HAd a caged coon so I took Roy tonight. Picked up Pete and then went to the farm & picked up Billy. We let the coon go, waited a while then sent Roy, Josie, Pearl and the pup Duke in. The old dogs treed after a few minutes. The pup bawled around for a while then he came in and treed. It won't be long for Duke now.
Picked up Pete and went to the vegetable garden. Pete let Josie and Duke go & I walked Nitro to the ditch and sent him north. He struck about 1/3 mile in and was grubbing a track. Josie got in there and treed. Nitro treed a little but kept trying to leave. It was slick when I got there, a big tree, the intersection of two ditches and another big fallen tree there. Easy spot for a coon to give them the slip. Still, he knew something was wrong & I probably could have sent him on. It was behind a house though so we jsut leashed them & headed out. I think I'll be able to tell if he's got a bad tree from his voice from now on.
Was going to the schoolhouse. On the way I could see it had rained up there & it was pretty foggy. At the last moment I turned and went to the vegetable garden instead. I walked Nitro to the ditch and sent him north. He struck a hot one after 4 or 5 minutes. He ran it for a few minutes and slammed a tree. He sounded very nice tonight, a real distinct locate. He had the coon. He was a lot better when I led him away tonight.
Took Nitro to the vegetable garden. He was pulling hard right by the truck so I let him go. He went about 15 yards and treed. He climbed up the tree pretty high. I called him and he came down. We were right in the open close to all the houses so I just caught him and moved. I only flashed the tree & didn't see eyes but by the way he acted I assumed it was up there.
Over by Don Edens daughters place I walked him in a ways and cut him again. He opened after about 10 minutes on an old track. He grubbed east and then north. It sounded like he was catching up for a while but then the track seemed to get bad. I drove to the north approach and walked in n him. He was grubbing in the woods behind the house & I just caught him. The route he took has been about 50/50 for me over the years. It's rough and wet plus it's the way trash tends to run. This track sounded like the rough wet type, not trash.
It's so wet I think I'll take Saturday night off & hope things dry out a little.
Picked up Pete and went to the vegetable garden. It was wet. We let Josie go & I kept Nitro on a leash because I wanted to get past the first woods before releasing him. Josie struck in the first woods before we couold get past them. I waited for a couple of more barks & then sent Nitro into her. They screamed for a few minutes and then slammed a tree. I don't know who really got there first but Nitro has the nice locate that would have allowed you to take first tree. They had the coon. I wonder if this is the coon he was trying to grub out last night? It sure is in the right place.
Took Nitro to the vegetable garden. He struck in the woods on the ditch just before the big woods. While he grubbed around, two deer walked out real slow and stopped at the edge of the woods. They just watched as Nitro grubbed around. He was trying to work his way back sout across the plowed field so I finally caught him and went home. It was hot & didn't feel like a good night.
Picked up Pete and went to the vegetable garden. We let Josie and Duke loose and I walked Nitro to the ditch. He opened on the leash and I cut him loose. He and Josie smoked one down the ditch & into the woods. Nitro picked a tree after a few minutes and Josie was right there to back him. They had the coon. It was warm & took us a little while to get there. Nitro was hot & layed down in a pool of water on the way back to the truck. I'll have to be careful with him when it gets hot.
Waited til midnight to drop Nitro. I walked him to the woods north of the schoolhouse and cut him loose. He struck a track very similar to the one from the other night but moved it a little better this time. I'm pretty confident this was a coon track. He grubbed it out for about 45 minutes and had gone about 1/2 a mile. He was running in a pothole behind a house and had tapped a couple of trees. When he got close to me I decided to grab him. I think he would have finished this track but I didn't want to be out there all night. I also didn't like being behind that house.
I've had a lot of tracks like this with a lot of different dogs in this section. Mabel (after the age of 6) was the best at finishing the tough old ones. Nitro appears to be doing almost as well as her but at a much younger age.
It will be interesting to see how I feel about his tracking by the end of the summer.
Also, I'll have to see how he works with other dogs a little this summer. I can already tell that some dogs are going to lock down on the trees he taps. I hope he'll be smart enough to keep going & not get sucked into slick treeing.
