Post by Admin on Aug 18, 2012 19:27:09 GMT -5
BEST COONHOUND I EVER HAD - EVERY HUNTERS DREAM
I'm a fond believer that as you walk through life and you have a passion for hunting with hounds, you will only come across one dog that will be everything you ever desired. I started coon hunting when I was 13 with a buddy and his Dad. From the moment I stepped into the woods for the first night, coonhunting and running coon dogs coursed through my veins.
I remember watching the original movie, Where the Red Fern Grows. Watching how Dan and Ann turned out, I hoped that someday I would have a dog that turned out to be as dedicted as these two hounds were.
When I graduated from high school, I had to sell my dogs and move to Minnesota, to attend junior college. I didn't coon hunt for the next two years.
I remember every time I got a whiff of that cool fall fresh air, all I could think about, was coon hunting. I missed the sound of the hounds bawling throughout the night.
When I graduated and got a job, my first mission was to buy some coonhounds. I bought an older male first. Being that I don't like to run coonhounds alone, my next mission was to buy a female pup that I could eventually breed.
A guy in northern MN had some pups for sale, so I agreed to look at them. Before I jumped out of the truck, I put a couple drops of coon scent on my boot. As all pups do when they are released, they all run up to you to be petted. So I watched all eight of these pups jump around for a little while, then I turned and walked about twenty feet away. Two pups responded and started walking toward me. The one just walked straight over, but the other one put her nose to the ground and trailed right up to my boot and left out a couple little puppy yipes. I quickly reached down and picked her up and said I'll take this one.
The guy says are you sure, she's really small, she's the runt of the litter, I've got bigger, stealther pups that will grow up to be bigger and stronger. I replied, I'll take her, she's got instinct.
For the next several months I started training her so she could run with the older dog come fall. Fall time finally arrives and I can't wait to go hunting. Now I don't expect much from this young dog, she's only 7 months old.
We arrive at our hunting destination and release the dogs. About 5 minutes later I hear a dog on trail. I look at Rob a hunting buddy of mine and say, that's the young female on track. About a minute later she starts tree hammering. Of course the older male is there to, but he's second to sound off.
The next few years go pretty much like clock work. This little runt of the litter just loved to hunt and would out do any other dog in the woods.
She turned out to be a medium sized walker coonhound with a giant lust for coonhunting, She was one of the easiest dogs to work with. She was a mid range hunting dog, which I loved. She would go out and hunt for 15 to 20 minutes and check back in.
She never once struck open on any trash, when she started barking, you knew she was running a coon. When she tree barked, you knew their was a coon in the tree.
She was one of the easiest, sweetest dogs to work with, it's like we had a connection that was unexplainable, when I talked to her, it's like she knew what I wanted, and she just did it. She not only had a passion for coon hunting, she had a passion to make me happy.
The next summer she had her first litter of pups. When it was time to sell the pups, for the first time in my life, I would witness the love and passion this little giant had for life.
A guy and his son showed up to buy a pup. As the boy reached down and picked up one of the pups, She (the dog) walked over, opened her mouth and put a slight grip on the boys hand. I walked over and petted her on the head and said it will be ok. She released her grip ever so lightly and released his hand. The kid asked me, why did she do that. I replied, because she doesn't want to see her pups go.
It was at that very moment, I seen this dogs passion for life and her maternal instincts. But it wasn't the act of what she did that struck me, it was when I looked down into her eyes. I could see it in her eyes, It was a look that could peirce through any mans heart. I could see a dog that was full of love.
It wasn't the first time she had looked up at me like this and it wouldn't be the last, I just didn't get it till now.
The next fall would be a test of our true commttment to each other. We were out coon hunting one night along a river, when she started to trail a coon. So we started making our way towards her.
As we were going through the brush, I was listening for the dog, but something didn't sound right. I looked at my buddy (Rob) and said stop and listen. What we could hear was the sound of a dog barking and then the sound would be muffled by what sounded like gurgling.
I took off on a dead run toward the river bank. Sure enough the coonhound had managed to catch up with this coon in the river and the coon was doing everything possible to dunk the dog under the water. By the time I showed up, the coon was on top of the dogs head and had her under water.
I ran as fast as I could to get out to her. When I got there, I grabbed the coon and in one motion threw it as far as I could. I reached down and picked the dog up out of the water. She had managed to hold her breath long enough for me to get there.
