Hi there,
It takes a whole lot more than one time to the woods and a caged coon to make a treedog. Have you ever heard the term, "blood, sweat, and tears?" Well, that is what it takes. If your dog has it in him, then he needs exposure more than anything. Not exposure to lots of caged coons, but exposure to the woods, trees, creeks, animal scent, trailing, loading in the truck, etc. Take him BY HIMSELF a lot. He will learn to hunt his own game, and take him with other dogs some, too. It takes a lot of work. You can't take a new dog out expecting to kill lots of coons, and when he trees, tie him back and work him...don't just shoot the coon out right away if you don't have to. If you can, get the dog to notice the coon and get him fired up. Hiss and slap the tree (but don't let anyone see ya doing that or it might look like you got rabies or something), and carry on. Tell the dog what a good dog he is. They say a good treedog doesn't need everything shot out to them, but another school of thought says shoot all you can to them. I would think they are both true. Good luck, and more than that, just work hard with the dog for a while. He may need to get used to you, first, and then he may just need to get used to ranging out in the woods. Like already stated by ringneck....patience!