Registered: Apr 2014
Location: oakvale ms
Posts: 2007

Steve sorry about Bo's foot, is that when it happened to him the other night when he was favoring that foot. Hope he is well soon and you two are back at it again. I think I'm going to rest ole Tramp up for a few nights. I have really put him through the wringer lately. I,m going to work on Gin, Sheba, Sheba 11 and Smoke. I think the coons must be in the briar patches now for they are sure not in the swamps. Good huntin.

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Registered: Sep 2013
Location: tylertown,mississippi
Posts: 2552

MR. Jack, yes sir that is why he was limping at the end of our all nighter. I believe it happened when we moved to the river and I let him run with us instead of loading him on the 4 wheeler. I didn't realize it was a good distance to the river. Probably hit a rock or something sharp. It cut the black pad covering pretty bad and I took him to Vet this morning for fear of infection even though it looked fine and we have been doctoring on it. But skin was hanging and Vet cut it on off, said it was to shredded to sew up. I will lay him up a couple weeks and he said it will be sore a while but within a couple months it will grow back.
Your right about the coons, they aren't in the swamp but the Rabbits dang sure are. Briar ran the heck out of two last night and he's getting serious about it so its breaking time. Stormy kept locating behind him but wasn't sticking. Just like her Sire, Jake, she was telling on Briar. Jake did the same thing when another hound was trashing. He would drop off to the side and locate a bunch of times and tree just enough for you to come see. I would walk into him and he would come off the tree and meet me, telling on the Bad Dog. Funny how he passed that on to Stormy, she stayed one time until I was 30yds from her then she left it. Ole Briar is coughing and hoarse today because he ran one for 20 hard minutes in those thickets before I could get my hands on him. We hit a couple feeders and nothing had been at either. Going to just hunt Stormy the next few nights and get Briar used to the dummy collar then we going Wabbit Hunting!

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Registered: Sep 2013
Location: tylertown,mississippi
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Beverly and I did a little fishing this evening but the bite wasn't on. The river has dropped out some but the water is still very muddy. I run the boat up on this shallow clay bed to hold us in place and cast down river into a deeper pool that is usually good for several good Catfish but not today. Getting ready to take Stormy out for a run. She's number one now that the boys are laid up, she's out there now telling me its time to GO!

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Registered: Aug 2003
Location: SE indiana
Posts: 941

Steve, your stories and the way you live have inspired me. I live in a place that most people only dream about. I am not taking it for granted these days. I make the most of it, get pleasure from working around the place and take pride in it. Thanks Steve for writing.

I have Jazz page updated. Slide on over and check out the last couple of hunts.

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Registered: Sep 2013
Location: tylertown,mississippi
Posts: 2552

Star has took to the river like a duck. I love to see one that likes to swim and enjoys it as much as me. Saves a lot of walking to a creek bank and putting a boot in their back end when you start hunting them and it sounds like their treed but they are just hung up because of water. Start them young, make it fun and you will never have to toss them in later on.

Thanks Chris and Chris! I have been a River Rat most all my life and I try to live right. By that I mean, God Fearing, Honest, Unselfish, Happy and Wide Open! We don't have much time on this earth and I try to cram as much of the good life into my schedule as possible. Beverly, Mason and I love to hunt for special rocks or treasure on these rock and sandbars. Yesterday I found a perfect arrowhead and 3 pieces of petrified wood and as I studied each piece and thought about the history behind each one and how many thousands if not millions of years those rocks in my hands took to form before they tumbled down to my sandbar it made me realize even more that just how short a time we live. Also, that even though I would love to find some treasure in the form of gold coins some old trapper lost long ago, our TRUE TREASURE is around us every day in the way we live and our Family and Friends. I hope to one day meet each of you as I feel we have been friends for years even though we have never met. Take Care Guys and Good Hunting!

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Registered: Aug 2003
Location: SE indiana
Posts: 941

Star is a good looking pup Steve.

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Registered: Sep 2013
Location: tylertown,mississippi
Posts: 2552

I left Sunday evening and went to Cocodrie, La to go off shore fishing for Red Snapper on Monday with some guys from work. Man O Man did we get lucky on the timing of this fishing trip. Weather was perfect as you can tell from this picture, we are over 20 miles out and look how calm the Gulf is. Did we catch any? I will post a few pictures I took or had the guys take for me and you judge for yourself how well they were biting. It was the kind of trip that will make you come home and sell all your hounds and coon hunting equipment and buy a bigger boat. Well, not quite that good of a trip! lol!

