Got a Redbone hound

[Tim Anderson]

I picked up a female Redbone hound the other day from the pound.. I'm going to try and get her onto running coyotes in the long grass and areas down by the creeks with lots of plum brush.. We have so much CRP here and very little snow which makes it tuff to get the coyotes out of.. Had a coyote the other day that just stayed far enough in front of the tracker and just kept circleing the island of plum brush , never did get it out of there....
The dog is well manored and listens to some of the basic commands plus she catches on to some new commands pretty quick.. She tracked a farm cat the other mourning so I think her nose works well and also has a good deep voice...
Well see how she does and perhaps may try to get her on some of my night stands for a extra set of eyes and ears..

[Tim Anderson]

Just a update on Copper.
I spent most of the summer putting scent trails down for Copper to follow and teaching her some of the commands and just getting used to how she works.
I take her along every day and let her intereact with any coyotes we kill and let her wool them and she is comeing along pretty good with that part..
I've hunted with coon hounds before but teaching a dog to track coyotes is a whole nother ball-game for me so I have to learn as I go and help Copper when i can... I have a few guys in the group helping me out when they can as at times it canbe too much for just one guy and I can't be everywhere at one time..
Some of the younger guys from another group that hunts with us from time to time and mostly on week-ends happen to wound a coyote here and there and they would give me a call so I could come over and help them get the coyote.. It was a little slow at first but now Copper has caught onto this job pretty good and I'm also trying to get her to hunt with others as well..
This past week she finally got the chance to do what I trained her for and thats to help work the heavey cover and get the coyotes up and on the move. We hit a few sections that have a creek running through the middle of them running West to East with CRP and willows too thick for a man to walk through. Copper works these areas just like a bird dog and goes from side to side in front of the handler/hunter and goes into the thick stuff if there is any scent around it.
As we go through a section I try to keep up and watch Copper for any body langue to give me a idea of whats going on. So far this is what I have picked up from Copper:
If a track was made the night before she will pick up bits and pieces of it and show a little interest but the will leave the track and roam around a little more but comes back to the track at times and also noticed she would find the spots where a coyote stopped to pee or had made a pheasant kill. As we close in on the track and the scent gets a little stronger she will go into what I call birdie mode, shows alot more interest in the trail and puts her nose down to the ground, as the scent gets even fresher she will let out a few chirps/whines and a couple of barks and then picks up the pace but still running silent.. Now when the trail gets really hot or she has jumped the coyote she goes into full cry and is off after the coyote (game on).. I don't know if she will stay true to a track so I have continued on with her but watching the track made by the coyote and also Coppers tracks and notice if there is a slite wind she will run offset (down wind) to the track depending on how strong the wind is and anywhere from a foot to five feet or more. On one of the hunts the coyote came to a ridge that had a blocker posted up on the other side and the coyote saw him and was going to come back the direction from which it came till Copper changed its mind and the coyote turned and went East. As I watched Copper she stayed true to the track and even figured out were the coyote went when it moved back and fourth on the ridge.. YEAH!
Copper ran the coyote for over a mile and then I had to get her stopped due to it getting dark on us and the coyote went right back to the willows she kicked it out of, oh well maybe on the next trip trough.....
I have a Garmin tracking unit I use on Copper, talk about money well spent. By watching it I can tell were Copper is every minute of the hunt and can also let the others know which way the coyote is going if I or anyone else can't see it due to the structure of the land... If a guy wanted to he could also hide the transmitter in the back of another hunters truck and then find out were all his calling stands are with out him knowing it..

Here is a recent pic of Copper with one of the wounded coyotes she tracked down..

