment. Shortly thereafter Lucy let out a long lonesome bawl to alert us that a bandit had been there, but some time ago. Lucy chimed a couple more times then misty threw out her locate and locked down on it, she swore she had it and her voice believed it with every ounce in her being.

We arrived at a large dead pine that had been stripped of its bark. It was riddled with scars from woody woodpecker and it was broke off about 30 feet up. Misty swore it was there, and I’d say it’s a possibility there could’ve been a coon in the hollow. If I was betting I’d say the coon came down from there some time ago, and that’s the last place Misty could smell coon scent. When the veteran hound was working what little scent was left on the ground I believe misty thought she had one up on her, and the competitiveness instilled in misty revealed itself.

Maybe I’m wrong, maybe it was another layup in the top of that broken hollow tree but I’ve hunted with Lucy several times now, and I trust her more than my young prospect. I had to lead her off the tree because she whole heartedly believed it was there and I was the one that was wrong, but I couldn’t see it so we hunted on.

We eased across the pasture right past some sleeping bovine and pointed the dogs into the next patch of timber. Misty seemed to remember where she was again as I checked the Garmin several times to see her checking ridges and hollers anywhere from 250-400 yards. This thrilled me more than anything else that happened last night, she’s figuring out where to look and that shows me some intelligence.

Misty was trailing on the Garmin, but not saying anything on the ground. We heard her locate at 230 yards and start to tree then she came off about the time that Lucy struck in and started trailing on out. This was another positive point for the night, misty and Queen fell in with Lucy on the trail job and Misty was giving good mouth the entire way. I’d go as far as to say that’s the best I’ve heard misty use her mouth on a track so far.

They drove the track straight away from us then hooked a little to the left and we heard misty locate and lock down from 386 yards away. We headed to the dogs and when I arrived Lucy was treed by herself in a big forked pine about 50 yards shy of where misty and Queen were locked down, also in a big forked pine. Lucy and the pups both would tree awhile then go check the other dogs tree and tree awhile then return back to their respective trees.

I spent awhile with the red light on the pups tree without any luck, we spent even longer on Lucy’s tree before I finally got a good luck at the bandit sitting high in the needles. We went back to the pups and looked and squalled and looked some more. We took turns backlighting the tree and me and my buddy both thought we saw the silhouette of a coon, but we never could say with certainty that it was there.

I’m really not sure what happened in the midst of looking this tree over but during one of the pups trips over to check Lucy’s tree, then coming back to their tree; misty stretched out on a big poplar as high as she could reach, and locked down. She pulled queen with her and I can say with almost certainty that this time she was slick. The only thing we can figure is maybe they trailed into where coon had been feeding earlier and misty pulled up on a tree a coon had been in previously? All I know for sure is she was slick.

I pulled her off led her away and we headed back for the truck. We finished our loop back through without anymore excitement and called it a night. Misty hunted out better, isn’t afraid to work by herself, and gave good mouth on a track. I am starting to see a competitive bone showing it’s face and I’m wondering if that has something to do with the slick activity. Like my buddy pointed out she’s double checking herself before she trees when hunted alone, but she’s pulling the trigger a little quicker with company. Time will tell, so we’ll keep putting in the time. Until next time Yal stay tuned and keep em in the woods!

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Night 35

I sat up Saturday night waiting to see the snow that the weatherman had promised. I had tentatively given misty and myself the night off after a steady week of hunting and a busy Saturday of catching up on chores. As I sat in my recliner reading an old Bluetick yearbook I realized that the energy drinks I had earlier to get me through several loads of firewood with the splitting maul, hadn’t wore off yet. The weatherman was either wrong or his timing was off as well because I still hadn’t seen any snow yet.

I opted to make a short round with misty as I had heard from several local hunters that are using feeders and cell cameras; that the coon are moving from midnight into the early morning. It was about 11:30 when I was cinching my boots down and grabbing my gear. Misty greeted me at the end of her chain and we sat off on foot to the corner of the farm. Misty left my side when we hit the timber and stayed gone.

I waited by the branch to see where she was going to go and as luck would have it she went up, and over the ridge onto the neighboring farm. I have permission to hunt it so I trudged uphill behind her and crossed the fence, the dirt road; and another fence just as she had. I checked the Garmin to see her zigging and zagging in a 30 yard area so I eased in towards her. She was chirping and whimpering and finally let it out. One, two, three long raspy bawls and sue rolled over. I wasted no time flicking on the red light and there he was on the bottom limb.

