Registered: May 2008
Location: Kentucky
Posts: 3147

As I left work today I loaded my box up at shop. Hot,tired,ready to rest but knew I better load it because come dark I knew I would most likely be in the woods!!!!

I remember my father and his friends packing me through the woods as a baby and me crying and squalling when I could not go!!!

I grew up in east KY where coons where scarce, I possum hunted up and down them hollers a lot, then drive 3 hours up the interstate to tree a coon on Fri and Sat Night.

I used to stand on side of road holding a bluetick hound. Some hunter would stop by pick me up and off we would go. MAN WAS IT FUN!!! On Sundays I would lead my ol dog about 2 miles to the coon drag and water race, THAT WAS A BALL!!!

If a truck was full up of hunters I would ride in the back, if it was raining or cold I would just cover up with whatever was there but man I WAS GOING HUNTING!!!!
When I was 10 I started hunting by myself, my parents put the boundry to my hunting to stay on our farm. I sat many nights sitting under a cherry tree listening to blue run a fox. THOSE ARE MEMORIES I WILL HAVE FOREVER, and when the GOOD LORD calls me home, under that cherry tree will be my resting place.

My mom was a High School teacher and I will never forget graduation night. As the principal was calling names to get diploma you could hear very well the dogs barking in the box behind the gym. MY MOM COULD HAVE MELTED SHE WAS SO HOT!!!! LOL

In college I chose one not for education, but the one with good hunting. That was Bowling Green,KY. The school had a parking garage and the security let me keep my dogs on top, later they fixed me a spot at the university farm for me. I MAY BE ONLY PERSON TO EVER DO THAT and raise a litter of Black and Tan puppies in the dorms!!! LOL

I, like all of us , could share stories all day long about what I have done and seen with these old hounds. And, for some reason this was on my mind as I loaded up again this afternoon.

I have made many life long friends, travelled to many states, and obtained memories that will last forever due to these old dogs.They will forever be cherished moments!!!!

I GUESS I AM JUST COON CRAZY!!!!!!

LETS HERE YOUR COONHUNTING HISTORY!!

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Registered: Apr 2007
Location: virginia
Posts: 1173

quote:

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Originally posted by high ridge



My mom was a High School teacher and I will never forget graduation night. As the principal was calling names to get diploma you could hear very well the dogs barking in the box behind the gym. MY MOM COULD HAVE MELTED SHE WAS SO HOT!!!! LOL


I GUESS I AM JUST COON CRAZY!!!!!!

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Registered: Sep 2007
Location: Seaman, Ohio
Posts: 227

My dad started me out hunting when I was little. he use to pack me also every night in the woods.. When I was a senior I said I would not get my pictures taken unless my coon dog could be in the pictures. So sure enough I got my senior picture taken with my best friend.. Wont ever for get it.. my son is will be 15 and he hunts every night with me.. got a feeling he will want to do the same thing. I think its in our blood.. wouldnt want it any other way...

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

you are seriously a coon hunter. i wish i had been more interested in hunting and less interested in whatever i was interested in. i stayed up all night fox hunting with my grandfather and fell out of my chair in school the next day.

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Registered: Aug 2010
Location: guys mills ,pa
Posts: 2192

well, this isnt coonhuntin, but this is how my dad raised me.

