Picked up the kids and went to the schoolhouse section. Very foggy night. Nitro opened on the leash so I cut him and Pearl. He headed east. It took me a little while to figure out he was going way too far and fast for this to be a coon. I've had quite a bit of trouble here over the years & should have been paying closer attention. By the time I was ready to hit him it was too late. I was just surprised he would open on the leash and then run trash.
TO add insult to injury he slick treed out in no mans land. I whipped him a little when I finally got to him but he'd been treed so long it probably didn't do any good by then.
I made a nother drop on the way home. He ran a tough track and when he treed I knew this was slick. I looked it over a little but then I whipped him.
I decided to go home, in this fog he'd be likely to slick tree again & I figured it wouldn't be a very good lesson. It was getting late too.
Anyway, no more leaves to hide his mistakes. I think he's smart enough to be corrected. We'll see in a few weeks if I'm right.
We took Nitro and Pearl to the west approach and sent them west along the corn. Nitro opened up in the corn past the oak ridge. Nitro got quiet and we could see Pearl was still working the oak ridge. Nitro opened again, this time across the road. He treed after a short run. It's possible this was all one track and that he just got quiet when he was finding his way across the road. Anyway, he had 3 coons up and Pearl came in and backed him. One coon came out and ran into the corn. We sent the dogs in and they raced for about 15 minutes. We were near some houses so i caught Pearl when I got the chance. I saw Nitro but I couldn't catch him. We started back to the road when Nitro treed back in deep. I sent the kids out and I went back for Nitro. He had a nice big coon. We were all pretty tired and called it a night. Nitro seems to be his old self again and Pearl is turning into a coondog too. Getting to be fun to hunt again.
Took Nitro and Pearl to the schoolhouse and sent them north. Nitro fell treed at the pothole. While we were going to him, Pearl opened to the right. I got to Nitro as fast as I could, he had a coon & I leashed him to the tree. Pearl slammed a tree just about that time & I told the kids to get to her. She had a coon of her own. Nice job by her, reminded me a lot of how Lucky treed off to the side when she was a young dog.
Took Nitro up to the farm and picked up Pearl. I put them on a hot one & the y treed it pretty quick. Billy drove out to meet me and we went to the shack and sent the dogs east. Nitro treed on the edge of the oak ridge. It looked slick to me & I scolded him a little. I kept him on a leash and let Pearl hunt the way back to the truck. She covered a lot of ground and finally struck across the road. It was really weak and she could never warm it up. I finally just called her in. The trees are getting bare, I should be able to lean on Nitro a little more soon if he stops short.
Took Nitro up to the farm & picked up the kids. We went north to Travis's house & sent Nitro and Ruby along the edge of the woods. Nitro opened and was running a track well. In fact he was running a little too well. I gave him a warning tone as he was swinging out deep. He was quiet for a minute & then was opening again. I thought about hitting him again but then he slammed a tree. It was a long walk. I hit some water & told the kids to wait for me. When I got to Nitro, Pearl was there too & they had a coon. It was a samll coon & I know that it didn't run all this way. Actually this was a pretty nice job of switching over. Just like Mable would have done. We put Nitro up and let Pearl hunt around the edge of the corn. She found a couple coons that one of the boys had shot earlier in the day. One was still alive & it kind of confused Pearl. She wouldn't leave it but didn't know quite what to do. By the time we got done there it was 11:30. Called it a night.
Met Dale and Mike & went to the farm. We had a whole group of kids waiting. We put Pearl, Ruby, Copper and Nitro on a hot one. It was a real good cornfield chase. Finally we heard them chopping by the trees on the far end of the field. When we got there we found a big coon on the ground holding off the dogs and trying to climb. I went in and grabbed Nitro & the coon finally got up a tree.
We went across the road and sent them all south. Nitro opened to the west and Ruby to the east. Nitro treed and all dogs eventually went to him. A big leafy oak, I didn't see a coon so I told him to go look some more. He and Ruby treed on another leafy oak after another 5 minutes. Didn't see the coon there either and sent them on again. Ruby ran something fast & I shocked her. Finally, they got down in the swamp & we just caught them all.
Dropped Nitro alone at the vegetable garden on the way home. He struck and grubbed south into the easy spot. He finally treed on the west side of the pothole. It was another leafy oak & the coon only looked once. I never would have seen him otherwise. Very nice job on this one.
