Last Updated 07-31-00
My name is Bill Gadberry and I hunt coyotes in southwest Indiana. I hunt with five or six of my buddies just about every weekend of the season and sometimes through the week. We hunt mostly private ground and ground that has been reclaimed by the coal mines. Most of what we hunt is pasture and crop fields with small sections of woods scattered throughout. Every now and then we run the pine spoils and river bottoms too.
I have two Goodman Hounds and one Running Walker at this time. Most of my buddies have either July's or Running Walker/July hounds.
From mid-October thru late February we run the hounds during the day. We turn them out in all different types of cover, everything from pastures to thick undergrowth. Usually, we will see a coyote within a few minutes after daylight and will turn the hounds out on it to begin the day. We have seen as many as 14 in one day and have run as many as 7 out of one small area. From early March through October we run the hounds at night. We really have some good nighttime races in the hardwoods. Usually, at night we turn the hounds out in the timber.
Just recently, my young female Goodman Hound, Snowy, was run over and killed while taking a track across a highway. She was a very fast hound and very easy to handle. She was 20 months old.
We have tried Plott hounds and had a little success. Brian Jones has a female Plott that is out of coonhound breeding and is a real nice old hound. Steve Weathers had a young male Plott, a little over two years old, out of bearhound breeding that was a nice coyote hound. We have tried four others. One was a big still mouthed male that was slowly making a hound, but was either killed or stolen. The only bad thing about him was that he had more fight in him than he had sense. One is a young female that I traded for Mo, my Running Walker. She was slowly making a hound, but lacks the speed. The other two showed no promise.
Brian and I were already hunting coyotes without hounds. When we would make a bad shot we would be all day following a blood trail. When there was snow on we most generally always found the coyote. When there was no snow we averaged about 50%. One of Brian's friends had a female Plott hound that was not making a very good coonhound. She was four years old and he could not break her off of fast game. He didn't know whether she was trashing on deer or coyotes. He did tell us that when she was about six months old she stumbled into a pack of coyotes and spent some time in the Vet's office over it. We took her out one morning and I made a bad shot on a coyote. We turned Jody loose where the coyote had been and she immediately opened up and took off after it. A few miles later she had it caught in a drainage tile. We were hooked on coyote hunting. We used her that winter and the following spring I obtained a 14 month old pup out of her. He was still mouthed on track, but would run. He was nothing but fight and he did keep Jody from getting torn up the following winter. Later, he was either stolen or ran off. We bred Jody and I got another pup. He didn't have the desire to run coyotes. I got a pup out of Louisiana and another pup out of Jody. Neither one of them worked out. I looked through the Hunters Horn and called a Goodman Hound kennel owned by Lawrence and Gina Colliflower. They fixed me up with a six month old pup that I would name Bueford. At 12 months old, we were using Bueford as a jump dog. We had gotten in touch with Dewayne Mayfield and J.R. Lockhart and were hunting with them. They had some coyote hound stock out of Missouri. Steve Weathers also started running with us using a Plott hound. We had a real good pack. Dewayne gave me a Running Walker/July named Jenny. She was a good hound and I was running her and Bueford with good luck. One day Jenny was taking a track across the highway and was run over and killed. Steve and I went down south and traded two Plotts for a Running Walker that we named Mo and a July female. Mo has made an excellent hound. The July was a potlicker and wasn't around long. I got another pup from Lawrence that I named Snowy. She was making an excellent hound. She was coming along faster than Bueford had. When she was twenty months old she was killed while taking a track across the highway. I have since gotten two other pups from Lawrence. We bred Mo to Ginger, but Ginger died after having the pups that we had intended on keeping. Yet another set back.
Buy one started hound that you have hunted with if possible. Buy one pup out of good stock and go with that for a year. Then get another pup. I am not real big on buying started hounds. It has been my experience that the good (good being the key word) started coyote hounds aren't for sale. Don't let the set backs get you down because you will encounter them. Just keep going with what you have and improve your stock as you get the chance. Above all, don't settle for a hound that doesn't quite suit you.
If you are a breeder be sure to check out the Breeders Directory.
I have no classifieds section so feel free to post any ads on the Discussion Board.
If anyone has any ideas for this page let me know. This season I plan on taking my camera instead of my gun to get some good hunting pics.
Remember: You can't run a dead coyote.
To read more about our hounds and hunting click on one of the links below.
