(All photographs copyright 2011 by Dan Routh)
Category: Hunting
Sedgefield Hunt
Bird Dogs
My Grandfather was a Hunter

For the past few weeks as the weather has been pretty nasty for North Carolina, I’ve been shooting objects on an old table in my den. These are very eclectic things for the most part and some of them have special meanings only for me. Today the images are of a box of cartridges and a hand-made turkey call that belonged to my Grandfather. I’ve mentioned the problems we’ve had with poachers around our farm lately on this blog, but I don’t want to give the impression that I don’t like hunters. On the contrary, I have great respect for hunters, real hunters. Living during the Great Depression, my Grandfather was a real hunter and fisherman. He ate what he killed, he hit what he shot at, he respected other people’s property, and he never took more than he needed for his family. I just wish the guys riding around my house at night could be more like him.
ATV in the Woods
Coon Hunting


On Wednesday night there was a full moon (almost), and my wife stepped out on the deck and then rushed in to say, “They’re running!”. I went outside and heard the deep bay of Walker hounds running a coon (raccoon). Suddenly the bays turned more excited and I knew they had treed, and just across the road.
Coon-hunting was a very popular activity in my community in North Carolina for past generations, but not many people do it anymore. Guess folks don’t care to trudge through the woods at night chasing dogs, basically just to hear them run. A couple of my neighbors still do, however, and we allow them to go across our property. Let me say that where I live, it’s really not hunting, it’s more of a race. The dogs chase the coon till he goes to a tree and then the “hunters” take the dogs somewhere else and start again. No guns. These races can go on for miles, and Mr. Raccoon is tired I’m sure, but left unhurt. Coon-hunting has become more high tech as well. These days the hounds wear safety collars with flashing lights so they can be seen, as well as GPS units so their owners can track them. Important, because some of the dogs can be worth hundreds or thousands.






















