Registered: Dec 2017
Location: VA
Posts: 128

Some of you may remember my last training thread on here called the “10 night tryout”. I enjoyed the feedback I got from all the people that tuned in, the different ideas and methods that were shared. I enjoyed it enough to give it a second go. Cindy was not typical for me in any way, I acquired her late, she was “off color” in my eyes, a whole different style hound all together than what I prefer and what I’m used to. She has turned in to a pretty good coon hound, just not my style.

All that being said Id like to introduce everybody to Misty. Misty will be 10 weeks old tomorrow, I got her at 8 weeks old. She is out of a full sister to a couple of my bear hounds, and we used the last of some frozen semen from a hound from the 90’s that’s 5 gen back in the dams pedigree. The dam is a nice coondog and the owners says she’s the best dog he’s had since the sire to this puppy passed. Misty is the 101st and last pup out of the sire and I was fortunate enough to be given the chance to see if she’s gonna make a coon dog or not. Hence the question mark at the end of the title. Not every dog makes it, but I’m a believer that every dog deserves a fair chance so that’s what we’ll give her.

I like to let my pups run loose on the farm up till around 6 months or whenever the neighbors start calling. Misty has already been the earliest I’ve ever got a call from a neighbor. I brought her home one evening, she slept in a crate on the porch that night, turned her loose with my wife’s mutt the next morning, and by lunch time I had a call from the neighbor 1/2-3/4 mile up the creek that this puppy had appeared on his back porch all alone. I’ve yet to see one wander that far, that early. Honestly wasn’t sure if it’s a good sign or not. Over the next week she hung around better and is as curious as any pup I’ve fooled with. She’s not afraid to cross water she comes when called and coaxed with food. She is familiar with cattle and equipment and other hounds now.

The second week she has been spending the majority of the time with the older hounds, we had a cold snap over the last few days and she had been bunking with the other dogs instead of staying in her house beside the back porch. She spent the weekend helping me drive post, stretch woven wire, and steeple it up. She doesn’t seem to fear much and she’s always excited. So far she’s been a pretty good acting pup, and I know it’s early in her life to be making a “training thread” one here but I truly believe that from week 4 to week 16 a pup can learn and retain a lot more than most people realize and that’s when I like to get some of the foundation started. I’ll try to update every couple weeks and give the progress and issues as they arise so until then Yal keep em in the woods, and stay tuned!

__________________
Cedar Ridge Kennels

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Dec 2017
Location: VA
Posts: 128

The past few weeks on the farm have been “action packed” so to speak for Misty. Temps are finally dropping in my neck of the woods, crisp evenings and frosty mornings have started to frequent our little creek bottom. Misty is still running loose (for now) and exploring/learning a lot on her own. Sometimes with the aid of my Great Pyrenees that also roams the farm. I feed misty twice a day before I leave for work in the am and when I get home in the pm. Each time I feed she gets the “here, here, here” command and she’s showing intelligence by being able to call her even when it’s not feeding time.

My rule of thumb with pups has always been they get to run loose, until the neighbors start calling. Misty has been an exception since day one, and I’m afraid that once she gets out of “the cute little puppy” phase the neighbors may not enjoy her presence so much. She has ventured roughly 3/4-1 mile in all directions from the house now. Met the majority of the neighbors, and for the most part had found her way back home each time. She tends to stay and play when she meets children, but like I said once she gets out of the puppy phase that may change.

Last week I was working my 7 month old bear dog prospects on a caged coon. I called for misty multiple times in attempt to put her in the kennel so that I wouldn’t expose her to a mean coon at a young age and set her back. She never showed so I assumed she was out exploring and I went about my business. About 5 minutes into the 4 prospects baying and treeing on this cage coon Misty came in out of nowhere bawling and squalling and giving the coon a what for. I had no intentions whatsoever in showing a 3 month old pup a live coon, it just kind of happened. The positives are that she now knows what a coon looks, smells, and fights like. She enjoyed baying and treeing with the “older dogs” and honestly was impressive especially for the age.

That being said I am still not “expecting” her to make a real coon dog. I have seen plenty that can bay a cage coon that couldn’t strike a track or tree a coon to save their life, but it does give me hope. She has still been playing and sleeping with the older dogs even though she has her own house, it seems as if she just picks a different doghouse to share each night. She follows me on the 4 wheeler, follows me to feed the big hounds and check cattle. Time will tell if she will make a coon dog, but I’m starting to take a liking to the little girl. Yal stay tuned!

__________________
Cedar Ridge Kennels

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Nov 2011
Location: Freeport,TX
Posts: 1904

👍👀

__________________
Training dogs is not so much about quantity, it's more about timing, and the right situations...After that it's up to the dog....A hunting dog is born...

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Dec 2017
Location: VA
Posts: 128

A few things have changed since our last update. Misty is growing like a weed, bear season has ended, and awhile back misty lost her freedom to run loose 24/7. I was pulling into the driveway after work when I got a phone call from a number I didn’t recognize. Normally I don’t answer if I don’t have the number in my contacts, but it was my area code so I gave it the benefit of the doubt.

As I hopped out of the truck to get the gate I answered with a “hello” and before I could think about what was to follow I got a “comegetyourmeandogofmyporchitsharrassingmycat” just as it’s typed. No space, no breathes between words, no time for a response. Needless to say the neighbor was not as thrilled to see a 3 month old pup baying a feline on the porch railing, 2 miles from home, as I was.

The next day misty was introduced to the tie out. She took to it nicely, fought it for 30 seconds then realized she wasn’t gonna win this one. She still runs loose at night, but I put her up when I leave for work. Being as that was when she usually met all the neighbors. We’ve spent some time on leading, loading, coming when called, and shutting up when need be. Our next order of business is loading on her own and doing our best to get her tone broke before we get into the woods.

She has her own personality and she’s reminding me a lot of one of my top bear dogs. I see promise in that, being she is a niece and family bred. She’s showing intelligence and ambition, time will tell if she’ll make the cut. Until then stay tuned, and keep em in the woods!

__________________
Cedar Ridge Kennels

Last edited by 5thgearwide on 01-08-2021 at 01:15 AM

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Oct 2004
Location: Clarksville, AR
Posts: 1074

I'm tuned in. For whatever its worth, I consider myself fairly well read and you put your thoughts together nicely. Easy to follow, good train of thought, descriptive. Keep 'em coming.