I petted her up and listened to her tree for about 10 minutes before I leashed her and we headed back to the house. We were in a spot where we either needed to quit, or I would be hunting till daylight because of the way the timber lays in the particular area. We woke the other hounds up as we arrived back to put misty back in her spot and I couldn’t help but smile as the pack of hounds roared for a minute or so from excitement in the night air.

I headed back to the house and sat down to write this post, but fell asleep shortly after in my recliner. I guess the energy drinks finally wore off. Misty left good, hunted hard, and had the meat tonight. We will continue to hunt and hope for steady improvement. Until next time Yal stay tuned and keep em in the woods!

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Night 36

I woke up for church Sunday morning to see that the weatherman was right about the snow, just a little off on his timing. We got a heavy dusting, good track snow but unfortunately everything on the south was gone by nightfall. I don’t typically hunt on Sunday’s but we went to the in-laws Sunday night to eat and watch the super bowl. I haven’t watched much football since I got out of high school and I enjoy hunting at the in laws, so I opted to take misty and slip off into the night after we ate.

We were greeted by a bright moon and some sharp clear air. We had a light breeze in our face as we headed into the woods and much like last night, misty left and was hunting. This has me more excited than anything else she’s shown me so far. I enjoy a cold nosed open mouth trail dog, but I believe that a medium nosed dog would suit me if they hustle enough and use their brain. We skirted some hollers by way of field edges without much luck for the first 3/4 mile.

Misty was hunting down the hollers back up the ridges then back into the next holler. She never got much further than 400 yards according to the Garmin, but that’s fine by me. We had almost made it to the river when I caught the eyes of a coon sitting high in a sycamore on the riverbank across the pasture. It was almost as if misty saw him too because shortly after I killed my light she came by me and made a straight line to the general area stopping to stand on her hind feet and dance around like a fool with her head high. I watched her play the wind in the moonlight for about 10 minutes before she located half heartedly two trees over.

She definitely wasn’t totally sure of herself and I could hear it in her voice but she stuck to her guns and stayed with “her tree”. When I got close she came to me and gave me a look that said “I did my best” and I petted her up. I don’t know how long it had been since that coons feet had hit the ground but it appeared to me that she followed his air scent as close as she could and rolled the dice.

I’m not going to fault her for that, and now that I’ve seen it a couple times I’m actually somewhat impressed. I’m hoping that with more experience she will be a little more accurate but time will tell. We moved on and I looked back at the bandit one more time before we got back into the timber I wanted to hunt. We were on the north side of a long narrow hickory ridge when I heard her chirping then let out a couple nice bawls. She zigged and zagged down the backbone of the ridge 380 yards chirping here and there.

She was starting to circle and the Garmin called treed before I heard her locate. It was the same “guessing” locate that I had already heard once tonight so I eased in closer to see what was going on. She was half heartedly treeing on a blow down that fell from this side of the ravine, and reached about 40 feet up the bank on the opposite side. In the deepest part of the ravine directly below the tree it was probably 25 foot overhead. I could see the coon tracks running up this blowdown, and I could also see where misty had circled down into the ravine but not up the other side. I studied her as she would stretch out as far and as high as she could then sit down and tree. I walked to the other side of the ravine and told her “here here here” she came to me and hit this track coming off the blowdown and was gone again.

Once again I can’t really fault a young dog for a slick in this circumstance, I believe she just needs more experience to know what to do in that situation. I’m not making an excuse for her, she was slick; but I’m glad I was able to understand why and hopefully she will learn from it. She was giving good mouth down the ridge, dropped into the holler, crossed the branch, then pulled up with a big locate and rolled over without hesitation. I arrived to a big maple with 10 different holes in it and coon tracks near it. I never saw the coon but the certainty in her voice gives me the confidence that he was there this time.

I petted her up, snapped the lead on her, and we headed back. I walked in just in time to see the fireworks on TV and grabbed the last slice of pizza. I had a good super bowl night, I hope all of you did as well. Misty showed improvement and highlighted a few areas where she could use more experience. She still has my attention and I’m having fun hunting her. Until next time Yal stay tuned and keep em in the woods!

