Does anyone here coon hunt with dogs?

I got an 11mo redbone male i need to get started hunting. I have never coon hunted with dogs before. I know nothing about what to do with the dog. I caught 2 racoons in a live trap this weekend and let the dog see them. He sniffed around the cage and looked at them but didnt bark or anything. I shook the cage to get the coons angry and when they started moving around and getting mad, the dog started going crazy.

I let him bark at them for a little while and then put him up. later that evening me and a buddy too him back out and my budy let one of the coons go while i held the dog back,. i let the coon get just out of sight and then i let the dog go. He chase after where the coon went, but never found him.

We let the second one go and I didnt let the coon get out of sight, i just gave him a little head start and then released the dog. He chased it up a tree but only stayed at the tree for a few seconds, and only barked a couple times. i got him and tied him up to the tree and then i shot the racoon out. When the coon hit the groud he was dead and the dog was curious sniffing him but not barking or bitting the coon or anything.

I know I shouldnt let he see the coons too much because I dont want him to be using his eyes instead of nose, i just thought he needs to be able to atleast see what he is looking for once.

What can i do to get the dog more interested in the coons?

Anyone here got some trained dogs I could let mine follow hunting a couple times so he will know what to do?

i would take the collar off and trade it in for a Walker.
thats about the only way to fix a redbone

Da. wells has a point,have had very little luck with a Redbone,where do you live at?

I run Redbones almost religiously.

Oh and fellas...you might want to look up what happened at the Grand American this year...final cast of 4 dogs...THREE of them were RED.

I can tell you that I have hunted all types except Plotts and American Leopards. Redbones and Black and Tans start later than Walkers and Blue Ticks. He is just fine to start.

Please give me a call as it is way too much to type. (getting a dog started that it) my number is 210-846-4518.

Give this dog a chance, he can't prove it to you if you only take him to the woods once.

One other thing. I'm not from this area and I can tell you that Coon hunting here is almost a dead sport. I would go to the following site for advice on coon hunting.

http://forums.ukcdogs.com/forumdisplay.p...&forumid=25

That is the UKC site. It has a thread for every type of coonhound. That link of for the Redbone thread. Just cruse around and you'll find what your looking for. Gear, trainers, other breed info, hunt info, etc.

Well, I caught another coon and this time I went and let the coon out without the dog seeing the coon at all. I tried to watch to see if I could see the coon going up any of the trees, but didnt ever see him get in a tree. Then i went and got the dog and took him out to where i released the coon. I left the trap sitting where I had let it out. The dog sniffed the trap for a few seconds and then he he started tracking the coon. He went into the woods about 40yrds and barked a couple times so i went in to see what he was barking at. He was digging at a big hole in the ground (im guessing it was a den?) and he started barking more and more while i was there watching him. I let him bark and dig at the hole for a couple minutes and then i leashed him up and petted him up real good and took him out of the woods. I had to drag him away from the hole. I think he knows what he is after now! Now I need to teach him to bark more before I get there.

Thanks for the link redboneman. I will do alot of reading. I am in Henderson Tx.

As for the comments on redbone is no good etc, getting another dog is not an option. The only reason I have this one is I saw he was not being cared for where he was at(was way too thin). I talked the owner in to selling him to me for $100. They didnt deserve to get a penny for the dog regardless of weather he turns out to be a good hunter or not, but i felt sorry for the dog and paid them anyway just to get him out of there. I will not be getting rid of him weather he makes a good coondog or not. I will just keep him around as a pet if he doesnt hunt. But since thats what they are "supposed to do", I figured since he is on the food bill I should atleast give it a go and see if he will!

Redboneman,coon hunting is far from dead in northeast Texas, you are just out of the loop in south Texas.... etx_hntr, I do alot of hunting at white oak creek wma which is not to far from you if you have a type 2 permit and would like 2 go hunting give me a call 903-474-9562 Ryan

If you want to train him, ill attach a chain to my feeder leg and hook your dog up to it, and he`ll get plenty of practice!!