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Jun 2014
Location: Louisiana
Posts: 3368

I'm looking forward to it.

__________________
Donald Bergeron

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Jun 2004
Location: 3515-38st-moline ill.
Posts: 548

Sounds like a real prospect.

__________________
Always be yourself because the people that matter dont mind and the people that mind dont matter.Rock River Plotts

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Dec 2017
Location: VA
Posts: 128

Night 1

A few days after Misty turned 5 months old we took to the woods with a couple other hounds, and a true houndsman. I can only hope to still be following hounds if I make it to 75 years old, as my coon hunting buddy and mentor is. This was misty’s first trip “hunting” when in reality all I was expecting was to walk her through the woods in the dark. Coons are thin in the area we hunted and movement has been in the daytime but we gave it a go anyway.

We made about a 2 1/2 mile loop starting along field edges, allowing the older dog, the started dog, and misty to check a few oak flats and wet hollers, and slowly progressing our way onto the southern face of the mountain. Misty would come and go throughout our trek in the dark, venturing off with the others to a point then coming back to check in. She received some stimulation when she decided to emit a growl over some bovine remains when the other hounds approached, but that was the only correction administered that night.

It didn’t take her long to realize that we weren’t bone hunting, we were in fact, coon hunting. We had made nearly the entire premeditated loop when I heard the seasoned dog strike in the distance. My hunting partner has me beat in the vision department, but I trumped him in hearing this time. By the time we had closed the distance to where we agreed that the experienced hound was treed, we also agreed that we were in for a hike.

Naturally as we decided to surrender some elevation in our walk back towards the truck, that’s when the only coon stirring decided he would make a run straight for the peak of the mountain. So we started our climb with misty in tow at this point she walked with us until she was well within hearing of the treed hound. When she arrived at the tree misty showed interest, but it was a lot to take in for a 5 month old on her first trip.

The young boar coon had picked the tallest vine covered oak he could find on the mountain to seek refuge from the hound below, singing her mountain music filled with ambition and fury. As I arrived at the tree I caught a glimpse of what I thought to be eyes, but as I mentioned before my sight isn’t the best. The next 1/2 hour was spent looking the tree over from every angle possible till we finally came to the conclusion that, the coon has to be that “bump on the limb”.

The crack of the 22, and the smell of burnt powder, and the bark flying from the near miss told the tale. Ricky raccoon gave up his position by the flick of a tail and those gleaming yellow eyes like beacons in the night. We got the coon knocked out and the older dog tied back in an attempt to get the younger dogs excited about what we were here for. Misty was cautious for a moment as she bayed the lifeless coon from several feet away, but it didn’t take long at all for the young prospect to lose her mind and show her crazy side.

I drug the coon a short distance and hoisted it up into a fork and let her get fired up about it, giving instinct a chance to take over. If I didn’t know better I would say she had been worked on at the tree before, but she hasn’t. Genetics and instinct never cease to amaze me, and she has both. She has a long way to go to be making it to the tree on her own, but I have high hopes for Misty. Young dogs always fascinate me. Both those that make it, and those that don’t. There are lessons to be learned from all of them, and I think that’s what keeps me coming back.

I hope to get misty in the woods pretty consistently over the next few weeks. There are a lot of factors that are in play at the moment so we’ll just take our nights as they come. Night one was a success in my mind, hopefully the nights to come will continually be steps of progress. Until then, stay tuned, and keep em in the woods!

__________________
Cedar Ridge Kennels

Last edited by 5thgearwide on 02-09-2021 at 04:15 PM

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Dec 2017
Location: VA
Posts: 128

Night 2

We took to the woods last night with Misty, and Lady for night two. Lady is a 4 1/2 year old redbone female that I hunt primarily on bear but she’s a nice little coon dog as well. The daytime high yesterday was warm enough to melt off the majority of the five inches of snow we just acquired. The only remaining snow we found was in the deeper hollers on the north facing ridges.

We followed the setting sun into the woods as daytime transitioned to darkness. We hunted a nice open oak ridge finger down into a bottom where a small steady stream led us to the river. I cut Lady and Misty as soon as we hit the timber. Lady hunted her usual 200-300 yards loops with misty in tow the majority of the time. I was pleased to see misty going and not standing at my feet. The majority of her “going” was just chasing the seasoned dog, but she was getting experience none the less. Whenever misty would check back in I would purposely cross the creek, just to get her used to crossing water, she never hesitated and if I didn’t know any better I’d say she enjoyed it.

We passed multiple deer and a possum as we trekked towards the river, Misty got excited about a red hot deer track, but quit it once she realized Lady wasn’t coming with her. We eased up the river bank which consisted of 50 yards of timber paralleling the water, with hayfield beyond that. We hit a feeder holler that normally has good coon activity this time of year and eased up through there. My style of hunting is letting the dogs hunt a loop then when they check back in I move out past the farthest edge of the loop they just made, and then they go again.

If you look at my garmin after a decent walk, the dogs lines look like a slinky. Once we got back off the river Lady struck a red hot track off to my right, and I could hear the coons running for their life off to my left. She slammed a tree in no time, located and rolled into a chop, then bounced to another tree and repeated this. She did this to three different trees and at first I was a little confused.

Misty was right with her the entire time and let out a few chirps on the track and kept running the last 15 yards of the track at the tree, but couldn’t quite put it together. I was able to find coons in two of the oak trees she was bouncing back and forth between, but the hollow poplar was empty on the outside. If I was a betting man I’d say this family of coons were headed for their den when 2 came up a few yards short. I tied lady off to one tree and let misty run the track back and forth to the tree for a bit before we tarried on.

I led lady about fifty yards, and cut her loose again. We hunted back up a narrow ridge that was pine covered on the north and hickory heavy on the south. Lady struck a really tough track for her nose and worked it for 30 minutes going nowhere fast. She was trailing slow enough that I was able to walk with her and misty and watch as they found scent every so often and got excited. Misty still didn’t open on the track, but she knew it was there. As I was about to surrender to the coons old trail and move on, lady gave her signature locate and rolled into a steady chop. Thirty seconds of shining the hickory with the red beam from my superior light and the coon had no way to hide those gleaming eyes. This tree was the same as the others, misty could smell it on the ground, and was extremely interested in the track, but wasn’t sure about the tree.

I petted both dogs up and eased back towards the truck with lady on the lead and misty running loose. We bumped a rabbit crossing the hayfield and misty let out a few brief bawls as she chased it into the brush, but didn’t stay after it long once she realized I wasn’t letting lady participate in the race.