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Night 37

We missed hunting the first two nights this week but we got caught up enough to get out last night. It was 43 degrees and overcast when my buddy and I headed to the woods with Misty, Lucy, and Queen. We hit the timber and the dogs were gone, in just a couple minutes Misty and Lucy were struck and treed at 295 yards.

We made our way in to a big oak tree that we’d treed in before, and it took us awhile to locate the coon that was laying out on a limb. Pet the dogs up, snapped a few pictures and we tarried on. Kenny Rogers would have been disappointed with us because we should have quit while we were ahead. We eased down over the knoll and misty struck again and started trailing. The others paid no attention so we let her trail as we eased on along.

Misty gave a little mouth as I watched her beating on a track on the Garmin and she worked it for about 15 minutes covered about 400 yards, then finally decided she couldn’t finish it. She came and found us and then was gone again in the direction we were headed. All 3 dogs struck down in the branch on what I initially thought was a good track, but after replaying it last night and this morning I believe we were trailing on a multiple coon feed track. They trailed all over the branch and the little flat, all parties were involved and giving good mouth.

Misty hit a tree 3 times in front of us and the other dogs checked it as well but the third time she called it; or so I thought. It was a big pine and I looked it over from multiple directions with the red light but never could find a coon. I believe she was guessing because of her shaky locate and the fact that she left and trailed on after I’d been shining the tree for awhile. I’m calling this pine slick. She trailed on down the branch and unlike her half hearted locate she had on the pine multiple times; she let out her 100% three bawl locate and was blowing it down. We checked this poplar tree up and down and once again, slick.

It appeared that a coon had been feeding in the poplar, and it was directly beside the branch and I did see coon tracks it the mud; but there was no coon in the tree. The other two dogs had trailed on and split. I sent misty on and she went with Lucy. They trailed and trailed and trailed, and never could put and end on it. I think this frustrated or confused misty as she tried to locate several times just to come off and keep trailing with the senior dog.

We pulled them off of the track, if nothing else misty learned a few lessons on trailing; but I DO NOT like a dog that slicks. That’s something I will be paying close attention to in the future and I will be trying to put a stop to it before it becomes a habit. I don’t mind a dog guessing every now and then, and maybe woods time and experience will help; but I guess we will see. We left Lucy on the lead and hunted Misty and Queen back towards our intended area. They both struck drove a track, and located. We walked into both dogs looking and sounding good on another big pine. The wind had started to pick up at this point and Lucy was winding the coon from the lead on our way into the tree.

Once again we couldn’t find the coon, but I trust the old dog and haven’t seen her wrong so I’m inclined to believe they had this one. We hunted back towards the truck with just one strike, and it evidently was a track beyond the capability of Misty’s nose. All in all in was a productive night in the woods, I feel that misty exposed some more things that need work, but she also made some positives as well. We got back to the truck and headed for the house underneath a scooby doo moon that was high and bright but constantly casting shadows from the clouds drifting in the wind. Until next time Yal stay tuned and keep em in the woods!

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Night 38

We found ourselves out on a Sunday night again. I know I’ve mentioned it before but I don’t usually intend to hunt on Sundays, but the opportunity presented itself and we went. We got a late start and for once there really wasn’t much to report.

We hunted a few small blocks of timber around the house without any action whatsoever. Misty left good and covered the ground I felt she should have yet she never produced a strike, a chirp, a peep, and unfortunately did not produce a coon. Is it possible that she missed one? Absolutely, but I’m starting to trust her to the point that I believe we were either too far behind, or too far ahead of the coon activities tonight.

I guess the positives were we didn’t strike trash, misty left good, and hunted out. Until next time Yal stay tuned and keep em in the woods!

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Night 39

Tonight I didn’t plan on hunting, it was supposed to be a laid back night. Spring calving is in full swing on the farm and between working new calves, pulling a few big or breech calves, grafting orphans onto new mothers, and regular chores I’m running a little low on energy.

I like to get the bear dogs out and exercise them at least once or twice a week in the off season, so I chose tonight to do that and I threw misty in to give her a little change of pace. We collared up and hit the dirt road with 5 bear hounds and misty. This is only the second or third time I’ve jogged misty with the UTV, but it didn’t take long for her competitive nature to catch on. I have permission to hunt the majority of the bigger properties on my dirt road and after the locals have gotten home from work there is very little, if any traffic; and it makes it a perfect place to exercise the dogs.