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Last edited by steve bankston on 06-09-2015 at 05:56 PM

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Location: Kenna WV
Posts: 1019

Man love the pics Steve!!!

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Registered: Sep 2013
Location: tylertown,mississippi
Posts: 2552

Thanks for the compliment Chris on Star, I like her looks and love the way she acts. Real bold and very smart. If she turns out like her half brother, BO, I will be more than pleased. Time will tell.
Bill, thanks for the compliments on the pictures. Having these I phones makes it easy for us Rednecks to share our adventures with others.

Monday was a great day of fishing but Briar gave us a scare and isn't out of the woods yet. Seems like when he ran in the thick stuff for so long after that swamp bunny last time out he came in contact with something that he had a reaction to. I noticed he was hoarse and coughing a little but he was eating and drinking fine and acted ok. Beverly went out Monday morning to feed him and he hadn't ate his feed from Sunday evening and wouldn't come out of his house. She got him to the Vet and his temp was 105. They did blood work and it showed nothing. So Vet said he believed it to be respiratory and gave him antibiotics he takes 2 pills twice a day and some steroid pills which he is done taking. He was ok yesterday but this evening he hadn't ate his feed from this morning so I give him aspirin with his meds this evening. Had to work tonight and told my wife if he hadn't ate by morning to get him back to Vet. She called about dark and said he had ate so hopefully the fever broke and he will get better. He's ran a lot in that swamp and been fine so I don't have a clue what he came in contact with that night. I love that big pup so I sure hope he pulls out of this.

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Registered: Jan 2004
Location: Beaverton, Mi
Posts: 1054

Looks like hanging out with you is sure fun Steve. Following coon dogs and catching fish, doesn't get any better.

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Registered: Jul 2003
Location: Dellwood Fl.
Posts: 585

Steve, no need to sell all your hounds to buy an offshore boat..... You can just Give them to me . You are welcome to come out- I have a offshore boat w/ twin Yamaha 4 strokes, 40 miles out is a walk in the park. I need to download and post some pics.... monster red Snapper and Grouper.... caught a 17' hammerhead last year... 400# goliath grouper..... Went last Thur. and limited out on big snapper, couple of big red grouper- Caught a 10-12' bull shark last Thur. ( I hate catching big sharks.... it happens way too often.....on accident).

Every now and then I go out on a buddies commercial boat.. last time we stayed out 3 days and we caught 1800 pounds of red snapper and grouper.... That turns into WORK...HAHAH

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Registered: Sep 2013
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Briar went back to the Vet this morning. I came in from work at 4am and checked on him and he didn't look good so at 7am we loaded him up and the wife took him in while I headed back to Baton Rouge for a 10am and 2pm meetings. He had a lot of grass in his stool this morning and while at the Vets he passed a lot more. So seems like that is the problem. Vet give him Flaygl for his stomach and told me to also give him Metamucil for fiber. He is home now and still don't act very good but hopefully in a few more days he will straighten out. Don't know what makes a dog eat grass from time to time, especially enough to almost kill them. I told Beverly I would feel better if he was passing rabbit fur, because he was sure running to catch!
Jared, I don't get to have enough fun fishing and hunting. Work keeps me tied up a lot lately. I hope all is good up your way and I really like this pup I got from you. She is going to have a Big, Bawl mouth also. The few times I have heard her she sounds great for a pup. Take Care and Good Hunting!
Casey, those are some huge fish your catching. I would have to bring the ones I caught and use for bait. I'm a man that likes road trips and new adventure so I may just plan a trip with you one day, sounds like an awesome time. I have done a lot of Speck and Red Fishing but this was my first trip out after Red Snapper and it ruined me. Hope all is good over your way, Take Care and Good Hunting!

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Registered: Sep 2013
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Briar still isn't his self. I don't know if this Vet is missing something or its just going to take a while but I would think after taking 4 antibiotic pills a day for 6 days he would act much better but that's not the case. Moves around stiff and sluggish acting, hasn't bawled out any all week. He will go to a different Vet Monday if still acting the same way. Bo's paw is mending slowly, not going to hunt him at least for another week and then just short hunts for a few weeks. Its been raining off and on yesterday and today so we didn't work this weekend. Would like to get out tonight with Stormy if rain will clear out. Took BO for a swim in the river yesterday and every time I waded out deep enough for him to swim against the current Star swam out with us and I had to get the wife to hold her on the rock bar or the current would take her down stream. She reminds me of the Rain pup we had, she loves the river like an otter.

