COON HUNTING LIGHTS PAST AND FUTURE

Carl Moore http://coonhunterssupply.com/
 
As a coon hunter I look at the history of coon hunting lights. I find coon hunting lights, like the history of our great country, always seem to get better as time goes on.
The early settlers trapped and hunted raccoon for their fur and meat. When they did hunt raccoon of course they hunted them at night. The raccoon is a nautical animal and sleeps all day. These early hunters used pine Knots for torches to follow their coon hounds through the night woods. When the coon was treed by the hounds. The hunters would go to the tree to get their coon. With only a torch the hunters could not see the coon and had to cut the tree down and let the dogs catch and kill the coon. The fur was saved to be sold to the hide buyers at a trading post in the spring. The coon meat was food for the family.
Then after many years oil lanterns became the walking light for them. These lanterns burned Whale oil. Other refined oils were not available until after the discovery of oil in NW Pa. in 1859. The hunters still followed the hounds to the tree, but could not see the coon. These lanterns were good for walking, but the hunter still could not see where the coon was in the tree. The tree was chopped down and the coon was killed. Again the hide was traded at a spring round up at the closest trading post. The meat was prepared for the family.
The next lighting improvement was the carbide light. These lights were used in the coal mines through out the country. The coon hunters, still used a lantern, but found the carbide light was bright  enough to see the coons eyes in a tree. Once coon was treed and spotted he could be killed with a small caliber rifle. This prevented dog damage to the hide and meat. The Tree still stood in the forest. The undamaged hide traded at a better value and the meat had very little damage waste.
When I started coon hunting in the late `40s. We stilled used carbide lights. By then the very bright Coleman lantern was used as a walking light. This lantern burned a highly refined oil. We still carried our carbide head lights. There were many improvements on the coal miners hats and lights. Batteries were carried on a belt and used standard flash light in the light head, attached to a bump hat. Most used 6 Volt batteries or less. We always had to carry an extra spotlight to see the coon. We hunted for coon more to enjoy the hounds and the hunt. We still collected hides in the late fall and early winter. These hides had prim fur at this time and were sold to the fur buyer at the best price. After WW2 the demand for coon meat went down, but even today we still find folks that love coon meat. We give or sell what little coon meat we take as food for folks that love raccoon meat.
In the last few decades hunting lights have really changed. The hunting light still uses a battery, but these new batteries today were the dreams of the past. The new type of batteries have longer life, are lighter per Voltage than ever before, No acid dripping. The new bulbs have gotten better almost yearly. They last longer and can burn brighter. You can find a bulb to work on almost any battery voltage. These work just fine but you still have to carry a spotlight and always extra bulbs.
Then we come to the newest type of the coon hunting lights. In the middle `60s the LED lamps were brought to the market. The new type of lamp was first were designed to be used for low voltage applications. They were used as indicator lights on electronic gear. But in the years since the LED lights kept getting stronger and able to use higher voltages. The LEDs also got brighter and brighter. We now have LED light arrays that when used in a head is brighter than any light we have ever seem before. LED lamps don’t blow out like other bulbs. There is no filament to blow out, just different chemicals that use voltage to excite them into glowing.
Now we have this LED head. Add a battery, and a dimmer switch. You have a great light for hunting. This new light is so bright you don’t need to carry a spotlight. Battery drain is a unbelievable 50 hrs on low/ 25 hrs on high beam. LED lights last 10,000 hours or more Check with coonhunterssupply.com/. Read about the new light. With the help of Cajun Light Co. we think we have designed the ultimate coon hunting light.
http://coonhuhterssupply.com/