I love to road dogs like this for several reasons. I can watch to see who’s playing the wind, who’s playing with other dogs, who’s pacing themselves, who’s not okay with finishing second, and we usually have several opportunities to do some trash breaking. Tonight didn’t disappoint.

We were about 2 miles in and all 6 dogs were grouped together pretty nice running the same pace when one of my young dogs saw something in the bushes to our left and before I could hit the brakes he was coming back out with a possum in his mouth. Misty had already started the opposite direction, I’m glad to see she remembered her last lesson. I corrected the young dog and we continued on and when we rounded a turn at the creek I saw misty bail off the bank and start giving mouth, I shut the UTV off to hear a 6 pack roaring 80 yards and they all slammed the tree.

The masked bandit was in a locust tree no bigger than my forearm, he didn’t realize how lucky he was to have grabbed that tree when he did. Another second or two may have been the difference between life and death for him. I petted misty up and watched her tree with the other dogs for a minute before everybody got the “leave it let’s go” and we we on the road again.

At 3 miles in we turned around and headed back to where we came from. Misty had been staying in the middle to front so far in our jog. We topped over the knoll right beside a bunch of wrapped wet hay on our left, and some fresh fed silage off in the field to our right. Directly in front of us was another raccoon with a look in his eyes of defeat. There wasn’t much I could do at this point, the fight was over before it started and when the dust settled, misty had the tail.

We continued on after this brief pause in our forward progress. I paid attention to the young dog, and misty as we passed the possum bush. Once again misty veered around it and the young gun tried his luck and got a shocking surprise. We made it to the 8 mile mark and misty peeled off the road into the timber solo. She trailed about 400 yards according to the Garmin and was getting near a house so I went ahead and toned her.

She came back no problem and we finished up our 10(ish) mile jog. 9.6 miles and misty averaged 10.2 mph. That’s a fast paced jog and fairly impressive especially having a little action in the middle of it. Misty got to taste some fur tonight, she remembered how trashy a possum taste, and she got to tone some muscle. All in all it was a good night. Until next time Yal stay tuned and keep em in the woods!

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Night 40

Getting in the woods at a reasonable time last night proved to be beneficial to Misty Queen and Lucy. The temperature the past few days has made it feel like spring, and the rain showers are tempting new growth as well. Misty and myself caught a ride with my buddy and we found our way to the woods. We cut the dogs when we hit the timber and they commenced to hunting. Critters were very active and I’m assuming that was due to the rain coming later in the night.

Misty started the excitement for the night when I heard her strike around 400 yards and shortly thereafter started to tree. She didn’t stay put long and went to talking on the ground, Queen and Lucy made their way to her and the hound music sounded good for a minute as they drove straight away where I heard misty roll up on a tree again at 560; and then went back to a hot race shortly after.

Lucy found her way back to us as Queen and misty were running out of timber in the farm land and headed for the backbone of the south face of the mountain. I heard misty roll up on another tree at 840 yards, and like before she treed for a minute and then was gone again. We heard Queen baying and then they both had shut up. When I got close I was greeted by Queen, the smell of skunk lingering on what remained of a food plot, and waited for misty to return from the peak of the mountain.

Lucy had followed me to the young dogs, so with all three hounds in tow we headed back down towards my hunting buddy to continue on our coon hunt. I’m presuming misty was running a bobcat again, and quit when it crossed over to the north. Coons are rutting here so there is the possibility of a running boar coon, but I can’t be sure of either assumption. I believe Queen may have got in the vicinity of the skunk on her way back causing it to spray as she didn’t take a direct hit. We stopped at the head of the branch for water and that’s where they struck again, this time I’m sure it was a coon.

The hounds drove the track down the branch with good speed, and got a little confused when they hit Misty’s track from earlier. After a few minutes they got it lined back out and determined that the bandit had climbed a pine to get into his hollow oak den. I am fairly certain I saw the coon sitting on the outside of the hole as I was walking in, but by the time my buddy arrived it had sought shelter from the mountain music.

We gathered the dogs and hunted on, the young dogs took some convincing to leave this tree. We crossed over a couple ridges to put the dogs in a Poplar holler where they struck a cold feed track and commenced to trail to a lose, or so we thought. As me and my buddy sat and listened to the hounds trail, the barred owl serenaded the night. We thought the hounds were coming back to find us, but I believe they were just picking up a lose as Lucy and misty struck and went up the holler, and Queen went left handed and treed 80 yards from us.