All in all it was an encouraging night and I would consider it a step in the right direction, she’s 5 months old and I’m going to let her take it all at her own pace. I believe that the easiest way to burn one out is to force them to do it, so Misty will have it her way till she starts really clicking. I like to see a pup that is track minded first, once she figures her nose out then we can worry about her tree style later. The weather looks promising for a few days here so I’m going to do my best to keep her woods time consistent. Until then, stay tuned, and keep em in the woods!

__________________
Cedar Ridge Kennels

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Dec 2017
Location: VA
Posts: 128

Night 3

Tonight we had a full pack as we headed into the darkness. Three seasoned dogs, a started dog, and misty. I know, it sounds Luke the beginning of a bad joke. The temperature was in the 40’s this evening and the ground is saturated from the remaining snow that is changing from solid to liquid.

We eased into the oak flats and it didn’t take long for the action to start. A couple seasoned dogs struck a track, drove it like a freight train, and pulled up treed. Misty was a little reluctant to join in this evening, but didn’t stand on our feet all night either. We arrived at the first tree as the hounds were second guessing their prior commitments and eased on out.

Throughout the ruckus misty is coming and going and chasing the older hounds left and right. The race resumed red hot and this time all 3 seasoned hounds committed and commenced to blowing the top out, this time we were fairly certain the tree was empty and also had an idea of the critter giving the dogs a fit. We sent the dogs on their way and the race continued and at this point I think we were in agreement that we should probably stop this bobcat race.

We gathered the hounds, walked them a short piece, then turned them up a small branch where it adjoined another creek of similar size. This time we were certain the hounds had struck the right track. The dogs drove it up the holler, pulled the pine ridge to the left, and picked the biggest white pine in the timber. This time there was no question about what was in the tree, now we just had to find it.

When I arrived at the tree misty was stretching as far as she could reach and getting a snout full of scent. She never fully committed to treeing, but did emit a few chirps of excitement as the other hounds were singing their fury towards the skies. We looked the tree up and down, and just when I decided that I was going to have to climb to find this one, there she sat. The good sized sow coon was sitting in the only opening in the entire canopy.

Like a lot of things in life, this was too good to be true. My hunting buddy had taken a fall on our way to the tree, and in doing so had knocked his scope out of alignment. This became evident when the coon sniper himself was slinging lead without an echoing thud. After a brief game of ”guess where the scope is at” we got the coon knocked out and let the pups get some fur in their mouth.

For the second coon and her third time out, misty has already developed a real desire to get fur in her mouth. I tied her back drug a short track and let her run and tree it. She had no trouble with it and was very inspiring to say the least. I do not foresee any real obstacles in getting her excited about coon hunting.

She didn’t go as deep tonight as she did on night 2, but she did stick pretty close to the dogs on the track and knew what she was smelling at the tree. When she got the fur in her mouth she practically carried the coon back to the truck, and when she treed on the dead coon, she did it with style. All in all I would consider tonight another step in the right direction, even though we have a long way to go. Little Misty has my interest and I think she is going to develop into a fun little hound to hunt. At 5 months old she will lead, loaf, come when called, come to a tone, navigates the woods fairly well, and is starting to get an idea of why we go to the woods.

The weather forecast has took a turn and looks like cold and rain the rest of the week. I may take advantage of that, and finish a few house chores that I’m sure my wife would love to see finished. I plan on getting misty back in the woods on the next good night though, so Yal stay tuned, and keep em in the woods!

__________________
Cedar Ridge Kennels

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Apr 2015
Location: church hill tn
Posts: 5628

Enjoying these posts, Well written and makes the reader feel like they were part of the hunting group. Keep us posted. Dave

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

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Dec 2017
Location: VA
Posts: 128

Night 4

Against my better judgment, and also my wife’s, we went hunting last night. It’s a rare occasion that my wife will voluntarily walk through the cold dark night, but being that an ice storm knocked our power out, she said she’d rather go with me than stay home bored. When she asked how late I planned to stay out, my reply was oh it should be a short night..... oops.

We drove a little over an hour to meet up with my vet, an avid coon Hunter, and went to a beautiful farm I’d never set foot on before. The landowner also enjoys hounds and was an enjoyable guide for the night. The drive was long enough to give us a change of scenery, the rolling hills at the base of the mountain here had been untouched by ice, and actually made for a pretty good night in the woods.

I brought Misty and Lady, my buddy brought a well seasoned coonhound named Cougar and three younger dogs. The landowner turned his two hounds loose, and we didn’t see them again till we got back to his house... at 12am. Our hunting consisted of everybody piling in the UTV and essentially roading the dogs on logging roads through this mans property. About 5 minutes into our ride Lady left the roadbed, struck, ran a short track and came treed with all other dogs not far behind.

We arrived at the massive oak about the same time heavy fog and rain did. We tried to shine but the moisture in the air made it a real obstacle, as we could barely see 15 feet up in the fog. The longer we tried the worse it got so we pulled the dogs and moved on. Misty ran with lady all the way to the first tree, circled it a few times then made her way back to the UTV and walked back into the tree with us. No coon seen.

No sooner than we had gotten back in the UTV and started moving again, we heard Cougar strike a couple hundred yards off to our left. We shut the Polaris off and listened as lady and another young dog worked the track, located, started treeing, then all but lady started trailing on out. I eased into lady and to my surprise by the time I got there misty was trying to tree on the hollow poplar too. My wife saw the coon in a crotch in the big poplar, but I could not. I have learned a few things though. My eyes aren’t the best, my wife has better vision than me, and happy wife, happy life. I never saw that coon, there was evidence of coons using this tree heavily, and lady swore it was there so I’m taking lady and my wife’s word. Coon seen.

After several attempts to call lady off the tree she finally gave in and moved on. At this point misty went her own way and stayed gone long enough for me to walk to the other hounds that were now treed, determine they also had what appeared to be a den with no coon on the outside, and I was headed back towards the rest of the party. No coon seen.

As we topped the ridge lady and cougar were winding and striking. Lady was standing on her hind feet doing her best impersonation of a human walking, and within several minutes they had pinpointed yet another den tree. This time the coon was visible in the crack. Misty was one of the first to arrive at the tree, and was sticking her head into the hole at the bottom of the tree and opening like she was looking at a coon. We tried to squall the coon out, but he was tucked in and wouldn’t be convinced otherwise. Coon seen.

