my best advice is to buy a good broke dog when just starting out. a good broke coon hound will teach you how the sport can be very enjoyable. go hunting with the dog before you buy it so you can see the dog actually tree and stay treed on coon and not leave trees or chase deer. do not believe the seller on what the dogs does without seeing the dog do the job in the woods yourself. although it can be very rewarding to see a dog tree coon after you have trained it yourself,, training a coon hound is not for someone just starting out.. so many people buy a pup and then realize they are in way over their head. they get attached to the pup and then the dog doesn't make the grade and you will end up feeding a dog that can't tree a coon till it dies of old age. the success rate of the best trainers in the world is not all that high. it takes a lot of knowledge in breeding and how to train them.you will ruin a lot of dogs before you ever get the knowledge on how to properly train a well bred coon hound. read all you can find on coon hunting with a hound. find someone that has a decent dog that will take you along hunting with him and his dog. then find a decent dog already trained to buy and start hunting with. preferably find a well seasoned coon hunter to help you find the right dog.

yes, i think you would be so much farther ahead if you find a dog that is already trained and can tree a coon. often you can find an older dog 6 or 7yrs old that can be bought reasonably. you should be able to find a coon hunter at a nite hunt that would let you go pleasure hunting with them in your area. the more you can learn about coon hunting and what a dog is suppose to do and not do before you buy a dog the better.. it will help you tremendously in finding a decent hound that can perform correctly..

Although most coon hunters will be willing to take you hunting with them do not expect them to share the places they hunt with you.
The fastest way to make them not be your friend is to go back and hunt the places they take you hunting. unless its state land or something where anyone is allowed to hunt..
Finding places to hunt will be on you. you will have to seek out land owners and ask them for permission for you to hunt coon on their land.
You will find that although coon hunters are friendly and more than happy to help you get started,, they are a funny bunch. often although they are friendly you will see there is more jealousy between them than old women at a pie baking contest.
Going back and hunting another coon hunters spots is one of the elements of coon hunting etiquette (rules of conduct) that you just don't do.