We hustled to Queen in hopes that she would stay with her tree, and she did. She had picked a mature leaning oak and the coon was laying on a branch in the open. I heard Lucy driving back to us, and misty locate and lock down 285 yards away. Lucy came into queens tree so I made my way to misty treed in a big maple on the edge of a yard, with a coon on the outside. I petted misty up, pulled her off and sent her on her way trying to avoid disturbing the neighbors.

I arrived back at queens tree and in my head had come to the conclusion that we had been trailing 2 coons up the holler, the sow called that maple tree her home and the boar was on his way to check on other sows after trying visit. It works in my head, but in reality I have no clue. I just know I got to see 2 young dogs both show coon, by themselves. That’s good enough for me. We knocked queens out to the dogs and the boar hit the ground with a thud as the hounds pounced on to make sure the job was done.

We called it a night and eased back to the truck with the first race of the night in the back of my head the entire time. Misty hunted hard tonight, lately she has been proving that she is not relying on any other dogs. She’s striking her own tracks and can tree her own coon, but we still have some fine tuning to do. She’s becoming a fun little dog to hunt and I’m looking forward to hunting her. Until next time Yal stay tuned, and keep em in the woods!

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Night 41

I’m a few days late on my update but the 41st night in the woods proved to be a good time. Me and my buddy took Lucy Queen and Misty back to the same timber we usually hunt. I brought Sissy as well to give her some woods time, she’s a young bear dog prospect. The wind was swaying the tree tops as we cut the dogs into the darkness. Lucy Queen and my sissy pup checked back in after a loop, so we eased on.

We topped a little knoll and misty struck, located, and locked down within sight of us. No other dogs honored her and I wasted no time checking the tree and confirmed it was slick. There was no coon in the tree. My buddy pointed out later that I didn’t even give Misty time to second guess herself on this tree, she located and I started checking. I’m glad he pointed that out because I can think of several times I have done the same thing.

I sent misty on and she went back to hunting. There was a brief period of silence from the hounds, but after awhile the sound of the hound pierced the whipping wind. Misty and Queen were trailing, sissy was squealing, and Lucy chimed in and was headed down the branch. Misty located and rolled over, this time I didn’t jump the gun. After a minute or so she double checked herself and came off and fell in behind Lucy. They both started trying to locate and tree and shortly thereafter the remaining two hounds chimed in as well.

After we confirmed that they weren’t moving we made our way to them to investigate. They were “treeing” on the edge of an old clearcut. When I arrived Queen was on a big oak, misty and Lucy were each on their own pines. But no dogs would settle, and they all bounced back and forth between these trees, and we had coon everywhere. We saw 4 coon for sure between the oak and a pine, and I was pretty sure I saw more eyes than that, but I’m sure of at least 4. Since none of the dogs ever settled in and stayed put on one tree we elected to leave these varmint to run another night.

We eased across the pasture and put the hounds in a holler that almost always produces a coon tree, the goin was a little slow but the dogs were in familiar territory and were hunting in the right places. I don’t recall who struck first but all I know is they hit a track on the ridge and drove it off into the next main holler where they were looking up a massive pine. When I arrived I got a good look at the bandit staring down at his adversaries before he decide to ball up and go into hiding. We left this coon sitting as well as we were within sight of a house and didn’t want to cause anymore disturbance than we already had.

We pointed the hounds back in the intended direction and kept Lucy on the lead giving the young dogs the opportunity to hunt back towards the truck. Almost instantly the young dogs struck leaving this pine and drove straight back up towards the top of the ridge in a different area from where they had previously crossed over. They located and locked down in a pine that was in the middle of a thicket and we never had a good look at the top of it. We looked and squalled and can’t confirm whether they had the coon or not, I would like to think they did but the coon was not seen so we’ll have to chalk it up as a maybe.

We went ahead and led the dogs off the tree and headed back for home to call it a night. Once again misty is making minor improvements every night and also has plenty of room to get better. I’m hoping that my lack of patience on the first tree is not contributing to her slicks, I will be paying closer attention to my own actions in the future as well. Until next time Yal stay tuned, and keep em in the woods!

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Night 42

My buddy and I headed to a piece of property that I haven’t hunted in several years now. We chose to just take the young dogs to see how they would function without help, in uncharted territory. We loaded misty and Queen and headed into the setting sun, in an effort to make our appointment with the woods at dark thirty.

