Holy Cheet!

Last Friday morning loaded Jill, Pearl and Luke to hunt about daybreak south of Menard. Jill and Pearl are cold trailing hussies and took a track about a mile before finding the coon squatted in thick agarita. The dogs had the coon subdued before I got to them and Luke had been bitten on the ear and was bleeding as usual. (He is a very gritty young man).
I called to the dogs to load but they began to wind as if there had been another coon in the area. I let them go and to see what they could find. In a few minutes, treed on a big boar coon, so I decided to shoot it out to them.
At the report of my .22 pistol, I did not hear the familiar "thud" but the coon bailed as if hit. It did not take long to realize that the coon was not badly injured and the fight was on. Rather than let the big boar chew on my dogs, I decided to wade in and finish him off like I have done thousands of times.
I waited for the dogs to give me an open shot then shoved the pistol near the coon's head and pulled the trigger just as Luke darted back in.
The bullet struck Luke in the head as he yelped and rolled away from the coon, slinging his head and stumbling. I was in shock and realized that I might have to finish him off as I did not want to see him suffer.
I watched him closely and noticed that he never lost his feet and though definitely in pain, was beginning to regain composure. After a short time, he ran toward the truck, turned and faced me, blood running off the side of his head. He allowed me to examine the wound which appeared to have entered where his ear attached to the skull and proceeded downward alongside the head and exiting back through the ear.
Luke was a lucky dog and I was a lucky hunter. While I have done this thousands of times, it goes to show that you can never be too safe. Luke is making a recovery and should be ready to go again in a few days.
Adios,
Gary

WOW! A very close call.

Glad to hear Luke is gonna be alright. Do you think he learned to stay back when he sees you close in with the pistol?

Glad to hear he's no worse for wear... Hopefully both Luke and yourself learned a lesson on that hunt

Man, glad he is ok. I grew up coon hunting and sure do miss it. Lots of wild stories from back then.

I am only 62 and been hunting with hounds since I was 10. I have waded in and shot coons, cats, hogs and snakes but it goes to show you that you can't be too careful.
Not sure if Luke learned a lesson but he is very intelligent and I hope that he did. Problem is they sure get worked up when there is a predator in fighting distance.
Adios,
Gary

Sounds like you two dodged a bullet. Well not quite, but just enough. Glad to hear the good ending

One positive thing about this wreck was that we did not have a camera there filming for CARNIVORE!
Adios,
Gary

Sure don't need the anti's seeing something like that. Just fuel for the fire.
Best wishes, Gary.

Glad Luke is going to be alright. Might be stone cold deaf, but he's alive.

Next time do it Davy Crockett style, and jump in with a knife.
Glad to hear he's okay.

Poor pup, glad he is recovering.

Glad Luke is ok. There isn't much that is heavier on your heart than the loss of a dog.

Immediately after the accident I remember thinking, "At least I have a litter out of him and Jill that is due at the end of July". Sure am glad he is on the mend, checked him at lunch and he is holding his head a little more level.
Adios,
Gary

Glad your pup is gonna be ok.

Crazy story, glad everything turned out ok.

Hey Gary, is Luke covered for medical under obama care! Should be eligable for disability. You know you cant get made at him when you call him and he dont come right away, might not hear you.

I can tell that he is having trouble hearing out of that ear because when I call to him, he pricks his good ear and looks for me. He is having trouble locating where the sound is coming from. Until all the drainage stops running down the ear canal, he is going to have difficulty hearing.
Adios,
Gary

Did you get the coon? heh... oh, and what do you do with those coons after you shoot them? Just curious if you skin them, eat them, or just throw them on the fence.. heh

R

After the bullet exited the dog, it killed the coon. Fur has no value this time of the year and I don't eat them, just try to keep the population down on several ranches so that they don't destroy feeders and consume more feed than the deer. A buddy had a photo on his trail cam that had 21 coons in one frame at a protein feeder.
Adios,
Gary

Gotcha, yea... I kill all the coons I can at the ranch too.. heh

R

Luke has almost made a full recovery. It will be interesting to see what he does when I draw my handgun.
Adios,
Gary

great news on recovery... Last pet we had was stray.. Made one of them dog runs, 50ft thin coated cable , i got small ft & take short steps so may vary... Then bout 20ft leash on roller running on main cable... The dog part pit-bull, learned ta back out of collor... Neighbors found dog with snake bite... Took the dog ta vet, sat up on porch with dog that night.. Dog slowly got better... Bought new collor one that goes around front legs also.. Woke up one morning, no dog, later found pet dead, with lead poisoning.. Took back ta house, burried along side other family pets..

Sorry to hear that colt.45. Loosing a dog is never a good thing.
Adios,
Gary

Hunted the boy Friday and Saturday mornings. He is back to normal and when I drew the pistol and fired, never flinched. He knows Ole Pop didn't mean to shoot him.
Loading the dogs and heading to NE NM on Thursday to see if I can find a lion. Jill won't make the trip as she should reinforce the pack on July 21st. I sure am going to miss her tenor bawl when trailing an old lion track...
Adios,
Gary

Great news