Squirrel hound

[mark]

A hunting buddy of mine traveled to Tennesee to pick up a pair of blueticks recently. He called me up when he got back to come over and check out the dogs. He also bought a squirrel hound. ?????,,,????,,,a small mixed breed hound,,,we took it out and watched it work,,,never heard of such a thing but it did a nice job,,,,picked the tree the squirrel was in, circled around the trunk so the squirrel showed itself on our side of the tree,,,

Are squirrel hounds a common thing down there?,,,,

 

[shootist51]

In the south it has been common practice to use dogs, usually small hounds such as beagles, to hunt squirrel for years.

It also used to be very common to run deer with dogs in the south. This may have changed. It is illegal in most northern states that I am familiar with.

 

[thedeep]

Use to be a class of hounds called Rocky Mountain Squirrel houlds. I had one years ago. They were killers on the little beasties.

 

[Lesath]

Years ago, I had a short heeler that did a perfect job for both the fur-tailed rats and rabbits. I can still see her head cocked to one side looking up, and then her stub of a tail flicking back and forth. She knew how to be quiet as well. I think sometimes the best hunting companions come from the most unexpected places. I have not had another dog since, the right one just has not come along. Funny how we can bond with our animals.

 

[Ol'Dawg]

Mark,

When I lived in NW Arkansas back in the 70s, a lot of hunters used what they called a "feist" for squirrel hunting. The dogs looked similar to a Jack Russell Terrier except had longer ears and weren't quite as energetic. They were usually white with a few light brown markings and had a bob tail. Unlike typical hound dogs, they wouldn't bark except after treeing a squirrel. Some of the older guys used what they called a "road" dog. It looked like a typical feist but wouldn't hunt more that a hundred or so feet from the road.

Jim

 

[Young briar fan]

I have "Mountain Fiest". She's small, maybe 15 lbs. and hates a squirrel with a passion. She will do a number on a cat also. The cats in the barn stay on top of the hay when she comes around!!

 

[plumbernater]

When I lived in the NC mountains we had some fiest that was great dogs for squirrel. And there was always a heel dog in the bunch. It would stay on yours heels instead off out front hunting. Then there was the porch dog, you shoot and the critter would high tail it back to the porch.

 

[williamcharles]

I'm from Tennessee and we called those dogs a "feist". A mixed breed and great on squirrel and a few were great for treeing coons too. They generally think they are a heck of lot bigger than they are. Not for hunters with shaky nerves.

 

[plumbernater]

A little off suject, back home we had squirrel dogs, rabbet dogs, coon dogs, and a few sooners. None of them were pinned up, They would sleep all day, run all night. I loved sitting on the porch in the evening and listen to them run. You could pretty much tell what they were running by how fast, how slow, or how far they went. I miss all that