Taking a break. Hunting is bad. Talked to Seever and the river is down already. Will start hunting it next week. He said "watch out for the mud".
Gordy is home so Wade & I went up to his place. We let Mabel, Lucky and Ace go. Mabel was about 2 miles away when I caught her, bawling around in a pasture. We let loos one more time. Mabel struck and was grubbing a track. The others joined in but is sounded bad. Mabel treed but is sounded funny. They all left and I called Mabel in. Skunk! She smelled as bad as I've ever remembered. The other two were still in the swamp when I finally headed home.
Took Roy to the vegetable garden. So nice and cool this week, how could I stay home? He hunted out and struck in the north woods. It didn't sound that good. He treed but not that nice "I've got him" sound. When I got close to him he came of the tree. He wouldn't go back & I never was sure which tree he was actually on. He was very scared & wouldn't leave my side. I really suspect it was slick because of the way he acted on the other tree earlier this week. So I think he knows when a tree is slick, but he doesn't know what to do. Somehow I think if I could just show him once or twice, he'd try to be good. Anyway, I can't hunt him in the thick leaves like this. He'll just have to sit for a while. I'll try him on the river in August. He's lucky I like him enough to work with him, although he probably thinks he can do without luck like this.
I thought about who to take for a long time. I finally loaded Mabel and Ruby and headed for the vegetable garden. I sent them along the ditch about 11:00 pm. Ruby struck in the first woods and shortly after Mabel struck in the north woods. Ruby trailed down the ditch to the west edge of the north woods. Mabel trailed and treed in the east edge of the north woods. I had to follow Ruby to see what she was up to. She finally stopped and was barking, but it sounded funny. When I got there she was barking into a fallen tree. I pulled her away & looked in to find a huge possum. I scolded her a little and walked her to Mabels tree. A small funny looking tree right where two ditches came together. I looked anyway & finally saw the coon. I let Ruby tree with her for a little while and headed home. At least Ruby runs her own track.
Took Ruby to the vegetable garden hoping to get the easy coon. She hunted out good but struck in the jungle. I finally caught her because I don't want her struggling like this yet.
Took Pearl up to the kids and picked Roy up. We let Roy hunt and kept Pearl on a leash. Roy went out, struck a nice track, located and treed hard. I was sure he had it. I walked Pearl all the way in, Roy came off the tree when I got close, I had to encourage him to go back. He did & i found the coon. I've broken him down pretty far. Time to build him up. I'll only hunt him where I think he can do well for a while. Probably quite a while. Darn! I thought Ruby would be out of heat but Roy was all over her when he got home. A few days of this to deal with I guess.
Dale has a friend with a redbone pup & we all went to the vegetable garden with Mabel. We let the dogs go, the pup tried but Mabel outraced him and he came back to us. She opened in the north woods and ran a classic track, located and treed. Very nice. We walked the pup in and you could see him starting to think about hunting. He wasn't sure what was going on at the tree but he sure was interested. We found the coon and headed home.
I took Mabel up to the vegetable garden about 12:30 & sent her along the ditch. She struck, rn a short track and treed in the north woods. I could see the coon as I approached the treeline. I was back at the truck by 12:50. Nice to see that coon back. I was worried somebody had shot him. BTW, it was very cool tonight, around 45.
Took Mabel down to the river. The top entrance is flooded bad. I drove around to the Shakopee entrance. Plenty of corn coming up, but lots of flooded fields there too. Sent Mabel down the road. She never hit anything & was finally stopped at the big tree. It's all flooded there so she couldn't keep going down the road. I caught her and headed home. I figure there are some crops behind all the water, but it will be a couple of weeks before I can get back in there.
Took Mabel to the vegetable garden. She trailed out into no mans land. I let her go for about 1-1/2 hours in the swamp. Then I wlked out close to her and caught her. Summer hunting has started.
Had another caged coon this evening. Took Ruby and Pearl back to the farm. We let Roy watch it run off and kept the pups in the box. It took off across a corn field at hi speed. I let Ruby and Pearl go. Ruby opened and took a minute to line it out. Pearl was there but not barking. Ruby ran it hot, located and treed. Pearl opened on the tree. I led Roy in on a leash. Ruby was picture perfect on the tree. Too bad I didn't have a camera with me. I'll have to remember to bring one soon.
