Recently I had the pleasure of hunting with the best hunting buddy I could ever ask for, my oldest son Gage. Gage loves to do anything outdoors, and I must say he gets it honest. On our most recent outing we had a very productive night. The first drop my pup treed a decent coon, and we harvested it which is very rare for me. I really can’t remember Gage ever being with me when I actually shot a coon out, it is something I really don’t enjoy doing. The first lesson he learned was if you do decide to harvest game of any kind, we as hunters have the responsibility of making the process as humane as possible. I told him the importance of one well placed shot to prevent suffering. We turned my pup loose after gathering up our quarry and proceeded to walk through the woods and along the fresh-cut corn and bean fields. While walking we happened to see another coon sitting atop a very large maple tree. We observed the masked bandit for about ten minutes while listening for my hound. After a while Gage asked me if I was going to shoot the coon out. I then told him if the dog trees it we might, but I probably wouldn’t. He said ,”but dad he’s right there,” thats when I realized I hadn’t had the ethical talk with him. I explained that just because we see what we are after we don’ t have to kill it. The best part of hunting with dogs is the chase, listening to the dog or dogs work a track to the end. If we were to kill every coon we saw there eventually wouldn’t be any more to hunt. Hunters also have a responsibility of respecting the game they are after, meaning if the hounds can’t find the coon, then the coon wins. He caught on real fast, he is a very smart kid. To make a long story short, my dog didn’t tree the coon, so he will be there to run again next time. A few days later we had the priviledge of hunting with my very good hunting buddy Craig Lehman and his dog ‘PR’ Lehman’s Stormy. On this particular night Gage was fortunate to see some impressive hound work. Stormy treed an average coon and it too was left to run another day. We again told Gage that dead coons can’ t run and tree anymore, so he is safe for now. Here are some pics of the coon we left, Stormy, and Gage and myself with our harvested coon.
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- very large coon left to run another day
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- Me, Gage, Nessie, and an average coon sitting on my tailgate
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- ‘PR’ Lehman’s Stormy telling the world she has a coon
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- Stormy hugging the wood
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