12/19/2023 0 Comments Squirrel dogs for saleIf you are currently training a squirrel dog, or thinking about doing so in the future, here are some pitfalls experienced squirrel dog breeders and trainers say to avoid. But even a good dog can develop bad habits, and sometimes those habits are created by trainers with good intentions. What sometimes seems like a good idea to help a pup learn to hunt can often set one back. Peter Brookes is a DC foreign policy nerd by day and an award-winning Virginia outdoor writer by night.Many veteran hunters say a good squirrel dog is born with hunting in its blood, and all you need to do to have them treeing like a pro is nurture that instinct along. I’ll definitely hunt squirrels again with or without one of those “feisty” squirrel dogs it wasn’t only fun, but Jack made me promise to get back into the squirrel woods with him sometime soon.ĭr. That said, someday someone will have to explain to me the squirrel’s seemingly inexplicable decision-making process on the highways and byways… Bushytails can be challenging-and it’s definitely not just for kids. I have to say, I came away with a new appreciation of the not-necessarily-pedestrian squirrel and squirrel hunting. We didn’t have to sit still, be quiet, or worry about smelling like, well, humans-a welcome situation when hunting with a “tween.” This type of hunting is casual and family-friendly in that way. What I also really liked about the hunt was that while the dog worked the woods, we casually walked the trails and chatted. Our lady squirrel made the mistake of popping her head up in the “V” of a branch to see if we were still around. We only took one shot on that half-day afternoon hunt, but we scored a gray squirrel for the pot at about 25 yards up a majestic hardwood. Thankfully, Trapper would spin around the tree’s base, helping us keep sight of the bushytail. ![]() If we were lucky, the squirrel would eventually freeze in its aerial antics, seeking to blend into the tree. If the squirrel moved to another tree-known as “timbering out”-Trapper would quickly track its silhouette across the forest canopy. And when he found one, he’d sit at-or stand up against-the tree’s base, looking intently skyward. Using all of his keen canine senses, Trapper hit the woods on the lookout for squirrels, often ranging a good distance from us. But, no, instead I was met by the deafening silence of the near-winter forest.įortunately, that’s where the- tah-dah!-squirrel dog comes in. The other thing I expected was to see was a “bajillion” squirrels bounding about like I usually experience in D.C. Then, as we began to walk, Marc expounded on the different squirrel species-and subspecies, noting that fox squirrels can easily dwarf their cousins. “What, there’s more than one type of squirrel?” I sheepishly asked. But, boy, it was quickly clear how little I knew about squirrels and squirrel hunting.įor instance, I was told that we couldn’t take any fox squirrels due to DWR regulations, but we could harvest gray and red squirrels. He recommended that we head to nearby White Oak Mountain Wildlife Management Area (WMA) in Chatham with his mountain feist, Trapper.Īs we arrived at the WMA, I was already thinking: Since this is so easy, what am I going to do with all the squirrels we are sure to harvest? The traditional Brunswick Stew came to mind. We got Jack an apprentice hunting license and met up with Marc a few days before Christmas. (BTW, the mountain cur is another common breed of squirrel dog.) Marc said he’d be happy to show us the game, using one of his mountain feist dogs. I called my hunting friend, who then put me in touch with Marc Gray he breeds and trains squirrel dogs in south-central Virginia. I’d also remembered that a New York grouse hunting friend had told me on an Adirondack outing a few years ago that he’d bought a dog in Virginia trained for hunting squirrels. So when my 12-year old son, Jack, told me that next chance he had off from travel basketball, he wanted to go hunting, I agreed-thinking this was a chance to finally check squirrel hunting off my outdoor to-do list. I mean, pick a direction bushytail, will you?! I’d also come to the conclusion that squirrels weren’t the brightest members of the animal kingdom from their helter-skelter antics on the roads. I assumed that squirrel hunting was “easy peasy” and that is why the big folks didn’t do it squirrel hunting was for kids. Well, I didn’t start hunting and fishing until I was a mid-career adult and it seemed to me that none of my “outdoorsy” adult friends were hunting squirrels. Come close, I have a shocking confession to make: I’ve never- ever-been squirrel hunting… well, until recently that is.
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