Training Mabel Jr.
a.k.a. Josie
Mable Jr is a pup out of Nocturnal Skipper and my old female Mable. My wife promised her friend she could name her so we call her Josie. She's a nice dog but ended up hunting a little too close for me. I gave her to Pete LaDue at the end of the summer. He's hunting smaller spots these days & she is working out well for him as of June 2005. Occasionally I wish I had kept her, especially when I'm hunting the sweet corn on the river.
07/07/2003
Highway construction bad at 101 so I didn't get to
the river 'til 11:30. Sent Mabel and Josie east from the bridge. Waited about 15
minutes then headed east, stopping to listen for barking several times I
finally heard Mabel treed at the far east edge of the middle field. Josie was
also there treeing when I arrived. One coon seen and
dispatched. Drove around checking for ripe corn.
Lots looking good, but not really ripe anywhere I looked. Maybe over a week
before the coons start hitting anything. Began to rain
lightly so I headed home 12:30.
07/08/2003
Got there early, around 9:45. I came around a bend and another car almost hit me.
It was some kids and they were driving pretty fast. The driver saw me at the
last minute and was able to swerve and drive around me into the bean field. I
waited a minute and then decided to see if I could catch up to them. I wasn't
mad or anything, just curious & wanted to see who they were. I was surprised;
they made it through the gate before I caught up. I don't know if they were in
a hurry to get away from me, or if I'm just that slow.
Turned
around and went to the big bend, the corn is not quite ripe there, but looks
nice. Sent Josie out & she started a track. She took it along the edge of
the corn and I followed her. She stopped barking after about 10 minutes. I
drove around and caught her coming down the trail. She wasn't chasing anything
by then. She is young, so she could have just lost a coon in the swamp.
However, she may have chased a deer. I haven't needed to do any
"breaking" with her yet. This was a little wakeup call for me. I'll
hunt her with a shock collar from here on "just in case". Drove towards the south gate, big tree down blocking the road.
Went to the club gate and walked Josie around, no strikes. Went
home 11:30.
07/09/2003
I
had a caged coon so I went to the farm. Kids have caught two of their own coons
since I was last there. Also, one of their pups was gone for two days. They are
keeping them penned up more now. I told them that this is normal for coondogs.
I should remember to bring some collar bells for them the next time I head north.We let the coon go and Josie treed it. The pups
fought it pretty good once it was on the ground. They are going to be pretty
nice coondogs I think. I especially like Pearl so far. It started to rain hard
on the way back to the yard. Didn't hang around and talk, just got in the truck
to be out of the rain and headed home.
07/12/2003
I
met Paul on the river. We sent Nitro and Josie east from the far edge of the
middle field. They struck about halfway down. Nitro must have been winding a
coon on the other side of the river. He was swimming across so we called him
in. Put Nitro on a "hot" track and sent Josie in behind. Nitro
located and treed, Josie milled a little then treed with him. Good for her to
see a strange dog and fight a coon with him. Corn is still not ripe anywhere
I've hunted. For now, I'll just hunt there with my old dog Mabel. Until I start
treeing coon's right in the corn, it's too risky to hunt a young dog there.
Once the coons are in the corn, I think Josie will be one of my best sweet corn
dogs. It won't be long now.
07/14/2003
What
a difference one night makes. Monday night I ran a "hot" one down by
the trailer site. Josie had a real tough time. It was bone dry and dusty. Down
on the river, in those fields it's just like a desert when it gets dry. She
treed, but I couldn't see the coon. Tonight it was like another world. It had
really rained hard, it was wet and foggy. I walked Josie into the corn, and to
my surprise, it was ripe and there was already damage! Josie hunted out a
little, struck, ran a short track, located and treed in the woods along the
creek. I had to look a long time, but I finally found the coon. I was planning
to hunt Mabel down there this week, but now I think it will be Josie for about
two weeks. She's the pup & needs experience. This spot where the corn is
ripe is close to roads & Josie hunts close. I'll save Mabel for the fields
beyond the club gate.
