It was kind of fun to go to a hunt again. Only nine dogs up there. I drew out with Leon & a friend of Jesses. The first drop I screwed up and treed Roy early. The dogs went on and treed & I took last. The coon was there but Roy and the kids dog didn't seem to want to tree together very well. Next drop Roy and Gus treed, the tother dog came in but wouldn't tree with them, they left to follow that dog. They treed again about 4 minutes. That other dog kept coming in and leaving then it treed about 100 yards over. Ours left and treed with it. It left it's tree but finally came back. The tree was slick. I was minused out already! Oh well. I've been beating him off of trees for a couple of months. I shouldn't be surprised when he leaves one now. I see now if I can get him to be more accurate, then I'll have to work on his confidence next. Probably a long time before he should ever go back to a hunt.
I took Mabel and Ruby to the vegetable garden about 11:50. I let Ruby loose first and Mabel right away after. No babbling. I heard Ruby first about 1/2 mile north. Mabel might have been barking too but Ruby is pretty loud & it was windy. If Ruby really got the strike in that section over Mabel, she's the 1st ever. Anyway, Ruby sounded stationary & Mabel was trailing to the left still. I tried to get to Ruby but she left. Mabel treed and Ruby backed her. THe coon was there. This is an area where sveral ditches come together. Likely Ruby was just hung up on one of them & finally swam to get to Mabels tree.
Picked up Charlie and Pearl. We went to the schoolhouse and sent Roy and Pearl north. Roy opened on a tree after about 15 minutes. We walked in quite away & he got quiet. A minute or two and then he treed again. I don't know if he moved or just left and came back. I'm sure he did one or te other when Pearl came into the tree and then left. Anyway, he stayed after that and Pearl treed hard with him. Got there and saw the coon. Not perfect but better than slick.
Picked up Pete and we took Bronco and Ruby up to the vegetable garden. It was pouring by the time we got there. Turned around and headed home. Caught up on some dog news at least.
Took Ruby andf Roy to the vegetable garden. Sent them along the ditch instead of walking. Ruby struck in the close woods and ran for a minute or so. I wondered where Roy was. He finally opned up on the tree. While listening for him I lost track of Ruby's voice. I don't know if she located or not. ANyway they were both treeing hard. Another big leaner going into another tree. Ruby was way up there and Roy was treeing at the base. I called her and she came down. I saw the coon. If Ruby can keep striking like that she could really be something. It's too early to tell but that seemed a lot like the way Mabel used to get the drop on dogs.
I took Pearl back and showed the kids how she minded now. She tried to run away once in her home territory & I had to shock her pretty good. The rest of the time I was there she came runiing when I called. She was still a little shook up so I left her there and took Roy out alone at the vegetable garden. He struck deep & I could tell it was a bad track. He was quiet for long periods. He finally just located and started treeing. I suspected it would be slick. He came off the tree when I got there & I was sure he screwed up then. I still looked it over for a few minutes. It was a big hollow tree with lots of leaves but I'm sure there was no coon. I really laid into harder than ever tonight. He went and laid in the woods for a while & then took off. I looked the tree over for quite a while after that. It would have been an easy circle tree in a hunt, but I still think he screwed up. I headed back to the truck and Roy was just sitting there. I must have really shook him up. I took him to Don Edens and sent him in. He struck, another bad track. I drove around for a few minutes. He was quiet. I drove back to the drop spot & he was there. Maybe he's finally figured out to leave a bad track instead of grabbing a tree? He better get it or there is a lot of pain in his future.
I had Mabel spayed so she had been layed up for a couple of weeks. I took her stitches out a couple of days ago & thought I'd take her up to the kids. She looked funny on the drive up. Kind of like I'd never see her again. We took Pearl and Mabel to the old schoolhouse. We let Mabel go and kept Pearl on a leash. I heard Mabel bark once deep & then she was gone. I tracked her & she was way north. We drove around and heard her way north of the kids house already. I sent the kids home after a little while and drove around for a couple of hours. Mabel treed once during that time. I started in but she left. I was really surprised. I finally found her treed way back to the east of the kids house about 1:00. She had a coon. There were two coons sitting up in some trees by the truck so I put Mable and Pearl on them just to get the pup a little exercise. I heard quite a few coyotes back where Mabel treed the first time. Maybe that's why she left?. Roy left one back there earlier this week too. I had a rope on Pearl during the drive home to keep her from barking. I gave it a tug and blew out my rear window. $175 dollars down the drain this morning. I have Pearl here for a couple of days. I want to teach her to come when called. Then I'll start hunting her the shock collar on. Anyway, Mabel tried hard not to see me ever again but I caught her. Boy is that old dog tough.
Took Roy and Ruby up to the vegetable garden late. Sent them into the north woods at 11:02. I heard the strike and a little trailing. I think it was mostly Roy to begin with. I don't know who hit the tree first. They were pretty deep. Lots of standing water in the woods on the way to them. Both were hammering good when I arrived. Leaves are getting thick but I saw the coon. Nice job. Light rain started on the walk out.
