I got to hunt with two good guys today, Clarence Smith and Dan Mcpherson.  We hunted 3 feist for squirrels.  The two feist in the pictures were the dogs that got it done today.  The third was a young pup.  On the left is Dan and on the right is Clarence.  Dan has my dog Buster and Clarence is holding his 9 month old Trig.  The dogs must have treed at least 20 times during our three hour hunt.  On the tail gate are the 5 we were able to find and get.  Three fox squirrel and two grays.  I can almost taste squirrel and dumplings...or maybe pan fried with a littel pan gravy...oh man I'm hungry now.  Anyway we had a great time with some great fellowship.
 
The second picture is of my dog Buster telling on Mr. Bushy Tail!
Mike
 
PS Dan is my blind hunting buddy.

If I remember right, Dan is blind yes?  That sure looks like fun.  I wonder where I can get a Golden Retriever already trained to bust quail, retrieve dove and duck, trail deer, chase rabbits and tree squirels?  Oh, and fetch the paper.
 
 Congrats on a successful hunt and time with old friends.

Glad you had a good hint Mike.

 
Ed

RBH, if you find a dog like that you won't be able to afford it!  It would be nice though!  Sigh...wishful thinking.
 
Mike

Good looking dogs they look a bit like our jack russell terrier with slightly longer legs and they appear to work the same.:D good luck....richie

Sav17, you are right they are sometimes mistook for JRTs.  They do have a strong terrier influence in them.  These are two seperate straings of Feist.  The background on them way back is pretty haizey but these two do the job they were bred for in style.  The main difference in these and the terrier groups is that these were bred to "tree" their game.  While some will go to ground after vermin their specialty is prey that climbs.
 
Thanks for the compliments.  
 
Mike

Quote from: EnglishSav17, you are right they are sometimes mistook for JRTs. They do have a strong terrier influence in them. These are two seperate straings of Feist. The background on them way back is pretty haizey but these two do the job they were bred for in style. The main difference in these and the terrier groups is that these were bred to "tree" their game. While some will go to ground after vermin their specialty is prey that climbs.
 
Thanks for the compliments.
 
Mike

Hi Mike,
thers nothing to compare with working with a good dog,our jacks will work undergrowth and also go to ground.I had a beauty she was tiny but thought she was a pit bull,sadly she died a few years back of old age,she worked as a team with my other dog which was an irish terrier cross labrador,I am sure it wasnt bred intentionally,got him at the local dog pound,went to look at some jack puppies but saw him and my heart sort of over took my head,you know what I mean,looked very much like your feist but with a rough broken coat,He took to fox work straight away,the two of them became an inseparable double act without any training whatsoever it seemed. It was uncanny,he would find them she would follow to ground and he would wait to dispatch them if the little one didnt beat him to it.Ihave some photos somewhere I will try to dig them out.Do you use lurchers,the terrier running dog cross[terrier cross greyhound for example]good fun when used in conjunction with ferrets on the old rabbits.I dont have dogs now just use the rifle but talking to you has started me thinking again brought back some good memories,my missus might take some persuading but I have my ways:D
great talking to you ,i will try and sort those photos keep safe......RICHIE

Richie, I know what you mean.  I love to watch a dog do what it was bred to do.   Especially a hunting dog.  I've hunted with beagles, retrievers, Mt. Curs, and feist to name a few.  I have grown to really enjoy a tree dog.  

I hope you find a dog soon.  Every man needs at least one dog.
 
I've never tried the lurchers but a very few here in the US do use them to good effect on Ground Hogs and Fox.
 
Mike

Hello again mike,

I am really interested to find out what a cur is,a lot of people on this site seem to talk about them,I know what a feist is now thanks to you.The tree dogs seem rea.lly popular,but we have a problem with that in the UK because we are told  it is unsafe to to discharge a rifle up into the air mainly due to fact that most of our hunting areas are small and surrounded by roads and houses.So you have to ensure a good backstop or make sure your shot is heading down into ground if you miss your target.I got to watch a friends lurcher work rabbits about two weeks,its a whippet cross,can outrun and kill a rabbit no problem,its amazing to watch,it takes off like a bullet,usually takes them by the back of the neck, then drops it and starts looking for the next one.shame it wont retreive as well but you cant have everything.We took two ferrets and nets,the dog then gets the bolters great day 24 rabbits and not a gun in sight.The guy with the whippet also hunts with a Harris hawk,now that is something else to see:D Been offered a welsh springer spaniel pup but its not really my cup of tea,on the look out for another small jack,but I need one from working stock,the right one will turn up I just have to keep looking;)
Speak to you soon..........Richie