[Coyotehunter]

Keep us posted Tim

[Tim Anderson]

At the moument we don't have much snow here, except along the creeks or river bottom and a little in the matted down CRP so most of the guys have be at home working on farm equipement for spring work. Hope it never comes..LOL
I managed to talk two other members to come hunt with me even though its difficult seeing a coyote when Copper jumps them out of the brush and we have been just going out in the after noons on days with a litlle wind and one day with too much wind for copper to do any trailing with, but I had to find out what works and dose'nt work, still learning about a dogs nose.
If we get or don't get the coyotes at the moument it is'nt a big deal, just need to keep getting coyotes in front of copper so she can learn along with me as well. Also have been able to pattern the coyotes as to where they want to lay up for the day and the routes they like to take when being hunted and what they do if one route gets blocked...
One rule of thumb that we have known about for some time is if a coyote is kicked out of a creek bottom its first action is to run to high ground and put as much distance between it and the hunter/dog and in most cases its a male coyote with a small percent being females.. Most of the females but not all will just stay in the heavey cover and try to move around the hunter or if there is a creek in the section they will go and run the ice. Ice canbe your friend and if you have any around and enough help you put a man on the ice with a shotty and he is the one thats going to make most of the kills, same canbe said for redfox the live along the creeks or drainage ditches...

The other day we got back out after the coyote in the story mentioned in the above post, if you don't rattle them to bad they will usually come back to there core section in a few days..
It was just Copper, two members of the group and me that set out for the coyote that got away a few days before this hunt..
Weather conditions were'nt in our favor as we had a 10-15 mph wind, and very liitle snow..
Copper and me went into the section as we did before comeing in from the east side and working our way west. Cooper picked up a few places where a coyote stopped to pee and a bed that looked to be 1 or 2 days old ontop of a old round haybale. The scent from coyote urine or where they laid up stays pretty strong for many days and copper always seems to find it, but not enough scent for her to follow the tracks.. As we made our way to the center of the section and the end of the willows Copper gets birdie and goes into the last clump of willows and a few minutes pass by then she goes to full cry and just seconds later I hear one of the guys say on the radio coyote going west. I made my way out of the willows hopeing to see the coyote in time to get a shot off but did'nt make it and the coyote was already 1/4 mile west of me but changeing directions and heading north and up into the hills were we lost it last time.. I noticed copper up ahead in the hay meadow (creek bottom) following the coyotes track but she ran into a snag when she hit the base of the small hills. When I got there i found that the wind was blowing pretty good down off the hill top and she just could'nt pick up any more of the scent. Luckly the spotters could still see the coyote as it made its way north but it then buckled and started to go west agian torwards the road where one of the blockers just happen to be sitting close by. The blocker got out of the truck to go to the other side so he could get a shot but the coyote was already to the road so he had to wait for the coyote to get in the ditch on the west side before he could shoot.. The coyote crossed the road and the shooter missed the shot, Dam!, oh well it happens..LOL
Had one of the blockers come in on a field road to pick copper and me up and take us to the tracks where the coyote crossed the road. Got to the tracks and the wind was blowing pretty good and one of the blockers mentioned maybe we should just call it a day, I said lets see what copper says first.. I took her to the track and whispered, "Copper get the coyote" she moved around the area where the track was and then went into full cry and off she went running about 30 ft. down wind and parrell to the track going west into a open field. Not much snow in the field so I asked the shooter where he saw the coyote last so i could use it for a reference point and then took off behind copper.
Take note the section the coyote ran into has a creek running east to the west through the middle of the 1 mile section with plowed ground to the north of the creek and CRP on the south side going from the east road to the west (half/half) and willow patches along both sides of the creek..
As Copper and I made our way through the first 1/4 copper lost the scent trail so I made my way to where the shooter saw the coyote last and found just a few tracks in what snow there was and figured out what direction the coyote was headed and then walked about 100 yds north of the last set of tracks and made my way west to the 1/2 mile fence line which has a snow drift running along it. I then walked south looking for where the coyote might have crossed the fence line and found a track shortly still going west and looked to be heading for a vacant grove so Copper and I made our way to the vacant grove but stopped about 200 yds short as Copper picked up the track again and it was headed south to the creek (no wind behind the grove)..
Copper stayed with the track as the coyote moved along the southside of the creek heading back to the east and as the coyote came to a bend in the creek it then took to the ice still going east.. I called the blockers up and told them the coyote was headed east on the ice so put a blocker down by the bridge with the shotty. Rule one if there is ice around like on a creek a pressured coyote is going to take to it so be preparred. As we are makeing our way back east on the ice take note that the east side of this section has a wood lot and willows along the creek with a hay meadow on the south side of it.
I got to the west edge of the willows and wood lot and told the blockers I'm on my way into it with copper still on its track and still on the ice... A short time later the blocker covering the ice with the shotty calls back and said the coyote is still on the ice but heading back in my direction, was too much cover by the bridge for the blocker to get a shot as the coyote just peeked around the corner and spotted the blocker and then went back in the direction from which it came..
I just let Copper do her thing and I just posted hopeing to catch the coyote comeing back at me. I waited for around 15 minutes and nothing showed so we figured the coyote was still in the woodlot so I had to leave the ice and work the wood lot with Copper looking for any coyote sign i could find. Copper never showed any interest and I found nothing, and the wind was blowing pretty good in this area so perhaps she could'nt pick up the track or the coyote slipped out farther east of us, so we made our way to the road and still nothing so we called it a day.. Coyote 2,hunters 0... Its no big deal as we know its just a matter of time for us and we will get this coyote and in the mean time we will just keep on keeping on and learn a little as we go...

