Straddle Track Tales (a coon hunting journal)

[riverbirchrun]

Hunted Whiskey and Raven last night. Went to a river bottom and man was the woods dry. They ran a real good track about a mile down the bottom before the coon crossed the river. Those darn dogs wouldn't cross again. I can't wait till it gets warmer, those dogs are going to swim and there going to like it! So I grabbed them up for a long walk back to the truck. And went to a big woods and cut out. They hit a track right away and ran it 3/4 of the way back. It was a big maple with a hole at the bottom. So I still didn't get to see a coon. Raven threw a real nice locate and treed pretty good till I got there. Then she walked away I had to lead her up when she came back. There wasen't much scent on the tree cause the hole was on the ground. Whiskey was digging so he wasen't treeing much. I have snow on the ground now tonight. But I need to at least take Whiskey to get him ready for tomarrow night.

[mrjbigfoot]

Good Luck!! I hope ya get a couple!!!

[riverbirchrun]

Well didn't make it to any night hunts this weekend. Fri the wind was coming out og the north off the lake and it was just cold. So I just took Whiskey and Pipper for a drop out back. They treed once after about an hr of no tracks or nothing. Glad I didn't go to the hunt. They finally ran a little track and treed off the RR. They were on the top of the hill and it was a busted up elm tree from the ice storm last yr. The top of the tree hits the ground at the bottom of the hill. I think the coon went the tree and back down the top. But the dogs never went to the bottom of the hill. So they treed there. I lead them up and went home.

Sat. we took Pipper and Whiskey to a woods where a coon ran in front of use so we waited for it to get to the woods before we turned the dogs out. It went in a hole. So we took the dogs to a river bottom where they ran a coon half way across the country and treed in a den tree. Still didn't get to see a coon. Turned them back loose and they ran a track across us where we were walking on the RR. We grabbed them up cause I knew where they were headed and we were going to be off for another long walk.

[riverbirchrun]

Last night was one of those nights you hate. Raven ran a deer so Whiskey joined in and they were off to the river bottom. But With the help of my tracking system I kept tabs on them and got them both back safely. I was fighting mad and wore out from the long walks back to the woods to go get them. Of coruse they were in two differnt woods so twice the walking.

[riverbirchrun]

Last night was much more like it. They ran in the 1st drop deep, it ws 10 min before I heard from them. but then they were treed right away. They had a coon in a small tree with no top in it. Well I blew on my coon squaller once and he jumped out, dang near on my head. Well Whiskey herd the thud and came running. The coon was about 2 foot up a bigger tree when he snagged him. Pipper heard the coon and came running. I tryed to get them off the coon, you just don't see many in this woods it gets hunted to death. I don't know if the coon made it or not it was pretty stunded by the time I got the dogs off. The next drop was in my honey hole, but there building 2 house's in it. Well the got stuck in 15 sec. and Whiskey let out in tree locate in 4 min. Then all I heard was a coon. Well I rushed in there and the had a coon in the swamp. This one didn't have a chance. So I pulled it out of the water and put it out where thy could play with it for a while. Then loaded up and went home. They got to sleep inside last night after playing in the ice water. Pipper even got a few new battle wounds on her ear.

[mrjbigfoot]

Man, sounds like you had a great time!!! And, I hadn't seen those last photos, they're awesome!!

[riverbirchrun]

Thank you!

Well Whiskey is well on his road to being a true night hunt comp. dog! Last night I took him to a PKC hr. nite hunt. He went in and got 1st strike and 2nd tree on the 1st turn out. Where we saw the coon. 3 of the dogs were there one was left handed a little was with a coon but the judge - him said his dog was still moving when he treed him. I didn't think so but the guy took it cause it was a 2 to 2 vote. So next cut loose Whiskey got 1st strike 2nd tree again, it was a den and I saw the coon tucked up in the hole + that tree. the same 3 dogs were there and the other dog treed alone and it was scored as a slick tree - 125. So now Whiskey is tied with one other dog with 325+. Well the one guy with drew cause he was mad about the 1st tree anyway. Next drop Whiskey had 2nd strike 1st tree it was a den and circled so he's tied still with the other dog with 150 circle. 11 min. left in the hunt we make another drop. A few min go by before Whiskey opens 1st strike with about 4 min left in the hunt. The judge struck his dog which never barked he struck it on one of Whiskeys barks. Whiskey was in the front of the woods. The other 2 dogs beat feet along the field and went in the back of the woods. They treed with 2 min to go and Whiskey rips off his locate with 1 min in the hunt all alone. I treed him I had no choice. He dosen't settle into the tree for about a 1 or 2 after he locates then rolls over on his chop and is rock soild treed. He didn't have time with onle a min in the hunt. Well we were standing right beside him at this time and hunt was out and all dogs treed so we walked right in and he was still walking around the bottom of the tree. So I got him - 100 for leaving the tree. It was good with a coon. He would have finished with 525+ and 150 circled but I just ran out of time. The other to dogs had another den tree so the judge ended up with 325+ 300 circle 0- Whiskey had 325+ 150 circled and 100-. It was a blast mybe next time will get in there. I though it was real good for an hr. hunt. Heck he could of had 525 in an hr.

[mrjbigfoot]

Wow, sounds like ya did great & I hope ya do even better on the next score!!