Had a caged coon & took it up for the kids to watch. We let it go right behind their house & watched it run a way. It went to the corner of a pen, climbed the fence and took off down the edge of the field. I thought this would be a good test for the pups. I let Pearl and Ruby go and listened for a while. Roy was there too but on a leash. Ruby is in heat and Roy was definately interested in her. Ruby was opening but not Pearl. I think Pearl is still hurting from being spayed. Ruby located on a small bushy tree just a few yards from where the coon hopped the fence. She left and went back to the fence. She did this a couple of times & I figured she needed to find the track leading out of there. I was wrong though, I saw the coon in the tree. I walked over there with Roy and Ruby was coming in at the same time. I let Ruby know she was right and I let Roy tree too. Pearl was there but didn't do much. Ruby really went nuts once she committed to the tree. She was able to climb up and get face to face with the coon. The coon started snarling and the dogs were really wound up then. I let them go on for a few minutes and then I figured this was enough. I had to pull Ruby out of the tree. The coon wasn't too far away & I was keeping an eye on him while getting Ruby. We left the coon there, I told the kids we'll probably see him again this fall. As I was loading the dogs to go home, I picked up Pearl like I always do, one hand on the collar and the other cradling her belly. She let out a squeal. I had forgotten about her being spayed & this obviously bothered her. A few more days of rest and relaxation for her. Charlie made a point to tell me how good of a dog Roy was. He was very serious about this & I didn't know why so Charlie explained. He went on to tell me how Roy had gotten out one day last week & was bawling around down in Mud Lake. That's a very nasty swamp out there & it sucks if you have to catch your dog. Charlie said he just called Roy and he came right to him. Now THAT is Charlie's definition of a REALLY good dog.
I took Mabel out alone to see what conditions were like. I saw a ton of deer around. She treed very deep, I couldn't find the coon. Saw more deer on the way home. Then there was a fox at 40th and University on the way home. It had just killed something and was crossing the street I stopped in the middle of the road in front of it. It looked at me for a bit and then ran behind the truck and down the street. I'm glad I didn't take the pup out tonight.
Took Ruby up to the vegetable garden around 10:50 and sent her along the ditch. She struck in the first woods and struggled north along the ditch. I finally just caught her. There's a lot of water there, maybe that was just too much for her. Might have been trash there too. I walked her to the north woods and sent her in. She struck and ran a track for a while. She started to bog down & I was getting close to her. She located a little but wasn't treeing. I walked in and she was near the leaner we treed on a few weeks ago. She kept going and I searched the leaner. I thought I saw the coon and called as she came by again. I put her on the tree. Darn, it was a nest! Oh well. Hunting is getting to be rough in there and the bugs are coming out now in force. Maybe I'll just take it easy on the pup til the river is ready. Why screw her up now?
Dale called & wanted to hunt. We met at Pete's and talked with him for a while. We finally headed up to the vegetable garden with Ruby. She's in heat so Pete and Bronco stayed home. I let her loose from the truck & she headed off fast into the first woods. I walked the edge & stopped just before the crossing between the two fields. Ruby hunted the first woods and then popped out at the crossing. I called her & she was not going to listen but head north. I gave her a light shock & she stopped. I called again & she stood and thought for about 10 seconds, turned and came to me. Very nice. We led her to the corner by the north woods. I figured that coon I've been treeing would be right there. Before I got to my usual drop spot she started pulling hard. I let her go & she opened pretty quick. She ran along the ditch & was picking up speed. I started in to keep up with her. She located and started treeing hard. I got in there with her in a couple of minutes. It was a couple of trees running together on a small piece of high ground. There was water all around and it had been pouring just a few hours earlier. We didn't see a coon & I just don't know. It was perfect conditions for a coon to giver her the slip OR for it to be up there & not visible. At any rate, she ran that track well, had a distinct locate and changed over to a chop nicely. I'm very excited about little Ruby. Too bad she's so ugly. Looks more like a Feist than a coondog. Oh well, Mabel was never a beauty queen either. I wouldn't trade her for anything.
Took Mabel and Roy to a new spot. They struck and fumbled around. Roy treed and left then treed again. I got to him & he left, it was slick. He kept picking trees and leaving all over the woods. I finally shocked him in to me. Mabel stayed out and finally treed. It was pretty close to where Roy had been only 1-1/2 later. I think I've broken Roy down a little too much now. I think I'll let him sit until the easy coons are back. Anyway Mabel was out 2-1/2 hours, mostly in swamp. She looks old this morning.
Took Mabel to Don Edens. She made a big loop & I grabbed her on the way by. Went to the vegetable garden and sent her north. She treed on the north edge in about 3 minutes & had the coon. Gosh she looked tough tonight. I'm tempted to take her to the RQE if the weather stays cool. Can she last a 2 hour hunt still? I think so, she was out for over 3 Friday before last.
Ruby was going into heat so I had to do something. The kids will take him & I'll keep Pearl. We made a drop before the trade. Roy slick treed & he knew it. I just leashed him & walked him back to the truck. He's really been backsliding since the season has changed from spring to summer like. I may just let him sit up there for the whole time Ruby is in heat.
Took Ruby up to the vegetable garden alone. It had been raining and still was. She's about to go into heat so I thought I'd try getting her a little exercise before I put her up. She took off like a rocket. She opened in the 1st woods by the ditch. I started to follow her, the ground is wet & it's like walking in oatmeal. She was moving pretty good & I wanted to keep up. She bogged down just as I got close & started locating. It was kind of a bad spot so I just went and got her. I would have liked to make her work it out but it was close to a house & somebody was outside. I took her a little further and let her go again. She took off and hunted a little swamp well. I caught her on the other side and decided to go home. It was just too sloppy to walk around in.