We petted the hounds up and went on our way. The farmer had spoken of the impressive amount of coon tracks that were frequenting his feedlot and that was our mission for the night was to make it to the above mentioned destination, in hopes of catching a few of the barnyard bandits.

When we finally got to the feedlot lady made a big loop around it, running with her head up and struck on the opposite side of the way we came in. Before we had time to open 3 gates to get to the other side, lady had went 280 yards, located, came off, took the track out, located again (this time rolling into her signature chop) and was steady treed at 681. We rode the Polaris as close as we could and used our feet for the remaining distance. By this point we’re weren’t surprised to see a den tree, the coon was seen while squalling, and almost fell a victim to the hounds below. I guess he wasn’t a Jerry Clower fan because he opted out of the “sporting chance” he had below. Misty was fired up at the tree, halfway excited about the coon scent, and half about the other barking hounds. I was pleased to see her go the distance yet again, and this time stay at the tree. Coon seen.

This was deemed our last drop at the farm and we made our way back to his residence. We arrived to his two hounds that had decided they didn’t want to participate in our nightly activities. We thanked the man and headed on down the road to drop the Vet off. When we got to his place he said he had a coon trap out of we wanted to check it before turning in, at this point it was already after midnight so we agreed, “we might as well.” As we rode down towards the creek where the trap was, the box blew up! Surprisingly he had caught a massive cranky boar coon in the trap so we decided to leave the seasoned dogs in the truck and turn this track out for misty and the 2 other young hounds.

We turned him loose in a meadow by the creek and gave him some time to think about his escape. When several minutes had passed we turned the young dogs loose and shortly thereafter they were bayed. We expected this coon to run and pick a tree, or swim the creek even, to elude the hounds. Not this guy, he had chosen to use his time to back himself into the broom sage and load for bear... or hound.

He obviously was the coon we had hoped for earlier, he took his sporting chance and then some. John Eubank would have been proud of this one. Misty learned quick that you can’t go face to face with a large angry boar coon. He locked into her muzzle like a snapping turtle and didn’t seem to be worried about letting go. I feared that I had just set Misty back by this altercation but once she got free of his clamped teeth, she had fire in her eyes! The 3 pups took turns getting caught by this boar, spinning him around, and dodging the punches. Ultimately they came to a standoff where they bayed, and he patiently awaited the next ear or nose he could grab. We sent lady and cougar in to help with the situation and after briefly sizing him up they took care of the problem at hand.

I took the expired boar and ran a short track and hung him in the limb of a big white oak and we turned the pups in on it and let them tree awhile before we called it a night. We arrived back home at 2:30 am, my wife asleep in the passenger seat, the generator still running, and the hounds snoring in the box. So much for being a short night. I fear that I may have broke my wife from volunteering to go hunting any time soon, but her company is welcome whenever she forgives me for the long night!

Overall it was a productive night, although I have never been a fan of den trees, it was reassuring to see coons in 3 of them. Misty is still progressing, but she is a sharp pup, and catches on quick. She’ll lead, load, come when called, is somewhat tone broke, she’s starting to figure out the trailing part of it, and has developed an absolute hate for a coon. I am going to do my best to take this and use it all to her advantage in efforts to help shape her into a coondog. We’ve got a long road ahead of us, but we’ve got time. Until next time, Yal stay tuned, and keep em in the woods!

__________________
Cedar Ridge Kennels

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Dec 2017
Location: VA
Posts: 128

Night 5

I’m a few days behind on my update, but better late than never. We had just enough time before a nasty ice storm arrived to make a couple drops. A neighbor called as I was loading Misty and Lady and asked if I wanted to hunt with him, so we did. He brought a three year old Black and Tan male that I had heard is a pretty good dog.

We met right at sunset and rode together 1/2 mile up the road to where we made our first drop. We cut the dogs into the crisp darkness and replaced our hands in our pockets in effort to fight the cold. The temperature was in the teens with a slight breeze that seemed to be bringing the storm with it. Misty got gone as soon as i cut her loose, which was the quickest I’ve seen her leave to date. I heard the black dog strike, with misty opening right behind him at around 250 yards. The race sounded like it was red hot, but I began to doubt that it was a coon by lady’s failure to validate the strike when she cut their track. Another giveaway on this race was when lady returned after a minute or two with her tail tucked in remembrance of how that scent has stimulated her neck in the past

Misty and the black dog were running this track through the timber together, and sounded good doing it. The last tell was the fact that misty was screaming all the way through this block of timber, across a wide open alfalfa field, then made a big circle and came screaming back to us. When she was about to pass within 100 yards of us I toned her off and the race was over.

I am reluctant to shock a young dog on anything except aggression, and truth be told I don’t mind seeing a young dog run a deer. Especially at her age I’m glad to see her running anything, but I’m also glad to see her come in to the tone. I heard a man say once that “nothing sounds better than a few hounds burning up a deer, as long as my hounds aren’t in that race” and that sums up the first drop.

We loaded the hounds back up and moved a couple miles back up the road to our second, and last drop for the night. The night that started off crisp and clear, was slowly but surely turning colder and cloudy. Misty didn’t leave as hard on the second drop, but once she left she stayed gone.

Lady struck a tough track and the black dog covered her. They worked the track through a briar patch, up a small stream, and finally hit a lose in the pasture that they couldn’t pick back up. They trailed on this cold track for about 30 minutes, misty came into them for the last 10 or so minutes of it and had her nose down and tail up acting as if she could smell it, but never opened. The 20 minutes leading up to this misty was on her own venturing through the timber, at one point was 640 yards deep.

We pulled the hounds as the freezing rain started and made our way back home. We didn’t see any coons tonight but it was still a successful night. Misty got gone, opened on a track, ran a track, toned off of a track, and worked a tough track with some seasoned dogs. Minor improvements in multiple categories, but Rome wasn’t built in a day. Until next time, Yal stay tuned, and keep em in the woods!

__________________
Cedar Ridge Kennels

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Dec 2017
Location: VA
Posts: 128

Night 6

We wasted a night in the woods after the ice storm, but a wise man told me that a dog has to be hunted in all types of conditions to really know what they’re made of. Although I believe this is true, I don’t know of anyone else that hunted that night. I guess if you’re gonna be dumb, you better be tough.