07/15/2003
I
was really looking forward to hitting the corn. I got there about 10:00. Let
Josie loose and walked a diagonal across the east field. No strike. I walked
the edges by the creek and river back to the truck. Along the way I saw a
couple of coons sitting up & was pretty sure they climbed while I was in
the corn. The pup could smell them, but couldn't seem to take it out of the
corn and across the road to the tree. I waited a long time watching her race
back and forth; she finally got in the woods, but went past the tree and
started trailing down the river. I saw another coon sitting up, so I let her
trail for a while. She was bogging down so I finally went in and caught her. Well,
I'm supposed to be getting the coons out of this corn. I guess I managed to do
that, but I knew they would be back after I left. On the way to the truck, I
saw one of them still sitting up. I put Josie on the tree and took a couple of
shots at it. It came down & there was a little fight and then a race
through the brush. She chased it down to the river bank & I caught up with
her there. That coon was probably dead. If not, it certainly won't be back to
this corn.
While
driving home, I had to remind myself how bad I've seen dogs look on the river.
I've seen some of the best dogs I know do about the same as Josie did tonight.
The ground is sandy and dries out fast. The brush along the river is as thick
as anything you'd see down in Florida or Alabama. I'm not that happy with
Josie's performance, but I have learned not to judge a dog by how they perform
on the river.
07/16/2003
Parked
at the south gate tonight and started to walk the river edge. Very hot and
humid, I was sweating even when just standing there. A train was going by and
it scared Josie, she ran back to the truck and jumped in the box. I didn't care
too much for going back to get her, even though it was only about 20 yards.
Started the river edge again, no strikes. I walked a diagonal through the field
back to the creek edge. Just as I was asking myself "What am I doing with
this dog?" she ran out of the corn, opened a little and then treed. This
is sweet corn and I can't be leaving coons in trees so I shot this coon out. Drove
west a little and put Josie on a "hot" track. She trailed pretty well
through the jungle and then treed. It was rough getting to her. She was on a
leaner covered with grape vines. I think it was probably slick. The terrain was
so rough I decided not to try to make her work it out. I think a lot of dogs
would have pulled up on this one. Once again, on the drive home I had to remind
myself how poorly dogs before Josie have looked down on the river. I'm
certainly not proud of anything she has done yet. But I know I have to wait and
see her in the fall before I know what I have. I always remember a summer on
the river really makes them tough.
07/17/2003
I
was getting a little bored just hunting Josie. Plus, she is immature &
needs to get used to working with other dogs. Picked up Belle, she's the best
dog I have for hunting young dogs with. I headed down to the river to hunt. At
the far west gate I sent them along the corn. Belle hasn't been out for a few
weeks so she was wound up pretty good. I think they raced a while, and then
struck a track by the second sweet corn field. They treed right on the river.
It was one of those big trees with the roots exposed and hanging out over the
water. It's another one of those big trees that you can only see half of and
surrounded by thick brush. The coon could have been there, but it could easily
be slick too. Took them back to the 1st field and put them on a "hot"
track. Belle treed, Josie was there but didn't want to join in. It seemed to me
that she was backtracking. I headed in to make sure Belle would stay. Josie
came in but still was "milling" a lot so I tied her up. It was
another big tree right on the river. Roots were exposed and hanging out over
the water. It took me a long time but I was able to find the coon.
07/19/2003
Paul
came up with Nitro. I had Belle and Josie again. We sent them along the river
from the far west gate. We walked behind them for quite a ways & then heard
Belle opening. It sounded to me like Belle was treeing on the river and Josie
was jacking around on the bank by her. We saw Nitro running in the woods
towards them (he had on a Sunburst Saturn).
As we got closer Nitro was opening in the field, Sadie and Josie got
quiet. Soon Josie was opening with Nitro in the field. The track was going just
about the same as my suspicious trail from a few nights ago. AND Belle wasn't
opening. We waited a while & then I told Paul that I thought it was trash.
I shocked Josie a couple of times and I think he hit Nitro too. They stopped
running that track, but now they were out in a swampy no mans land. I hardly
ever tree coons out there, so I wanted to catch them and get into the corn
again. We tracked Nitro west and drove down to the trees along the creek. Heard
him bark a few times and then I heard Belle tree back east again. I left Paul with
Nitro and headed for Belle. Josie was there when I arrived; she was jacking
around putting pressure on Belle. This was very close to where I thought Belle
had been treeing before & I wouldn't be surprised if she left this tree to
"check" the pups and then just came back. Anyway, it was another big
tree with exposed roots hanging out over the river. I tied Belle and Josie up,
shot it out and headed back to get Paul. Nitro was still out, in one of the
worst areas of the river so I wanted to catch him pretty bad.
