Spring is over and the humid days of summer have come to Ohio. As the sun sets below the woods line it brings in slightly cooler temperatures. Blanketing shadows soon cover what the sun touched, while the moon and stars fill the sky. Evening hours have arrived and while most ready themselves for sleep, some prepare for the hunt.

Boots are pulled on, brown nylon chaps are zipped into place, so to keep the briars at bay, and one of the final things is a light that is strapped around the waist. This tool proves to be one of the more important items. The hunter grabs a chain and nylon dog leash and heads outside toward the, kennel.

A chain link door opens and now the leash holds what the kennel held. Tugging at the leash with all the determination asked for, a hound readies for the hunt.

After leaping from the gravel driveway to the tail gate of the truck, the hound is then loaded into a dog box in the bed of the truck. The hound knows the hunt is near.

As the engine roars, the truck then heads a short distance for wooded land where the hunt shall take place.

The truck stops at the destination, the tailgate falls open, and the eager hound is unloaded from the box.

A short walk through dew-covered wheat ends, as then the hound is set free of the leash.

The hunter is now put to the test of whether or not the time and effort used on breeding and training will show through the hound.

As loud and as quick as thunder and lighting the hound screams out for all to hear. Over and over the hound lets loose a bawl of a bark, warning the, prey its track has been found.

Swiftly the hound runs through the wheat field tracking its preys scent, where just moments before it fed on the milky insides of the unripe wheat. The hound now enters the leaf-canopied woods, where sticks that lay on the ground can barely be heard snapping over the hounds screaming bawls. The hound travels deeper into the woods, closing in on its prey. The hunter, sensing the track is drawing to an end, starts walking toward the hound so to hear better.

The excited, bawling barks the hound used to signal a track echo away in the night time silence, and the woods fall as quiet as it was before the hound was unleashed. Then a piercing long drawn out bawl from the hound breaks through the silence, a bark noticeably different from what the hound used while tracking. With this bark the hound is claiming victory to the hunter and prey, and then with every breath the hound takes it returns with an intense short chop of a bark.

The hunter begins the travel to the hound listening intently to the hounds’ bark.

As the hunter reaches the hound there’s no better sight to be seen. Hind legs firmly planted at the base of an old oak tree, while fore paws rest against the trees bark covered sides, and the hounds head thrown skyward with every bark. This is known to hunter and hound as treeing. The hunter looks up into the leaf-covered branches of the old oak, and while using a dim light, searches for the prey.

Minutes later, caught in the beam of light, is a pair of orange glowing eyes. Using a brighter light the hunter exposes the entire prey.

Its silver under belly rests atop a branch, while four padded paws clamp to the branch for balance. Leaves nearly conceal its black-covered back, with brown hairs running throughout. Brown and black fur line its tail in rings, as it dangles off the branch. Warm nocturnal eyes stay hidden within a black mask, a mask that makes this fur bearer known to most as the raccoon. Satisfied with finding the raccoon the hunter leashes the hound after stroking its smooth dew-covered coat as a reward for accepting the training taught. That simple stroke was all the hound needed to realize it had succeeded in the hunting world this night and at the same moment found the meaning of being born and raised a Coonhound.

As the hunter and hound walk from the tree to the truck, their pride in each other shows with every step they take, even if neither will admit to it. The hunter and hound have shared a bond of companionship through the raising and training, and now as each day and night passes it grows more meaningful for both. But as the night is still early, they continue their quest to hunt, for prey, and with every track and tree they make together, the thrill is unforgettable.