when i was very young, around 5 or 6, i used to go with my dad into the woods all the time. got around the age of 9 or 10 and he got serious with me. pick up your feet when you walk, know what you're steppin on, dont say a word unless i speak to you. around the age of 11, he had me working with the old baker tree stands. heavy son of a guns, climbing up, down, up , down. sit and stay til i get back , which could be hours. i did. and by then, i had been shooting so much, it was in me.
my first groundhog i got was with an old 22 with iron sights. 11 years old. he said , go up that field and sit, i did, on an ant hill, moved just slightly in the weeds and after a couple hours, i got one. my very first groundhog. it was about a 70-80 yd. shot. he came running through that field like a kid, never did see my dad run but once after that. and he helped me carry it out. he was so proud, then he asked, "why didnt you shoot the one 30 yds. from ya??" i said, "you always said keep your eye on what you aim at, and i was aiming at that one"
by the age of 12, he had me perched in my first big old oak , no stand, we couldnt afford another so i was small and i could climb like no tomorrow and i had limbs, uncomfortable as they were. i was sooooo nervous and scared when he left me in the dark. he went about 300 yds. in a different direction. i remember what he said to me like it was yesterday, dont move out of your tree unless i am here. i didnt, i froze my butt off til i saw that deer. i was so nervous i shot 5 times with that old mossberg. emptied the tube. went through a bazillion limbs with that sucker, and still got my deer my first year. actually, i got 2 and we didnt know til later. the first doe, just walked off, lung shot. the second did the leap i expect now. these were not 20 yd. shots either. and i yelled like no tomorrow for my dad, and he ran.
i swear he hung that big old doe in that garage for as long as he could with the door open. i can remember all the neighbors and family stopping by just to see it.
so it leads me to this day, hours and hours in the woods. and loving every minute of it.
i notice even the change in the scent in the woods from season to season. everything. and now i enjoy the night hunting almost as much as i do deer hunting.
i still pick my feet up although, i yell at people that dont. i still am a stand person, wont move for hours. and the best advice when things dont go right is, dont abandon your stand. go with your instincts.
that saying proves to be right with dogs and coon hunting also.
this isnt my first rodeo with dogs and huntin though, i had a shorthair that i hunted, and i loved my brittanies. love bird huntin alot.
there is something the night brings to a person with their dog the sun never can. and that is why i will always have a hound.
my dad and me went through a hiatus of sorts over the years, and he is as proud as ever over me. he taught me so much, and i actually retained it over the years,lol. my son, will tell me to pick up my feet as a joke now. and trust me, when my son got his first deer, i ran to him too.

kelley

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Registered: Oct 2010
Location: welch, wv
Posts: 204

i tell you billy when we start thinking back like that then that is the sign of gettin old ! we just gettin old and ugly and have to much time on our hands and the hounds are the only ones that like us ! i wonder why you was laying under that cherry tree listening to blue run ? i mean i know them blue dogs are slow on the track but are they that slow? i beleive even as a lil boy you lied about your hounds ! i bet ole blue was trying to down a fox or get some deer meat! no just messin with ya billy good story! i talked with delbert lastnite he told me what you was interested in on that trade call me !

Last edited by coons4me on 08-11-2011 at 06:12 PM

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Registered: Jun 2011
Location: reyno, Ark.
Posts: 281

im 29 years old have hunted all my life but my first coon hunt was when i was about 15 or so have done it untill i was about 18 n fell out of it well i started up again about 2 years ago they say if its in ur blood u will fall back in it well i think its true but the hunt i will never forget was 2 years ago my son was 2 years old i didnt have a dog but my dad did and i decided i would take him it was the happiest time of my life i got to share something that i liked doing with my son that is a feeling no dad ever should go with out so i went n got us a dog n he has been hunting with me off n on eversince he is 4 now n loves every min of it i always tell my buds or who ever goes with me if they ever scare him in the dark i would hit them in the mouth cause he aint so sure about the dark as it is lol.i dont want him scared of the dark jus yet

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Registered: Oct 2006
Location: ILLINOIS
Posts: 114

at eight years old i lived in the projects of Chicago where i met and old man by the name of Freeman Hawkins he worked across the street on the park grounds. one day he had this old dog with him and i asked hey mister what are you doing with that old dog, he said the the dog was only a year and a half old, the next question was what do you do with him, he stated he's a coon dog, mister whats a coon dog? a dog that trails raccoons and talks to me, my thoughts were this must be one of those people that every one calls crazy, dogs can't talk. long story short within a short time i was allowed to go hunting with him, and learned what the meaning of talking to you was, i grew to love those hounds so much that once i rode in the back of a station wagon with dogs that had been skunked on , the driver was smoking a cigar, 20 degrees outside, the vehicle heater was on full blast, me sick as a dog, but refused to complain for fear that they might not take me again.

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Registered: Aug 2010
Location: guys mills ,pa
Posts: 2192

quote:

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Originally posted by Houndologist
at eight years old i lived in the projects of Chicago where i met and old man by the name of Freeman Hawkins he worked across the street on the park grounds. one day he had this old dog with him and i asked hey mister what are you doing with that old dog, he said the the dog was only a year and a half old, the next question was what do you do with him, he stated he's a coon dog, mister whats a coon dog? a dog that trails raccoons and talks to me, my thoughts were this must be one of those people that every one calls crazy, dogs can't talk. long story short within a short time i was allowed to go hunting with him, and learned what the meaning of talking to you was, i grew to love those hounds so much that once i rode in the back of a station wagon with dogs that had been skunked on , the driver was smoking a cigar, 20 degrees outside, the vehicle heater was on full blast, me sick as a dog, but refused to complain for fear that they might not take me again.

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Registered: Dec 2005
Location: Ohio
Posts: 3063

I've only been hunting for about 6 years, but have done enough huntin in that amount of time to have stories to tell for a lifetime lol.

