Lane Batot on Trailhounds

Part 1, Trailhound tales

In relating some of my experiences with my canine family members, I will start with my two trailhounds, as mention of them has been made on comments in past discussionsons this blog. I prefer the term "trailhounds" to "coonhounds", which is how most people identify these scent hounds, if they can identify them at all! It apalls me no end when people refer to a Black-And-Tan as a "Doberman cross", a Walker as looking like a big Beagle, a Redbone as a Visla(and I have suprisingly heard that a lot! How in the world does someone who doesn't know what a Redbone is, know what the heck a Visla is?), and merely shrug in ignorance when confronted with a Bluetick. This incredibly urban-spawned ignorance, of some of the most incredibly functional hound breeds ever developed(and developed right here in the U. S. of A.!), is something I try to rectify every chance I get!

And although "Coonhound" is the official name of the six breeds in this category(Black-And-Tan, Redbone, English, Walker, Bluetick, and Plott), it is something of a misnomer, as these hounds have been used for all types of game throughout their development, and still are! "Trailhound" is an old pioneer term indicating a scent hound that trails game, and is a broader, more appropriate name for these breeds, I think. Deer, bear, boar, fox, coyote, wolf, 'possum, cougar, bobcat, and feral housecats, as well as raccoons, are all North American game successfully pursued by these hounds. Although the majority of these scent hound breeds are today mostly used to hunt raccoon exclusively, their ancestors in pioneer days were expected to fulfill a variety of uses.

This is often forgotten by modern-day hunters, especially competition hunters, who train their hounds to trail and tree raccoons only(or else!). They would consider a hound that runs anything else as "running trash". Ditto if they are exclusively bear hunters, cat hunters, etc. Growing up in a culture where this view regarding hunting dogs has reached virtual religious adherence, it is considered blasphemous by houndsmen when they discover that not only do I know my hounds to "run trash", I encourage it! I had toyed with the idea for many years--to acquire a trailhound or two of my own, and allow them to trail and tree or run anything they wanted(outside of domestic stock, that is!), because I was curious as to how the old-time pioneers utilized their hounds this way, as I had read in various accounts. Apparently they could tell just what critter their hounds were trailing by the variances of their baying, and allow them to continue or call them off using a hunting horn.

I planned to get such a hunting horn and learn how to use it. Which I did. I thought that going out with trailhounds that would track and run just about anything would be a unique(for nowadays) and interesting way to learn about a variety of wildlife. It has been. Yup, my hounds are "trash" hounds to the core, and I'm proud of it! If I ever had to rely on them for survival, as the old pioneers did, I'd much prefer to have hounds trained my way than the reigning U. S. Champion Nite Hunt coon dog! Raccoon can get real old real fast if that's all that's on the menu! Though I was raised in country where both coonhounds and foxhounds were common, and despite my admiration for these dogs, and my continual acquisition of many other types of canines over the years, it was a long time before I finally got a hound of my own, and when it did come about, it was by pure, unsolicited happenstance.......to be continued.........