The dogs that shape us!

I’m 28 years old and have been hunting with tree dogs for 15 years now. Over half my life has been invested in these dog and this sport. We have dogs come into our lives at just the right time to make an impact in our life. In those 15 years, I have had 3 dogs that really have shaped me into the Houndsmen I am before they passed. Lucy, a bluetick, who was my first dog that would tree. Charlie, a redbone, who is my measuring stick for any dog that comes through my house now. Then Roxy, a fiest, who showed me what a squirrel dog should be. As I get older I will have more dogs come and make an impact. I have a 9 year old redbone now named Sunny who has taught me what a true versatile hunting dog is, but she will be a story for another day.

Lucy was a really dark colored bluetick almost to the point where she looked like a black and tan at first glance. I bought Lucy for $500 in the winter of 2010. I was 13 years old and just starting to learn how to coon hunt. Lucy taught me a lot. The guy I bought her from told me she was the only dog he had that would tree. Well she didn’t disappoint. The first night I ever cut her loose was at my Uncle Hal’s house. We cut her down a creek, and then she went about 75 yards and fell treed. Walked up to the tree and had the coon! You couldn’t convince that 13 year old boy that he didn’t have the greatest coondog to ever walk on this earth. When I got Lucy, I had a lot to learn and had a good dog to teach me. We got lost a lot, and I learned how to navigate the woods. It was months after I got her when I got a tracking system, so she taught me how to learn to understand your hound. She was pretty silent. I had to really know her in order to keep up with her. She treed lot of coons for me and helped make some good friends. Many memories were made walking behind that little bluetick. Eventually I started squirrel hunting her too, and she would tree one squirrel close then the next squirrel would always be half a mile away. She was a heck of a hound for a 13 year old boy. My best friend at the time was Ryan, who tragically died in a car wreck our junior year of high school. He walked to a lot of trees with Lucy and me. After Ryan passed away, I sold Lucy and all my equipment. That didn’t last long. There was something missing, so a few months later I got a new dog. I went through a bunch who didn’t suit me before someone gave me the best dog I’ve ever owned. It was a kind gesture that truly changed my life.

That’s how my first redbone, Charlie, entered my life. Charlie was a very special dog who came into my life and revived my love for coon hunting. My friend Simon went with me the night I picked him up. (Coincidentally Simon rode with me to pick up Sunny as well.) We took him hunting at a place I hunted many nights off hwy 13. We didn’t do much that night, but a friendship was formed. A lifetime of memories began that night there on a creek in the Desoto National Forest. For years if you saw me then you probably saw Charlie. I am forever thankful for this dog and am the Houndsmen I am today because of him. Charlie taught me what a true coon dog was. He wasn’t flashy but was very consistent. That’s the only word I can think of to describe him. He was the same dog night after night. I could always count on Charlie to strike a track and have a coon when he treed. Now it may take all night. He had an impressive nose and wasn’t afraid to use it. There were nights where we couldn’t buy a coon and eventually Charlie would settle down and lay one up. The winter of my freshman year of college, my friend Lane and I hunted Charlie in the same beaver pond for 20 nights straight. This particular beaver pond spread over 100 acres. He made 29 trees, and we saw 28 coons. A lot of the friends I have in this sport are because of Charlie. In high school I had a group of guys who hunted with me. Charlie introduced all of those guys to what a coondog was. Most of those guys ended up being groomsmen in my wedding. Charlie died from heart failure when he was 8, but the lessons I learned from him will never leave me.

The final dog that shaped me as a Houndsmen was a dog that wasn’t even mine. She was a little brindle and white fiest named Roxy. Roxy belonged to my Uncle Clint, but for a few squirrel seasons when I first got married she could come to my house. I hunted Roxy hard. Where I lived I could cut loose from my dog pens and hunt, so there were not many days I didn’t hunt her. Now Roxy wasn’t the greatest squirrel dog in the world, but she was just what I needed. She was a dog that could always tree 4-5 squirrels no matter the day. She wasn’t going to tree many more than that but would always get you a few. She was accurate and fun to hunt. As with these other two dogs, I met some good people and made alot of memories behind Roxy. I can remember making a hunt with a good friend of mine and he said, “I love to hear that dog tree, because I know she is going to have a squirrel.” Roxy passed away a few years ago. She may not have been my dog, but I sure did make a lot of memories and learn a lot about squirrel hunting from her.

Dogs come in and out of our lives. Some dogs make more of an impact on us than others. I’ve been lucky to have a few dogs that have been nice and I have learned alot from. What are some dogs that have shaped you and in what way?