For nearly 50 years, Jim Hagen of rural Britton has spent his nights in the woods, following the sound of barking coonhounds through the darkness.
What began as a hunting hobby has grown into something much more for Hagen, who became interested in coonhounds after a friend invited him on a coon hunt. Hagen had previously hunted with stag hounds, but after that first experience, he was hooked.
“I just kept it up,” Hagen said. “I’ve had coonhounds ever since.”
Today, Hagen raises and breeds the dogs and has developed a bloodline that spans seven generations. He currently has two coonhounds, Teeter and Phara, and travels to competitions throughout the region.
Hagen is a member of the United Kennel Club and serves as a sanctioned judge and Master of Hounds for its competitions. In addition to raccoons, his dogs have been used to hunt bobcats and mountain lions. In 2013, Hagen was among the local hunters involved in a special mountain lion hunt west of the Missouri River.
Coon hunting takes place primarily at night, when hunters follow their dogs through woods, swamps and river bottoms. The hunters listen carefully to the dogs’ distinctive barks, or “music,” to determine what the dogs are doing.
When a hound picks up a raccoon’s scent, it begins tracking. Once the raccoon is treed, the dog stays at the base of the tree, barking continuously to alert its handler.
For Hagen, though, the dogs are about more than hunting. They have also become a way to spend time with family, particularly his grandsons, 11-year-old Elias Leonard, son of Holli Hagen Medhaug, and 13-year-old Evan Ekman, son of Heidi Hagen Ekman.
Both boys have been working with their grandfather and his dogs for several years, first helping care for the animals and eventually joining him on hunts.
Elias, a sixth grader at Britton-Hecla, said he has been hunting with his grandpa for the past few years.
“We go out at night and you have a special collar on the dog to track them, and then they call back if they tree a coon,” he said.
The boys have also discovered the competitive side of the hobby.
Recently, both competed in the United Kennel Club’s Minnesota State Youth Hunt in Rice, Minn. The competition included showing their dogs for a judge as well as a night hunt.
During a night hunt, dogs and handlers are divided into casts, with points awarded for a dog’s ability to strike a raccoon’s track and then tree the animal. Judges and handlers shine their lights into the trees to determine whether the raccoon has been located, with points awarded or deducted based on the results.
Elias and Phara had a successful night, earning first place in the junior division. Evan also came away with an award, earning Best of Show Female in the registered class.
“I was shocked by winning,” Elias said. “I was so tired, though, that it didn’t really hit me until the next morning that I won.”
Elias said hunting with the dogs can be challenging because they are animals and their behavior can be unpredictable. But the experience is also what makes it fun.
“Hunting at night is a fun time,” he said. “You get to look at the stars, and it’s cool listening to the dogs bark.”
He also enjoys meeting other hunters at competitions, describing them as friendly and welcoming.
For Hagen, watching his grandsons learn to work with the dogs is one of the best parts of the hobby. He said coon hunting teaches children patience, listening, kindness toward animals, respect for nature and quick thinking. It also gives them opportunities to spend time away from devices, meet new people and simply enjoy the outdoors.
And sometimes, he said, there is plenty to see in the night sky, from stars and planets to comets.
Most importantly, Hagen said, the hobby gives him and his grandsons a chance to spend time together while learning a skill that can last a lifetime.
He isn’t sure whether Elias and Evan will continue hunting as they get older, but after nearly five decades with coonhounds, he doggone hopes they do.
