Coon Hunt

for Jim and Marty

". . . sing your sweet song for me,

throw your sweet voice to the wind . . . ."

                                                                Darren Haverstick;   "Pearl"
                                                                                              sung by Cedar Hill

Coon hunting is an activity peculiar to particular parts of the country and practiced by small minority of the population, mostly males, who love the outdoors and enjoy the quiet and companionship of friends and their dogs, in pursuit of the small furry animals.  Since the racoon is primarily nocturnal, the hunt is, of necessity, at night, which is when most of the spare time for farm communities exists.

Ingredients for a coon hunt include a campfire, coffee (and/or other liquid refreshment), food of some description, a light source, a weapon or some other means of getting the coon out of his tree. And, the most important item, a good coon hound with which to find the object of the operation.  The light source would usually be a carbide lamp of the type used by miners. It produces light by means of an open gas flame located in the center of a metal reflector.  The gas is generated by a controlled flow of water from a small tank into a container of carbide chunks, the chemical reaction of which produces a flammable gas which is directed to the nozzle in the center of the reflector which is then lit and burning to produce light. I am no chemist, but I know it works. How much light it produces is quite another matter.

Harvey announced to his friends at the Wednesday prayer meeting that he had acquired a new dog.

Said he was just a pup, 'bout a year and a half old, but from good hunting stock.  "He does rabbits and squirrels OK, but I want him to learn about coons.  Think I'll take him back in the Overcup one night and see what we can find."  "How about tomorrow night?"" says E E, "come on up after dark and we'll go."

Now Harvey and E E are both in their teens and have completed the first eight grades of school.  E E has gone on to high school and Harvey is still at home helping his father on the farm.  E E traps and supplements his spending money with the sale of hides.
Thursday night finds the boys and Harvey's dog, Blue, entering the wetlands to the North of E E's father's farm. The land is flat, wooded and interspersed with areas of ankle deep water. At some distance to the North lies the part where deeper water exists and where a huge five pronged cypress tree provides the only real landmark in the area.  They find a relatively open area on relatively dry, low ridge, and are able to start a small campfire.  Blue watches, with his eye on the knapsack where he suspects there is food.  Harvey looks at Blue:  "Blue, go find something".  Blue looks puzzled. "BLUE--RABBIT, FETCH"  Blue got up, stretched, and trotted off into the woods. "dumb dog," Harvey says under his breath.

By now the coffee is hot and the snacks have been consumed and the boys are enjoying the quiet of the night in the light of the dying fire and the last quarter moon overhead.  The carbide light is lit and burning on low flame.  Peaceful, Nice.

The silence is broken by the sound so well known and so dear to the hunter - the melodious long notes of the hound on a trail.  "He's got something" says Harvey, "listen to that, ain't that beautiful?"

They listened quietly to the music as it moved farther to the North then changed to a more intense flurry of shorter notes and did not move further.  "He's treed him, LET'S GO!", and they were off.  Harvey in the lead with the knapsack on his shoulder and the carbide lamp firmly attached to his cap, leaving E E to bring up the rear - in the dark.

E E arrived a few minutes later than the rest.  He was amazed.  In the dim light of the carbide light's open flame, he saw a small oak tree, maybe three inches in diameter and perhaps 25 feet high. Blue was on his hind legs, bracing his forefeet on the tree and speaking fiercely and loudly to what appeared to be the world's largest coon, who was perched precariously in the fork of the tree, about 15 feet up.  Harvey was observing from the other side of the tree.  " Wish I'd brought my 22," says E E.  "No problem," says Harvey, " it's a small tree, I'll just shake him out - Blue will take care of him".  and proceeded to do just that.

The coon hit the ground with a resounding thump and a fierce snarl in Blue's direction. Blue stared in quiet disbelief; he had never in his young life seen so large a rabbit. Coon snarled again; Blue considered the situation-for about two seconds then chose discretion over valor and quickly left the scene.  He was  not seen again  that night.  Coon, sensing his window of opportunity, leaped on top a fallen tree trunk and sped north to freedom with all possible haste.

"He's getting away" says Harvey, "if he makes it to the deep water and the big cypress, we will never get him."  And with that he charged off in pursuit, leaving E E in the dark again. E E is attempting to follow but being hampered by underbrush and deepening water underfoot.  Suddenly the sound of Harvey's pursuit is interrupted by a thump, a grunt, a splash and then silence. And darkness.  "HARVEY, YOU OK?"  A splash.  muttering. "Yeah, I'm OK".  E E found him, and tripped over a root and went down too.  "Coon got away", says Harvey.  "and the light's out", says E E "where's your matches?"  "Right here in my bib pocket, I keep them there so they won't get ---"  he stopped ---wet". he said, now holding a handful of soaked matches, which he threw into the water. "You got a lighter?"  "Don't smoke", says E E.  "Shit!", says Harvey.

Apparently they had been closer to the deep water than they thought.  Harvey had tripped over a submerged cypress knee* and tumbled headlong into water up to his chin.  E E had followed suit and now both are soaked.  They are also near the middle of the Overcup with no light, no food, no compass and the moon is going down.

"We better get home," says E E. "Which way is home", says Harvey.  "Look, says E E, There' the big dipper; and the North Star, we just go the other way and we should come out in Dad's north forty."  Harvey looked at the stars of the big dipper, hanging just over the dim outline of a huge cypress tree, then turned the other way and headed South.

Plodding through ankle to knee-deep water, crashing through underbrush that was felt, not seen, and beset by regimental strength flights of mosquitoes, they broke into open fields just as the moon was setting.  "I know where I am now," says Harvey, "I'm as close to my house as we are to yours, I'll just go home from here".

Another half mile and E E was out of his wet clothes and into bed, with the full knowledge that in about two hours, he would have to be up to help with the feeding of livestock and the milking of cows, before having breakfast and hitting the road for school.

* Cypress trees almost always grow in or near water.  The roots around the tree sprout upward appendages which extend up to three or more feet above solid ground.  These "knees" may or may not extend above the surface, depending on the current water level.  The water was obviously high at the time of this incident.

Epilogue

Harvey stayed on the farm, until he was drafted into the Marine Corps.  He lost his life in the landings on Iwo Jima.

E E finished high school, got drafted, learned to be a bombardier for the Army Air Corp, married his high school sweetheart, and, after the war, left the Army as a 1st Lieutenant.  Since his two major skill areas
were farming and dropping bombs, and there no longer being any demand for bombardiers, bought a farm.

Blue became a loyal family pet and guardian of the farm, chasing an occasional rabbit and identifying snakes, etc.

As far as we know none of the three ever went coon hunting again.