[riverbirchrun]

Well with the good usally comes the bad and the ugly. Last night was just plain UGLY! A friend of mine came over for a hunt and the coon just were not moving. I think ol Whiskey was tired and Pipper was just trying too hard cause I have been just hunting her every other night. And she wants to be out every night. 1st drop was about a 20 min. back track session followd by a SLICK tree. Then it took them about another 20 min to get treed on a den. So we went to the river bottom. Where they ran forever and I don't know if Pipper was Slick again or if it was just a den. Whiskey was standing 1/4 of the way on the other side of a overflow. He wouldn't cross cause there was brush all over in the water. He did cross the river many times last night though. Then last drop they went through a little woods an picked up a coon in a field. I would guess eating night crawlers cause they were every where. They ran him to a rabbit patch of briers. Where I could no longer stand it and called them out and took them home. I was soaked any how cause when I had crossed the river it was over my waders. Now my feet hurt today from being wet all night. I think it's time for a night off!

[mrjbigfoot]

Sounds like you deserve a night off! You better be careful about that river! Are you talking hip waders or chest waders? If it's hip waders I'm ok, but if your going in over chest waders, that's bad!

[riverbirchrun]

They are hip wadders for coon hunting. There nothing like the duck hunting kind. They have the brier proof material on the outside with a water proff lining on muck boots. They don't get tore up walking through all the thick stuff. I'm a great swimmer so I take more chances than I should at times. I've been across some pretty fast moving water that will sweep you off your feet if you pick them up off the river bottom to high. I try not to do that stuff when I'm alone but sometimes you just have to follow the hounds where ever that may be! I guess I would rather die in the woods than any other way. Here is the only tree that didn't look to bad last night.

And here is what I like to call a walker dog coon. LOL He just happen to be sitting where we were standing at the time.

[riverbirchrun]

Went to an UKC hunt last night. I should have stayed home. The cast was a joke and I was the only one the new the rules. And I have a hard time with them cause I hunt PKC and know those rules like the back of my hand. There were to loud chop mouthed dogs in the cast and Whiskey was loosing his voice again. So I couldn't hear him most of the night. 1st drop the 2 loud dogs went right in a treed. Me and another kid went ahead and treed because we couldn't hear if our dogs were there. They were not there it was a slick tree with a big fat fox squirle sitting in it. So the kid and I got minus pts for treeing and leaving(they were never there). Next drop we drove 45 mins away to a he!! hole. It was noting but tree tops you couldn't even walk. Well 2 dogs tree slick as heack while Whiskey worked the track and another dog joined in. They treed on a den. Next drop I couldn't hear him again so I didn't tree this time with the other dogs slick treeing all the time and I knew he wouldn't. Well he was there cause the coon was there. Took more minus. Next drop some dogs got mean, one got rolled and holes through his ears. While the mean dog was treeing Whiskey pulled up treed in knee deep water about 100ft away from the mean dog. All the dogs pulled to him and he had the coon. So were back to 0. Scoring is much different in UKC. So I with drew along with the dog that got tore up cause I didn't keed to get my dog ate up for this crap. The mean dog won the cast with 25+. Oh well. One a up note Rain got her win and is now a bench show Champion too with her brother. This pic. is from the other week.

[riverbirchrun]

Tonight I took Pipper and Raven out in the flood waters! We got over 2 inches of rain this morning and there is water laying every where. They struck right away it was a hot track. But had a little trouble getting it treed in all the water. Pipper finally treed but Raven never did. I cut her loose again and they worked a track through the woods around a field and back to the woods. They were treeing But I had walk away from them back teards the truck cause I heard someone messing around on a dirt bike by the truck and yelling. Well I didn't see them by the time I could shine the truck. So i headed back twards them and they had left the tree. I did see the coon about were I heard them at. So the ran another track and got treed again at a log. It was a big fallen beach tree. I could see the coon real well and they both stayed there and treed the whole time. So I went home on a good note!

[riverbirchrun]

I layed Whiskey up for 4 days cause his voice was o bad last fri. night. It didn't do much good. But I went to a PKC hunt and it was bad. We cut them loose and a big Walker dog tried to lay Whiskey out before they even got to the woods. He slammed into him at full speed trying to knock him down. Whiskey didn't know what to think. I have seen dogs do this before, they usally do it every time you cut them loose. And there ruff on the tree most of the time. Well Whiskey cut back the other way and the big dog, a little female and another Walker wne the same way. Wouldn't you know it a dog fight broke out no sooner than they got to the woods. Whiskey was woking a track and the big walker flew in there, next thing you know Whiskey is no where to be herd. The little female treed and so did the big walker farther in. Circle tree for the female. Then When we were walking into the big male the other walker dog ran in and jump on the big male. We saw the coon there and cut them back out to Whiskey. He would open every now and again. I have no ideal what he was doing. Then the big walker treed again with the other walker. There was some stuff going on there at the tree. Whiskey went to run to the tree and the big walker snapped around to grab him. The handler said Whiskey tried to jump him. Bull, that dog didn't want to share the tree, or even the woods from what is sounded like. I with drew and so did the guy with the other walker. The big walker ended up winning the cast. He was sitting under 3 coon that night, but he sure dosen't play nice. The handler always wanted to go handle his dog alone while we were at another tree. The one time he didn't I saw what his dog was doing. Well Whikey ended up with a swollen foot out of all of this and won't walk on it. So it's lots of soak time for him.

[riverbirchrun]

I hunted Pipper, Raven and Queenie on Thurs. night before the storm came in. Well almost it caught us coming out of the last woods. We got a little lost cause you couldn't open your eyes to see. The snow was hitting so hard it hurt. But before all that we treed a few coon. !st drop they ran the track around the same area for 5 to 10 min before Pipper located the tree it was in. It was a hard one to find too. So we made 2 drops in little acer woods after that. But nothing happening in those. So we made one more drop in a little bigger woods. They struck right away and in a few minutes got treed. Pipper had the coon sitting there again.