07/19/2003
Continued
I
sent Paul down the edge of the woods and I headed out to the highway and walked
in parallel with him. Nitro was somewhere down in no mans land. It has river
channels, backwater, swamp and highway to contend with. We decided to get
mobile and get ahead of him. We drove around to a parking lot on the other side
to where I thought we should be close to him. We turned on the tracker and no
signal at all. We drove and tried tracking for about an hour without ever
getting a single beep. We were both concerned and running out of ideas. We
headed back to my truck and there Nitro was. He must have come into Belle and
Josie barking in the box. Turns out his collar had gone bad. What a relief!
Nitro is one of the best young prospects I've seen lately. He has the kind of
personality that I like too. I'd hate to see anything happen to him. We still
had corn fields to clean out and it was Friday night. We put Nitro on a
"hot" track and then sent the other dogs in. It went quite a ways
west, then Nitro and Belle treed. Josie was there, but jacking around again. It
was another big tree with roots exposed and hanging out over the river. This
was a leaner too and Nitro was up in the tree when we got there. Luckily, he
could turn around and come down when we called to him. I tied up the dogs to
keep them from climbing or dropping down on the bank. Found the coon after a
brief search.
Moved
a little further east and put Josie on another "hot" track. I sent
Nitro and Belle in to her. I heard Belle locate after a few minutes and I could
see from the road that she had the coon. Nitro and Josie were putting pressure
on her so I got in there and backed her up a little. Nitro came right in and
treed hard. Josie was jacking around so I leashed her and made her tree with
the other dogs. This was a good old tree away from the river bank so it was
nice to be able to work the young dogs up on the tree. That was enough for one
night.
On
the way home I was thinking of all the work that Josie needs. Compared to dogs
I'm used to, she has been slow to mature. She is about 14 months old but
reminds me more of a 6 month old dog. I've got her so she is hunting
"OK" by herself but these last two nights I see she is acting like a
pup around strange dogs. I'll have to make a point of hunting her with other
dogs and making sure she adapts. Nothing to worry about yet, I won't be
disappointed as long as she gets over this by November. I don't think she'll
ever be a "power" dog, but I think she will do enough to "get
by". She has some nice qualities so I'll keep training her. If she doesn't
start ranging out a little more I might end up getting bored with her. If
that's the case, she's still good enough to sell. In fact, as she is right now,
I think she will make a dandy hound for a beginner or an old man who wants a
"walking" hound.
07/20/2003
I
took Josie to the far end of the west field tonight. Quite a chunk of corn has
been picked now. I walked east down the corn rows and then diagonal back to the
creek edge. Josie was still out when I made it back to the truck. I waited for
a little while and then tracked her down the edge of the bean field and into
the swamp. I was able to call her in from there. She really covered this field
well tonight but no strikes. I didn't see any damage tonight either. I think
this end is probably under control for a few days. No strikes and the weather
felt a little "funny" too. I decided to check for ripe corn with
damage and then call it a night. The second field when going east looks ready,
I better hit it soon. Down by "The" big tree the corn looks close
too. There I saw a little damage some coon, some deer. There was a deer lying
down in the beans behind this field. On the way out, just before the bridge,
there was a deer in the bean field. He had a pretty big set of horns. I was
surprised to see this already. I guess the summer is really moving along. I was
really struck by the "funny" weather tonight. Looked like
"heat" lightening to the east tonight. A little humid, but mostly
kind of a stale feeling is what comes to mind. It seemed like one of those
nights when the weather was affecting traffic too. I'm kind of a pokey driver.
I usually have to move into the slow lane to get out of the average drivers
way. Tonight, even though I was driving my normal speed, I must have had to
slow down at least 1/2 dozen times for people ahead of me.
07/21/2003
We
sure could use some rain on the river. It is really tough tracking now. Josie
and Belle were on a "hot" one. Josie located and suckered Belle into
slick treeing. Josie went on and located again. I sent Belle after her. They
were in the jungle by the swamp, on the edge of the middle field. Josie treed
finally but it was really weak. I could see the coon from out in the field. I
got in there and made her stay, and then Belle came and backed her up.
I
was drenched in sweat by the time I got back to the truck. The dogs looked
pretty rough too. I decided to call it a night. A cop saw me coming out of the
gate and followed me. The cop finally pulled me over. She didn't know much
about the property or coonhunting. I think she felt like I must be up to no
good but couldn't figure out what to do about it. She gave me my license back
& I headed home. It wasn't that big of a deal but it irritated me. I guess
I was hot & tired & didn't feel like talking to a cop tonight.
07/23/2003
Let
Josie go at the club bridge & walked around with her. She struck on the
back edge by the swamp. Ran the track pretty hot then located a couple of
times. I walked in on her and she seemed to be treeing pretty good to me. It
was a big tree and I couldn't find the coon. Maybe I talked her into treeing
too soon? Hard to say, the coon could have been there too...
Drove
back to the middle field and turned her loose on a "hot" one. She
treed in a bush and the coon was only about a foot above her head. She was
treeing hard. On the way back to the truck I saw a lot of damage. I shined
around but didn't see any coons sitting up. I'll have to keep on both of these
fields.
I drove up by the airport. I was looking for a couple of new
fields that are supposed to be getting damaged. Found one of them, close to the
road, I'll have to hit it late some night and be careful.
07/24/2003
Three
drops, three strikes that made tough tracks that Josie couldn't finish tonight.
The river is like that. I've seen a lot of good old dogs have trouble finishing
tracks down here.
I
decided to give the spot up by the airport a try. I went out the west gate for
a change. On the drive around there was a cop car pulled over. It started
following me. Finally turned around when I made a turn on 4. Wonder if that was
the same cop from the other night? Are they having trouble around there or
what?
This
spot is bordered on two sides by busy roads, trees and valley on the back side.
I kept Josie on a leash and walked her down the tree edge. About half way down
she started opening. Tow coons went up a tree right in front of us. I didn't
even bother to unleash her; she just led me to the tree and started treeing.
When
I got back to the truck there was somebody waiting there. I figured it was a
cop, but it turned out to be a curious neighbor. He heard Josie & thought
it was a dog in distress. Nice guy, we talked for a little while, turns out his
dog had gotten loose & he was looking for her.
I
covered a lot of ground tonight to see so few coons.
I
headed home 2:30.
07/27/2003
Hot and humid, I took Friday and Saturday off. I finally
headed down to the river Sunday night. I sent Josie down the edge of the field
by the club gate. She trailed a short way and located. She was treeing well by
the time I reached her. It was a big tree. I finally saw the coon by walking
out in the corn and looking back. This was quite an improvement for her.
07/28/2003
Sent Josie east along the edge of
the second club field. She struck a little ways in. Trailed for quite a
ways. Located and stalled once. I walked up on her & it looked like
she might slick tree. She went on though and trailed quite a ways farther. I
heard her treeing and I headed to her as fast as I could. I saw a coon one tree
over. You could have argued that it should have been scored as part of her
tree. Lots of vines everywhere. Anyway, I was pretty
happy with the way she trailed and treed tonight.
07/30/2003
The corn is going fast; my two favorite fields are all
stubble now. I sent Josie down the edge of the middle gate field even though
it's been picked. She headed into the woods and struck right away. She trailed
a little way & then stalled in the same brushy area from the other night.
She finally went on but she wasn't barking. I saw the coons sitting up about 20
yards further up. I could hear her breaking brush and making her way to the
tree. After she located I didn't wait very long to encourage her. She really started
treeing hard after a few seconds. I think she really learned a lot from this
track.
07/31/2003
Let
Josie go by THE big tree. She went into the corn and struck a good track.
Either this coon is the same one from last year or all coons are the same.
Josie took it west and then south to the river. There I caught her locating on
the river bank. I could see the coon trail going down to the waters edge. It
was about a ten foot drop straight down. Josie stayed on top & wouldn't go
down to the water. I didn't mind too much. Of course Mabel or Belle would have
been down there in a second, they've done it many times, but rarely do they
ever tree a coon like that. I just end up catching them down the river later.
So, Josie looked a little timid here, but I can live with it. I walked back to
the truck and loaded Josie up. As I was getting in, I spotted a coon sitting up
in the big tree. I let Josie back into the corn to see if she could find it.
She didn't open, but I could tell she was on the track. She worked her way into
the woods and finally located the big tree, and started treeing hard. This was
a nice job for a pup. I've seen a lot of old dogs unable to find the second
coon there.
08/02/2003
Wade
came down with Queen tonight. We sent her and Josie west along the far edge of
the middle club field. They didn't get too far before striking. The dogs
dropped down onto the river bank and trailed back east. It's rough in that
direction and I didn't really want them to go that way. When the opportunity
arose, we caught the dogs and moved.