I carried her over to the bank and sat down, I laid her in my lap and started petting her, to assure her that everything was alright. When she looked up, she had that that look in her eyes. She couldn't say anything, but I could see it, She was looking at me as if she was saying thank you, I love you.
A couple weeks later our time together would be tested again. I was out hunting and managed to tree three coon in one tree. I shot the first one out and the dogs started fighting it. Now typically, I don't let my hounds fight a real live coon for long before I put a second round in their head, but I got busy trying to get the other coon out of the tree.
As the dogs were fighting the coon, I heard a noise come out of my female dog that I had never heard before. As I ran over, I could see what had happened. The coon had managed to get underneath her and ripped her stomache opened with its claws.
I ripped my coat off, laid it on the ground, picked her up, laid her in the coat and wrapped her into a ball, picked her up and started on a dead run for the truck.
When I hit the truck, I threw it into high speed and raced to the local vets office. I woke the vet up and he opened his office. As she lay there on the operating table, She looked up at me and once again, there was that look. I petted her and assured her that everything would be alright. The doctor did an exellent job and she pulled through.
After the healing process, we decided it was time to hunt with her again. As usual she took off and ended up treeing 5 coon in one tree.
As I talked to Rob, I said, we are going to have to hurry up and shoot these coon out. Because once we shoot a couple out, the rest will probabally start to bail.
We had shot two coon out already, when I was aiming at the third one. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught some movement.
One of the first coon we had shot out was on a dead run for me. As I turned, the coon leaped into the air and was going to land on about my mid section. To my suprise when the coon was just inches away from landing on me, it was wiped out of mid air by a dog. As I turned to look, there she was on top of that coon. She had just saved me from getting mawled.
I walked over and put a second shot in the coons head and we finished shooting out the rest of the coon.
When the chaos was all over, I walked over and patted her on the head and thanked her. She looked up at me with those eyes as if to say your welcome, I love you.
I remember watching the original movie, Where the Red Fern Grows. Watching how Dan and Ann turned out, I hoped that someday I would have a dog that turned out to be as dedicted as these two hounds were.
When I graduated from high school, I had to sell my dogs and move to Minnesota, to attend junior college. I didn't coon hunt for the next two years.
I remember every time I got a whiff of that cool fall fresh air, all I could think about, was coon hunting. I missed the sound of the hounds bawling throughout the night.
When I graduated and got a job, my first mission was to buy some coonhounds. I bought an older male first. Being that I don't like to run coonhounds alone, my next mission was to buy a female pup that I could eventually breed.
A guy in northern MN had some pups for sale, so I agreed to look at them. Before I jumped out of the truck, I put a couple drops of coon scent on my boot. As all pups do when they are released, they all run up to you to be petted. So I watched all eight of these pups jump around for a little while, then I turned and walked about twenty feet away. Two pups responded and started walking toward me. The one just walked straight over, but the other one put her nose to the ground and trailed right up to my boot and left out a couple little puppy yipes. I quickly reached down and picked her up and said I'll take this one.
The guy says are you sure, she's really small, she's the runt of the litter, I've got bigger, stealther pups that will grow up to be bigger and stronger. I replied, I'll take her, she's got instinct.
For the next several months I started training her so she could run with the older dog come fall. Fall time finally arrives and I can't wait to go hunting. Now I don't expect much from this young dog, she's only 7 months old.
We arrive at our hunting destination and release the dogs. About 5 minutes later I hear a dog on trail. I look at Rob a hunting buddy of mine and say, that's the young female on track. About a minute later she starts tree hammering. Of course the older male is there to, but he's second to sound off.
The next few years go pretty much like clock work. This little runt of the litter just loved to hunt and would out do any other dog in the woods.
She turned out to be a medium sized walker coonhound with a giant lust for coonhunting, She was one of the easiest dogs to work with. She was a mid range hunting dog, which I loved. She would go out and hunt for 15 to 20 minutes and check back in.
She never once struck open on any trash, when she started barking, you knew she was running a coon. When she tree barked, you knew their was a coon in the tree.
She was one of the easiest, sweetest dogs to work with, it's like we had a connection that was unexplainable, when I talked to her, it's like she knew what I wanted, and she just did it. She not only had a passion for coon hunting, she had a passion to make me happy.