It was cold, it was windy, and the landscape was ice covered. The moonlight reflection on all the branches simulated that of a ballroom chandelier. I brought misty and Stormi, one of my colder nosed bear hounds; who typically does well on coon.

We hunted a small parcel of timber with thin ridges and deep hollers. As soon as I got out of the truck I realized it was colder and windier than the night before. I cut the dogs and elected to follow suit and drop into the holler to hide from the wind. I walked behind the hounds to the end of the property before we struck. Stormi typically moves a cold track faster than most move a hot track, but I had never hunted her in 1/8” of ice. The trail job was one of the slowest, and most interesting I’ve ever witnessed.

From the time she struck, to the end of the track was over 30 minutes. In this amount of time she went 485 yards with Misty by her side the whole way. Like I mentioned before I had never seen her move a track this slow, by the end of the night her nose was raw. Every time she picked up the scent on the ice she would dig at it or chew it, in attempt to confirm the scent.

Research after the fact has informed me that ice encapsulates scent, whereas moisture such as snow or dew normally amplifies it. Stormi and Misty beat on this track until the 485 yard mark when misty finally started opening with Stormi. Beep beep buzz buzz, Garmin says treed, but the hounds sound bayed. But within a few minutes the baying became muffled, and by the time I got there, Misty was the only visible hound. Stormi had went in the hole after the quarry and I retrieved her by her tail. I tied both hounds back and did my own investing to try and find the source of the track without any success.

The entrance to this particular den was just wide enough for me to get my shoulders in, it then opened up into 3 separate compartments and I opted to not test my luck under ground. I am not sure of what we trailed, I would like to think it was coon, bear, or bobcat but I can’t confirm any of these. Nonetheless misty got some exposure to possibly the toughest trailing conditions she’ll ever face, and stuck with it.

We decided to call it a night with just one drop, and with our mystery den we headed for the truck. Misty got some trailing practice once again, and got to cover some unfamiliar territory. She seems to be catching on and thus far has got along with every dog she’s met. I hope she will continue to progress in the nights to come, until next time; Yal stay tuned and keep em in the woods!

__________________
Cedar Ridge Kennels

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Dec 2017
Location: VA
Posts: 128

Night 7

We finally got some fair weather so we hit the woods again tonight. I turned Misty and my plott female loose from their chains, and they were waiting at the truck. After smacking the tailgate and the “in the truck” command we were on our way. I met up with my hunting buddy and his 2 females and we marched towards the timber at dusk. Misty hung around more than I like tonight, and seems to do so when there are multiple other dogs, that’s something I want her to overcome with time, and I believe she will.

We eased through a block of mature timber without a strike, slipped through the cattle herd in the pasture and made our way through a small patch of timber with a wet holler. I was pleased to see Misty coming and going at this point, and especially the fact that she showed no interest in cattle. I’d like to think allowing her to run loose for a few months on the farm helped her with this.

We made it about half way through this small patch of timber when we got a cold strike. Stormi had struck and started trailing, alone at first; then joined by the others. It appeared and sounded like a cold feed track. Starting by the creek, working its way down stream then side hilling up towards a poplar knob. Stormi trailed about 380 yards and hit a lose, then doubled back. Lucy had trailed the opposite direction and doubled back as well. Their frantic bawls seemed to collide in the moonlit night as they joined together and drove the track to the final resting place of this particular ringtail.

According to the garmin misty had ran the same track as Stormi, and was at the tree when I arrived. She was sniffing bark with her tail going a mile a minute, but the lightbulb still has yet to come on. A quick glance up this mighty poplar with the red light gave away rickys sky high view and after several cracks from the Rossi, he made his final descent. The pups went to town on this one and seem to be developing a real hate for the critters. We gave them their fix of coon fur for the night and started making our way back towards the truck. Misty volunteered to carry the coon back so I let her, she finally decided to let go when we crossed the creek.

We hunted the creek bottom back around and were almost back to the big block of timber when we got another strike from the elders. Stormi was loose at this point but Lucy was on the lead. We were certain there was a coon there because of the anxiousness and excitement even after Stormi received stimulation for showing interest in a slick tail. The pups never struck, nor did they pay any mind to the grimmer sitting 6 feet up in a white pine, so we made our way back and called it a night.

Misty is starting to get the hang of how we do things. I don’t like the fact that’s she stays closer when there are more dogs, but I believe she’ll grow out of that. I like to see her sticking with the older dogs once they get struck, and she’s inspiring confidence by being at the correct trees. She loses her mind when the coon hits the ground, and I believe these are all things that can be used to her advantage. As of right now she’s a 6 month old just going through all the motions, I’m hopeful that in the next 6 months the light switch will be flipped on and she’ll put all the pieces together. For now, we’ll continue to try and give her a solid foundation to build on. So until next time Yal stay tuned, and keep em in the woods!

__________________
Cedar Ridge Kennels

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Dec 2017
Location: VA
Posts: 128

Night 8

I apologize for the lack of updates lately. Misty contracted a spider bite on her throat about 2 weeks ago and is just now getting back to normal. It took 10 days of antibiotics, and looking like a blue puffer fish for her to get back on track.

We only have 3 days remaining in the VA kill season so I plan to make the most of it. I opened the door on Misty’s kennel and told her to go get in the truck. Surprisingly when I got back to the house she was in fact, standing on the tailgate waiting for me to open the door on the box. This was a pleasant start to the evening.

We headed back to some familiar timber with some familiar hounds. We eased through a rolling oak flat with no strike. The crisp still air was a reminder of the transition from winter to spring, and that kill season is coming to an end. We crossed a small section of pasture and hit the head of a wet holler about the time that the bawl of the seasoned hounds cut the darkness like a knife.

Lucy made short work of the track while misty and a 3 legged bear dog took a track 600 yards in the other direction. If misty opened on that track, I didn’t hear her over Lucy treeing beside us and the excited bawls of my Ruby female. I was just glad to see her going the distance.

Lucy was treed in a pine and although we couldn’t see the coon from the ground, the bottom branch was accessible. I climbed high enough to confirm that Lucy was right, then we sent her on her way. We followed the wet holler until it fed into a small branch. We worked our way up the branch until we got the second strike, a cold feed track that seemed to go nowhere. The drive, excitement, focus, and frustration seemed to pour from the lungs of the hounds and out of her mouth in the forms of angry bawls.

