O'kay Coon Hunters...Here's One For Ya

[RIFLE MAN]

O'kay coon hunters ... which of the following breeds of 'coon' dogs,
in your opinion has the most grit and is the best all-around coon dog
...black and tan, bluetick, red bone, or treeing walker? Justify your
answers...tell us why you answered the way you did.

Thanks,
Rifle Man 

[Torwe]

Plotts.........................I grew up having a father that was a dedicated coon hunter. Once he discovered Plotts thats all he would feed. They have grit and are not difficult to train and are extremely loyal.

[bobg]

    Most of the guys around here are running black and tans. Not being a coon hunter i don't know why. Must say something about the breed. One of the hunters told me they are easy to train and control. There was a guy around that run a walker. Haven't seen him in years. That is ok. He reminded me of something right out of Deliverence and scared the hell out of me. Like i stated on here before my uncle was an avid coon hunter. He started out with a pair of redbones. He couldn't control them. He got rid of them and switched to black and tans and never looked back.

[lil_hunter12]

i always ran walkers because they were easy to handle not bad for fighting etc. but the last 2 years i have switched to blueticks because walkers are now becoming more of a showdog and harder to train while the blueticks are known for being tough and not caring to get in the middle of a coonfight you gotta watch em though they are bad about catching them on the ground.

[Paints-n-cows]

I am just getting back into the 'coon hunting thing.  Been out of it since the early 80's when I went in the Marine Corps.

Anyway, back then I ran Blueticks and had a Black-n-Tan.  My best friend had a Walker.  A current friend of mine now is in love with the Curs and swears they are the best thing since bread and butter.  And yet another swears by his Redbones.

I always liked my Blueticks because they were sociable and had a personality.  My Black-and-Tan was one of the smartest and easiest to train.  The Walker was a hardheaded son-of-a-gun and you spent half of the night chasing him.  Spencer says that the Redbones hit the ground running...but I don't want to have to hunt my hunting dog either.

Everything but the Walker would be my choice for one of the best.

[WesinND]

I have not coonhunted, nor had hounds in 25 years, but prior to my military career I had blueticks.  I have hunted with black and tans, plotts, and walkers also.  I would have another bluetick if I was in the market for a hound, but my friends walkers were real fur-getters back then.  They seemed just a little hotter nosed than the blueticks I hunted with.  I always like the looks of the brindle plotts, also.

Wes

[sitdwnandhngon]

I'm late to the game on this one, but I'll still chime in.

I think any coon dog that has drive will give you back what you put in. Assuming the dog wants to actually hunt, and you put in the foot time with it you will have a good dog. My dad used to have a German Shepard that would tree coon, talk about a kill dog.

[petemi]

I've had many dogs in my 70 years,.....five just now,  but two were exceptional.  One was a bluetick and the other a lab and God only knows what else.  I think both dogs had a dial set in their heads somewhere that you set on bunnies, birds, coon, fox or bobcat.  They both knew what you were after, and found it.

The lab was kinda funny.  I had a friend that shot competition skeet and did field trials with his German Shorthairs, etc.  We shot doves in Florida on a pond near my house.  They come in to water in late afternoon.  My mutt lab retrieved birds 3 to one over both his fancy bird dogs.  She'd be on the bird when it hit the ground or water.  Her name was "Trouble" and I had to put her down with breast cancer at 13.

Pete

[freetrapper]

   There are good and bad in all breeds of dogs, started coon hunting in 1962. A friend of mine had a brother and sister that was walker, redbone and black & tan cross. They could load you down with coon and handled better than than any dog I every seen . Didn,t have to yell at them, just talk, no need for a leash. House broke, gave his little girls rides on thier backs, but shame on the fool that might  mess with the girls. In the mid 70s had a plott that was a tuff bear dog, turned down a offer of a new 4wheel drive truck for him. The neihbor boy coon hunted him made more money on the hides than he did working a his dad,s gas station. You can go threw a few dogs to find that good one.