BigGameHoundsmen.com

Hey guys - I don't know a lot about coon hunting and/or coon dogs so......

Since my barn has become infested with coons I have become a coon hunter out of self defence. My B&T has chased a few with other dogs and my Bluetick is the same story, just fewer coons. I have live traped and released a few for them and they kinda trailed them and the ones that they found on the ground, they killed before they ever opened on the track. This morning my female bluetic got off her chain and the B&T was barking because he couldn't go along so I got up and by the time I was out of the house I had to turn out the B&T in order to find the bluetic. The last I saw of the bluetic was her trailing something away from the barn so I started the B&T there. He soon caught up and they both started down the creek and BAM!!!! they were both striking on track as though they were on a fresh tom track (or deer). They trailed about 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile sounding like they were after something very big and bad until they caught the coon in the creek under some willows and in about a foot of water. It took them about 10 or so minutes until they killed it.

My question is: Do most dogs kill coons? Is it good to let them if they will? I've heard horror stories about coons drowning dogs so are they bullsh@t or did I just get lucky?

I suppose it depends on what you want if a coon doesn't tree then that's up to him and the hounds to sort out. some dogs will become kill dogs others just enjoy a fight. coons can and do kill hounds so it's not bull. mtn lions are supposed to be notorious cowards and generally are unless the dogs push the fight too much, then he may kill one in self defence. most animals have nothing to prove so if they can get out of a fight they will. why else would a 300 lb bear climb a tree? so if your dogs are used to clear your barn and up to date on their shots and you don't mind the bloody ears or torn coon skins it's up too you whether they are doing their job "right".

In over 50 years of coon hunting I have known of 3 or 4 dogs to be drowned by coons in deep water. Never known or heard of a coon killing a dog any other way.

briarpatch

Briarpatch if in "fifty years" of coonhunting and life you haven't seen something new or unusual it makes me wonder about the quality of time spent. Why didn't you volunteer your experience and knowledge to a new houndsmen in a positive and informative way? and please read my post again I didn't say that coons made a habit of killing dogs in a knock down drag out fight .I SAID THEY CAN AND DO KILL HOUNDS. And as his question was about the accuracy of coons drowning hounds that was the question I was addressing. That said I have in my meager time in the woods lost a hound to a punctured jugular vein. I also know that it very rarely happens which is why I told him that the most likely thing to happen was mauled coon skins and bloody dog ears. This is also why I feel a young dog shouldn't be hunted until you are sure they can handle those things most likely to happen. I wonder why so many people here are more likely to be disparaging then helpful of their fellow houndsmen?

Pegleg, I think I answered his question based on my experience. Perhaps my experience does not have the "quality" needed.

I was not presumptuous enough to think that I needed to "volunteer my experience and knowledge".Perhaps you can fulfill that if you perceive a need.

I had no intention of offending you and I apologize that I did.

briarpatch

She did it again, only this time she was treed before I could turn in the other dog. She treed about 3/4 mile down the creek from the house. This coon hunting is easy, all I do is go to bed and wake up to treed coons.

She had a tree picked out and my B&T thought she may be right, but neither one was positive. I could see an old bird nest up there and began to get a little discouraged but to give them the benifit of the doubt, I poked the nest with a stick and the coon inside decided to try it out on the ground and it was all over before he made it 10 feet.

Thanks for the replies and listening.

Scott

haha sounds like you have quite the coon dogs! I would be damn happy if I could hunt coons out of my yard, especially if I go to sleep and wake up and have one treed, hahaha. I caught one last night my 3 dogs fought on the ground and killed, my 5 month old pup, my 5yr old Cameron bluetick and my 2yr old walker/bluetick. My female Cameron broke the bottom jaw of the coon in half, im not too worried about mine dying from a coon, but everyone says it can happen so im right in there with the dogs about a foot away from the coon for a good part of the time while they're fighting it. I want to make sure they'll do it on their own without me there but after they have fought it for awhile I move closer just to make sure something doesnt happen

