jumping mule coon hunt

Anybody ever do it? Nobody around here does anymore. They had mules trained to hop over a barb wire fence. Hunter would hang his coat or a blanket over the fence then the mule hopped over. They would jump into a pickup bed also. Then stand there while the pickup drove to a new spot. Got to be a few still around I would think. Mule guys talked about how the mules knew when the hounds treed. they would just start walking to them. Said even if you weren't sure exactly which way or if they were treed because of distance, the mules knew. Would take the hunter right to them.

I first met some mule riders in Quenemo KS in the 80's. There used to be a big hunt held there every year. Guys would camp in the city park and several brought "jumping mules".

There is a local guy here that still has jumping mules. He says they are smarter than most people he knows.

Dad had 8 at one time. Spent many a night when I was a kid on the back of a mule roaming through the woods.

Man in our racing pigeon club had a mule that did exactly what you said. Wishes he still had it.

Man in our racing pigeon club had a mule that did exactly what you said. Wishes he still had it.

The houndsmen / Women I bought my Redbone off of in 2020
Hade hunting mules
Boy was it steep around their County

Interesting: I just watched an episode on Meat Eaters where they were using Mules to hunt squirrels in the daylight and coons at night in NW Arkansas, I believe in the Ozarks. Buying Mules off of Craigslist was interesting, it seems all the ill-behaved Mules end up for sale on there and they work the naughtiness out of them.

A friend trained one to jump fences once, he said it didn't take as long to teach the mule to jump the blanket as it did to jump the fence.

Had some southern boys come up to Wisc fm down south with thier mules and hounds when coon prices were high...... they couldnt believe the size of our coons. First ones they treed they said thought they treed a bear cub....LOL...

My dad and all the local coonhunters had them in the 80's. We've hauled mules thousands of miles standing in the back of the pickup. They also used to have mule jumping competitions at the big hound events where the mules could compete along with the dogs. One of the worst rodeos I've ever seen happened one night coonhunting on mules. It involved one inexperienced rider, one green broke Molly mule, three walker hounds and one very large and ill timed covey of quail. I can still see that wreck in slow motion like it was yesterday.

Worst I was ever thrown was from a mule.

J B Walker from Maryville Misery raised jumping mules in the 70's he had a real following of folks wanting them. It was amazing to watch them hop over a fence. He had one guy brought his back as couldn't keep it in the fence. J B told him he was a fool and had ruined him. He had got it to jumping fences without putting his coat on the fence. It would clear a 5 foot fence no problem.

Tried it ONE TIME. Down in TN. a fella had a pair and wanted me to go along one night. I swear I felt like I had went 15 rds with a pro heavy weight fighter before we got back to the truck. The jumpin fences, ditches and creeks were not a problem. The low hanging limbs in the dark of night were.

My grandpa had 2 he used them to run his traps too.

Best mule I ever owned. About as bombproof as they come!

I’d like to get myself a good mule.