We arrived at our destination and hunted down near the creek. We cut the young dogs from the tailgate and eased out a logging road giving the dogs a suggested direction to hunt. We got into a decent sized holler that looked good and my hunting buddy made the remark that we should strike a track in here; about that time we did. Misty struck and proceeded to chirp and squeak up the branch, up the hillside, down and all around before settling in on a tree and calling it. Queen was treeing with her and they seemed sure about their choice; but no coon was seen.

We sent them on and shortly thereafter misty struck again and proceeded to repeat her previous actions minus the tree. She trailed and trailed and trailed but never could put and end to it so I called her off and we moved on. The going was slow for awhile as the hounds hunted and we just paced ourselves. We got closer to the ridge when we struck another cold feed track and let the young dogs work on it for awhile. This one seemed to go a little better and after awhile the young dogs decided on a big pine.

We never could find a coon in this tree either but I’m more inclined to believe this choice and the hounds were a lot more confident with it as well. We sent them on again and made our way to the top of the ridge where both dogs struck right under our feet went 140 yards off the side and slammed an oak as if they were nipping at his tail. We arrived to see the coon steadily climbing and he may have in fact just barely beat the hounds to the tree.

We chose to knock this one out to the prospects and call it a night. I believe that misty is guessing on cold tracks, or tracks at the edge of her noses capabilities. I think this is where her empty trees are coming from. I believe that with experience she will learn to either grub on it and make sure she’s got the right tree, or recognize which tracks are beyond her skill set. She has made a lot of improvements in not a lot of time so I’m looking forward to seeing how she finishes out. Until next time Yal stay tuned and keep em in the woods!

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Night 43

A bear hunting buddy of mine had the itch to hear some hounds so my coon hunting partner and I agreed to give him a tour on one of our heavier populated pieces of property. We got a little bit of a late start but couldn’t have asked for a prettier night as Misty Queen and Lucy disappeared into the night. They hunted the familiar grounds very efficiently, covering all the areas we normally strike a coon in. We listened to the barred owl singing his song as another one responded in the distance. The peep frogs in the branch let us know that they believe spring is here for good, although I have my doubts.

We covered the first block without a strike, odd for this area but it seems that it usually happens like that when you have a guest along. We eased across the pasture and down into the next holler that funnels down into another big block of mature hardwood and pine. It wasn’t until we reached the creek that we got a long lonesome bawl out of Lucy so we shut out the lights and let them trail. It didn’t take long for the young dogs to chime in and we patiently listened and did our best to interpret what was going on.

They trailed up a branch, climbed the ridge, then they all 3 split in different directions. Queen veered right back into another small branch and trailed back down towards the creek. Misty stayed straight for about 100 more yards then located and treed. Lucy looped to the left then trailed right into the tree misty was on and locked down as well. After several minutes of Misty and Lucy waking the night, Queen made her way back and they all were treed together.

I arrived first and scanned the big poplar but couldn’t locate the coon. I knew he was there, just couldn’t find him. Once my partners in crime arrived the coon was spotted, pointed out to me; and I reminded myself again that I need to get some glasses. We pet the dogs up and left this coon for another race some other night. We sent the dogs on from the tree to find another track and it didn’t take Lucy long to strike another cooooooooollllllllllllllllddddddd track; according to her long lonesome alarm in the dark. Queen chimed in and they went to trailing but misty was about 200 yards off to our right in another holler.

Misty never made a peep and watching the Garmin I thought she was about to lock down and fall treed but whatever had her interest must have been too tough for her because she eventually hunted back across to the others and fell in on the trail job. They trailed till Lucy was wore out and decided she’d had enough. Like all good dogs, age and weight are sneaking up on the reliable veteran. Misty and Queen stuck with it and then there it was. Misty located and rolled over, checked herself; and locked down.

We listened for what seemed like an eternity to misty treeing as Queen kept pecking away making progress down the holler. After awhile we walked in and checked an even bigger poplar than before. When I got there misty was running the tree, sinking her nails in, and smelling as high as she could physically reach. There was water seeping out of the tree which leads me to believe there was a hole in it although I couldn’t see one. Nobody was able to find a coon, and although I believe one had climbed this tree at some point; I don’t fully trust that he was there when misty said he was.