[Tim Anderson]

We finally got a little snow late yeasterday and I could'nt sleep much because of it so I decided to head out at 3:00 a.m. to do some calling, locateing and coyote herding (draw coyotes into easier to hunt areas) and just look for fresh tracks which are easier to pick up at night on the road.. The coyotes here are starting to pr. up and breeding is getting under way.. There was a lot of activity going on last night with some of the coyotes moveing 2-3 miles looking for a mate or other coyotes perhaps from the same family group so the calling was getting more difficult so I just did some locateing and herding and then returned to these areas to see if I could find any tracks at sun up..

I was locateing in one area that I like cause it reminds me of being in Wyoming mountains, a place where the earth meets the heavens. Once in awhile low flying clouds will pass through this area covering everything with moisture and then freezeing and makes everything white.. And its just a cool feeling to exsperiance as well..
At sun up I made my way back through the areas I located in and did'nt get many respones when I did but I knew they where around anyway just not the exact locations..
I found a interesting track comeing out of a heavey wooded creek bottom that came up to the road.. The front left paw print had blood in it with every step and I believe this is from a coyote we lost a few weeks back in the same wooded section that one of the stalkers hit..
I located this exact area just hours earlier and I'm sure this coyote was looking for the one doing all the howling..
The track headed due north down the gravel road for a half mile or so and then another coyote track appeared comeing from a little water way with willows and plum brush and some CRP. They both made abunch of tracks in a little area on the road but it did'nt appear that they where mateing but more of just playing cat and mouse or just doing what coyotes do. I sorted through the tracks and they continued heading north for a half mile then they both headed into a section on the west side of the road so I drove up ahead and got on a east and west road searching for tracks comeing out of the section they went into.
I found both sets of tracks comeing out of the section about a 1/4 mile from the intersection to the east and the tracks crossed the road going north and into another section which was roughly a 2 mile section with tree lines and some CRP and a few rock piles along with some low spots in it that coyotes like to lay up in for the day... One of the tracks still had drops of fresh blood in it so I knew it was the same two coyotes...
I turned the truck around and went east back to the intersection and then turned north and noticed at this time a fog was moveing into the area with visabilty reduced to about 1/4 mile. As I continued north I picked up two sets of tracks again comeing out of the section the coyotes went into and the coyotes walked up and down the road and in the ditches on both side of it and worked there way farther north then comeing back to where they started and then back north again. There got to be so many tracks I could'nt sort them all out and could not tell 100% which section they where in, the one to the west or the one to the east that had a 1/4 section of CRP and alot of thick willows. Both sections are good for holding coyotes as we have taken coyotes from both in the years past..
Hopefully with Copper we should make short work of the section with the thick willows..

