Back in the mid to late 80’s we were getting $40 for a large hide. It wasn’t just fun back then, it was a lot of money. Between myself and a friend, we had 3 dogs, and it wasn’t anything to get a 10-15 coon night. We would occasionally get 25 a few nights in prime spots.
I invested a lot into coon hunting at the time, and trapping. Then the market crashed for hides. I still have some of my hunting equipment, but I had gotten rid of my coon dogs about 10 years ago.
It was hard to not go out at nights when I knew I could make more hunting then I could at work the next day, but a guy needed to sleep, even a teenager.