Blaze

Blaze, with a name that brings to your mind "burning brightly or fiercely" we were excited to commence coon hunting. I hunted raccoons from my childhood until shortly before I married and started preaching. My children, however, were old enough to enjoy wildlife and outdoors, so we began hunting together during the weeknights over a year ago (Nov. 2007). We have found this to be an enjoyable alternative to television and we really enjoy the excitement it brings.



Blaze was a young English male. When we bought him he was around 6 months old. We discovered that he could really trail a drag. We would take an old coonhide and simulate a hunt by dragging the skin around the yard or into the woods and place it in a tree. Blaze, each time, would follow the trail and bark up the tree where the hide was placed. No trail was too hard or difficult for Blaze. He was really living up to his name.



After Blaze mastered the drag, we started taking him into the woods at night. Sometimes he would run in front of us and stop and stare back at us. This was expected though, he was still just a pup. On other occasions he would bark excitedly and run around. Once he treed in a large hollow tree. Later we tried hunting Blaze with older dogs to try and educate him. These older dogs are often referred to as "pup trainers." Our pup trainers included Ranger, Jinx, and Gus. As we began to hunt with other dogs we discovered that Blaze liked to face bark. Face barking is when a dog gets in the face of another dog while treeing and barks so as to try and show dominance, start a fight, or to intimidate. Fighting at the tree is an activity we want no part of, from dogs or humans. We did not like where this would lead. We decided, and this was really tough for Zach because he claimed Blaze as his own, to part with Blaze. We would let an experienced coonhunter have Blaze and try and break this bad habit he was developing.



We're not sure whatever happened to Blaze. I lost the hunter's name who took him and have had no success in finding him. Zach is especially curious. I think Zach really misses Blaze because he keeps his picture around on the wall, and under his pillow, and on the mirror. One thing is for sure, we appreciate Blaze for helping us get started and hope he is treeing a lot of coons.