YanceyGreenhorn
Still Not a Moderator
What a day what a day. I’ve talked about the foster kid I’ve mentored( also known as The Boy and getting back in touch with him). I had already committed to taking him to scout some land in Tennessee when I got the call about running dogs. Told them I’d love to go but I couldn’t leave him hangin, so if they didn’t want him going, there was no hard feelings but I had to go spend time with him. The fellers told me to bring him along. Woke up at 5 and picked him up in Tennessee. Made it back in time to meet at the farm at 7am. Loaded up 3 trucks full of dogs, 7 men, The Boy, and two young girls that came with their dad. Ages ranged from 12 to 80. Took one man’s really good strike dog and had him work out a track and then we started turning loose as he told us to. Me , The Boy , and a guy in his early 20s were assigned to retrieving dogs and going to the tree. While being on our first race, a second bear was bumped and it crossed the two track road 50 yds from us. Decent sized bear. One dog treed a cub solo and we pulled him off. The next tree we got to just in time to see the bear jump out and take off. The day ended with a big bear treed on a high ridge. Part of that uphill climb to the dogs included a 300 yard struggle thru a thicket Of nothing but stinging nettles and briers. Took us forever to get to the dogs and by that time he was well rested. We crawled to the tree thru a laurel and rhodo thicket and he was ready to run again.Hearing those dogs explode when he hit the ground was awesome. Thought the dogs were gonna tree again quickly but it turned into another race. Let the dogs run it down the mountain till the other guys were able to pull them off at the road. Dogs were wore slap out and we were tired and hungry. We clocked a total of just over 6 miles climbing up n down those ridges. I know that’s nothing groundbreaking but it was a good workout on that terrain.Brad the kid in his early 20s tell me “I can’t believe you’re 34. You move pretty good in the mountains for a guy that’s as old as you are.” And he meant it as a compliment not a joke 
Got all the dogs squared away and parted ways with everyone. I took The Boy to pick out a good pair of boots, Got us some lunch, and drove him back to Tennessee. It was a great day and it’s definitely once of my best experiences in the woods. The first of many to come. It’ll be cool to see the dogs progress thru the season as they get back in their groove.
Working our way to a tree with the new young dogs on leads
View from the tree to the property that borders my house
Got all the dogs squared away and parted ways with everyone. I took The Boy to pick out a good pair of boots, Got us some lunch, and drove him back to Tennessee. It was a great day and it’s definitely once of my best experiences in the woods. The first of many to come. It’ll be cool to see the dogs progress thru the season as they get back in their groove.Working our way to a tree with the new young dogs on leads
View from the tree to the property that borders my house
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from me but I commend you for what u have been thru, are doing with your life, and the mentoring u are doing. Gas money and a license would be a small token of appreciation...