Took Roy & Ruby to the vegetable garden. I walked them all the way to the north woods and sent them in on the ditch. About 10 minutes passed & then Ruby struck. Roy joined in and they both trailed around. Ruby was stationary but it sounded funny. I started in and Roy treed where she was. She treed more regular then. It was a big leaner & Ruby was 1/2 way up when I got there. I got her out and tied her. The coon was there. Ruby is gonna' be my girl for a long time I think.
Took Roy & Pearl out with Charlie. We let them go by the north swamp where we treed an easy one a couple of weeks ago. Roy struck, treed and then left. I figured it was slick & he left when Pearl came in to him and kept on. They went deep. Roy just sat down and treed after about 1/2 hour. Pearl joined him. It was terrible walking & I was weak. We got there & it was slick. I really laid into Roy. Pearl got away & spent the night in the swamp. She was home when Charlie got up.
Took Roy out Tuesday night. He ran a long track and treed on the ditch. I think it was slick & I think he did too. I didn't shock him I was tired. Turns out I was sick & didn't hunt the rest of the week.
Went to the farm again. We drove up the edge of the field and sent Roy and Pearl in by a pothole. They both leave fast and split up. Roy opened about 10 minutes later. He was north west. We started wlking around & Pearl vcame into Roy. She trees hard! It took quite a while to get to them, there was a lot of wet land. Saw the coon and headed home.
I waited til late & took Roy out. I sent him in to the vegetable garden about 11:30. He made a loop & then headed north. Struck and treed after a short track. Had the coon. Looked very nice tonight.
Took Roy and Ruby to the vegetable garden. George was out in hiis field so I headed to Don Edens. Sent them both down the ditch. When I heard them they were pretty far south. I drove around and parked at the bird house. They were already treed south of there. I got in there pretty fast as they house wasn't too far a way. I saw the coon on the way in. I petted them a little & then headed home.
Friday I took Roy up to hunt with the kids. We all went up to Travis' (the cousin) and sent Roy & Pearl down the treeline. Pearl started chasing a rabbit & I told the boys to just keep walking away from her. Roy came back to check her out. I tapped him and sent him back down the treeline. He sat down and treed a few hundred feet ahead of us. Pearl came in but didn't settle. It was really dry right there & she kept milling and checking. Finally I just caught her and tied her back. We brought the coon out & let her just sit back and watch Roy. Maybe it did her some good. I told the boys we should move after making so much noise & we headed back to their place. There is a lot more to this story, click on the link below - Continue reading "Getting Strong"
We sent the dogs south on the path by the pothole. I treed a couple easy ones with Mabel earlier this spring but the coon have been making themselves scarce lately. I thought that all the frogs should have brought them back in by now. Guess I was wrong. Roy kept heading south and Pearl split off to the west. We drove around and Pearl was at the west approach. When we got out Pearl came running and then kept right on going. The boys didn't know they should have grabbed her when they had the chance. We drove around some more following her with the tracker. She moves around pretty fast. Soon her signal was coming from the direction of the boys house. We headed down the road and sure enough there was Pearl. This time the boys didn't waste any time catching her. Whew! She smelled! Somewhere Pearl had gotten her first skunk. We drove the rest of the way to the house and were putting Pearl and the farm dog Sage in the kennel. Billy got distracted and Pearl made her move. She was on the loose again & she didn't want to get caught. The farm dog Sage took off with her. I figured that Pearl would play a little, we'd catch her & then I'd go find Roy. What I didn't know was that the skunk that Pearl had gotten into was right in the little clump of woods by the house. Pearl wanted to get out so bad cause she knew it was still out there. So after a few minutes I heard her baying the skunk. To make matters worse, now Sage was helping her. After quite a bit of manuevering I was able to corner Pearl and get a leash on her. I also found the skunk. It was dead by now. I took Pearl over there and scolded her before heading for the road. I handed her over to the boys & told them to get some tomato juice. Two cans! One for Pearl and another for Sage. This took about 2 hours and I had no idea where Roy was the whole time. I drove around the section and started tracking. I picked his signal up in the next section. I drove through the new houses and parked at the last one. I could hear Roy treed west of there. He was fairly deep. I didn't know if I could get any closer than I already was so I just started walking. I finally came up on a big swamp or lake & I could see Roy. I also could see his coon up the tree. I might ahve been able to get to him but I didn't feel like it. I started calling Roy. He thought about it a little & then he came off to me. I was very pleased with the way he did this. I could tell he was tired. He really wanted to get in the truck and lay down. I don't know how long he had treed but I suspect it had been a while. I really think Roy has made some improvements. I wouldn't want to nite hunt him yet just because. I guess I'd like to just keep hunting him and let him get solid. I think he could compete right now though if I didn't care about setting him back. As for Pearl, we need to teach her to come when called. I guess I'll pick up some rope and make her start wearing "the collar". She's way too powerful to let run wild.