Friends Fur and Forrest

[Thistleoak]

Holy hell... today was amazing.  Got to spend hours hanging with my bro Zach...  catching up... making plans.... it is awesome.  Pipes were smoked. Couple tears shed. Hugs traded... I officially have my partner in crime back.... talked about the fur game.... and I think its time to get back in....  placed some orders.... added a few implements of mass trapping....  Zach ol buddy.... hope you're ready to go head first into some good memories...

Added 6 duke 110s
Muskrat lure
Trap dye
4 dog proof coon traps and a new bait ive never tried

 

[GuitarMyFriend]

Lets Get Started!!!!!
Zach

 

[George Kaplan]

I hear banjo music...

 

[Thistleoak]

Cap thats the annual canoe trip down the TVA

 

[Bemused]

Good deal, hope you boys put up some fur this year. I believe Prices tanked last year, lot of guys didn't sell and are holding. Hope you see a rebound this year.

 

[Thistleoak]

Good deal, hope you boys put up some fur this year. I believe Prices tanked last year, lot of guys didn't sell and are holding. Hope you see a rebound this year.

I have no idea why this story came to mind this morning... but here it is...lol... take it for what it is.... the story of a young kid and his coon hound....
I was raised trapping fur and hunting with Blueticks.  That was one thing about growing up around my dad that really struck home with me.  Hide prices just went to hell.  I ended up giving my Blueticks away and selling most of my traps.   one of my blue ticks was of Dave Deans "Hammer Bloodline"  Dave Dean is BIG in the world of coon hunting.  I will never forget meeting him when i was a young man.  I had a young bluetick and hunted in the sanctioned hunts of a local club.  We had a special guest judge one night and i dont know how but I ended up slotted with him.  ( how it worked was two to three hunters and hounds would be assigned a judge and sections to hunt, no firearms of killing of coon, based just on you and your hound, your hounds ability to locate, trail and tree and how long they stayed on tree without wandering.) Dave Dean to a then boy like me seemed like a God.  It was night ( obviously) and here stands this man in bib overalls, a straw cowboy hat and sunglasses ( he always wore his sunglasses) .  Being one of the only boys running a hound in a competition dominated by seasoned men Mr Dean took an interest in me as we arrived at first set of the night and the tail gate dropped. As always the older guys would quickly get to the back of their trucks and cut their hounds loose to get to work.  I did my normal routine, went back to the bed of the truck, grabbed my old marlboro water jug and walked toward the tail gate.  The other hounds had a pretty good lead at this point but no locates.  I opened the dog box and molly my hound came out and stood on the tailgate to greet me in normal fashion, tail wagging and licking me on my face. I had her sit, took a long slug of water, filled a tupperware dish with water and she took a drink. I looked at Molly scratched her behind the ears gave her a kiss on the top of the head , unclipped the lead from her collar and said "seek" and molly took off like the devils whip was cracking at her heals.  At this point the other two hounds had a solid 4 minute lead on molly....  Mr Dean " you love your dog dont you? How old are you Alex?" Me " 14" ( molly lets out with a locate bay) "Strike Molly" ( the two other hunters , my dad and his friend Bob Morris shake their heads and mumble their normal cursing when my hound would hit trail first) Mr Dean laughed and we continued to talk as the evening went on.  We hunted 4 sets that night and my Molly took three of them with first locate, trail and treeing.  At the end of the night all the hunters met back at the club house for scoring and points tally and then had breakfast that was cooked by some of the hunters wives.  Out of 21 hounds that ran that night my molly scored 2nd place. I grabbed a couple biscuits from the breakfast line and headed out to the truck. I had heard every story those old timers my father included had atleast a 100 times and i knew with Mr Dean present that the ******** factor of the stories would rise 10 fold from what they normally were...  I was sitting on the tailgate with molly sharing the biscuits and praising her for a good nights hunt when Mr. Dean came out and said " Alex, mark my words, you keep working with that hound like you are and she will be Grand night champion.... Id put money on it"  I felt my face get hot ( to this day i blush easy with praise) and I said thank you. Mr Dean said he would be keeping tabs on Me and my Molly and he expected to hear great things.   My Molly took Reserve Grand Night Champ that year and i was excited when I saw our picture in Full Cry magazine....that winter passed like they all do in the north country cold , bitter and long.  Training season finally came around the next year and i had decided to run Molly solo , just focus her attention on the coons with no other hounds around.... I was sitting with my back against a tree and heard all hell break loose..... i heard the bear in the distance and i heard molly crying in pain and them fighting.  My first ever coon hound, my pride my joy my Molly was killed by a bear out in sippy swamp in the south corner of Mason County .  Fast forward three weeks and my father received a phone call asking that he and i take a day trip down in mid michigan.  Mr Dean had been true to his word, he had kept an eye on Me and my Molly and had heard what happened and he want to see me and check on how i was doing. Dad and i drove down there in the truck.  Mr Deans wife ( or girlfriend... i cant remember) made us lunch and we ate and talked, he listened to the tale of Mollys untimely death. Mr Dean said guys come with me I got something i want to show and ask you Alex.  We walked out back and he led us to one of his kennels  with month old pups and said " which one do you want?" I was floored by his generosity as his pups went for thousands of dollars back then.... A man in England once laid a huge stud fee and bought round trip first class plane tickets for Mr Dean and his stud hound to travel across the pound and breed this chaps female bluetick.  I picked a pup and Mr Dean made me promise to love him how i loved my Molly and that i never sell him.  Brutal and i made grand night champ for 3 seasons.... time went on and we both got older.... hide prices went to **** and i had heard about a kid in our neck of the woods whos pup was hit by a car while crossing a road on the trail of a coon.  Kids name was brian and his pup was Titan....  I went over and introduced myself to Brian and listened to his story,  i then told him my story and introduced him to Brutal.... I made him promise to love Brutal as much as he loved Titan and to never sell him.... Brutal took grand night champ 2 more times and passed away naturally a seasoned old man with a young man who loved him dearly.......

 

[arkansaspiper]

Get me a few furs I'll tan then get **** made out of them then we can make a little more money on them bro

 

[Thistleoak]

Ok.. we need to figure out how to ship to you though lol

 

[arkansaspiper]

I'm gunna Google it

 

[arkansaspiper]

Dried or salted and stretched then I get them and tan them

 

[Thistleoak]

Even salted and streched it could mold leading to hair slippage.  They refrigerate when they ship over seas

 

[Ozark Wizard]

Just a suggestion...............

If you plan to ship 'raw' untanned hides, make a brine, like a gallon of water with a half cup of pickling salt and a half cup of Alum dissolved in it. Put the hide in a large enough freezer Ziplock bag and add enough solution to totally immerse the hide. Purge all the air out of the bag and seal it. Then put THAT in another Ziplock, and another over that. That should provide a good seal...

Put the works in a box just big enough to fit the bag. No movement should be allowed, as it may compromise the seals. Wait for really cold weather along the route the package will take. This is a great time of year for shipping 'heat sensitive' items. I've sent eggs, brined meats, fruits, etc. this time of year with no bad effects and no loss of products. I'm guessing they do not keep parcels temperature controlled unless you pay extra for it.

Do a two day ship at the longest. (Two day shipping usually means three days from one hand to the next)

Once again, just a suggestion..........

 

[Thistleoak]

Good medicine ozark

 

[arkansaspiper]

I tell ya he is smart or something

 

[arkansaspiper]

I had to read it 2 times I cried both times