Conference vmsnet::hunting$note:hunting

    I have never hunted racoons, nor would I want to.  But my father-in-law
    and brother-in-law hunt them using "'coon dogs".  Apperantly it
    used to be a big sport.  Some people did eat them but most people
    shot them for their pelts which used to bring a good price back
    in the 40s, 50s and even the 60s.  I don't know what the going 
    rate for 'coon pelts are today but quite a few people still hunt
    them up here.  
    
    Sometimes I wonder about this when asked to come to dinner at the
    in-laws, though.
    
    Dave

    	I remember a story I heard once about a man named Phil Boggs
    down south who was heavy into coon hunting.  Seems this guy had a 
    unique way of hunting them.  He'd let the dogs tree the coon and 
    then he'd climb the tree and knock the coon out of the tree.  The 
    way he thought about it was that he wasn't being inhumane but 
    rather he was giving the coon an option which the coon didn't 
    have when hunted the "normal way".  The option was of course that 
    the coon could whip all them dogs down below and walk away a free coon.
    
    	One night this guy was hunting coons with his buddies and they
    treed one and he climbed up the tree to throw the coon to the dogs.
    Well all of a sudden, high up in the dark branches, hidden by the
    shadows of the leaves there commenced an AWFUL racket.  There was
    screaming and snarling and biting and clawing agoin' on somthin'
    fierce.  Elmer Packwood, standing below in the crowd and listening
    to all of this, shouted up to his friend (who apparently had gotten
    himself into a fist fight with a Bobcat) PHIL, HEY PHIL, ARE YOU
    OK?  Well, there wasn't any answer, just the continued sounds of
    one hellatious fight goin' on up above, so Elmer yelled again: 
    HEY PHIL, ARE YOU OK?  HOW CAN WE HELP?  The answer came forthwith:
    ELMER!  ELMER, SHOOT!  SHOOOOOT!!
    
    Elmer replied: PHIL! I CAN'T SHOOT!  I MIGHT HIT YOU!
    
    To which Phil answered:  WELL SHOOT UP HERE ANYWAY!  ONE OF US NEEDS
    RELIEF!!!                   
    
    :-)
    
    Rich

    	I remember a story I heard once about a man named Phil Boggs
    down south who was heavy into coon hunting.  Seems this guy had a 
    unique way of hunting them.  He'd let the dogs tree the coon and 
    then he'd climb the tree and knock the coon out of the tree.  The 
    way he thought about it was that he wasn't being inhumane but 
    rather he was giving the coon an option which the coon didn't 
    have when hunted the "normal way".  The option was of course that 
    the coon could whip all them dogs down below and walk away a free coon.
    
    	One night this guy was hunting coons with his buddies and they
    treed one and he climbed up the tree to throw the coon to the dogs.
    Well all of a sudden, high up in the dark branches, hidden by the
    shadows of the leaves there commenced an AWFUL racket.  There was
    screaming and snarling and biting and clawing agoin' on somthin'
    fierce.  Elmer Packwood, standing below in the crowd and listening
    to all of this, shouted up to his friend (who apparently had gotten
    himself into a fist fight with a Bobcat) PHIL, HEY PHIL, ARE YOU
    OK?  Well, there wasn't any answer, just the continued sounds of
    one hellatious fight goin' on up above, so Elmer yelled again: 
    HEY PHIL, ARE YOU OK?  HOW CAN WE HELP?  The answer came forthwith:
    ELMER!  ELMER, SHOOT!  SHOOOOOT!!
    
    Elmer replied: PHIL! I CAN'T SHOOT!  I MIGHT HIT YOU!
    
    To which Phil answered:  WELL SHOOT UP HERE ANYWAY!  ONE OF US NEEDS
    RELIEF!!!                   
    
    :-)
    
    Rich

    I believe that story came from Jerry Clower, the "Mouth of the South"
    out of Liberty Mississippi.  He may not have originated that story,
    but he does have some cassette tapes out with similair stories.
    Y'all would probably get a kick out of 'em.
    
    Mark,
    

    Hey Rich..... naw... I won't say anything... I guess I deserve it
    huh?  ok... I can take it....
    
    That was good Rich..... I broke out laughing....
    
      Smitty

    Hee hee hee.  I do remember that story from when I was a teenager
    in the 60's and it was on a record album along the style of the
    Bert & I records except it was done by a guy from the south.  I
    couldn't resist.  :-)
    
    Rich

    I remember that Jerry Clower skit too... I think the guy in the
    tree was his buddy "Marcel Ledbetter".....
    
    
    joe

    When I lived in the great state of BARRE,MA I use to go COON HUNTING
    for the Rod & Gun I belonged to, only we never killed them (used
    sling shot) as we would use them for our Coon dog races (until the
    Mass Humane Society said we were being cruel), Hell we would race
    them one day and then let them go well fed I might add, but, that
    is another issue. 
    The first time I was asked if I wanted to partake in the hunt I
    jumped at the chance and was ready and eager at the appointed hour
    11 p.m. Well, George Taylor (our resident expert) drove out to the
    Rutland prison camp area and told us to follow the yelps of the
    dogs and when they started baying it meant they had one treed, (sounds
    easy enough) execpt nobody told me not to wear my sneakers and that
    I would be traversing  hill, dale, rivers and other obstacles that
    tended to make my first outing less than pleasurable. Well, anyway
    the dogs started baying and we all congregated under the tree and
    were dully impressed that somewhere way up was a coon, only George
    could not get a clear shot at it and before we knew it he was climbing
    the tree telling us to watch which way the coon went went it came
    down. Now, to be honest we thought he was going to shake or shoot
    the critter out, the next thing we hear is the sound of a saw cutting
    the limb (to this day I don't know where he had it hidden) and all
    of a sudden half the tree comes crashing down. Due to the circumstances
    I trully was not interested as to which way the coon was going to
    run with a tree crashing down on my head, GEORGE on the other hand
    did not see it quite that way and kept us running thru the woods
    for another few hours before he showed us the wayout. I was smart
    enough to be conveniently busy for the next few hunts.
    