After several minutes of going nowhere fast, there it was. The locate that rolled into a chop. That distinct bark that lets you know, it’s time to load the gun. We arrived at the small grapevine covered poplar and started looking. The poplar was empty, but we followed the grapevine into the pine beside it to see Ricky glaring down from the top of the vines. As we were looking for a clear shooting lane we heard an unfamiliar hound chopping at the tree.... it was misty! She was stretched as high as her legs would let her sniffing the grapevine and getting mad at it.

We tied the seasoned dogs back and started slinging lead at the masked bandit. After several ricochets and close misses we finally found a clear hole with a kill shot opportunity. We took it, about 4 pounds of pressure with a steady crosshair is really all it takes to rid the woods of such varmint. The only problem at this point is all of the branches that were quick to catch the coon, before the ground had the opportunity to do so.

We couldn’t convince the pine to let go, even after shaking the grapevines that the coon seemed to have used as the stairway to its final resting place. So we finished our walk back towards the truck without another strike but misty was hunting the whole way back. Tonight was very inspiring, misty showed that she’s starting to get excited about going, she’s not afraid to get into the dark, she’s starting to really put her nose on the ground, and she’s starting to do the math on what happens when the track leaves the ground.

Tonight was a big step in the right direction for misty, in my opinion there aren’t many things as rewarding as seeing a young dog start to put it all together. I plan to have her in the woods the next 2 nights and see how it plays out. Until next time Yal stay tuned, and keep em in the woods.

__________________
Cedar Ridge Kennels

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Dec 2017
Location: VA
Posts: 128

Night 9

We took the last night of kill season in VA as an opportunity to give ourselves a reality check. Misty is just starting to put the pieces together but I still wanted to see what she would do on her own. My goal with this young hound is to make a solid coonhound, not a pack hound, or a me too dog.

We made 3 drops, saw no coons, but did see a few positive points. When i got misty out of the kennel i told her to get in the truck. I may or may not have cracked a smile after my 208 yard walk back to the house when misty was in fact, already in the box waiting for me.

The first drop we hunted a large oak flat split in half by a small stream. Misty didn’t leave very well out of the box and frankly, she stood on my feet. I walked off the ridge, dropped down to the branch, walked the branch down to the edge of the timber, followed the edge to the top of that section of timber, then cut it right through the middle back to the truck. As good as the weather was, and judging the wildlife movement on the roads I’d be highly surprised if we didn’t cross a coon track, although I’m not sure how fresh it would have been being I got out later than planned.

Misty never went farther than 75 yards on the first drop, but she did keep her nose down and showed interest in a few smells, just never engaged. We loaded up and headed to our second spot. Misty left a little better off the second drop and we hunted up a creek bottom, eased up a poplar and hickory ridge and looped back to the truck. Misty engaged in several tracks in this loop, and took one almost 200 yards before losing interest and checking back in. She never opened her mouth on this drop either. She loaded herself back up and we hit our last spot for the night.

The 3rd drop also produced no game, but she left the tailgate well and hunted about 200 yards on her own before checking back in. We hunted a deep holler that she’s hunted before, it makes a big horse shoe and we used it as our last loop of kill season. She came and went through the 3/4 mile loop, let out a few chirps at one point but never committed to whatever had her attention. She loaded up the final time and we headed back for the house.

For a 6 1/2 month old pup she’s doing what I would consider to be what’s expected for her age. I have seen several dogs running and treeing at this age and that’s always in the back of my mind when hunting a young dog, then I remind myself that every dog is different. I hate that I’ve only had her in the woods for 9 total nights so far, but all we can do is all we can do. The spider bite set us back in some of the best weather we had at the end of season, but we just played the hand we were dealt.

I plan to take a month off from hunting to try and get caught up on a few things that the hounds have helped me get behind on. I’m trying to finish up a hunting rig I’ve been restoring for a year, and I have plans to redo our kennel setup this spring as well. I’ve read several places that a dog has no concept of time, and I have seen first hand where laying one up can benefit a hound. I prefer to lay one up for a week or so after ending on a good note, but I see no harm in letting a young dog mature.

Thanks for tuning in, I hope that the readers can learn from some of my experiences with misty along the way, the good and the bad. I also enjoy the feedback and hearing different methods that people are using. I have yet to find many things as rewarding as taking an 8 week old puppy, and watching it grow and develop into a hound, but they don’t all make it; and you never know until ya go. Until next time Yal stay tuned, and keep em in the woods!

__________________
Cedar Ridge Kennels

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Dec 2017
Location: VA
Posts: 128

It’s been awhile since our last update so I’ll try to catch everybody up. Misty is currently in the hands of the man that gave her to me and is being showed. Everybody does it differently but I don’t like to hunt a young dog hard with the leaves on. I don’t want bad habits to develop from my lack of being able to see whether or not a pup has a coon. With this in mind the breeder thought she was too pretty to lay up so I told him to take her and show her and in exchange I am working with a pup of his on big game.

I am 3/4 the way done with both the hunting rig I have been building, and our new kennel setup. Both of these should make life a lot easier when it comes to caring for and hunting the trashy mutts I feed. I made a cross on 2 of my top bear dogs and have pups due may 26th and preparing for that has also taken up a lot of time. I elected to build a new whelping box and pen, in case I am running late (as per usual) and don’t have the kennel done in time. Work has also been super busy requiring several 6-7 day weeks lately which isn’t fun now, but will be worth it when season rolls around.

In Misty’s first two bench shows she got Class, Breed, and Best Female of Show, with competition both times. In her second show she also won the treeing contest with 78 barks per minute. I have yet to attend any type of show or hunt so I’m really not familiar with any of this, but I hope it translates to her showing up in the coon woods this fall when we really put her through the paces. Time will tell if she makes it or not, but it won’t be from a lack of hunting come this fall. Until then Yal stay tuned, and keep em in the woods!

__________________
Cedar Ridge Kennels

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Dec 2017
Location: VA
Posts: 128

Night 10

We’re back and about to hit it hard! VA kill season came in a few days ago but my first opportunity to go was last night. It’s been awhile since I’ve had misty in the woods so we set out last night with Misty solo. I wasn’t expecting alot, but I think it’s important to have a reality check from time to time.

Misty loaded up, accepted the TT15, and was excited to say the least. We hit the hickory and oak ridges shortly after the sun set and we were greeted with the crisp fall air that’s always a reminder of why I love this time of year. The moon was high and bright, clear skies, and the air was brisk. I unsnapped misty at the field edge and she dove into the timber with her head and tail held high. I eased out the ridge into the creek bottom, grabbed the next ridge, and the next, and so on. We stayed near water and feed throughout our 2 mile loop and misty came and went the whole time never staying under my feet more than a few seconds.