We
drove to THE big tree and sent the dogs west. Josie struck in the corn and was
running a track pretty well. Queen was a little slow to join in and maybe she
never really did. Queen was running a track about where Josie struck, while
Josie had moved out of the corn and was in the woods by the big bend.
Eventually the two dogs ended up together on the river, by then the coon had
put too many moves on them. The dogs fumbled around for a while, Josie quit and
then a little later so did Queen. Wade was a little sad that Queen would quit a
track and come back. I had to remind him that this is the river and even the
best dogs can't finish some of the tracks down here. It doesn't bother me at
all anymore when a dog quits a track down here. In the early days, I got rid of
some pretty nice dogs because of the poor performances I witnessed on the
river. Now I know better. We went back to the middle club field but this time
let loose from the other end. Josie struck and headed east; Queen checked her
and didn't bark. Josie shut up and we kept walking the dogs east. Within 50
yards, both of them began trailing east again. Queen got hung up in the thick
brush & we called her to get her past this. This is the same spot where
Josie hung up two other nights this wee. The dogs were going pretty well now
& I headed back for the truck while Wade continued after them.
08/02/2003
Continued
As
I walked by the spot where Josie first opened, I saw some eyes low to the
ground. From the color, didn't seem like a coon, maybe a possum, skunk or even
a woodchuck? Maybe this is what she opened on & why Queen didn't bark? Not
sure she did anything wrong, but I'm always questioning what those young dogs
are up to.
I
drove up to meet Wade & he was already to the woods. The dogs were now in
the spot I had been trying to avoid on our first drop. Josie got hung up on
some fallen trees and I caught her. Queen had already made it past there and
was trailing towards the swamp.
Queen
was grubbing out a tough track & we just let her continue. I kept Josie in
the box; she doesn't have the experience to work something like this out and
could only have made it tougher on Queen.
She
trailed for about 20 minutes and then sat down and treed. She had a mother
& 3 kits up the tree. I told Wade that she had done a really nice job, but
I'm not sure he believed me. It's true though, it's incredibly tough trailing
down there & she really grubbed this out nicely.
That
was about 1:30, enough for tonight.
08/03/2003
Carl
and Paul came up tonight. The corn has been going fast & I was not quite
sure how to approach it tonight. We sent Josie, Buddy and Nitro east along the
last strip leading away from THE big tree. All three of them pups. About 1/3 of
the way down they struck. It wasn't too hot of a track but they headed north
into a little swampy area. I've never had much good luck when dogs head out
there. Only once did I tree there, late in the year when that was the only corn
left. Lucky for us we were able to catch them and move. Went
to the middle club field and all three struck right away. They headed
east into the jungle. Buddy located once but went on. Josie seemed to be making
good progress and Buddy joined with her. Nitro seemed more interested in
working an area behind them. I thought I heard Josie locate & I started
into the woods, but now Buddy was trailing back the way he came. Josie was
quiet & I'm sure she went with him. A lot of bawling around and then Nitro
and Buddy treed. Josie finally joined them. I think the tree was probably
slick. Nice to see Josie come in and tree with them at least.
She needs all the socialization she can get. Went back to the big bend and let
them go. Nitro headed right into the brush and struck while the other two stood
on the road and looked stupid. We found an opening and walked the other two in
& they finally got to trailing a little. Saw a deer run out of the woods
and into the bean field. Buddy and Josie came out of the woods at the same
spot, not trailing though. Carl walked them into the beans along the path the
deer took. I didn't bother to wait and see if they would open, I just let Josie
have three or four good shocks. She ran back to the truck and jumped in the
box. Not sure I did the right thing there, not sure what I'd do different
either, seems like a "lose-lose" situation. Nitro treed and Buddy
joined him. Looked like a slick tree. Not too good, but this IS the river. Have
to remember all of the good dogs I've known that have done just the same under
these conditions, or worse. Much worse. Paul headed
home & Carl was catching a ride with me back to his truck. Before heading
out for the night, I wanted to just survey the rest of the river area. We drove
down to the east end & it looked like there was a little corn left. Checked
a little closer and it actually started to look like it would be a hot spot. I
still felt a little bad about shocking Josie; this looked like a good way to
end the night on a positive note. We got the dogs out but Carl didn't have
Paul's tracker on Buddy anymore. We just sent Josie out to be on the safe side.
She hunted out pretty good for a dog that had recently been fried, and she
struck. We waited to see how the track was going and then sent Buddy in. They
brought it out to the edge of the woods, Josie stalled there, and Buddy was
still going but struggling. I saw some coons sitting up.