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Registered: Oct 2014
Location: Gilmer, TX
Posts: 158

Hope Briar gets to feeling better soon, Steve. It does seem like an odd case.

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Registered: Sep 2013
Location: tylertown,mississippi
Posts: 2552

This is my favorite picture of Red Snapper from my trip. Grilled with cherry wood on the coals for that smoky flavor, seasoned up and basted with melted butter, lemon juice and extra hot rotel. Yum Yum!!

Thanks Chris, I just went and gave him his 2 pills for this evening and he hasn't ate his feed from this morning so I tossed it because it had rained on it and gave him some more. He is Not looking good at all. I gave him a buffered aspirin even though he felt cool, just to help with his aches. He is not moving around much at all, tomorrow I'm going to walk him a lot and see if that helps.

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Registered: Apr 2014
Location: oakvale ms
Posts: 2007

I was sitting here last night about 2 AM when I got in from hunting. I read your article on Briar. We had a young dog here one time. He belonged to Billy Raybourn. He was about Briar's age and doing good. We were hunting him one night and he ran a coon a long ways in an ole slough. I can't remember how long after that, maybe the next day, he got real sick. I took him to the vet and I don't remember how long or which vet finally found his problem, but while he was runnung in that slough he had sucked a stick up his nose along with some of that ole slough water. I think they finally had to operate to get the stick out. It took them a while to diagnose the problem. This might not be Briar's problem, but It would'nt hurt to ask the vet about it. I also think they had to do an exray to find the stick. I hope ole bo's foot is better. If you get short on dogs to hunt let me know and I'll bring you 4 or 5 over there to hunt.LOL. Take care Steve and I'll talk to you later.

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Registered: Sep 2013
Location: tylertown,mississippi
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Thanks for the info MR. Jack, Briar is doing much better today. Mason and I loaded the 4 wheeler and some buckets of feed to take in the swamp for the coon and Briar bawled out at us wanting to go. I guess it took this long to get him feeling better. I give him aspirin and Benadryl with his meds yesterday evening and I think it helped. He ate his feed and is hopping up and down on the deck and wagging his tail so Ole Briar is back. I was beginning to think I was going to lose him, it was that bad. We saw some tiny coon tracks in the swamp so Kittens are starting to stir a little. About Tuesday night I'm going to cut him on some feeders and see how it goes and will start hunting Bo about a week or so from now. He isn't limping any more but I don't want to rush him. If I get these hounds of mine so banged up I don't have any to hunt I will take you up on your offer and hunt some of yours for you, but when you got as many as I do there is always one raring to go. I will give you a shout one day this week and we will get together, I would like you to see Ole Stormy go, Take Care.

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Registered: Sep 2013
Location: tylertown,mississippi
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Mason and Star Racing through the shallow river water. We had a good day on the river in between the rain showers. We did a little swimming, found two more arrowheads and one piece of petrified wood. Watched some of the Nascar race but they were getting as many showers as we were and after the 4th red flag they called it with 62 laps left to go. Kurt Bush was leading so he got the rain out win. Briar is looking real good this evening so I feel he is in the clear and will be ready to hunt in a couple days.

And the Winner is?!!!!!



Star was smelling up on this log the other day and I knelt down and said " SLICK!!", this is the look I got.

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Last edited by steve bankston on 06-15-2015 at 01:45 AM

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Registered: Sep 2013
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Briar is back better than before. When I washed the pen down this morning there was a piece of towel in his stool. The only towel he has been ahold of was 4 weeks ago when we brought Star home and the towel she rode home on I put in her house. The next day Briar had worked it through the wire into his pen and tore it up. I took it all out and the next couple days he passed a couple pieces. Well, this piece this morning has been in him for weeks. This medicine helped get it out. He acts better than ever and running a track tonight sounded better and louder than he ever has. First track was a rabbit that he got bumped off of and next track was a feeder bucket coon that ran like he was on fire and hit the beaver pond and Briar bogged down some on track and when he got close I caught him up.
Took BO last night and after I cut him I filled up the feeders getting ready to put Briar on them enough until he trees some pretty regular. Bo struck a decent track and worked it through the swamp, up the hill into the briars then back to the edge of the swamp where he treed on a huge turkey pine. I couldn't get him to look so came on in. Going to rotate BO and Briar, hunting one then the other the next night. Give Bo's paw time to toughen up and Briar to get back in shape. Rain is gone, so swamps should dry up some and tracks should be getting better soon.