The deepest I saw her go on the Garmin was 248 yards, appeared to be working a track, but never gave any mouth. We jumped several deer throughout our walk and the first time she went to check out the scent and sound emitted from the mature doe snorting her warning to the others. The fact that misty didn’t get excited about these encounters gives me hope that she may have remembered some previous corrections via the alpha, and the TT15.

We hunted our loop out, without striking or seeing a coon. I’d find it hard to believe that we never crossed a coon as this is my go-to spot to tree coon as I rarely ever kill one off this farm. With a seasoned dog you can usually put a coon clinic on in this area. That being said it is possible that we just didn’t cross any tracks she was comfortable with, and it was her first night out since March. I’m not making excuses simply observations.

We have a long way to go, but at least we have a starting point for this season. I’m going to do my best to push her hard this season and give her the ample opportunity, and necessary corrections that I feel it will take to make her. As far as her handle, leading, loading, riding, coming when called, tone broke. We’re where we need to be. We’ve got all our prerequisites taken care of, now it’s time for the main show. Yal stay tuned, and keep em in the woods!

__________________
Cedar Ridge Kennels

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Dec 2017
Location: VA
Posts: 128

Night 11

We got a late start on a cool brisk moonlit night. We hunted out of the UTV last night and made 3 short drops. Misty has already caught on to the routine of me unsnapping her off the chain, her making a beeline for the house, and waiting on me on the tailgate. I like that, she seems to be learning when it’s time to work.

We hunted 3 small oak flats with good acorns that rolled off into wet hollers. The first drop produced nothing but me turning misty loose, her pilfering around my feet for a few minutes, then making a 250 yard loop through the timber and coming back. I smacked the tailgate, she loaded up, and we moved onto the next spot. While riding up the dirt road a coon crossed in front of us and misty blew up, this inspired confidence to say the least. The second drop was similar to the first with a little less milling around, and a little more hunting. She made her loop about the same size, returned, loaded up and we were off again.

The third drop was a little more exciting. Misty was chirping before I cut her loose, she wasted no time, struck at about 80 yards and started trailing. She worked a track back and forth making forward progress for awhile then started circling. At 192 yards she let out a few locate attempts, half bawl half squalls, then rolled into a chop for 30 seconds or so. She repeated this several times as I was easing into her to see that she was “treed” on an active den. No coon was seen in the mighty hollow poplar, and I cannot say with certainty that the coon was there, but there has been one there recently. I did not praise her, but did not discipline her either. She can smell what I can't see so I gave her benefit of the doubt and we loaded up one more time and went back home.

Whether she had this one or not is a small detail at this point in the game. I was happy to see her use her nose and get excited about something. The fact that she struck on a coon and has passed up on multiple chances to trash is also inspiring. Her handle is good, her manners are good, and she’s showing good intentions in the woods. We’re on the right track, but Rome wasn’t built over night so we will keep on, keeping on! Yal stay tuned, and keep em in the woods!

__________________
Cedar Ridge Kennels

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Dec 2017
Location: VA
Posts: 128

Night 12

We got the opportunity to hunt with a true houndsman again last night, along with his veteran dog (Lucy) and an 8 month old prospect ( Queen). Once again misty greeted me at the chain, left like a rocket sled when I unsnapped her and said “get in the truck” and met me on the tailgate where she eagerly awaited her tracking collar. We hit the woods shortly after sunset and eased into the mature oak and hickory timber. It was another crisp, bright night; with little wind.

Misty and the young dog spent a decent amount of time playing as the veteran was already at work. Misty left out eventually and I heard her open at 162 yards a few times before checking back in. The veteran on the other hand struck a cold feed track and went to trailing. The pups came and went sometimes appearing to be hunting, mostly playing. After ample time to push the track we decided to call Lucy off and ease onward.

As we slowly trekked through the timber Lucy struck again and really went to working what we presumed was the same track just farther along. Both pups at this point were doing there own thing and would periodically check in with Lucy out of curiosity. A lack of nose power, experience, or maybe a combination of both left the pups clueless as to what the fuss was about.

As my buddy was about to call her off and move on Lucy threw a locate and rolled into a chop. It seemed as if she was guessing so we called her off at the fields edge and as we eased across the pasture we glanced back from 100 yards and hit the tree with the red light to see two coons glaring at us. I chuckled at Ol Lucy, as she has yet to ever lie at a tree whenever I’ve hunted with her.

We tarried on across a pasture, through another small block of timber where the hickory nuts and walnuts were a hazard to any unstable ankles. We followed a ridge down to a small branch that usually produces a coon track without a strike. The pups did a mixture of playing, hunting, and checking in throughout the loop. We worked up the branch to a junction of two feeder branches and that’s when Lucy struck again. This time it was a better track and misty joined in.

Lucy came through the poplars, crossed one of the feeder branches, and pushed through some thick briars before locating on a mature forked poplar. Misty came the same route but when she got into the briars she started trying to locate. There were still plenty of red berries that appeared to have been a snack for the coon, but I couldn’t find evidence of a coon still there.

Misty came off her “tree” a few times made the 20 yard journey to the tree Lucy was locked down on, checked it, and went back. She continued to give mouth in the brush and stand on her hind feet winding, locating, and trying to tree. We are assuming that was just where the most scent was at due to being right beside the branch and the coon appeared to have fed there, but I was not able to locate a coon. When she eased back over to Lucy’s tree I tied her off and we harvested a boar coon.

Misty and Queen both got a good fight from this coon, and even accrued a few new scars. Overall it was an eventful night and it seems that misty is putting the pieces together. Hopefully with ample opportunity and necessary corrections she will continue in the right direction and make a dog, but that’s the beauty of this process… they don’t all make it, and you never know till you go! So Yal stay tuned, and keep em in the woods!

__________________
Cedar Ridge Kennels

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Apr 2015
Location: church hill tn
Posts: 5628

quote:

---

Originally posted by 5thgearwide
Night 12

We got the opportunity to hunt with a true houndsman again last night, along with his veteran dog (Lucy) and an 8 month old prospect ( Queen). Once again misty greeted me at the chain, left like a rocket sled when I unsnapped her and said “get in the truck” and met me on the tailgate where she eagerly awaited her tracking collar. We hit the woods shortly after sunset and eased into the mature oak and hickory timber. It was another crisp, bright night; with little wind.