It was around 9:30 a.m. at this point so I made a call to see who was out and if they wanted to hunt these two sections. I found that 4 of the group members was out and they agreed to meet up here around 12:00 noon if the fog burned off enough to see at least a half mile.. I went back to town and got some gas and then picked Copper up and she was eager to go..

I joined up with the group and I explained what I had going on here and mentioned the coyotes are either in one section or the other or they may even have split up, but they where close by..
I noticed a set of tracks going across the right away fence line going into the section to the West so I decided to walk in on these tracks with Copper and see what happens..
I followed the tracks in with Copper showing some interest walking due west and when I reached about 1/8 of a mile the tracks split with one set going north and the one with the bllod in it going west so i decided to stay with this track.. I made my way to the half mile fence line and then the track started to head back to the S-E and torwards a small patch of CRP with some big rock piles and two low lyeing areas in it. As I follwed the track Copper started to get birdy and was picking up more and more scent as she went (fresher)and started to range a little farther ahead of me..
I pushed on and made it to the N-W edge of the CRP and the tracks went into it and still going S-E makeing there way to one of the low spots. I decided to hold up since I was at a good vantage point and just let Copper do her thing.. I watched Copper work the track and she moved to the north side of this low spot and made her way East of it just a little ( was down wind of the track 10 ft.)and all of a sudden she cuts back to the S-W of this low spot and the coyote exsplodes out of its bed with ice comeing off the grass flying in every direction (like shooting a bottle filled with water)..
Copper goes into full cry and the chase is on with the coyote angleing back torwards me, (did'nt know I was there)so I try to get the cross-hairs on the coyote which is running torwards my direction and to the west (right)but I could'nt pick it up with all the grass so I moved a little back from which I came and waited for the coyote to exit the grass into a open field...
I can still hear Copper at full cry and right on the coyotes ass going through the grass still makeing there was S-W of my position.. The coyote finally comes out of the grass into the open field and I pick it up in the scope at roughly 200 yds. out, going full tilt. I followed through with the cross-hairs and squeezed as I went past the coyotes nose and heard the bullet hit the coyote.. The coyote stumbles and then gains control of its feet and is off again and goes over a small rise with Copper comeing up about 100 yds behind..
I made my way to where I hit the coyote to check out what the damage was and also told the blockers the coyote was headed N-W torwards a east to west tree line... I got to where I hit the coyote and looked the spot over and could tell right off I hit the coyote torwards the back end and possably hit the back right leg, how far up I could'nt tell for sure but the coyote was looseing a hell of alot of blood..
I stayed on the tracks thinking the coyote may lay up in the tree line after looseing so much blood or Copper is going to catch up and I'm not sure what would happen if she did..
I finally got over the little rise and just caught a glimps of the coyote and copper as they went over a snow drifted fence line. I noticed at this time the tree line goes west and torwards a state highway so I called one of the blockers and told him to get to the tree line by the highway and make some noise or walk in and get the coyote to go north rather than west as I did'nt want Copper near the road and if he had to just stop Copper from going any farther if possable..
The blocker decided to come in on the tree line and the coyote must of seen him as it was now heading back to the east on the northside of the fence line, I could tell this by watching Copper on my GPS.. At this time I called the other blockers and gave them the coyotes exact heading and where to watch for the coyote as it came east.. One of the blockers called back and said he could see the coyote comeing out of the fog and still going east so he moved up into position and waited for the coyote to come.. The coyote got to the road and the blocker waited for it to cross the road and then took the shot as the coyote got into the deep snow in the ditch on the east side of the road and killing the coyote at this time.. I called him on the radio and asked where was Copper and he replyed she just crossed the road and is tugging on the coyote. (wooling it)


On another note I have been following some of the dog forums on another site and some members mention a house dog does'nt hunt as well as a dog thats kept outside.. I find this to be B.S...
Also what has been mentioned that a dog will loose its drive to hunt if you don't let it make the kills which I have also found to be B.S. and never had any issues with my coon hounds or Copper running coyotes.. Her reward is wooling a dead coyote and lots of phrase which seems to be all that she wants or needs and still enjoys chaseing them just for the love of the hunt..
Some also say when takeing a dog into a section to hunt you need to keep it on a leash till you hit a hot track. I disagree... Let the dog sort it out on its own and just help it along if you need to.. If you have a well trained dog and conditioned to what you want I don't forsee any future problems.. Copper usually does'nt broad cast to far in front of me and if it looks like she maybe headed in the wrong direction on a old track I just give her a Que or point to where I want her to go like into a grove willows and so on.. I think she picked up alot on this last coyote and its just going to get better for her as she goes... The thing about this last hunt was she was able to get right on the coyote without any obstruction and actually see the coyote as it made its gettaway... Later........

[Tim Anderson]

I have a snow storm passing through the area so most of the guys stayed home and plowed driveways, but you know me I can't just sit around so Copper and I, along with one other hunter went out to hit a section where I new a coyote wouldbe holed up while the storm was going on. Actualy I know where most of my coyotes are and its just a matter of time before I get to each of them..LOL
Anyway I went into the section from the west working my way east to a small wood lot and if the coyote was around it would be in this wood-lot sitting out the storm..
Got to the wood-lot and Copper has the coyote up and on the run going east and down on the bottom of a drainage ditch on the ice. I knew the other end of the ditch was open water with no ice so the coyote would have to come out into the open or go into some heavey cover on the north side and then try to loose the dog in it..
I watched Copper on the GPS as she was way ahead of me and could see she left the ice and yep, heading north into some plumbrush.. I noticed she did'nt move from her position and the closer I got I could her her barking so I figured she had the coyote bayed up..
Sure enough when I got to Copper she had the coyote bayed up in the thicket of plum brush, but I walked around it to be sure.. The thicket was so thick I or Copper could'nt get into it very far and I could not see the coyote anywhere.
I noticed the thicket was drifted in on the northside and there was a couple of places a coyote could crawl under the snow drift that was being held up by the plum brush, so I worked my way over to this spot and just jumped on the snow drift trying to cave it in and get the coyote to flush..
I got to the last little snow cave and jumped twice and then fell through up to my waste and out comes the coyote back through the plum brush, I did'nt have time to aim and the coyote was so close I just pointed the rifle directly at the coyote and fired a shot. I could see the bullet strikeing the coyote on the back of the neck but the dam thing just kept going (another reason why I stopped useing a 22-250 years ago, just don't have it) and made its way out of the plum brush heading S-E for a large field of CRP with Copper hot on its heels..
Copper finally had the coyote bayed up in the CRP about a 1/2 mile or so from where it was shot and I noticed after the hunt Copper had a small wound on her face and a hole torn through her safety vest about the size of a coyotes muzzle so they must of had a little go around.
Anyway just another good day of hunting, later..

[Tim Anderson]

