# Coon hunting Full moon?



## BBD 25 (Jan 11, 2009)

How many people coon hunt the full moon? We went the last 2 nights and every time the dogs tree'd it was in a hole, in a himlock pine, or a fricken possom which these dogs last year tree'd one possom all year long and the past two nights they already tree'd 2. its Crazy. Not sure if the dogs are getting despirate or what! Is the hunting just not as good this year or what; we've only got 3 coons on about 6 trips and the thing is they were all in one tree. Seems we've tree'd alot in pines this year too.


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## Daddy Rabbit Kennels (Jan 11, 2009)

*``````````````````````````Rabbit Tracks Ever where```````````````>*

What you Hunting With  Jack Russels ?


D.R.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>


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## will hunt 4 food (Jan 11, 2009)

I don't think the moon is your trouble.


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## hardhuntin (Jan 12, 2009)

Well, to be honest I am out of it now, but i used to hunt 6 and 7 nights a week. I raised and hunted hounds for Ed Mead out of Michigan and other folks associated with that line of dogs all around the Southeast. I hunted for about 20 years before hangin it up. Partly as a kid then as a teenager and a supposed adult. Jury is still out on the adult thing according to the wife. Anyway, in all that time the worst nights I can remember having were usually on full moons. It seemed like everything in the woods was walkin on those nights. For a young hound that is runnin and treein good but not ready to be broke yet, you are doin more harm than good on a moonlit night. For a young dog that is accomplished and needs touchin up on trash, it provides some good opportunities. Of course I always liked ending on a good note with one, so after you correct it with extreme prejudice on trash, take it to a good hot feeder bucket so it can do something right. And finally for an old dog, he should be mostly broke but bare in mind that all dogs eventually give into to temptation after repeated exposure to trash, it usually makes for a long boring night of den trees and or cold trailing. I usually hunted those nights anyway, just depended on what was in the pen really. Also startin times play a role in this. May want to start later or earlier right at dusk just depending on what phase the moon is in. I knew a fella that kept a log of ever coon he treed each night. Included moon phase, time, temp, location/terrain, and what they were feeding on as best he could tell. After a few years of information to sift through, he could put you on a coon about any night you wanted to go. Hope this helps.


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## carabrook (Jan 12, 2009)

I keep pretty good track of coon times on feeders with cameras and downloading the pictures then sorting them on the PC. Couple of observations that I believe to be true,

1) full moon they run late, usually 2 am to 5:30 am, few and far between before midnight
2) this time of year and maybe already when the rut is getting started they tend to up and down the trees and leave scent which can make a dog think they have a hot one when they don't
3) with the cold den time is more than other times, they come down to eat, drink and head back to the warmth

JMO

The biggest difference I have seen with all my pictures is the temperature and any extreme change getting colder lessens the time they spend on the ground.


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## hardhuntin (Jan 12, 2009)

You know I think you got a good point Carabrook. I have always heard the saying, "They get harder to tree after they eat Christmas dinner" There is a lot of truth in that statement because that is when our coldest weather of the year kicks in for the next couple months. Coons get sluggish when its brutal cold, but let it warm up good for a day or two in January and all the sudden they ain't so hard to get up a tree anymore. A lot of people make mistakes this time of year cause the coons get a bit more tricky to tree. I have seen a few good young hounds ruined or taken way back from where they should be during this time of year. And when coons rut, a dog missing is just going to happen. You have a guy saying his dog won't miss, you better keep an eye on him cause he is probably runnin for public office soon after. Don't be ashamed to hunt a feeder. Especially this time of year. Keep'em in tune during the rough months, an be out in front come spring. You ever notice how all the comp hunt scores crash this time of year? I have seen 25+ win one before. But you get to albany at the end of January and dang some body brings in 800+! Its feeder buckets and a dog that knows how to work one. Strikes with his head up and closes on a tree like a frieght train. Dang I miss treein coons. Gotta hush or I will have another dog before long.


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## carabrook (Jan 12, 2009)

A coon is a coon is a coon and I don't care how the dogs find em as long as they do. I keep two feeders for coons going year round and have gathered about 7,000 pictures with times and dates and can sort through them in a flash. I agree there is a lot of dogs that all of a sudden dont score this time of year, LOL............I just enjoy hearing them open and then get treed. Keeping the feeders at our place helps hold the population in the area and since we dont shoot very many out it makes for more fun.


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## BBD 25 (Jan 12, 2009)

Thanks guys? it probably does have a little to do with the dogs but they did a lot better last year. The dogs are not mine they are my cusins. Ide like to own a good dog its just everyone want to much money for a good dog that wont run trash and that will tree on his own! *If any one wants to get rid of one for really cheap let me know! * Just bought a BMC for the family. hes an inside dog. But thanks for all your advice and keep it coming!


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## Jubal (Jan 12, 2009)

I got a dog qualified once for the zones with something like 16 points.  Took 9th overall.  Don't laugh!  I placed him didn't I !?

and yes, full moons can be TOUGH but go anyhow.  it's all good.


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## ctneisler (Jan 12, 2009)

*Made 2 trees tonite!*

Took about 40 minutes to tree first time.Three coons in tree.Took a couple minutes to find.Shot out a big boar coon! Next tree was deep.Smaller tree had alot of vines,but no coon! Not a bad nite,back home at 9.45. The old guy i used to hunt , you could not pay him to hunt with the moon full.It does seem you have more problems with a full moon. chad


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## thomas gose (Jan 14, 2009)

we still tree coons on full moons. it makes it a little harder to find them in the tree, that is the biggest problem i find. we end up looking for the coon itself instead of eyes. but the hunting to me doesnt seem no worse. december and january are just hard.


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## NCHillbilly (Jan 17, 2009)

I spent a lot of years following hounds, and I never caught many coons on full moon nights. One here and there, but seems like most of them hit den trees or holes. They seem to tree a lot easier on dark nights, don't know why.


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## GA DAWG (Jan 17, 2009)

hardhuntin said:


> You know I think you got a good point Carabrook. I have always heard the saying, "They get harder to tree after they eat Christmas dinner"  You ever notice how all the comp hunt scores crash this time of year? I have seen 25+ win one before. But you get to albany at the end of January and dang some body brings in 800+! Its feeder buckets and a dog that knows how to work one. Strikes with his head up and closes on a tree like a frieght train. Dang I miss treein coons. Gotta hush or I will have another dog before long.


So you have heard that saying to..Its a FACT As far as the winter classic goes..You cant compare it to nothing..All about seeing if you can get everybody off your cast or not.Heck 800 want even get you second down there now  It takes a coon treeing dog but you dont score those 1200 scores in GA with a 4 dog cast anytime of the year As for full moons..They dont bother me.What I hate hunting in is a EAST wind..I'd just as soon stat home.NOW,Get you another hound and lets go tree a few


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## BBD 25 (Jan 17, 2009)

NOW,Get you another hound and lets go tree a few[/QUOTE]

Need too, but cant afford one. dogs we use is my cusins. I got my kids a BMC for christmas (as they wanted ol yeller). Idk maybe ill end up making him a coon dog. hes only 10 weeks old so i got awhile. Then again by the time hes old enough to start training ill be able to afford a good coon dog. Who knows. But full moons havent been working out; but im more than likely going to keep hunting them.


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## coontreeinhook (Jan 17, 2009)

I dont keep tabs on this stuff like carabrook, but we went on the last full moon and treed 5 coons between 8:30 and 11:30. We had a 10 year old english dog and a freshly started Walker hound that were running hot tracks all night. I felt like we could have killed 15 coons that night if we would have stayed at it.


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