Misty and the young dog spent a decent amount of time playing as the veteran was already at work. Misty left out eventually and I heard her open at 162 yards a few times before checking back in. The veteran on the other hand struck a cold feed track and went to trailing. The pups came and went sometimes appearing to be hunting, mostly playing. After ample time to push the track we decided to call Lucy off and ease onward.

As we slowly trekked through the timber Lucy struck again and really went to working what we presumed was the same track just farther along. Both pups at this point were doing there own thing and would periodically check in with Lucy out of curiosity. A lack of nose power, experience, or maybe a combination of both left the pups clueless as to what the fuss was about.

As my buddy was about to call her off and move on Lucy threw a locate and rolled into a chop. It seemed as if she was guessing so we called her off at the fields edge and as we eased across the pasture we glanced back from 100 yards and hit the tree with the red light to see two coons glaring at us. I chuckled at Ol Lucy, as she has yet to ever lie at a tree whenever I’ve hunted with her.

We tarried on across a pasture, through another small block of timber where the hickory nuts and walnuts were a hazard to any unstable ankles. We followed a ridge down to a small branch that usually produces a coon track without a strike. The pups did a mixture of playing, hunting, and checking in throughout the loop. We worked up the branch to a junction of two feeder branches and that’s when Lucy struck again. This time it was a better track and misty joined in.

Lucy came through the poplars, crossed one of the feeder branches, and pushed through some thick briars before locating on a mature forked poplar. Misty came the same route but when she got into the briars she started trying to locate. There were still plenty of red berries that appeared to have been a snack for the coon, but I couldn’t find evidence of a coon still there.

Misty came off her “tree” a few times made the 20 yard journey to the tree Lucy was locked down on, checked it, and went back. She continued to give mouth in the brush and stand on her hind feet winding, locating, and trying to tree. We are assuming that was just where the most scent was at due to being right beside the branch and the coon appeared to have fed there, but I was not able to locate a coon. When she eased back over to Lucy’s tree I tied her off and we harvested a boar coon.

Misty and Queen both got a good fight from this coon, and even accrued a few new scars. Overall it was an eventful night and it seems that misty is putting the pieces together. Hopefully with ample opportunity and necessary corrections she will continue in the right direction and make a dog, but that’s the beauty of this process… they don’t all make it, and you never know till you go! So Yal stay tuned, and keep em in the woods!

---

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

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Dec 2017
Location: VA
Posts: 128

Night 13

Last night we headed back to familiar timber, with familiar hounds. The overcast night sky and the smell of decaying leaves and hickory nuts was a friendly reminder that it is in fact, coon season. It was a little warmer than expected to be almost November, but we made a round none the less.

Misty, Queen, and Spider are all in the prospect category, with Lucy the only experienced hound we had for the night. We unsnapped the dogs and eased on along as they emptied out, played, and hunted their way into the acorns and hickory nuts.

We made it through the first patch of timber without a strike, misty came and went several times and at one point was 250 yards deep before looping back. As we skirted a clearcut by way of creek bottom, Lucy emitted a single drawn out bawl. We would later learn that would be the most excitement we got all night.

The young dogs paid her no mind and whatever it was, Lucy realized it was not correct. We followed the water down and several times misty winded something, would head into the breeze, then lose interest and return. Further along on a small branch she grubbed and drug her nose in a 50 yard area for several minutes. She did display an admirable amount of focus while trying to figure out what I believe was a weasel track, before ultimately admitting defeat and moving on.

She never opened her mouth, nor did the others minus a pair of booger barks when misty bumped some cattle on the field edge on our way back to the truck. We finished our hunt, laughed about the dry run and made a few remarks a phone we need better dogs. That may be the case, but I’ll give misty ample opportunity to prove she’s worthy of the time. Thin coon, and dry runs tend to have a way of making you appreciate a coon dog. The wind and rain has set in as I write this so it may be a couple nights before we get back after it. Until then, Yal stay tuned, and keep em in the woods!

__________________
Cedar Ridge Kennels

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Dec 2017
Location: VA
Posts: 128

Night 14

Last night was a short but sweet session. A friend of mine runs the local feedlot and has been having trouble with coons tearing up feed in his feed house. I get the call when the damage is piling up. Although I can’t turn loose amongst several thousand head of beef, I am able to relocate the nuisances over the hill into the timber.

I caught a large angry boar coon yesterday morning and used it as a training piece after work. With the daylight slowly fading away I showed the coon to my 5 month old bear dog prospects and we had an effective training session. After the fact I turned the coon loose at the edge of the pasture and gave it a 30 minute head start into the timber as the sun was fading into the western sky.

I collared misty, loaded her in the UTV, and we headed for a guaranteed track. I dropped misty about 150 yards from where I dumped the coon out. She made short work of finding the track, and chirping with excitement as she did her best to decipher where he had been, and was working towards where he ended up.

With the glow of the fading sunset, Misty’s lonesome cries were visible in the brisk evening air. As the steam and fury of her voice interrupted the night, a light cool breeze greeted my face. As misty progressed with the track I could hear the confidence in her voice. Then like a shot in the dark, there it was. A long drawn out locate, she sounded like a totally different dog from just moments before. She rolled into the chop that I have somewhat come to recognize.

A quick sweep with the red light in a semi bare hickory; on the end of the ridge just above a spring head revealed the glaring eyes of the angry boar coon. I leaned against a neighboring hickory and watched as misty stretched as high as she could, seemingly following the scent molecules with her nostrils till she couldn’t anymore.

After about 10 minutes of her checking and treeing, and checking and treeing I petted her up and that seemed to pour gas on the fire and I felt that this coon had seen enough hazing for one day. I leashed misty and we called it a night, short and sweet and ended on a positive note. After seeing her ability to run this track, and locate the tree on her own really inspired confidence.

It wasn’t a totally wild coon, but it was yet another step in the right direction. I hope that we can continue to go the right direction and I would like to see misty improve in several areas, but only time will tell. Until then Yal stay tuned, and keep em in the woods!

__________________
Cedar Ridge Kennels

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Apr 2015
Location: church hill tn
Posts: 5628

As always I enjoy your posts, sure hope Misty makes a good coon dog and that you have fun in the process. Dave

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

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged