Took Roy to the sweet corn and sent him in. He caught one on the ground in just a few minutes. I sent him on from there and he trailed out and treed after only a few more minutes. I didn't see a coon so I pulled him and sent him out again. Then I saw the coon, he was close so I put him back on the tree. He is handling well around me now. Maybe he'll be OK if he has a nice fall.
Took Ruby to the river to check the last sweet corn. I put her on a hot one & she ran a nice track to the trees on the river. On the way back to the truck I saw one sitting up by the gate. I just put her on the tree there. I didn't want to risk her getting into the parking lot or going down the river the wrong way.
Took Roy, my wife and her dog to the river. We walked the corn and the road. No strikes. There are coons down there still, but not too many.
Took Ruby to the river. I saw a couple of coons sitting up and sent her towards them. She hunted around for a while and finally located the tree. Seemed like they may have been sitting up for a while. I put her on a hot track after that. She had trouble working it across the road. She finally got it straightened out and was moving along the river. I thought she might go across 101 so I caught her and headed home.
Had a couple of caged coons & headed up to the farm. I let them both go at the same time, one ran west, the other north. I let Pearl out and she ran away southeast before I could stop her. I kept expecting her to come back but instead I finally heard her catch something. I ran up there, she and the farm dog Sage had a different coon caught on the ground. I leashed them and went back to the truck. I put Ruby & Roy on the trail of the north coon and then sent Pearl in to them. They all treed in a little swamp after about 5 minutes.
Took Ruby to the river about 11:30. We walked all of the late corn with no strikes. I loaded her and drove a little. I saw a deer out in a field and stopped. I walked Ruby out and let her go when she saw the deer running away. Ruby went for the deer and I gave her a shock. She came back & I loaded her up. She was going to run the deer but I don't think she was really interested. My guess is that the junk she has been running is fox. I should take her to the fox pen I guess. Anyway, I saw a coon sitting up by the Shakopee gate on the rivers edge. I walked into the tree and put Ruby on it rather than try to let her trail in there. It is a real jungle. There was no way to get the coon out of that tree. I headed home.
I took Roy to the river tonight. I put him on a hot one and he finally treed by the Shakopee gate. I didn't see a coon but I also didn't want to scold him too much. He's finally staying treed again when I come in. I think I'll just let him sit some more until the hunting conditions are really good. I saw a coon up across the field. It wasn't the one Roy was running.
Seever called & told me of some late corn that has been getting raided. It's by the Shakopee gate but I drove in from the north gate. As I rounded the big curve past the gun club I hit mud. It lasted for quite a ways & I almost was pulled off the road several times. I've been stuck there before & it is a bitch. I made it to the Shakopee gate & the first thing I did wasa look for the key. There was no way I was going to try driving back the way I came. After I found the key I walked back to where I parked. I saw a coon climbing a big tree about halfway down the edge of the woods. I must have spooked him while I was finding the key. I sent Ruby down the edge while I got my gear together. She came back and I walked by the tree, she struck and trailed away from the tree. I thought she may be backtracking but I could not find that coon so I waited. SHe trailed for quite some time and then treed on a big tree & had the coon. It must have been just getting to the edge of the cornfield when I spooked it and then baled and headed for home. Ruby did a nice job on this. I left by the south gate. At the first stoplight, before heading up the hill, a coyote crossed right in front of me. It stopped on the south (west?) side of the road & I was able to shine him easy. Reminded me that I have to start breaking Ruby some day.
Had a caged coon & took it up to the farm. When I let it go it ran through some wet grass and then cut across a plowed field and into a big corn field. I let Roy, Ruby and Pearl go a little later. Ruby got stuck in the wet grass, Roy was trying to work the dirt but it was Pearl who got all the way to the corn and got the race started. Roy and Ruby caught up with her and they screamed around in the corn for a while. The coon never headed out to the trees so eventually the dogs caught it. I had to go in and catch them up. It was a good run for them all.
Ben Barthel called & wanted to hunt. I took Ruby even though I knew I should let her sit. Sure enough she ran junk & I didn't catch her. I'll have to shock her pretty soon. Ben dog was out for 3 hours and finally treed by a little pothole. The coons aren't in the corn yet.
Took Ruby to the vegetable garden. She started a track & it finally dawned on me it was junk. It was over before I could do anything. I don't know what it was for sure. She ran two tracks exactly like this in the spring. Once ended up on a hollow log with a possum and once wandering around in a little woods. She was wandering in the little woods tonight. It's still summer hunting, rather than make another drop I headed home. I'll take it easy for another couple weeks. Why screw her up before fall? It's easier to break them when the brush is knocked.
Took Roy to the river & walked him around the latest corn by the Shakopee gate. He covered it pretty well with no strikes. I then sent him down the road & he made it all the way to the big curve without striking. I loaded him up and went home.
I had another caged coon so I called Wade and we took Ruby and his pup Rocky out to the old mans farm. It had rained earlier & it was nice and wet, perfect for a pup. We let the coon go on a hill and he headed down into the woods. We waited a while and sent the dogs in. When Ruby opened it sounded like she had caught the coon on the ground. We headed in to her but found out that she was just trying to work her way through the swamp grass. There was quite a bit of it there and it was all wet from the rain. If we had known about this grass we probably wouldn't have let the coon go here. Anyway, I backed off and let here work. Wades pup just hung around with us. We know he can trail, but he just acts like a puppy when Ruby is there. She worked it out and treed after about 5 minutes. Really treed hard. We walked the pup in and got him to bark a little but he really wasn't interested. We left the coon & I'm glad. It sounds silly but there was something I liked about that coon when I picked him up this morning. I hope he has a nice life up on the farm. I like Ruby, probably too much. I don't know how well she'll do if I ever compete with her & I don't care. She's my new favorite dog.
Waited til late and took Roy to the river. I drove into the field and parked about halfway between the road and the swamp. Roy has been a little cautious around me and will just stand around sometimes. I wanted to get him right in the corn. I got out and let Roy loose. Just as I suspected he milled around & was watching me instead of hunting. I just ignored him and worked on getting my stuff out of the dog box. He made a few small circles around the truck and finally wandered off into the corn. A few minutes later I heard a fight break out. Roy must have walked right into a coon. They were making quite a racket as I headed in. When I reached them they were in a "Mexican standoff". It was hot and humid (still 74 at 1 AM) and I think they were both pretty tired. Well, too bad for that coon, he was busted red handed in the corn & I had to take him. It was a small coon and I assumed that he was part of a group. I walked Roy all around the corn looking for the rest. I never got another strike though. I finally just loaded up and headed home. Roy is still all screwed up but for some reason I want to keep working with him. If a guy wanted to really do something in the coondog world, he'd have moved on a long time ago. I just can't help liking him. Anyway, I have Ruby if I want to start nite hunting again.
Took Roy and Ruby to the river. Put them on a hot one. I think RUby located first but then fumbled around. Roy locked down on the tree. It was a big leaner, maybe Ruby had climbed and fallen. I had to drop down on the river bank to see the coon. It came down and jumped out while I was stuck in the brush. I didn't bother to send the dogs on in after it. I saw one more coon sitting up a few 100 yards down the road. I guess I'll have to check the corn a little more this week.