Some areas have smaller coon so it may be different,we routinely kill coon here in the uhigh 20's to 35lbs,if a dog is fighting a coon in deep water the coon will climb up on his head,not so much to kill the dog but to try to get the hell away from him,but a 30lb coon on a dogs head isn't a good thing lol.I have seen dogs get their necks ripped open too,usually when they go in for a kill the coon will wrap himself around the dogs neck and bite at whatever he can.Usually it works out in the dogs favor but anything can happen,Good huntin'

That coon last night was trying to do that to my female but she ended up breaking the coons lower jaw in half.....that was something else

I have to say that I'm one of the luckiest SOB's I know. I live on a little slice of heaven and they call it work .

The female bluetic is just a little over a year and she somehow figured out how to slip her collar over her ears and off she goes. Last cat season she was 8 months old when I got her and she would trail cats with my other dog until she jumped a deer or moose or elk or anything else that ran from her. I've like to worn out a Tri-tronics collar just to get her bent, not broke from trash.

Both dogs get right into the coon and when the coon crawls up on the head of one, the other one is there to pull it off and start punchin hiles in the coons hide. They get the coons with a dog on both ends and see how long they can stretch it.

None of these coons are over 20 or so pounds. Hell, some were this years cubs. The one this morning was in an old magpie nest his brother. they may have been 10 pounds at best. I let one get away while they were fighting with the one on the ground.

I think that I may be one of the luckiest guys alive, as none of this comes from any sort of super training.

later
Scott

Damn right it sounds like you're living right! The coons where I hunt are pretty sparse unless I drive another 10-15 minutes then they are decent but still not super thick, hard hunting to. I feel more comfortable in a the certain area where I usually hunt them though, as I know only have 2 tracking collars at the moment and 3 dogs, my pup is going to need one soon thats for sure! Yeah my 2 older dogs were stretching that big boy last night, it was probably 25lbs, not huge but decent, maybe a little more. My female is pretty ruthless snapping that coons lower jaw in half. Its pretty damn amazing you never had to do much, if any, training at all on those 2 dogs! Sounds like you got 2 damn good dogs in the making! Good luck

its not the ground fights you worry about, its water. coons like taking to water, ive seen it many times. like bearhntwi described, they jsut get on the dogs head and a 25-30 pound coon is alot for a dog to handle in water. rivers are the worst in my opinion.

Yeah we had our dogs tree 2 up in one tree next to a river we hunt next to, damn Im glad they didnt try to cross it was mid spring flush and that water was moving fast! Never had them fight on in the water, thank god

Wake up to coons treed. Thats good. But if mine get out, its wake up to a treed bear!

I've had the dogs catch quite a few coons in the water. I can see how easily things an go wrong. Once they get out there I try and leave them alone. The biggest mistake I've seen is pulling the dogs off and leaving one dog on it. Coon vs Dog in the water is gonna go in the coons favor. Two dogs can keep the coon off each other.

My main females sire was drowned by a coon at 11 years old. Went just as I described. Everyone got nervous and pulled there dogs off, he was the only one they couldn't catch. The coon got on his head and drowned him before anyone could swim out. Instead of just turning another dog loose to help, they watched him die.

Dogs can die after a coon fight from coonhound paralysis or from wound infections.

There are a few ways dogs can die cooning, maybe not just from the coon. Tree climbers often fall and break backs, necks, bones, internal injuries. Or fall and skew themselves. Also seen them get hung up in the tree by there collar.

Thanks for the replies. We are talking about two different types of water though....The creek by the house is "yard wide and a foot deep" so to speak. There is also a good chance that they could put up a bear around the house. To bad in Montana that is a "NO NO". I wish we could run them here. Last year I had an old sow come in and thump on the B&T while he was on his chain. She was trying to eat his dog food and he was not willing to share. I was at work at the time and didn't get to see it, but my wife said it was quite the show. I wonder if you start the bear track on the concrete floor of your garage, is it legal? I had a cub in the garage tearing the hell out of the garbage a month or so ago.

Later

Scott

ps. Mike Leonard, what song is "yard wide and a foot deep" from????