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Squirrel Doggin' 2016

We are down to a beagle and a GSP. Izzy Beagle is a pet but her nose rarely leaves the ground. Hank the GSP tracks deer and lavishes in attention. Most of the time he is barking at the squirrels too. Whenever one of them passes, I'd love a feist/cur. We may end up with another boxer though as we have always had them. Then again. . . The GSP breed has REALLY grown on me. He is so eager to please and has such a drive. Just amazing. Smart as can be too.
 
hickslawns said:
We are down to a beagle and a GSP. Izzy Beagle is a pet but her nose rarely leaves the ground. Hank the GSP tracks deer and lavishes in attention. Most of the time he is barking at the squirrels too. Whenever one of them passes, I'd love a feist/cur. We may end up with another boxer though as we have always had them. Then again. . . The GSP breed has REALLY grown on me. He is so eager to please and has such a drive. Just amazing. Smart as can be too.
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Give the Cur breed a good look at Phil, they're a hell of a dog...


 
now that I have two, and have had one for several years, I still don't have much bad to say about them. their peculiarities are more of an amusement/annoyance than a problem, and part of what makes them what they are. fiercely loyal and eager to please you, unlike hound dogs, which are often quite the opposite according to people who own them, especially to people who have had both.

going to hunt with an old friend of mine that I rather lost touch with for a few years. the passing of a mutual friend brought us back in touch, and I'm glad for that. he's recovering from rotator cuff surgery and cannot work, or forge his knives or anything for a while. looking snowy today, but Lefty and I had a good day the last time we hunted in snow. gonna be a good day. :smile:
 
a few squirrels were out today, but not like I hoped. lots of den trees today, and two of the three we saw didn't make it. the other found a hole too fast for a shot. first time Tony had ever hunted squirrels with a dog. fun day

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it was friggin' cold today, so we didn't start until after 12. we won't be hunting again until after ML season, so we braved the cold to get in one last hunt. squirrel activity was pretty much what I expected. a few moving, but not very much. In the first woods, Slick found the only two trees they made, and Lefty joined him on both eventually. first tree produced a surprisingly cooperative squirrel that came quietly. very pleased with what Slick is doing. he's really getting it, and without much help from me. I did not even have to tie him on the first tree, and only had to tell him once to get back on it. the second did not have a squirrel, so I did not bother tying him, and I just let them bark and carry on for a while before moving them on. Lefty did not hunt hardly at all today. I don't know why, but I'm not real happy with him displaying his quirk all afternoon for no good reason.

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after only 1 hour walking around I was happy to get back in the truck to warm up for a minute. so were the dogs :smile: Slick made the first tree, but it was empty. both dogs barked briefly on a couple of other trees before Lefty found one with a squirrel, which went to the game bag. As a bonus, Lefty sniffed out another one on the way back to the truck. I don't think he moved faster than a brisk walk all day. Slick full of piss and vinegar. he's starting to cover some ground now, and hunting away from Lefty most of the time with purpose. He clearly wants to do his own thing. his progress is remarkable for such a young dog. Still, Lefty barely made an effort and found two live ones, which illustrates very well how much Slick has to learn. of course, maybe the old timer just got lucky today, lol. either way, we're having plenty of fun in spite of the weather and ourselves. I'm pretty lucky to have this pair of dogs.

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Glad to hear Slick is doing well. I was in the woods a little today and saw very little signs of life. I'd say the boys did pretty good all things considered.
 
I have 40-50lbs of squirrel parts almost thawed for canning tomorrow and sunday. I cleverly scheduled the only paying job I have to do for Monday and Tuesday. plus I have a new book to read, and the dogs feet are in need of a break. won't be too long at all. just right :D
 
Perfect conditions to hunker down and can some squirrel. We are going to be cracking into the jar you gave us on Sunday, I think. Mason has been bugging the heck out of me about it ever since you gave it to us. I made pheasant and noodles the other day and he was ticked off that I didn't use the squirrel. ha.
 
pretty darn nice day to be out, and we made a full day of it covering a ton of ground while it's so nice out. It was the Lefty show all day today. he found 10 for me and my buddy, but a few got to holes on us. Slick didn't do anything today besides bark on a couple of den trees and join Lefty on his. we wound up with seven, a pretty nice 5 pt. shed all before it started raining. dogs are passed out now, and I'm not far behind...

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Good times indeed!
I worked on Mason scope issues tonight. It didn't go well. The fancy scope is on the shelf and I mounted a cheapy on his Marauder. He will be packing it and the Disco on your next trip down. He should have another scope here Friday. Regardless, he has squirrel shooting on his mind and we are looking forward to your next visit!
 
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