The weather was nice so I took Mabel out. I hunted with Dieter & his dog Toby down in Chaska. The first track was old and bad. They trailed around for quite a while and then finally ended up on a den behind a house. We dropped in small woods next & didn't have any luck. We made a 3rd drop at the railroad tracks. Toby went one way and Mabel the other. Toby treed & we went to him. He was treed in a hole with a possum. We truned him back towards Mabel and started in. Toby was barking around a little & may have had a second track, I headed in and Dieter stayed back. Mabel had a coon in creek bed. She was standing in the water barking and the coon would pop out every now and then and fight with her. Toby finally came in and I tied both dogs up. I was tired after that and headed home. Mabel has been sleeping all day, that was a long hard night for an old dog.
Ruby went into heat so I took Roy up to Leon's. Gordy and I went and treed a coon with him and Lucky first. I brought home a female puppy to train a little until I go back and get Roy. She should be treeing squirrels next week.
Went up to Ben Barthel's with Ruby. We sent her in with Hitman, she came back after a while & we heard him opening. We walked to him and I heard him tree. I sent Ruby in to him. She was a little shy at first, then treed hard with him. There was a nice coon outside. We made two more drops with not much luck. Ruby ran a couple of short tracks, some kind of trash. I think it might be rabbits. That should be pretty easy to test her on later.
Took Roy out late and sent him in to Don Eden's section from the far east. He hunted out slow and came in and out a few times. He finally took off into the swamp & I figured he was trailing silent. He opened after a while and treed quick, then left to check and came back to the tree. I couldn't see a coon but it was a big tree. I don't think he had it but I gave him the benefit of the doubt. Next I took him to the birdhouse and sent him along the corn. Again he ambled out slowly. I was heading back ot the truck when I heard him open. I headed his way & he was much deeper than I thought. He was treed right between Don's daughters house and the HUD house. It was a giant den tree & I figured he had this one by his intensity. I didn't shine very much at all cause I was so close & all the yard dogs were out barking at us.
Went to Gordies. We sent Mable and Lucky in at the tee. They struck and ran well for a while and then started to bog down in the swamp. They seperated and Lucky treed on high ground. We got to her and she had a monster coon up. We stayed there for a while hoping Mable would come in. She just kept bawling in the swamp. We started out & I kept calling Mable. She came in as we walked out. Not too bad of a night.
Took Roy to the schoolhouse section and sent him north. He got deep and treed. It was a big den with a large hole at the base. I was able to stick my head in and shine the light way up. Pretty sure I could see the coon up there. Took him to Lawrences woods next. He struck an old track and struggled with it. He checked a few trees but kept going. Finally treed deep. It was a slick tree on the edge of a corn field. I think a guy should be getting out early. At least the ice is thick enough to walk on.