The next summer she had her first litter of pups. When it was time to sell the pups, for the first time in my life, I would witness the love and passion this little giant had for life.
A guy and his son showed up to buy a pup. As the boy reached down and picked up one of the pups, She (the dog) walked over, opened her mouth and put a slight grip on the boys hand. I walked over and petted her on the head and said it will be ok. She released her grip ever so lightly and released his hand. The kid asked me, why did she do that. I replied, because she doesn't want to see her pups go.
It was at that very moment, I seen this dogs passion for life and her maternal instincts. But it wasn't the act of what she did that struck me, it was when I looked down into her eyes. I could see it in her eyes, It was a look that could peirce through any mans heart. I could see a dog that was full of love.
It wasn't the first time she had looked up at me like this and it wouldn't be the last, I just didn't get it till now.
The next fall would be a test of our true commttment to each other. We were out coon hunting one night along a river, when she started to trail a coon. So we started making our way towards her.
As we were going through the brush, I was listening for the dog, but something didn't sound right. I looked at my buddy (Rob) and said stop and listen. What we could hear was the sound of a dog barking and then the sound would be muffled by what sounded like gurgling.
I took off on a dead run toward the river bank. Sure enough the coonhound had managed to catch up with this coon in the river and the coon was doing everything possible to dunk the dog under the water. By the time I showed up, the coon was on top of the dogs head and had her under water.
I ran as fast as I could to get out to her. When I got there, I grabbed the coon and in one motion threw it as far as I could. I reached down and picked the dog up out of the water. She had managed to hold her breath long enough for me to get there.
I carried her over to the bank and sat down, I laid her in my lap and started petting her, to assure her that everything was alright. When she looked up, she had that that look in her eyes. She couldn't say anything, but I could see it, She was looking at me as if she was saying thank you, I love you.
A couple weeks later our time together would be tested again. I was out hunting and managed to tree three coon in one tree. I shot the first one out and the dogs started fighting it. Now typically, I don't let my hounds fight a real live coon for long before I put a second round in their head, but I got busy trying to get the other coon out of the tree.
As the dogs were fighting the coon, I heard a noise come out of my female dog that I had never heard before. As I ran over, I could see what had happened. The coon had managed to get underneath her and ripped her stomache opened with its claws.
I ripped my coat off, laid it on the ground, picked her up, laid her in the coat and wrapped her into a ball, picked her up and started on a dead run for the truck.
When I hit the truck, I threw it into high speed and raced to the local vets office. I woke the vet up and he opened his office. As she lay there on the operating table, She looked up at me and once again, there was that look. I petted her and assured her that everything would be alright. The doctor did an exellent job and she pulled through.
After the healing process, we decided it was time to hunt with her again. As usual she took off and ended up treeing 5 coon in one tree.
As I talked to Rob, I said, we are going to have to hurry up and shoot these coon out. Because once we shoot a couple out, the rest will probabally start to bail.
We had shot two coon out already, when I was aiming at the third one. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught some movement.
One of the first coon we had shot out was on a dead run for me. As I turned, the coon leaped into the air and was going to land on about my mid section. To my suprise when the coon was just inches away from landing on me, it was wiped out of mid air by a dog. As I turned to look, there she was on top of that coon. She had just saved me from getting mawled.
I walked over and put a second shot in the coons head and we finished shooting out the rest of the coon.
When the chaos was all over, I walked over and patted her on the head and thanked her. She looked up at me with those eyes as if to say your welcome, I love you.
It was a season of a true test and commtment between the two of us
. The rest of our time together was great, We ran through the woods at night having the best time of our lives.
But, as new begginnings have great starts, all good things come to an end
. The time would come where I would have to say goodbye. I remember as I petted her for the last time. she looked up at me with those eyes, to say I love you. It was at that very moment, the little coonhound turned a giant man into a weeping willow.
You see, my prayers were answered. I was given the one dog that I hoped for.
It wasn't because this little dog turned into a giant coonhunter, that made her so special.
It wasn't because this little dog was the best tree dog you could ask for, that made her so special.
What made this dog so special was her passion, her commitment , her love for life and me.
You could see it in her eyes
This Story is dedicated to "WIDOW'' the best coon dog I've ever had
You will always have a place in our Hearts & Souls, Thanks for the memories. Billy G. & Rob C. Trademark/copyright 2012.