    I go coon hunting at least a couple of times a year with a friend
    of mine. I wouldn't have believed how many coon there are around
    Templeton, MA. Its quite an experience to go searching for a couple
    of dogs that have a coon treed. Usually the tree is a hemlock and
    its usually the tallest tree in the woods. You try to get back from
    the tree and shine a light around the tree untill you see the
    reflections from the raccoon's eyes. Most of the time the hunters
    use 22 cal rifle or pistols. Sometimes the pistols are scoped.
        If we couldn't spot em with the lights, my buddy would climb
    up after em and swat em down with a branch. I've seen a coon down
    over his head and down his back to get away. Sometimes the coon
    will leap and fall through the entire tree just grabbing branches
    and swinging through the tree to get down and when there is a dog
    on the ground to meet him there could be a fight. Every once and
    a while the raccoon, once he hits the ground, will try to climb
    up your leg. I guess any thing that looks like a tree is fine for
    a coon that is being worried by a dog. I think its a lot of fun
    and you get a lot of exercise. By the way, my buddy also traps
    coon and fisher cat and sells the fur. He gives the meat away to
    another friend of his. I tried it one time and its not bad. Tasted
    a little like dry roast beef.
    
    
    sjn

	I am entering this note for my Brother_in_law. Are there any 'coon 
hunters out there? He's looking to find some used telemetry equipment. He hunts 
southern N.H./N.E. Mass./southern Maine areas. He has 2 treeing Walker dogs.

Send e-mail to AGNT99::HENRIKSON

Pete

    
    Seeing as how it's a slow night, I though I would tell a couple
    of stories on how we used to hunt coon in Ky.
    
    I lived right on the banks of the Mississippi and there were three
    or four islands on part of the river that we would hunt coon on.
    About 12 people would go out at once and we would hunt in shifts.
    The first group was from dark to midnight the next midnight to dawn.
    The guys staying behind would get a bonfire going and catch some
    catfish to cook. I remember one night we were to hunt the second
    shift so we sacked out next to the fire. We were awakened by the
    voice of a river boat captain who,saw us sleeping and thought we
    were stranded on the island. He had a big spotlight trained on us
    and it scared the %$#%$ out of me. (i was about 10 or 11).
    
    We would run into all kinds of hazarsds out there. There is this
    one particular weed that we called itch weed. It looked like a lily
    pad (not in water though) and it had little hair like things on
    it. And if you touched it you would get a rash and itch like hell.
    We took this one guy out one night who took second shift so he sat
    by the fire and proceded to get sloshed. We ended up chasing this
    coon around the island and the guy could'nt keep up. He decided
    to sit down for awhile, right in the middle of a patch of itch weed.
    needless to say he never wanted to go again.
    There was even a wild cow that lived on one of the islands. The
    current washed him from the bank and out onto the island. We would
    run into it once and a while. 
    
    the best night we had was when we took the puppies out to hunt for
    the first time. The two adult dogs treed a coon and we followed
    with the pups. We grabbed the two adults and let the pups sniff
    the tree, my uncle then shot the coon and and only wounded it.
    That coon came head first down the tree and jumped on the pups.
    They were blue ticks and big for thier age and ended up tearing
    the coon apart. when we took the coon from them and held it up the
    older male dog could'nt stand it and litarally grabbed the coon
    and tore it to shreads. It sounds cruel, but those pups were fine
    and turned out to be great coon dogs.
    Ahhh the memories..................
    
                                    Walt
    

    
    
    
    	I have a couple of questions, sort of related to this subject.
    
    
    	First, I have heard of calling racoons.  Is there a special call?
    	how successful would it be in the late afternoon/early evening
    hours?
    
    	Second, I'd like to draw one or two 'coons(or any other small furry
    creature) in to a "print bed" Im making for the kids.  The idea is to
    get a smooth soft area to record paw/hoof prints.  What kind of bait
    (short of my own trash can) will draw them in?  I know about the lure
    used in trapping, but from all descriptions it's not the kind of thing
    that "the Boss" would allow in the house! :-)
    
    
    	Thanks,
    
    		Chuck
    

    My ex brother-in-law used to trap 'coons.  He used sardines for bait.
    He would position one or two such that the animal would have to
    spring the trap to get the bait, and sprinkle the juice from the
    can around the trap.  It worked for him.  The only problem is that
    you will probably also attract other animals.
    
    Jerry

	For all you guys hunting coons make sure you use extra
	pre-caution as there is a disease (some sort of "worm")
	that is supposed to infest approx. 50% of the coon population
	in the Northeast anyway which can cause extreme sickness
	even death in children and young adults.

	A friend of mine coon hunts in So. NH and he said that
	there've been at least 2 deaths in NH already...

	Supposedly the larve is in Racoon feces and can be transmitted
	to a human via the eyes or mouth. 

	The article I read on this expalined that racoon will get
	on picnic tables or something like that and children especially
	will use their hands to clean off the table and they won't
	wash immediately afterwards (as all kids do ;-)) then put
	their fingers in their mouths at some later time or rub their
	eyes and the larve is subjected to their system. The larve then 
	travels through the victim's bloodstream to the brain which can
	cause death or EXTREME sickness...


				~Mike~

    Also be aware that (at least down here in the South) that rabies is a
    serious problem with coons.  
    
    Good luck,
    
    Keith R>