We sent her on and hunted back to the back corner of the farm where we decided to call it a night. We led the dogs back to the truck and said our farewells as we each returned to our respective homes. Misty hunted hard and covered the right areas, she did it really right once; and I believe she guessed once. I’m still hoping that with age and experience she will figure out which tracks she’s capable of finishing and which ones she’s not. I admire her independent streak, and her confidence to stick to her guns regardless of what others are saying around her, but she still has room for improvement. All in all a decent night and hopefully we will have several more before season comes to a close here in VA. Until next time Yal stay tuned and keep em in the woods!

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Night 44

We had some rain this evening but once it stopped me and misty made a short round. She greeted me prancing at the end of her chain, and couldn’t resist making a few hot laps around the others before she loaded herself in the UTV. We rode up to the far corner of the farm, collared up, and turned her out. She left hard this time like she was hunting with other dogs, even though she was solo. She hunted out the ridge, dropped down towards the branch, then worked her way back without a strike.

We loaded back up and road a couple minutes up the road and made a second drop. She left hard again and this time I saw saw nose almost bring her to a dead stop as her tail sprung straight up to seemingly balance her abruptness. She made a hard right and started chirping her way down towards the branch. She hit the stream and was moving with good speed and followed it for a couple hundred yards before hooking left back up into the timber.

She must have been right on his tail because she didn’t even check herself according to the Garmin. I listened as her chirping turned into her loud raspy locate that rolled over into her tree bark. The Garmin called treed at 310 yards, and 80 barks a minute. I eased in to see her in the only pine in the big block of oak timber. If my memory serves me correctly and my pin on the Garmin is correct; we’ve treed in this exact tree before. Last time I was not able to find a coon, that was not the case this time.

The red light is the biggest advantage I have found so far, especially not having the best eyesight. On my way into the tree I could see the coon glaring down and I wasted no time praising misty up. We decide to call it a one and done kind of night, so I snapped the lead on misty and we made our way back to the house. I rarely quit while I’m ahead, so I thought tonight would be as good of a time as any to start.

Misty left good, hunted good, and treed her own wild coon. I can’t ask for much more from the dog especially for how little she’s been hunted for her age. Until next time Yal stay tuned and keep em in the woods!

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Night 45

Me and my hunting buddy took the young dogs to the woods last night. On my way to meet him I marveled at the pink and red sky that painted a beautiful picture to the west. We met around the time day was trading places with night and we didn’t waste much time getting pointed towards our destination.

We have hunted these dogs here before, and treed several coon in this particular area. We chose to hunt the same loop but in reverse this time; or so we thought. We cut the dogs and attempted to point them one way, but the went the other. Queen struck and misty chimed in right behind her and they drove straight up the branch 185 yards then started trying to locate.

Seemed too easy and too good to be true but we eased into them anyways. When I got close, they shut up; and split up. Queen was now moving up the branch, misty was lining out straight away and barking every breath. Misty went 480 yards and started circling then I heard her locate. Coons are rutting here so I just assumed we had bumped several and split them up. Queen was toned back due to the fact she was getting close to some houses so we headed towards misty.

After walking her way for awhile I heard her tree bark change and I checked the Garmin to confirm she was on the ground again and barking every breath. She went about 150 yards then located and tried to tree again. We continued her way to hear her do this one more time, she moved about 200 yards this time then rolled up and blew it down again. When we got within 200 yards she shut up, and came back.

I don’t know what she was running, or why she quit. I have several theories, but no evidence. All I know is thus far I have yet to see her give that much mouth on a coon track, and I have yet to see her leave a coon tree. I would write this off as a trash race; but when we got close to the last “tree” on the Garmin they both struck, and took a feed track out the ridge where after working it for some time they located the pine he was in. There was no denying the young dogs were on this tree to stay; so we eased on in.

It took us several minutes to find the coon in the pine, but the red light put him on the spot. We decided to knock him out to the young dogs and after a fight on the ground we made our way on down the holler. Misty hunted out well as we headed towards a ridge where we thought we may find another coon. When we got to said ridge I saw both pups dragging nose and wagging tail and it wasn’t long before we struck again. This was a red hot race, that left the woods crossed a field made a figure 8 in the next holler came back across the field and was about to make another loop with the Garmin persuaded the pups to leave it alone.