08/03/2003
Continued
I
didn't want to risk losing a dog without a collar on down there, so I called
Josie in to me and walked her into the tree. Buddy turned out to be very close
& may have found this on his own anyway. Let them tree for a few minutes,
glad to see Josie showing no ill signs or hesitations. Not a pretty night but,
"All's well that ends well".
08/04/2003
Ran into the farmer from South America. He was setting up irrigation tonight. Man is it ever
dry. Drove to the west end gate and let Josie go. Looked up and there was a
coon already sitting in the tree next to the truck. She had a hard time finding
the tree. Never opened on the ground, just located and started treeing. I
walked her through the corn but didn't pick up any more tracks even though I
saw a lot of evidence of coons having been there. Called it
an early night.
08/06/2003
Went to Gordy's. We hunted for a couple of hours
with no luck. Josie had to go through some cattle. She didn't like it but went
anyway. Roy treed a family across the road finally.
08/11/2003
I'm
back after taking a few nights off. I drove down to the west end & sent
Josie along the creek side of the last corn. She didn't hesitate at all &
was in the corn right away. I started after her and noticed a nice breeze in my
face. It's really dry down there, but I thought that breeze would help Josie
find a track. Sure enough I heard her open in the woods. I expected her to tree
right away, but she trailed a little while first. She finally located on a big
tree, it was almost to the west end of that woods. I didn't bother to check,
but I suspect that it was pretty close to the parking lot down there. I was
able to find her coon after a few minutes. She looked pretty good tonight. They
are still irrigating some fields down there. I'll try to clean them out the
next few nights.
08/13/2003
It
was just one of those nights when I didn't really feel like going out. I waited
for it to cool down, but the temp just stayed around 72. I finally went down to
the river about 11. I drove to the west end & there were a couple of deer
standing right where I wanted to drop. I didn't feel like testing Josie tonight
so I moved. I took her to the next field east and let her go. I was surprised
that she took off so fast and then struck a couple hundred yards east of me. It
sounded hot & I was worried that it might be a deer. I don't know why,
Josie has been pretty good. Anyway, she started to fumble with the track soon.
Let me explain. There was one strip of corn by the swamp, then a picked
section, one more strip of corn, another picked section, the road and then the
strip of trees next to the river. It hasn't rained for a long time & it's
like a desert down there now. There is dew in the standing corn then bone dry
on the picked sections. She struck hot in the corn by the swamp. It must have
run to the trees across the road. Josie had a hard time trailing across the
picked section. In the next strip of corn she trailed hot again. At the next
picked section she stalled once again. I let her try to work her way to the
trees for a while, but she kept coming back to the corn. That dew just smelled
too good I suppose. I finally just caught her. I've seen this happen to
countless other dogs on the river. It used to bother me, now I know better. In
fact, I liked to see her struggle with this track. I can see she is starting to
learn about tough tracking. Maybe next year she'll finish these. I took Josie
down to THE big tree. There is some corn there that is not quite ready. She ran
up about half way & then came back. I just loaded her up and moved. Went to the middle field at the club side. Josie struck and
grubbed around in the trees for a few minutes and then headed east along the
river. I don't think she was barking at coon there. She did this a couple of
weeks ago & I saw something low to the ground later. Belle treed a
woodchuck at night right there a couple of years ago. Maybe
Josie now too? She struck again about halfway down the field. When I got
to her she was just running back and forth on the edge of the woods. I just
caught her and went home. So, it's hot, dry and most of the good spots to hunt
corn aren't quite ready yet. I may take a break for a few days.
08/18/2003
Brutal heat for several days and
nights. Took
Josie to the river anyway and put her on a "hot" one. She treed hard
but I didn't see the coon. Still 85 degrees and high winds! Instead of making
her look some more I just loaded her up and went home.
08/21/2003
Sun
is setting a lot earlier, fall is approaching. Took Josie to the river and put
her on a "hot" one. She ran it well and treed HARD. It was early so I
sent her along the north entrance strip. She struck right away but struggled
with the track. She took it out in the swamp & fumbled around for about an
hour. I didn't have any faith in her being able to tree this one so I just
drove around for a while to pass the time. Ran into the farmer from Brazil
& talked for a few minutes. When I went back to the drop spot Josie was
there. Kind of nice to have a dog that comes back for a change.I
don't hold it against her for not treeing on this
drop. Many more experienced dogs have failed in that swamp. She'll be a better
dog for having tried.
