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White River Trip this year

Well Arkansas is in the books this year, had some highs and lows..

Treed several coons, hunted with good friends, but lost a hound to a leaning tree. Stylish Banjo will lay just off the banks of the Mississippi river forever. Down to old Ranger and he's coming 9.. My last hound as I'm not going to raise another one. When he's done, so am I.. He's laying on the couch as i type this and the cold wind and snow are blowing outside the window.

Enough of the bad.. Well almost!! First night at the white river was terrible going, south of highway 1, but it was so muddy and cut up we were slinging mud every inch and getting in and out of the buggy was a slime fest.. treed several coons however, but it sure wasn't pleasant hunting..

Next day I drove about 20 miles east to some public land on the MS River and scouted it out.. Brutal hills on the west side of the road, but really nice river bottom off the road to the east towards the river..

went over that night and hunted alone, cut Banjo down the road and we treed two coons a slick and a den and had to tone him back out of the hills once.

Ranger I cut three times and he treed two and a slick

Second night about the same.. not a crazy big coon population but pretty easy hunting for an old fat guy..

Back up to earlier in the week when I was at the car wash power washing the buggy and had the two dogs leashed to the back of the trailer a chevy pick up pulled in and asked if I was coon hunting with Aaron? I said we are coon hunting, but I don't know an Aaron, told him we were hunting the public ground around the area..

he said well do you want to hunt my ground? I kind of laughed and said sure, how much area do you have available.. His turn to laugh, man had several thousand acres to hunt (he owned a portion). Aaron used to hunt it and had friends come down and they kept the coons down, but apparently he got old and stove up and doesnt hardly hunt any more.

Well I got the whole gang around 5 hunters and 7 hounds and we went over that evening and had an awesome hunt. roughly 3 miles behind the levee of hardwood, deer feeders and fields. We treed 14 from about 7 pm to just after 11.. Coons flat shut down and nothing but dens after that. The other boys kept on hunting and I went home..

Second night we started about 7 pm again, I'd treed one with Banjo and a double with Ranger, then lost Banjo on the leaning tree.. I'm not gonna lie, I cried like a baby in their on that river bank.. Packed up and headed to camp and came home the next day. Banjo will always be remembered, I have 4 breedings stored on him and 9 on Ranger and some other folks have 4 on Ranger. Doubt I will ever raise another litter of pups, but who knows..

Beginning of the end of an Era I'm afraid..

Merry Christmas to you all and pet old blue when you cut him loose tonight, never know if its the last time or not

Sorry to hear of your loss. You had a good time saw some good dog work to remember .

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Get deep or Get Beat!

A really tough way to say goodbye to a hound... and a really beautiful opportunity to enjoy one last trip and hunt with him. Sorry for your loss.

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Seeking Soli Deo Gloria through the hounds.

thanks for the kind words gents

we just never know when the last hunt is..