Took Nitro to the schoolhouse and sent him north. He tried to go back south and I gave him a warning tone. He turned and went the way I wanted. There was probably a fresh track where he was headed but I didn't want him treeing behind the guys house. He struck in the woods and grubbed for quite a while. I thought he was going to get it but then he bogged down in a pothole. I let him grub for about 10 minutes & then caught him. He might have worked it out, but it could have taken hours.
I went to the vegetable garden and sent him north. He struck a nice track, smoked it and slammed the tree. Very nice. I had to drag him away & he was determined to go back. Damn he is a big dog. I don't want to scold him right after he's done such a nice job so I just drag. Anyway, he's starting to lead well except when we're leaving a tree.
On the drive home he rode up front with me. It's like he finally could see through the windshield for the first time tonight. Before tonight he was always looking at the interior of the cab. Very funny to watch his expressions.
Took Nitro to the vegetable garden & sent him north. He seemed a little lazy tonight. He finally opned after about 10 minutes and grubbed an old track. He worked it for about 10 minutes and seemed to be struggling. He picked a tree, located good and turned it over. He was chopping hard when I arrived. It was a den tree but for some reason I don't think the coon was there. I didn't pet him or scold him, just moved.
Gene checked me at the approach, wanted to make sure who was hunting in his dad's section.
I went to Don Eden's section and sent Nitro along the edge. He took a right into the woods and poked around in the potholes there for about 15 minutes. When he came back out and started back dwon the edge I just caught him.
One of those nights when the air just didn't feel very good.
I figured I'd cut my losses and try another night.
Picked up Pete up & went to the vegetable garden. We sent Nitro and Josie north. They struck and bawled around a lot in the water. Nitro finally got deep and treed and Josie backed him. It was an obvious den tree but no coon on the outside. They definitely screwed around enough to let a coon get in his home.
Went to the Sand Dunes with Pete and Dale. I thought it was a little early to hunt Nitro up there but went anyway. We let loose on a pothole & they all opened up. It sounded good and then it sounded too good. By the time I figured out I should shock them they were over the ridge. We drove around and found Josie and Ruby treed. We didn't see a coon but a turkey flew out of the tree after a while. Nitro bawled a little ways off and I called to him. To my surprise he actually came in. We made another drop on the edge of the lake Josie opened and Nitro went to her and started trailing. Ruby came in and they all started to fly off. Nitro broke off and came back to where Josie struck. He trailed around for a little while, located and treed. He had the coon. Josie came in and backed him right away. Ruby took a long time to get back, I think she had gotten around the lake somehow & was having a hard time coming back in a straight line. She was soaked when she came into the tree. I'll need to work on trash with Nitro but otherwise he just needs more nights in the woods. He looks like he has all the raw material a guy would ever need to work with.
Took Nitro to the vegetable garden around 12:45. I sent him north along the ditch & he struck right away. He work it north & was driving. He crossed water a couple of times but he never took long to recover the track. He located a tree on the ditch and turned it over into a steady chop. He had the coon. It was just beautiful.
On the other hand, walking out was a real pain. I have to drag him off the tree & he's BIG. I wasn't paying attention and he pulled me over and started dragging me back to the tree. I had to break off a branch and threaten him a couple of times to get him to lead correctly.
I've been letting him ride up front with me on the way home. Tonight he must have smelled something & barked a couple of times. I was playing around so I pretended to open a few times. This got him excited & he really opened up. He's got a big horn and he blows a lot of air. My windshield fogged up so bad I couldn't see anything. I had to turn on the defroster and calm him back down.
I took Nitor to the schoolhouse around 11:00. I wlked him past the first woods & he started opening, I didn't let him go because I didn't want him trailing behind the house there. I kept going about 20 yards and then sent him north, he was still excited & babbled a little but went the way I wanted. He opened deep after a few minutes. I circled around & caught up with him working the track on a ridge. It was cold & windy & he was struggling. I figured he might tree it on the ridge or... head down into that nasty swamp. I decided to catch him & move. He didn't like it, I'm sure he thought he was about to tree.
