BWTB,
Well the Boone dog has been dead for over three years now and at the end of his life he could find and put up coons!!!
I think you got to look at your self first before the dogs, be honest about what you are expecting of your hounds. Have you really put the training into them, are you getting them out on a regular basis training and hunting? Are you giving them every oportunity to grow and learn.
I dont know your whole circumstances of you and your dogs but have read this post through several times. When the Boone dog was young I got him going on a few turn loose's, had him runin with older hounds that were honest hunters. Once he started treeing first and on his owne with other hounds I started hunting him hard by himself. When I say hard I mean at least 5 nites a weeks for several hours a nite. I would run him two times in one nite. At first it seemed like months till he started consistantly treeing coons by himself, but once he got it down there was no looking back.
You also have to remember several things, coon population in your area, feed, cover, time of year, ect... When you hunt where every other swinging dick can hunt the coon population is usually poor to say the least cause the dip shits think they need to kill every thing that they see in a tree wether there dogs were under the tree or not
On that note if you can get into a spot where there is low to no pressure your odds will go up.
I dont know if its a % you should be measuring your hounds with but what I have mentioned above. You have to know your hounds, the area you hunt, the game your chasing. We were in a spot a few nites ago dened one up but for the most part it was dead and the dogs looked like they were standing on there heads. Week before that in the same area in less then 1 1/2 hrs we had 4 trees 2 dens and then a dog split off a treed on a huge power pole. We saw coons every where and then to go back to nothing see nothing, its like the coons have all packed up and moved. I have hunted this spot for years and this time of year it gets like that till late fall.
I dont know if I have answered any of your questions but thats what you should look into. I wouldnt expect to tree every time you go out if your just hunting one spot and the coons arent to thick. Also try and put some feeder buckets out to keep the coons concentrated where you run. Try to find your self a few spots so if it seems the dogs arent doing anything you can move. Always end on a positive note. I love coon hunting because I can consitantly see my dogs under a tree every time I take them out. Keeps them in shape and tuned up for biggame hunting.