08/27/2003
Dale came by & we went to the river. It is DRY down
there. We dropped Josie 4 times before she got a good strike. She was locating
in the woods by the west end & I could tell she was struggling. I walked
into the general area and spotted the coon a few yards away from where she was
working. I was tired so I just called her into the right tree.
08/29/2003
The
river is getting a little tough for finding coons. I've been planning on
hunting up north instead for a while. Paul came hunting though & the south
is closer for him. I assumed he would want a short drive home so I went to the
river. Turns out he's up for the weekend so we could have hunted up north with
no problem. Never assume. Anyway we walked one strip of ripe corn, no strikes.
We drove a little and then walked the road by some trees where I suspected
coons were still living. Nitro struck and Josie joined in. They fumbled around
in the thick brush at first, Josie slick treeing. Nitro finally started to move
it down the river and Josie followed. It was too late, the coon had too much of
a head start by then. We let the dogs try to work it out for a while & then
finally caught them.
Called it a night, no reason to push puppies around
down there when the coons have been thinned out like this. You'll have them running junk before you know it if
you do.
Back
to the northern spots for a while now.
08/30/2003
Paul
came by & we headed up there to give the pups an easy one. I wanted to go
test out "The Easy Spot" tonight. Pete showed me this spot about 15
years ago. I've adopted it as my own but it's really still his. It was Don
Eden's before that, but he died a few years ago. I don't know who had it before
him, but I'll bet somebody did. It's been a great puppy spot over the years. I
rarely shoot coons out of here, only if the dogs tree close to the farmers
house. I have been on the river for about two months so I didn't know what the
Easy Spot had in store. Last few times I was there, I treed a coon & it
seemed like a female that was planning on taking up permanent residence. How
could I tell? I don't know, funny how you just get feelings about things.
Sent Nitro & Josie in along the path in the
pasture. I saw Nitro turn on the
creek headed for the first pothole & he struck shortly thereafter. Josie joined
in a few minutes later. They both let out locates & I thought they would
tree. They went on though, kept getting quieter and finally stopped barking
altogether. I thought they might have put the coon up but were too excited to
stop. We walked them back through the area & I shined around but didn't see
anything sitting up.
This
is a good place for pups to strike so we just kept walking. I noticed Nitro
change his body language and head into the woods. Sure enough he opened. He was
circling in a little area, locating, treeing, moving, locating, treeing. Josie
was with him, doing the same thing. Paul & I were sure the coon was up
& that the dogs were just confused. We got in close and started shining
around. We spotted a whole family sitting up. I got to the tree and called the
dogs into it.
Nitro
was still really excited and could not settle on this tree. We finally leashed
him at the tree. We let them tree together for a few minutes and then headed
home. This was a good example of too many coons. I've seen people minus out in nite hunts more than once like this. Lots of broken trees
and thick brush where that litter had probably been playing for a couple of
hours. The dogs just looked crazy. A little sloppy but I think both of the dogs
learned a little bit. Hopefully they get better at handling this type of
situation. I'll be using this spot a lot so Josie will get plenty of chances to
figure this out.
09/04/2003
The easy spot.
Josie
ran a possum about 1/3 of a mile into a hollow log.
I
scolded her a little. Walked her around for a while and then made her go out in
the first pothole. She treed another possum! I scolded a little and went home.
09/13/2003
Wade met me up at the kid's farm tonight. We let Belle,
Queen, Josie and Pearl go. Queen and Belle treed way down in the swamp. The
kids came with us and got a little muddy. I think I'll stick to the corn next
time.
09/17/2003
Picked up Josie. Dropped her with
Mabel. They ran a track & I caught them on the road. Took them to
the easy spot and dropped again. Josie struck while Mabel was still on the
leash. Mabel caught up to her & they ran for a few minutes. Josie located
and treed hard. Mabel joined in a few seconds later. They had the coon. Surveyor's stakes in the field. Darn, there will be a house
here in the spring.
09/21/2003
Took Josie and Ruby to the easy spot with Dale &
Pete. Walked around for quite a
while & finally Josie wandered off. She treed in the pasture about 1/4 mile
away. While going to her I heard Ruby bawling farther in. Josie had a coon
& Pete led her back to the truck. I checked Ruby & she had a coon too.
Pete took Josie home.