Went to the vegetable garden and sent him north. Ho opened and was running hot. He located and treed but it was funny. He kept moving around. When I got there I saw why, he was in a jungle of fallen trees. I just waited & he finally worked his way through & then was trailing northwest. He would stop and tree a little every so often then move on. I was beginning to think fox. Finally he treed on the west edge of the woods. I was going to shock him if he went on from there but he stayed and really started to tree harder. I fell on the weay to him and I landed with my adams apple on a stick. Lucky to be alive. Hurt like a son of a bitch. Got up and scrambled the rest of the way to Nitro. It took a long time but I found the coon.
If he was running this coon the whole way, it was probably one of the best jobs I've ever seen. If he ran fox a little, it was still a real nice job of switching over.
Took Nitro to the vegetable garden & walked him north again. He struck, turned around and ran south to the next section. This has happened with the other dogs twice last week. I went and caught him and walked him further north. He struck & I don't know if he ran junk or backtracked, anyway he ended up in the swamp. He hunted around in there for 1-1/2 hours then finally came close to the north edge of the section. I snuck up on him and then shocked him into me those last 30 yards. Reminded me of a good old Mabel night.
Took Nitro to the vegetable garden. I walked him to the ditch so that I'd be sure he'd go north. He was excited & walking made it worse. He may have babbled when I finally let him go, hard to tell though as he had a track going pretty quick too. He ran a nice track, got quiet for a second then located and treed. He didn't sound too sure at first but really settled in as time passed. He had the coon. He wanted to pull on the way back to the truck so I whacked him with a corn stalk a few times. He was walking like a champ by the time we got back to the truck. He's a little rough around the edges but... he seems to have all the raw material. So far I love that voice and the way he moves a track.
I let Nitro sit at home & get used to his new surroundings. I took Roy up to Pete's & we met with Kila, Dale & a few others & headed to the Sand Dunes. Ruby struck & was looking up so I walked in on her & she treed. Roy backed her. Kila's pup cheked the tree & went in about 20 yards and barked a couple of times. That's where the coon was so I moved Ruby and Roy over. Ruby probably wouldn't have slicked if I hadn't jumped in there so quick. Roy slick treed a couple times after that & we walked a lot. Dale caught a baby fox on ths side of the road. I was exhausted the next day.
Hunted Nitro down at Paul's. He started a bad track and Paul shocked him & we moved. He ran a track and treed but we didn't see a coon so we sent him on. He hunted around & we finally caught him so we could go home. On the way back we saw a coon sitting up and let him tree it. We also checked his first tree when we got close to the trucks and this time we saw a coon in it. I don't think it was there before. Anyway, mediocre night. Now he's at my place & operation Nitro begins.
I guess I can't even win for losing this week.
I had a caged coon so I thought I'd give Nitro an easy night out.
I picked up Pete & we went up and got Bill at the farm.
We let the coon go then sent Pearl, Duke, Josie and Nitro in.
Josie grabbed a tree, the other dogs wouldn't tree with her but they wouldn't get out of the area either. I got to her and Nitro was opening farther down the line by then so she went to him.
They had screwed around enough by then that the coon had gotten down into the swamp.
I could just hear the track falling apart in the mud.
They had 1/2" of rain jsut before I arrived.
Nitro finally treed but it was weak.
It was a miserable walk to him.
I didn't see a coon & I don't think he had it.
But... there was no way I was going to send him on in that.
I guess I'll stick to the vegetable garden the rest of this week and work on accuracy.
This happens every year when the season changes from spring to summer.
It's summer now & the dogs will just have to adjust.
I met Pete and Dale & we took Josie and Ruby up to Don Edens. They trailed out inot the swamp & got quiet. I went back to drive around and Dale and Pete pushed through the section. Ruby treed one on the west side and Josie backed her.
Howir Callahan came down to Pete's & he wanted to hunt. He had a black & tan named Snipe. We took Josie, Ruby and Duke up to the schoolhouse. Josie and Ruby hit a tree & Snipe backed them. Ruby left. They had the coon. Went to the vegetable garden and sent them all in. Josie and Snipe treed, Ruby split. Ruby had the coon and treed hard.
Took Roy, Ruby, Josie and Duke to the vegetable garden. Roy picked a couple of slick trees so I leashed him. Ruby and Josie treed later on a den. It sounded good but not sure...
Hunted Roy, Ruby and Josie at the vegetable garden.
I left Ruby at Pete's, Dale is going to take her.
I pick up Nitro Friday.