My sister and I started out with a 9 year old dog, no tracking system, no 4 x 4 truck and plenty of awesome, coon packed farmland to hunt. We'd walk up the lane and cut our old dog, and thanks to our good friend Jake Burdette (who GAVE him to us) made sure we had one awesome hound to start with. A lot of people dont have that luxury, but man was Jebb a gem. He'd get struck, and work those tracks with the most beautiful, growly bawl mouth, locate with 2 long bawls and just a classy tree dog. We'd take our time and have good talks on our way to the tree, then find his coon when we got there and give him a good pat and take some pictures. That's my sister's favorite thing about coonhunting I think lol she takes tons of photos. There were 5 degree nights with 6 inches of crusty snow on the ground and we're out there chasin' ol' brindle. Lots of cut up hands, sleepless school nights, frozen toes, and wet feet but so many good memories. Few times the dogs would get holed in some of the thickest briar patches, ugh!!

Anyways, the point of my rambling is how easy and fun it was for us to go turn a dog loose. Some folks dont have that. And even sometimes now I have to step back and remember those nights, I get so caught up in having the best dog and competition hunting that I forget what its like to just turn 'em loose and listen and have fun.

We've met so many great people who we now call friends because of these hounds and I couldn't be more greatful!!!

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Registered: Feb 2007
Location: Pomeroy, Ohio
Posts: 2843

I was a sophomore in high school and had a senior girl ask me to Homecoming. The night before Homecoming, my Dad told me he was planning on going to a hunt an hour and a half away, and another guy was going with him to handle my dog. I decided I would go to the hunt instead of to Homecoming. I handled the dog but the other guy still went with us. The problem with that was that Dad had a Volkswagon truck at the time so I had to ride in the back of the truck. Plus I had to tell the girl on the morning of Homecoming that I was standing her up. I still feel bad about the whole deal. Wish I would have won that hunt.

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Registered: Aug 2010
Location: NORTH CENTRAL OHIO
Posts: 907

when i was 9 my older brother was 11 we found a stray hound puppy , dad had been a coon hunter in his younger yrs so we decided we wanted to be coon hunters to.
the first yr we tried to go with some locals, but no they did not have time for us , so we took our pup our kerosene lantern and our flashlight with dd batteries and off we went, needless to say that first yr we didnt tree a single coon , but we walked our tails off, we hunted from the house we didnt have anybody to give us a ride, often we would be as much as 4 to 5 mi from the house we made big circles ,
by the second yr we were treeing coon , we treed 11 coon that yr we thought we had a good time and we did,lol
now looking back i wonder how many kids would head out at dark after milking cows go hunting walk every step come home at 2 am go to bed get up do chores go to school come home and do it all over again ,

THOSE WERE SOME TOUGH YRS BUT LOOKING BACK THEY WERE SOME OF THE BEST

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Registered: Mar 2009
Location: N.E.Tn
Posts: 111

I remember walking about 3 miles to borrow my uncles dog then walk back to the river to hunt.then have to walk the 3miles back to take the dog home.no coons with that old dog just possums and house cats.that was 50 yrs.ago and still at it even thoughmy walking days are over.

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Registered: May 2008
Location: Kentucky
Posts: 3147

We just walk hunted those mountains. I remember a neighbor that lived on the other side from our farm. He had a ol red car. I would here him outside and go to hollering at him, HEY FRANK, YOU HUNTIN TONIGHT? He would yell back,YES WE WERE REDNECKS LOL!!! He would come over and we would load them dogs up and go ten miles down the road. MAN WE WERE GOING SOMEWHERE!!! Then, my other buddy turned 16 and got a pontiac sunbird. That trunk stunk in just a few days. OUR DADS COULDNT KEEP GAS IN THEIR LAWNMOWERS OR CULTIVATING TRACTORS!!! WE WOULD CIPHER EVERY BIT OF GAS TO HAVE ENOUGH TO GO HUNTING!!!!

One early morning i came sneaking in hoping to get few hours sleep before the tobacco patch. MY DADS SENSE OF HUMOR WAS TO LET YOU JUST GET LAYED DOWN BEFORE HE GOT YOU UP FOR FARM WORK!!! Anyway, that morning I did not get woke up. Yay for me. However, about noon phone rang. Man said I got 2 coonhounds with your name on them. I thought that is impossible he told me where he was and it was 2 hrs down the road, I called my buddy we got gas and off we wnet.

