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Old dog New hunter...help?
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Author:  bigballin [ Sun Jun 24, 2012 3:18 am ]
Post subject:  Old dog New hunter...help?

Hey yall,

I just bought a 6 yo Black and Tan for 250 bucks, his name is AMOS and he is about 27in tall 70 lbs. I didnt ask to see him hunt as the man selling the dog was the owners father and he could only attest that the dog could tree his own coon. I have never been coonhunting but once before now that was 12 years ago wit some good ol walkers my friend had. Well now I'm really ready to get into it!

Before our first hunt I got a coon tail and made a drag and hung from tree. He did pefect followed the 70 yd trail and treed hard just as he should, then tore tail to bits!

So tonight I took AMOS out and this is what happened...

I took him to a cornfield and let him loose, he took off and quickly found some thickets, where he let out one long bay and then continued to slowly and silently work the trail. He only worked it about 200 yds total before treeing at hickory that was in the thickest crap you ever seen and surrounded by overgrown cedars. I looked for the coon but could not see him but to be honest these woods were so thick, Im not sure if he was up there or not. Once on tree this dog is loud and hard tree dog, tries climbing the tree.

Next I was driving down the gravel roads and seen a opossum so I put Amos on a lead and had him go over the track to see if he would run trash. Well he had absolutely no interest what so ever in that track, so I was very thankful for that.

I then went looking for a coon. Once i found one near a creek bridge I put ol AMOS on the track and he went to working it. He was very thorough in his tracking and moved a lil slower than the Walkers i remembered. He was silent on track until he was on tree and started baying. This time it was on an ol half fallen log that was on the side of the creek bank and being held up by the trees on the other side. It became apparent to me that the coon went up the log and simply made his way to the other trees. I could not find any trace of him.

So what do yall think?

Could he be a slick tree dog?
Is there any way to fix him being silent on the track?
Is it normal for black and tans to hunt like this compared to Walkers?
It was very humid and hot with just a slight breeze and the woods here in MO are as thick as can be. Does humidity and heat affect tracking ability? Is it usually hard to spot a coon with all the greenery in summertime?

I just bought both Wick books and I am eagerly awaiting their arrival. :)

Any opinions or advice on this ol coonhound would be greatly appreciated as I really dont know what I should expect of him. I am planning on getting a pup in a year or so and would like to use Amos as a trainer if hes worth a dang.

Author:  wvcoonrunner [ Sun Jun 24, 2012 8:21 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Old dog New hunter...help?

This time of year its very hard to tell if you have a slick treeing dog, the leaves make it very difficult to see a coon. At 6 years old, he's most likely not gonna be any more open on a track. There aren't many dogs that work a track as fast as walkers, that's why people like them so much but remember, faster isn't always better. And yes the heat and humidity have an affect on tracking, mostly because when its hot the coon will move during the day to get water. So the majority of your tracks are old. My advice is to keep hunting around water, that's where you'll have the best chance of finding a good track when it's hot. Just dont be ready to give up on this hound yet, its too early to tell what you have. Good luck with your hound, hope it makes ya a good one.

Author:  lancewilkins [ Sun Jun 24, 2012 8:35 am ]
Post subject:  Old dog New hunter...help?

Sounds like he knows what he's doin just a little slow on track, as for the down tree I know what ya mean. If that tree was touching other tree that coon could have been in any of them and with the all the leaves it's hard enough to find a coon in any tree let alone a couple trees, just keep tryin and he'll show ya a coon, just last week my dog did the same thing I could hear some rustling in leaves of a near by tree but I never saw any eyes, it happens!





but

Author:  bigballin [ Sun Jun 24, 2012 10:41 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Old dog New hunter...help?

Is bawling on track something that can be taught or something that some dogs just dont do?

If I were to use him as a pup trainer would it hurt the pups learning process to bawl on track or is it something they either do or dont do naturally?

Thanks for all the responses so far

Author:  toe cutter [ Sun Jun 24, 2012 5:16 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Old dog New hunter...help?

it is bred into the dog on how much it opens on track.
ole amos just may open good on a hot track or in water.. with more time in the woods you will learn how and what ole amos is and does in different conditions and situations.
hunting or training a pup with a silent or a open trailer will not make the pup open or silent. it depends on the traits bred into the pup on if it is silent,tight mouthed or wide open on the track.
some dogs do learn with age and experiance when to shut thier mouth to enable them to ambush a coon.

Author:  Chet McCreary [ Mon Jun 25, 2012 3:49 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Old dog New hunter...help?

The only way to really know how good your dog is.Is hunting the dog at least 30 nights in the woods..Then you should have a pretty good idea of what you have to work with.You only need to hunt him 2-3 times a week but at least 30 nights in the woods....Dogs being silent???? I thing your really smart dogs seam to more silent or semi-silent..

Author:  hunter22 [ Sun Jul 29, 2012 8:48 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Old dog New hunter...help?

If you've got a silent/tight mouth dog your more likely to tree more coon and you will generally have a much shorter walk. I treed way more coon this last season with my year and a half old tight mouth bluetick than i ever did with my fast wide open mouth walkers that i used to hunt.