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Posted By: J23 Which breed? - 01/16/20
These days, the majority of my hunting outside of deer, is for squirrels and raccoons, though the latter I usually just trap.

I have been thinking long and hard about a dog. Seeing as we don't have "birds' in the Upper Ohio Valley anymore, I was considering some type of treeing dog. I have Googled a bit, and come up with Mountain Cur, Black and Tan Coonhounds, and perhaps other breeds of coonhound.

Are there any breeds I'm missing?

Does anyone have any experience with running a dual purpose squirrel dog/coon hound?
Posted By: JPro Re: Which breed? - 01/16/20
Most squirrel dogs I see around here are medium-sized mix breeds (Feist), although some people here use Blackmouth Yellow Curs for squirrel dogs. They are somewhat of a bigger version of the Mountain Cur and are a general purpose game dog. I believe Ol' Yeller was supposed to be a Yellow Cur in the book. We had a big female that was a squirrel hunting fool, even though she came from hog-dog stock. We shot a few squirrels with her and she took to it with enthusiasm. I know other local guys who use them for running hogs and still others that train them specifically for blood trailing deer.
Posted By: pointer Re: Which breed? - 01/17/20
Originally Posted by JPro
Most squirrel dogs I see around here are medium-sized mix breeds (Feist), although some people here use Blackmouth Yellow Curs for squirrel dogs. They are somewhat of a bigger version of the Mountain Cur and are a general purpose game dog. I believe Ol' Yeller was supposed to be a Yellow Cur in the book. We had a big female that was a squirrel hunting fool, even though she came from hog-dog stock. We shot a few squirrels with her and she took to it with enthusiasm. I know other local guys who use them for running hogs and still others that train them specifically for blood trailing deer.
My understanding is what he posted. Squirrel and coon, most folks use curs. Squirrel alone and lots use a feist. I'm thinking lots of fun could be had with a squirrel dog and for me the choice would just be between what size I decided on between the cur and feist.
Posted By: wilkeshunter Re: Which breed? - 01/17/20
Check out a mountain cur. They are much like a black mouth cur, only a bit smaller. Neat dogs, for sure.
Posted By: johnw Re: Which breed? - 01/18/20
When I was younger there were quite a few smallish terrier mixes or beagle terrier crosses being used for squirrel dogs. Don't recall that anyone bred litters to hunt, but most dogs can do the job OK. Youngest son used to take our little female [bleep]-zu. She was a great squirrel dog and aspired to be a cow dog...

Edit; The little [bleep]-zu was maybe the biggest tick magnet of all time...
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