"Coppers blog"
Had a coyote get nicked by a 243 last week just before dark that managed to get away on us..
Was able to find it down in one of the big creek bottoms and get it up but there where so many other coyote tracks down on the bottom from last night plus all the turkey tracks and a high wind today made it tough for Copper to track. Made a pass through the bottom and the coyote got around us some how so I had to make my way back through it with Copper, the dam coyote was just running circles around us just staying far enough ahead or getting into some thick vegatation that made it difficult for Copper to follow. On the second pass I just stopped pushing forward when I got to the middle of the section thinking I'm maybe pushing Copper to far ahead for her to do what she needs to get done so I just sat back and let her work the woods till she finally hit on the coyotes track again and this time she dogged it out of the woods and into the open heading back to the N-W to a place that the coyote got kicked out of a week ago..
Only had two other hunters with me so I had one of them catch Copper at the road as I did'nt want her to go into the next section from the direction she was going..
I made it to the road and got a ride along with Copper to the north end of the section the coyote went into and then proceded to work it south and to a small grove in the middle with a small ditch running through it along with some CRP on the south side of it.
Copper hit the coyotes fresh track in the small grove and pushed it south into the CRP and then back to the East down a small waterway.. Coyote managed to make it across the road into another section going east till it hit the half mile line and then proceded north with Copper still on its heels, but she was looseing some ground on the coyote.. Coyote made it into N-E 1/4 of the section which was all corn-stocks which makes it hard to see a coyote in and so it managed to make it across one more road heading north into a 4 mile section that had all kinds of cover in it along with a creek running down the middle.. One of the hunters called on the radio saying Copper was comeing to the road on the coyotes track and wanted to know if he should stop her or not, I said if she is still on the track let her keep going, but if it looks like she lost it then pick her up.. Well she was still on the track so I let her keep on keeping on.. I got a ride to my truck and then went around to the east side of the section that had a road going back to the middle of it with an abandon farm site and a couple of small groves..
As I approached the abandon farm site I saw Copper make her way to the west side of the grove still going north on the track so I made my way around the grove to get a better look.
Copper cleared the back side of the grove and was heading west along a fence line still on track. One of the hunters made it to some high ground on the north side and spotted the coyote going west about 1/8 of a mile ahead of Copper along the east and west fence line..
We had a pretty good idea of where the coyote was headed so a hunter was sent to the S-W corned of the section to where the creek comes out to block the coyote from leaveing..
A second hunter went to the west road and a little north of where the coyote was last seen and then walked in on the fence line going East.
I got a reading off of the GPS and told him Copper was tracking the coyote down by a old gravel pit and a small wood lot so the hunter knew where to head to ...
The other hunter was able to intercept Copper and pull her off the track and then he went into the woodlot on the coyotes track pushing it north up into a section of CRP and finally got close enough to the coyote to close the deal..
The hunter picked up the coyote and then went back to release Copper and they walked back out to the road, but had a heck of a time doing it as Copper kept wanting to wool the coyote..LOL
This hunt brought back some old memories for one of the hunters as he normaly does'nt go in after a coyote due to his age and is usually a blocker, but he did it today and did a great job of it.. Wind is still blowing 20 mph so most of todays tracks should be blown shut by mourning and we will have some new fresh tracks to go after in the A.M...

[Tim Anderson]

Got some fresh snow the other day so off me and Copper went in search of the coyote. Managed to get a big male coyote up and in front of the gun yesterday with Copper and young male today, with both comeing out of the same section.. The young male coyote was extra special as Copper dogged this one to a young gunner who took it at 30 yards with a shotty. This was his second coyote for the season and he really liked how Copper worked the coyote so close to him. Anyway just another good today to be out hunting..

[Coyotehunter]

Happy dog!

[Prairie Ghost]

Looks like he's doing well!!

[Tim Anderson]

Thanks guys.. Yes Copper is doing what I expect of her so I can't complain.
It really amazes me on how the coyotes react to her and 8 times out of 10 the coyotes don't even know I'm there and most will run out in front of me , kind of like how a decoy dog works but more portable so to speak. Copper just moves them along just fast and far enough as not to run them out of the country and also to set them up for the shot..
I'm usually watching her on the GPS for when she strikes the coyote in heavey cover and end up not getting a shot when they do come out in front but thats ok as I had fun just watching it all go down..LOL
The last coyote copper got up the other day was a little different from the others, as this coyote once it cleared the cat-tails and grass stopped and turned towards copper as she was comeing out. I thought perhaps there might be a go -around between the two so I brought my rifle up to take a quick shot if I had to. I had the coyote in the cross-hairs and squeezed one off but the gun just went "Click" dam! I thought I had a empty chamber but it turned out the round just did'nt go off.. Anyway the coyote must of heard me cussing and took off with copper right behind..LOL
Copper ended up with around 30 coyotes this season and I know half of them we proably would not have gotten if it was'nt for her...
Takecare...Tim A.

[Tim Anderson]

Everything has gone so well with Coppers training and with the actual hunts I decided to add another dog to the fleet.. This time I went with a Red bone /Black and tan cross. Not sure how it will work out but will find out over time I guess..

[Coyotehunter]

Cool color

[Tim Anderson]

Finally got the new pup settled in and also introduced her to copper, both dogs getting along fine so I spent a little time in the yard with both..

[Coyotehunter]

The pics are all gone