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Registered: Jul 2005
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Stay on them Steve. Sounds like your hounds are doing good!
Darren

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Registered: Sep 2013
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Chris, Thanks, Star is growing pretty fast and I need Briar to get to putting it all together pretty quick now because before I know it Star will be ready to start. Going to carry him and BO to BO's bottom tonight and hope to get one treed. Hope your getting in some good hunting. How is Wolf doing?

Thanks Darren, they doing fair I guess. With work, the rain we have had and a little bad luck on their health I'm not hunting half as much as I need to be. But it looks like we are going to be dry for a stretch so swamp will drain out some and offer better trailing conditions for Briar. Glad to see your getting some time to hunt, I missed your stories. Take Care and Good Hunting!

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Registered: Sep 2013
Location: tylertown,mississippi
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MR. Jack, I solved the mystery of how Rocket the RACOON and the TWO HOUR BANDIT keep giving our hounds the slip, they hitch a ride!!! You have heard of hounds switching tracks then ending up under a coon?, well, that's the kind of hounds we need for these Rascally Bandits!!
This picture is all over Facebook and now FOX NEWS is covering it.

Chris that was a nice video of Wolf, sounds and looks great. Hope your Maverick pup makes a good one. I saw he had Maverick for sale.

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Registered: Oct 2014
Location: Gilmer, TX
Posts: 158

That's quite a picture. At first I thought that coon was on a log. Then I noticed it was gator. I wonder if he's using that chopper for protection.

I think it's a littermate pup to my Blue that Dan is selling. The pup's name is Rev. My pup needs to grow up some but I really like him. Like his sire, he has great conformation: long legs, deep chest, great big, blocky head and cat like feet. Blue can track and tree too.

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Registered: Sep 2013
Location: tylertown,mississippi
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Chris, he might have took the ad off or already sold him but it was Maverick. Said he was 7 years old and wanted 3,000 firm I believe it was. Fox News had that picture on there, said some guy was taking pictures of the gator when this coon walked out on him for a few seconds then realized it wasn't a log and got off Quick! They had the picture checked and it is real in their opinion. Over 5 million views so far, shot of a lifetime.

Took BO and Briar to BO's Bottom and cut them toward the feeder I filled up night before last. Not a bark. BO blew on through the swamp bottom toward the river and struck at 395yds. Briar had went his on way about 200yds and looped back and was out in front of me when BO struck. I fired up the 4 wheeler and headed toward BO and Briar ran down the trail in front of me. Luckily, when I stopped the 4 wheeler BO was just 60yds to my left working the track around an ole cypress slough and Briar went to him. He started opening with BO and within about 10 minutes they were 400yds in and had that sucker up and running. I fired up and hauled it down the trail in their direction. Got to just under 200yds from them and sat there and listened to a good race for about 2 more minutes then, BAM! BO hits the tree followed one second later by Briar. I was snatching my shooting iron loose from the 4 wheeler before he settled into a hard chop. For 3 minutes Briar blew the top out with BO and the volume of his hard chop was louder than BO. It sounded some kind of good but he slacked up before I could get into them. They were hot when I got to them so I knew I had to find him fast and get them off the tree and to some water. He looked at me from the backside of a fork high up in the big water oak they were treed on but only for a few seconds then I couldn't get him to look again. Really wanting this one to slip out to Briar but worried about them over heating I didn't fiddle around to long trying to get him to look again. Petted them up and got back to the beaver lake and splashed them off good with some cool water. My hounds are out of shape a little and its got hot so we came on in. I need to swim them more and get them conditioned up so they can take the heat better and also when I'm not working I need to wait until after midnight to cut loose so its a little cooler. Proud of Briar, he's gonna make it, just need some fun at the tree to get him to stay hooked better. Its coming soon, Good Hunting!

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Registered: Sep 2013
Location: tylertown,mississippi
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Picture of Briar from tonight's hunt. I have got to start carrying that Garmin Virb camera with me and see how good it will take pictures. I can't stand a blurry picture like this one but its the best I got tonight.

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Last edited by steve bankston on 06-18-2015 at 05:58 AM

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