Still need to work on accuracy with him. I'll stick him with Pearl or just hunt alone for the next few nights.
Took Nitro up to the farm & picked up Billy & his dog Pearl.
We put them on a hot one in the field & they ran back by the house and treed.
I had to work early the next day so we called it a night.
Picked up Pete and Dale then headed for the vegetable garden. We sent Nitro, Josie, Ruby and Duke along the ditch. Nitro opened in the woods and the rest headed in to him. They treed on the big den. It was the same tree I had from a few nights ago. Didn't see the coon on the outside so pulled the dogs pretty quick. Duke got out in the field before we could leash him and opned up. Ruby and Josie were still loose too & joined in. I went ahead and cut Nitro. He didn't open & Josie didn't say much. Sounded like junk after a few minutes. It was over before I could shock anybody. But by then the dogs were scattered around the section instead of headed where the coons were. We drove around for a while. We heard Ruby treed over in Don Eden's section. She stayed nicely & had the coon. Later we heard Josie and Nitro in the north swamp of the vegetable garden. They were on a slick tree on the edge of a ditch through the swamp. Way too deep and nasty to send them on and make them work it out. Just one of those bad full moon nights in a swamp.
I'll hunt Nitro alone or with Pearl for a while now.
Pearl has been really accurate & has left slick trees to go get the coon with Roy several times. She'd be just right for Nitro.
Took Nitro up to the schoolhouse and sent him north along the edge. He struck and started locating about 3/4 of the way down the treeline. He sounded funny. I was close and he grabbed a slick tree. I told him to get off of there and look around and he went north again. He tree about 20 or 30 yards farther down and had a big coon. I got him and headed out. He winded and started blowing at a tree about 2 over from where he had slick treed. There was a possum sitting up in that one. Guess that explains why he sounded funny. I scolded him a little. I bet I get to shock him on one before the season is over.
Went to the vegetable garden and sent him along the edge. He struck right away and worked fast into the first woods. He slammed a tree after about 4 minutes. A deer was standing on the edge as I walked to him. He had the coon. Nice job. Called it a night.
Took Nitro, picked up to the kids and Pearl. We went to the schoolhouse and sent them north. Nitro opened on the ridge and was struggling. Pearl struck a hot one in the corn and lined it out to the west. Nitro took off after her and they started bawling around behind the house. Pearl hit a tree and Nitro locked down on it. They had the coon. Pearl is a big dog now.
Paul brought Nitro up & we headed north. We let him go in the middle of the corn at the schoolhouse & he opened right away. He headed east and then south along the edge so we caught him before he could cross the road. Walked him north past the house and cut him again. He opened fast, ran a short track and treed on the treeline. Took a few minutes but we found the coon. Walked him to the corner and cut him again. He opened in the pothole, worked up to the ridge and treed hard. Couldn't find the coon there, looked like a den & we had made a lot of noise by then. Decided to move to the vegetable garden.
Cut him and he headed south instead of north, I buzzed him and made him go north. He grabbed a big den tree by the ditch & we couldn't find the coon. I didn't let him tree too long, I thought maybe my buzzing him had screwed up. I sent him on, he went hunting for a while but went back to that tree and treed hard again. I buzzed him and called him off, then sent him north along another branch of the ditch. He struck and ran a nice track and treed. He had the coon there.
Went to Wade's with Roy & we sent him and Rock along the edge of a cornfield. Roy located and treed and Rock trailed away. It was obvious that Roy had slick treed so I sent him after the pup. Rock had the coon and Roy backed him. We moved to another field & Roy located and treed after a short walk. The pup treed one tree over & he had the coon. Roy's accuracy is just as bad as ever... good thing for him that I like him.
Had a couple of caged coons to pick up today. Went up to the kids place & nobody was home. I grabbed Pearl and went to the field. Let the coons go & then let Pearl and Roy go a few minutes later. Pearl treed and then Roy. Pearl got quiet & then was treeing with Roy. I'm not sure if she was on a separate tree & moved to Roy or just got quiet when he came in to her. Anyway they were together & had one of the coons. Otherwise, just taking a little break before fall sets in. Paul called & I should be getting Nitro back soon for a week or two of fall hunting.