Coonhounds have been used to hunt raccoons for decades.
Coonhounds have been used for decades to sniff out and tree raccoons. During a raccoon hunt, the hunter turns his coonhounds loose and allows them to chase the scent of a raccoon, listening for the distinctive braying cry of a dog that has treed ts quarry. Most successful hunting dogs begin their training early in life, but it is possible to teach an older dog to hunt as well.
Instructions
1. Place a collar and leash on your dog before any training session. The collar and leash help you control your Coonhound and reassure it that you are close by at all times.
2. Add a few drops of raccoon scent to the raccoon skin and introduce your dog to the raccoon skin. Hold it in one hand and wave it back and forth in front of your dog's nose, encouraging the dog to sniff it out and bite at it. Your dog will become excited at the smell of the raccoon, but should not be allowed to bite the skin.
3. Tie your dog's leash to a sturdy tree or fencepost and tease the dog with the skin. Wave it around and give the hunt command, waiting for the dog to bark and howl in excitement. As soon as it howls, step forward and give it a treat as a reward and let the dog know that barking when commanded to hunt and while near a raccoon is the proper response. Older Coonhounds do not absorb new experiences as quickly as puppies, so you may have to repeat the teasing step multiple times to excite your dog and get it to bark.
4. Drag the skin along the ground, laying a scent trail for your dog to follow. Place the scent in the low branches of a tree at the end of the trail and untie your dog, repeating the hunt command. Point to the ground to encourage your dog to lower its nose and sniff for the scent trail. Guide the dog along the trail and to the skin, holding the dog back and waiting for it to bark when it finds the skin. Reward your dog as soon as it barks to indicate it found a raccoon. Repeat this process, making a longer scent trail and hiding the skin in different trees until your dog hunts out the trail and the correct tree on its own.
5. Take your dog to a wooded area with a known raccoon population and walk through the woods looking for live raccoons. Raccoons are most active around rivers and ponds at dusk as they awaken and begin to forage for food, so quietly walk with your dog until it picks up the scent of a raccoon.
6. Unclip the leash and give your dog the hunt command, following the sound of the dog's barks and braying once it has located a raccoon. It may take a few sessions before your dog is accurately locating live raccoons, so repeat sessions as often as possible for quickest results.
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