Registered: Jun 2003
Location: Dog House
Posts: 4112

In late October I went under the knife to fuse the top two vertebrates in my neck. While I was under anstesia I had a stroke which took away all of my balance. I couldn’t even sit up. After 20 days they let me come home. I have went from a wheelchair to a walker to a cane.so I am getting better with the help of a lot of people and a lot of prayers. Since I haven’t been able to do much I’ve been reading up on hunt reports and conversations on the net along with watching final cast play by plays. I’ve been out of the coonhound loop for 10 years but from what I can tell it seems there are many more good dogs out there than there were back then which is one of the reasons I quit. You could hunt a long time and not see one you really wanted to own. I would love to get back in it but I’m afraid this stroke has sealed my fate. What say you guys, are there a lot more good dogs out there now than there was 10-12 years ago?

Last edited by elvis on 12-05-2021 at 02:48 AM

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Registered: Dec 2003
Location: Abbeville S.C.
Posts: 979

Praying for you Elvis

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Registered: Dec 2010
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Posts: 1202

I’d say so. But I think I’m going to have to pay more for one than I’ve ever given for a vehicle to get one. You can pay 30k for one and they go win a few cast then next weekend and get it back and more. Had a guy tell me he sold one for 15 k that was 7. Within a month she won that. I hope you get better and find what your looking for.

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Registered: Apr 2015
Location: church hill tn
Posts: 5738

Praying for you, hope you fully recover and get to hunt in the future. I think we definitely have more good to better coon dogs today than we ever have had. Dogs just do better from puppies to coon dogs. It's definitely better breeding in my opinion, it's just in their DNA and take them hunting. Hope you get a good one and get to hunt again, it's something we never get out of our system. Lol. Dave

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

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Just as Elvis said the dogs today are probably better overall a hunter who has also trained a ukc world champuon told me after getting back in the sport after 10 years the dogs were better and it was actually harder to win

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Registered: Apr 2015
Location: church hill tn
Posts: 5738

I am 73 and I definitely remember the days when a real good dog was hard to find in these mountains. Now there are several really good dogs around these parts. It's not hard at all to find s pretty good dog, a dog that's clean, trees coins and handles good, a far cry from the old days. Now a days these year old dogs look better than 4 or 5 year old dogs looked in the past. Yelp the dogs today are a lot better in my opinion. Dave

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

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Registered: May 2016
Location: Palatka, FL
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Elvis, first my Prayers for your health.

Think the answer to your question has several parts to it. Dogs of today come with a better genetic package than the dogs did in the past. I think you take a solid dog from the past and compare it to a good dog today. You have about the same thing. A good dog. However the dogs today come with a better chance of being good. But it still takes one thing. An owner that knows what he wants and can get that out of a dog. In years past they were generally good or needed to leave this world. A big separation in how they operated. Today most have the genetics to make some kind of dog. So we have a lot of dogs that are somewhat counterfeits due to the owners not training them properly. The dogs bring their genetics to the game and that is enough to impress some. That is enough to get them entered into some hunts. Sometimes enough to actually win a little. But they are far from being a coonhound. Actually they are an aggravating coonhound that probably could have been real good with proper handling. So to sum up my thoughts. Coon Hound genetics have risen to the occasion. Coon Hound handling and training is hit and miss. Also the emphasis put on winning by the rules doesn't mean you will have a coon dog that operates to give you enjoyment in the woods.

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Registered: May 2005
Location: Bellevue, IA
Posts: 1874

Heal up and get back out there even if it’s just pleasure hunting.

I must be in the minority. From what I’ve seen there are not that many more good ones now than there were 10 years ago. There are way more hunts and opportunities for average one to look above average for a weekend. Just my humble opinion.

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Registered: Mar 2004
Location: Northwest Indiana
Posts: 1535

I am sorry to hear about your struggles,I hope you get back to health,and be able to hunt again.
Just look at what our friend Jim went through just to go and hunt!
Take care my friend.

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Registered: Aug 2003
Location: Yadkin County NC
Posts: 1671

Elvis as many good dogs as you've seen through the years I'm suprised you think that way. I must have been one of the fortunate ones. Doesn't say much for the Houses, Merchants, Logans and Meeks. I saw a lot more good dogs through the seventies through the nineties than I've seen since. And Dave you said you know Kyle Chase. Did you ever hunt with any of his dogs? He sold YR Jeff to Meeks and Bought the Tom dog from him. Every time I hunted with him he turned loose a coondog, not a loose mouth barking slick treeing idiot. Overall what I've seen out of todays dogs they couldn't hold a candle to most of yesterdays dogs. I saw a year old dog win a state hunt with over a hundred entries. He didn't just beat the dogs in his cast he had to beat over ninety other dogs. Back then good dogs won hunts instead of just good handlers.

