Episode 106
Jimal McBride: 100 Years of Hunting
Today, AB3 sits down with Jimal McBride, a hunter specializing in coondogs and coon hunting. Listen in as Jimal shares his family’s 100-year-old coon hunting tradition, his tips for finding and training a new coondog, and the McBride way of cooking coons.
Episode Highlights
- Jimal speaks on McBride coon hunting family tradition going back 100 years
- Why you need to start with a puppy as opposed to an older dog
- Creating a bond with your new coondog
- Scent training with a puppy
- When to turn your coondog loose
- The McBride’s go-to recipe when cooking coons
3 Key Points
- When getting a new coondog, find a puppy between six to eight weeks old. Great coon hunts depend on a great relationship between man and dog. Older dogs are already set in their ways. By taking your time to find a puppy, you can really focus on finding a dog that you like and are willing to put time into so that you can create a bond over time. Teach them basic commands at first, then start scent training in the evenings at two-and-a-half months.
- Take your coondog into the woods at around six months. Ultimately, the time you let them loose will be at the time you feel most comfortable. You nurtured a bond with your coondog, after all. A good sign that they’re ready is if your young dog starts following the older, more experienced dog once you set them down in the woods. But if they just end up playing instead of following the older dog, you probably need to wait and train them a bit longer.
- Having a coondog with you on your coon hunt doesn’t guarantee a kill. Coons know the layout of their environment, and will run through streams and shrubs to shake off their scent. They can also get away by digging and hiding away in holes. Your job as a hunter, once your coondog identifies the coon and is on its trail, is to stop the coon before it hides away.
Three Powerful Quotes
- Get a dog that you like to look at. If you don’t like looking at that dog, you’re wasting your time. ~Jimal
- Coons are hell on turkeys. They’re almost as bad as coyotes when it comes to turkey nests. ~AB3
- That’s why they call it hunting—every time you go out, there ain’t no guarantee you’re going to come back full. A lot of times, you’re going to come back empty-handed. ~AB3
Resources Mentioned
Bryant Land Show: https://bryantlandcountry.com/the-bryant-land-country-podcast/
OnXHunt link:https://www.onxmaps.com/hunt-app
Traeger Grills:https://www.traegergrills.com
Patreon link:https://www.patreon.com/bryantland
BassPro Affiliate: https://bassproshops.vzck.net/NaQx7
Follow McBride’s Kennel on social media: Facebook
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