I did not see it but judging from past experience I would bet it was a fox. We eased on down the ridge and had one more hot race similar to this one before we decided to call it a night. These young dogs had looked good the majority of the season and passed on a lot of trash up to this point. I guess they know that season is coming to a close on the 10th; and they decided to get their moneys worth. Either way a night in the woods is more productive than a night on the couch.

We snapped the leads on the dogs and called it a night. Misty showed more areas that need improvement tonight, but that’s what we’re here for. I plan to hunt her a few nights a week until the leaves come in and then I’ll probably send her back to her breeder to see if he can finish her out on the bench. I hope that these posts have been somewhat entertaining, and hopefully helpful to those who are following along. Until next time Yal stay tuned and keep em in the woods!

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Had Misty been here in the Northeast on the run where she treed a few times and left I might have been suspicious that it could have been either a fisher or a gray fox.

My guess is you likely don’t have fisher in VA (?) and likely no Gray Fox? Gray fox will climb apple trees and other small trees with low limbs but almost never will hold long in a tree.

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Dan

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We have a few grey fox, I have never confirmed that I have run one although it’s definitely a possibility. I have ran several red fox that I have seen, but from experience and what I’ve heard the reds don’t climb. As far as Fischer’s go there have been reports of a couple in the area but I have never personally seen one. I’ve seen mink weasel beaver and otters but no Fischer that I know of. It always amazes me when a dog consistently runs the correct game. Especially once you start listing off all the common animals present in your given area…. There are numerous opportunities to run trash.

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quote:

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Originally posted by 5thgearwide
We have a few grey fox, I have never confirmed that I have run one although it’s definitely a possibility. I have ran several red fox that I have seen, but from experience and what I’ve heard the reds don’t climb. As far as Fischer’s go there have been reports of a couple in the area but I have never personally seen one. I’ve seen mink weasel beaver and otters but no Fischer that I know of. It always amazes me when a dog consistently runs the correct game. Especially once you start listing off all the common animals present in your given area…. There are numerous opportunities to run trash.

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

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quote:

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Originally posted by Dave Richards
I would suspect mink, they run hot and tree but jump out and run again. I have seen dogs mess with them for hours back in the day of no shock collars.

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Will a mink eventually sit still? How does one go about confirming that’s what a dog is running? I had several similar races that I was able to slip in to the 4th or 5th tree with the light out to see a bobcat when I flipped the light on. When illuminated the cat was gone again. I’ve since assumed; that a hot race to tree then repeat was a bobcat as I’ve never seen a mink in a tree.

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I've never seen a mink run very far. They usually go in a hole at the base of a tree or in a hollow log.

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Donald Bergeron

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I owe this thread a long overdue update. I have had misty in the woods sporadically since our last recorded hunt and honestly I’ve just been so busy that I haven’t had time to post. This addition to the thread will be short and sweet and I will spare the details of the hunts and hope to do better in the future.

Me and the wife now have a 6 week old baby girl at home, our first; and she has been a whole new learning experience. I’m having the time of my life figuring out the whole dad thing and still finding time for the hounds as well. Without anymore delay here are Misty’s standings as of tonight.

Night 46- Hunted solo, hunted well, 2 trees, 2 coon seen.
Night 47- Hunted solo, slow to leave, 3 trees, 2 coon seen
Night 48- Roaded, struck 2 hot tracks, 2 trees, 3 coon seen
Night 49- Roaded, coon crossed in front, 1 tree, 1 coon seen
Night 50- Hunted Solo, hunted hard, no trees, no coon seen
Night 51- Hunted with a new dog, hunted hard, no trees, no coon seen
Night 52- Hunted solo, hunted decent, 2 trees, 1 coon seen
Night 53- Roaded, caught a possum in the ditch, electricity administered
Night 54- Roaded, struck on a culvert, 1 tree, 1 coon seen
Night 55- Hunted with familiar dog, hunted hard, no trees, no coon seen
Night 56- Hunted solo, slow to leave, 1 tree, SLICK
Night 57- Hunted solo, hunted decent, 2 trees, no coon seen. Possible den trees.
Night 58- Hunted with familiar dog, hunted hard, 3 trees, 2 coon seen, 1 possum.
Night 59- Roaded, 3 red hot tracks, 3 trees, 5 coon seen.

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Congratulations on the new baby girl, definitely change a man's life for the better. Sounds like your dog is coming along nicely. Dave

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

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Sorry, double post.

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