Sort of a thing I've thought about. There's Black and Tans, Redbones, Blueticks, Walkers, etc. I think the "jungles" of E. TX might be too thick, you need enough space to get through and follow the dogs. Does anyone run hounds? What part of the state?

I was a houndsman for several years. Walkers mostly. "E. TX might be too thick, you need enough space to get through and follow the dogs". You don't necessarily "follow" the dogs. You turn them loose, they will range and should be silent until they strike a hot trail. You can tell the different voice of each hound and tell the difference between when they are on track and when treed. Mostly you turn them loose and listen for them to get on one and tree, then get to them any way you can. If your having to follow them as they get distant, it usually is a bad sign as they likely running trash and not something that will tree. Fortunately there are electronic collars these days that makes training them from running trash so much easier.

A bored young coon hound is an unhappy animal. They are obsessed with hunting machines. So it involves a commitment to a lot of long nights hunting. It is hard to find friends that enjoy that kind of hunting other than every now and then, so just know that. There are coon hunting clubs around still I am sure and they would also be a great resource for you to see what it is all about. At least on the competition side of it. The one I was in no longer exists.

Coonhounds do not know fences and can cover a lot of ground. You will need a large hunting lease, large tracks of public land, or large blocks of private land you can hunt on or your just asking for trouble. I hunted on a lot of public land in Texas and Oklahoma and more locally had private land areas adjacent to public land where I went door to door with a topo map getting permission in advance for future night hunts and at one time was able to collectively mark in a very large area of land that I could hunt closer to home. Over time that land grew houses. I had to keep driving farther and farther out to find places to hunt. My last year of night hunting was a mess with thieves more than once trying to strip my vehicle on the side of the road, a bottle thrown from a passing vehicle that almost hit my head, and a pair of guys even attempting to roll me when I got to my vehicle. I was not in a position to move farther from the city so I moved on from that kind of hunting lifestyle. It was just not worth it anymore. So if you live close to the city and don't have access to land near you, take that into consideration. If not and you have access to land, go for it. Feel free to ask any questions.

I miss it dearly.

I asked my wife to marry me in OK during the same week this picture was taken, so this picture of my eldest son was from 29+ years ago.

I think that term is racist.

Treeing Walker Coonhound - https://www.akc.org/dog-breeds/treeing-walker-coonhound/

Any one particular breed that you think is better than the others. When I was a kid I read Fur-Fish-Game a lot and back then you could get a Black and Tan coonhound for $45. 2 Beagles for the same price. Now a days everything is more high tech, helmets, with lights, GPS collars, all that sort of thing. I've bumped into a few folks and I quickly learned it is really all about the dogs, the hunting is of course part of it but if you don't really like dogs you won't get into it. I like the look of Blue Ticks.

I'm partial to walkers. I like blueticks though I never personally owned one. Then redbones. In that order but it really is personal preference. Black and tans were recognized by akc early on and hurt the breed for hunting IMA , but improved for temperament popular as show dogs. So choose a breeder accordingly. Plotts make tough bigger game dogs. Read the various online descriptions and relate to how you will use a hound. Also pay attention to any listed breed health issues over another if you get undecided.

Yeah, I thought Plots were used on larger game like bears and cougar. Good to know on the Black and Tans-sounds like they bred all the fight out of them. Too bad because they were a fairly good sized dog. Same with the Irish Setter, seems impossible that the were once a game dog.

Best hound I ever hunted raccoons with was a big black and tan but that was almost 40 years ago and bred from local hunting stock. Most of my friends that hunted them had walkers.

Back in the early 70's I joined the Nacogdoches County Cat & Coon Hunters Club. Bought a Black and Tan to start hunting with. The Bass Brothers, as I remember ran the club. They had two Blue Tick hounds, Judy was the Grand Knight Champion in the state at that time. Her partner John was the trailer, and Judy would tree. I was the youngest in the club at the time so they made me climb the tree and try to shake the coon out. One night one of the club members squalled a big bore coon off the final limb of a big cottonwood tree next to a creek. I held on with one arm and swung with the other. Knocked the coon, my knit cap and glasses off in the creek. The fight was on. The creek did clear up and we found my glasses with the head light.
Good memories!