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Registered: Apr 2015
Location: church hill tn
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Yes, I have hunted with Kyle's dogs, the Yadkinriver bloodlines and liked what I saw. Kyle brought old Yadkin River Tom from Jimmy Meeks, Kyle raised Yadkin River Jeff from a pup out of his Rozelle female, nothing wrong with any of those dogs. I think Kyle's Tom dog was the first Grand night champion dog ever brought into this country, not really sure. I still say there are more good dogs today than back in those days, especially in my country. Your country may be different, most likely is. When I was younger, I combed the mountains of Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia looking for top coon hounds, they were very scarce back then. I guess a man's perspective really depends on where they lived. We were never in a coon zoo in these parts, coon were scarce then and definitely not thick today. All I know is that most of the coon hunters in my part of the country have pretty fair to good dogs today, definitely not back in the day.Dave

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

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Registered: Jun 2014
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One thing is certain. We have more dogs that will tree than we had years ago. Some maybe a bit too much, but tree dogs nonetheless. And that might depend on your age. "Years ago" to some was in the 90"s and to others, it could be the 60"s.

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quote:

---

Originally posted by Bruce m. Conkey
Elvis, first my Prayers for your health.

Think the answer to your question has several parts to it. Dogs of today come with a better genetic package than the dogs did in the past. I think you take a solid dog from the past and compare it to a good dog today. You have about the same thing. A good dog. However the dogs today come with a better chance of being good. But it still takes one thing. An owner that knows what he wants and can get that out of a dog. In years past they were generally good or needed to leave this world. A big separation in how they operated. Today most have the genetics to make some kind of dog. So we have a lot of dogs that are somewhat counterfeits due to the owners not training them properly. The dogs bring their genetics to the game and that is enough to impress some. That is enough to get them entered into some hunts. Sometimes enough to actually win a little. But they are far from being a coonhound. Actually they are an aggravating coonhound that probably could have been real good with proper handling. So to sum up my thoughts. Coon Hound genetics have risen to the occasion. Coon Hound handling and training is hit and miss. Also the emphasis put on winning by the rules doesn't mean you will have a coon dog that operates to give you enjoyment in the woods.

---

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Last edited by Reuben on 12-10-2021 at 02:48 PM

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Registered: Jan 2004
Location: Northwest Georgia
Posts: 1630

Elvis you could really help this forum with your coon dog knowledge, Prayers that you can get healthy enough to turn one loose.

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If I were just guessing there is a far greater shortage of good hunters than good dogs. Truthfully I don't blame them. Between the loss of huntable woods, zero market for coon hides, the price of fuel/fees and the emphasis of money in the coonhound world, if you weren't already involved in the sport or your family wasnt....why the heck would you start?

The coonhound world has never figured out how to scientifically breed winning dogs....so it's a big game of guess work and percentages. With less hunters less dogs get hunted and the percentage of good pups that get into good hands goes down. I think its really that simple.

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Registered: Dec 2003
Location: Mercer PA
Posts: 4833

If I were just guessing there is a far greater shortage of good hunters than good dogs. Truthfully I don't blame them. Between the loss of huntable woods, zero market for coon hides, the price of fuel/feed and the emphasis of money in the coonhound world, if you weren't already involved in the sport or your family wasnt....why the heck would you start?

The coonhound world has never figured out how to scientifically breed winning dogs....so it's a big game of guess work and percentages. With less hunters less dogs get hunted and the percentage of good pups that get into good hands goes down. I think its really that simple.

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Ron Ashbaugh
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Registered: Jan 2006
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Ron is correct we don't have as many hunters plus coonhunting is not a cheap hobby anymore young kids don't get anything for hides etc. Most can't afford the costs and loss of timber in some areas really hurts

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Location: Louisiana
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The good news is, a lot of modern dogs don't require as much hunting and training as dogs did years ago. I have two now that I've been hunting alone since they're 7 months old. I'm not saying they were competition-ready at that age, but they both treed wild raccoons regularly. And still do.

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quote:

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Originally posted by shadinc
The good news is, a lot of modern dogs don't require as much hunting and training as dogs did years ago. I have two now that I've been hunting alone since they're 7 months old. I'm not saying they were competition-ready at that age, but they both treed wild raccoons regularly. And still do.

---

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

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