If he was digging he might have been after an armadillo. that could be a bad habit forming quick if he digs like that. I haven't seen a coon yet that goes terrestrial when in trouble.

I applied for one, but for some reason I never heard back...hmmm I'll check to see what happened. If I get it I'll definitely come that way. I love running hounds.

[quote=Redboneman]If he was digging he might have been after an armadillo. that could be a bad habit forming quick if he digs like that. I haven't seen a coon yet that goes terrestrial when in trouble.

Well that shows how much I know about the whole thing then . The woods back where I let the coon go is very thick with vines and briars. Its so thick I could barely even get to the dog to see what he was doing. And of course my light went out when i got in there. As a result of trying to take the dog out of the woods on a leash in the dark in that thick crap with no light, I now have a huge scratch from my nose all the way to my neck. It has made for some strange looks from people at work lol. Where the hole was, was the last place I saw/heard anyof the vines moving or anything is the reason I thought he must have went in to the hole. The dog ran with his nose down straight to the are where that was (where the hole is).

I took the dog out again last night (light set up reworked and machete in hand this time). The dog wen out into the woods on his own, but never barked at anything. I was walking around with the spotlight shining the trees to see if i could find any, but i never saw any either.

Should I just keep taking him out in the woods and let him try to find them, or should keep going in and release coon without him seeing it and then take him and let him try to find it? I can probably catch a coon almost every night if needed (have land at the house with a corn feeder on it, and a deer lease with a few feeders with coons always on them). I figure if i let one go, atleast I know there is fresh scent in the area and can tell if he picks up the scent or not. What would you do if you were just trying to train a dog by itslef without the aid of other dogs?

I do have a type 2 permit and would love to go. I will give you a call sometime. I can pretty much only go on a friday or saturday night though. My name is Brady.

Honestly until he knows what to look for he won't find it. I would trap some, present it (in cage), and then release it. Followed very shortly by the dog. Don't let him catch it, but make it easy for him. Then shoot it out, and make some drags. That is the best way to start a pup.

A word of caution. You can ruin a pup by letting a big ole coon grab him. That coon, if fresh and spunky, will lay a butt kickin' on a dog. But if you present it, and hold him back to make him mad...then release it, he should follow it well.

After that you just let that coon get farther and farther away. Once you hold the dog for about 25mins you can then get to the real stuff.

This is only if you don't have an old dog to run with. I would also progress to feeder buckets at first since he will be learning completely on his own. After that, only one feeder a night and an area where there are coons but no feeders.

Once all of this is done then you can go straight wild.

There are other things to work on, such as treeing and trash breaking if he needs it. But that is another chapter.

I got a redbone that just turned a year old he runs track and trees some how can i get him to tree better.

Well, if he will track and tree on his lonesome he may just need some incentive. Shoot one out on him, but watch what happens. If he is scared crappless then step in. If not he may just need a reason to hate them.

My 13month old needed that to tree harder. He had a 24lb. coon shot out to him and he went ape. It wasn't clear who had who for a bit. But on the next tree he went ballistic.

You could also start from the bottom again, but it would only take one night a step if he knows what he is doing already (in general, not many if any 1yr olds really know what is going on)

Be careful about discouraging your dog he can't find something, he will loose interest and start running what he can find, mainly because he is young. So try to run fresh tracks and work them to colder once. Also, make sure you praise him when he trees. Praising a dog when he/she trees is a great tool to make them tree hard.

I`ve hunted him with a old dog and he does like to tree with another dog. When i get to the tree he's just walking around but he knows how to fight a coon

You'll want to catch one in a trap, tie that trap to a rope and then get that caged coon where you can pull it up and down a tree. That will allow him to see it and commence to bark. Keep it just out of his reach...but just barely.

Set out some feeder buckets or some of the corn and let them set for about a week. Then go put him on some nice hot tracks after you get him to do what he is supposed to on a trapped coon. If they are coming to the feed, he'll defiantly have something to smell and chase that is similar to the released caged coon.