I had put our dogs in stock trailer that night instead of kennel because I was trying to be quiet and not wake the ol man. He got up early and went to cow sale that day. The dogs climbed out of trailer at the yards and thats how they got there. I STILL ACCUSE HIM OF LETTING THEM OUT TRYING TO DETER MY INTEREST IN NIGHT HUNTING!!!! DID NOT WORK LOL!!!!

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Registered: Dec 2007
Location: Hurley,Mississippi
Posts: 176

quote:

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Originally posted by david r
Thats great! I am lovin it!

M. Reynolds

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Registered: Apr 2007
Location: virginia
Posts: 1173

quote:

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Originally posted by high ridge
We just walk hunted those mountains. I remember a neighbor that lived on the other side from our farm. He had a ol red car. I would here him outside and go to hollering at him, HEY FRANK, YOU HUNTIN TONIGHT? He would yell back,YES WE WERE REDNECKS LOL!!! He would come over and we would load them dogs up and go ten miles down the road. MAN WE WERE GOING SOMEWHERE!!! Then, my other buddy turned 16 and got a pontiac sunbird. That trunk stunk in just a few days. OUR DADS COULDNT KEEP GAS IN THEIR LAWNMOWERS OR CULTIVATING TRACTORS!!! WE WOULD CIPHER EVERY BIT OF GAS TO HAVE ENOUGH TO GO HUNTING!!!!

One early morning i came sneaking in hoping to get few hours sleep before the tobacco patch. MY DADS SENSE OF HUMOR WAS TO LET YOU JUST GET LAYED DOWN BEFORE HE GOT YOU UP FOR FARM WORK!!! Anyway, that morning I did not get woke up. Yay for me. However, about noon phone rang. Man said I got 2 coonhounds with your name on them. I thought that is impossible he told me where he was and it was 2 hrs down the road, I called my buddy we got gas and off we wnet.

I had put our dogs in stock trailer that night instead of kennel because I was trying to be quiet and not wake the ol man. He got up early and went to cow sale that day. The dogs climbed out of trailer at the yards and thats how they got there. I STILL ACCUSE HIM OF LETTING THEM OUT TRYING TO DETER MY INTEREST IN NIGHT HUNTING!!!! DID NOT WORK LOL!!!!

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" If you ain't the lead dog, then your view never changes"

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Registered: May 2008
Location: Kentucky
Posts: 3147

For you guys that are divorced you will like this one.

My wife planned our wedding and honeymoon for the middle of October. Why she done that I do not know, everyone knows PKC world is that month. Anyway it was up to me to make arrangements for honeymoon. However, the SS was the week our trip was and she wanted to go to Jamaica so it put me in a bind!!!!

Anyway, I planned the trip she asked, why are we only getting to stay 4 nights there, I told small white lie and said that was all resort had that it was busy month for them. We flew out and was gone. When trip was over we flew back into North Carolina my phone rangh,it was a buddy from West Virginia. I told him get on road I would land in Nashville in couple hours and be there by draw out. She asked what was going on and I told her SS. I hunted everyu night while we dated I figured all was ok. NO NO NO would be the answer to that. Anyway plane lands in Naashville, I load truck drop her off and left fro World hunt for 2 weeks. WORLD HUN T WAS MORE FUN THAN HONEYMOON LOL LOL

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Registered: May 2005
Location: spartanburg, s.c.
Posts: 306

Back in the day when I was first getting started I was able to go with different people that took the time come pick me up. I enjoyed every minute of it and I am sure that I left a few chores unfinished. When I was old enough and had my own way to travel I borrowed a couple of dogs from one of my friends. I was so new to the sport and under equipped to go then it wasnt funny. Borrrowed a .22 from my neighbor and actually used a kerosene lantern. Well I took off to the woods with all my borrowed future hobby and went hunting. Get to my spot and turned the dogs loose, lit the lantern and off I went into the darkness. Those dogs struck and soon had a coon treed just a 1/4 mile or less from the truck. What was so funny to think about was I walked all the way to the tree , not once did I stumble or trip over any briars or vines while using the lantern. I got to the tree and found the coon and the shooting commenced, finally I got a shot close enough after reloading the tube fed ten + shots per reloading. The coon tumbles down and the fight was on.
Now the fun was about to begin, remember two grown male dogs, rifle, kerosene lantern, and now add a grown coon to the mix. I made my way to the truck about a half hour later with every thing except the rod that went in the magazine tube. Never found that and by the time I got home I looked like I had been on the losing end of a knife fight. Kind of scared my parents at first, but we all got a good laugh from the stories of that night. God , what would I give to go back to those good ol days again.

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