Hi Ben,
Sorry if that came off snotty. It was and I shouldn't have posted it that way. I am quitting smoking and can hardly stand to be with myself right now.
Always tie the dog to the tree far enough away so the coon won't fall on him and he can't run away. It's good practice tying them for nite hunts, too. Bring him to Mary's Peak for the grade hunt! Getting him out will be good for him, and once he associated the gun with good things coming from the tree, he'll like seeing the rifle bag being loaded up. That happened with a skiddish dog I had. She would not go to a tree with other people's dogs on it unless she saw the gun...then she had no fears! They learn what is a good experience from a bad, so correcting for the skunk won't harm him. He'll figure out skunk bad...coon good. Or he won't, like Huck...he'll know what's bad and be quiet on it!
Or take him somewhere you can target pracitice with the kids and a big bag of french fries. Tie him up so he can't run or even move much, and have the kids feed him a fry when you shoot. That taught our gun-shy dog not to fear the gun shots. Suppose you could use proper dog treats, but the kids prefer fries! Got to the point she run out looking when she heard backfiring cars or nail guns in the neighborhood.
Good luck, Ben. Look forward to seeing you and your black and black&blue dogs this winter. I promise to be nice or go back to smoking.