Carefull with your lights!!

[Wrapwrench]

OK fellas tonight my sons a close friend and I were out doing a little summer time coon hunt on the river banks. All was fine until pow!! My dog runs full speed into a large rock with his mouth wide open. I shined ahead just looking where I was going and blinded him. He never saw that rock witch was triangle shaped with the point head height on a 70# Walker. Smash!! Poor bastard, broke his right bottom K9 off shoved it threw his lip also breaking his jaw and shrapneling a few other teeth. So luckily there was a 24hr animal hospital an hour away. We rushed him in there and he got some medicine. But now comes surgery. Sure it won't be cheep but he is worth it. He did still strike a coon that was standing in the ditch on the way home broke jaw and all!! Couldn't help but laugh. What a freak deal though. I was wondering if anyone has had issues with blinding a dog like that?

[Cowboyvon]

I use to run my sight hounds on the "lamp" or spot light on coyotes,foxes and jack rabbits.. the Jacks were real good training for the young hounds.. You always had to be careful about blinding or leading them into a fence or other obstacle.. they got real smart and learned how to run that light...

[david]

I have done a lot of coon hunting and other night hunting, and experienced hunting with a lot of different people. And it seems many people don't realize that they are being blinded by their bright light. I know you are speaking of dogs, but it is at least as true of people. If you figure this out, you won't be blinding your dogs either.

I learned to use just enough light to keep me from putting twigs in my eye, except for spotting, and I avoided spotting as much as possible. When the leaves are off, I can usually find the coon faster without a light than with the light, by silhouetting. The light gets bounced around so much by branches and twigs, each one casting a shadow, silhouetting is sometimes much more efficient.

I like the lights with two or three AA or AAA Batteries that have a very wide and even beam, with no bright spots in it. They are small and inexpensive and I can have three in my pockets without even knowing it. I wrap mine with tape so when I need both hands it doesn't hurt my teeth to hold it in my mouth. Then I have some tape to use also. I want it dim enough that I can see outside of the beam and beyond it. And if not for the twigs close to my face that I can't see, there are many nights when I would rather not use the light. That is because we can see much more on every side when our pupils do not constrict because of all the light from our battery powered light source. So if I am crossing an open field I often will turn my light off, or if there are people with me with lights, there are many times when mine will be off.

There may be times when you are being approached at night and you don't know their intentions, or other situations where you need to not be advertising your location, or you find yourself without a light that works. It is not a bad idea to know how to get around without a light. The main thing is protect your eyes from getting scratched. You might be surprised how well you can see. Some folks evidently don't have night vision. If that is you forget the above.

But if you save your bright light only for the moments when you absolutely must use it, you and your dogs will see better, and your brights will be brighter, because the battery will be fresh.

[Dan Edwards]

Id never turn a light on a coon dog. Prolly cuz my old man woulda biffed me upside the hea if I ever turned a light on for any other reason than to walk or to shine a tree "once a dog was treed" for quite a while.

[scrubrunner]

I was taught growing up to never shine the light on the fox or bobcat when it crossed the road but we always shined the dogs to see who was in front.
I have good night vision, used to rarely us a light walking but few years ago I stepped into a stump hole, about the size of a post hole, did a one legger, tore the meniscus in my knee. I gimped around on it for 2 months, went to dr., required surgery, took a year to heal, still hurts sometimes. Wished I'd had a light on. Might have seen the hole.
Also nowadays the woods in fla. are infested with bears, had a couple close encounters with them going to or from tree stands during bow season. Feels kind of hairy when cubs run off to left and momma runs off to the right side of the trail, them crying on one side and her popping her teeth on the other.
I still kind of sneak in to my stand but I use a bright light and sing hymns coming out. Unless I happen to have killed a deer, then I sing Another one bites the dust.

[Wrapwrench]

Thanks for the information and replying fellas

[Goose]

I hunt hogs a lot at night down here in south MS and South La during the summer time, I use my light as little as possible and when I do have to use I keep it as dim as I can, I NEVER shine it at the dogs if they come by me and when they bay and we are slipping into the bay I'll always get settled before I send my catchdog in and weight a few minutes in total darkness so his eyes can adjust to the darkness and mine as well, I've had it happen more times than not going into a catch at night and the lights are the only thing a hog sees and charges them, a good friend of mine that started hunting with me this summer is a rookie when it comes to night hunting and I'm constantly telling him to turn his light off, he doesn't realize he's blinding the dogs and us and letting the world know where we are...


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