Looking for advice/help

[lbealor]

I am fairly new to this forum but have read a lot over a year so I know this question will be like asking if a Chevy or a Ford truck is best for a farm truck, so for that I apologize. 
 

However I am truly waffling each month on whether my first squirrel dog should be a Feist or Cur or some other breed.  I have two boys who love hunting as do I they are young 12 and 8. For the past three years we have utilized the spot and stalk method and been successful, but I would like to take the next step and get into hunting with dogs.  Because my boys are young I would like a closer working dog like a cut but we have big woods here and we like to hunt long days so wouldn’t want to wear out a smaller dog. (Not even sure that is a thing)
 

We are a dog family. Have one now but not a hunter and I have always owned them. 
 

In addition to struggling to decide on breed our area (Central Western Illinois, right along the Mississippi) does not have many if any kennels that I can find or a hunt club nearby for squirrels. So I am also looking for advice on who to visit as I don’t have a lot of connections in this area for squirrel dogs. Our area of Illinois has tons of squirrel habitat and it is easy to get access to hunt squirrels because all anyone around here cares about is big white tails. 
 

Hope all that makes sense and any advice would be appreciated. 
 

Luke

[steeler92]

Good luck it’s addictive. I don’t think it matters on the breed it’s more about the line of dog you choose. Both breeds have deep hunting/closer hunting dogs you just have to find the line of dogs that hunt the way you’d like. Take it from someone who’s started with puppies it is probably one of the most rewarding things but the flip side to that is it’s also the most frustrating. If all you want is to go out and kill squirrels with your boys I’d buy either a finished or well started dog. After you see how you guys like it maybe next season buy a pup. I hope this helped. 

[hillbilly stalker]

Best thing you can do is hunt with both types. If you have a local coon club, go to a hunt or meeting and ask about who has squirrel dogs. Dogmen are dogmen and they will know. I’ve never met a squirrel hunter ( dog) that didn’t enjoy taking other people, especially kids. Your local feed and farm will most likely know who the dogmen are also.  The thing about squirrel dog is , you get out of them what you put in them. If your new to training dogs, it’s best to start with a started dog. That will save you time money and frustration. If and when you get to that step, come back on here and ask what to look for, be smart about it.

 

 

By the way….buy a Chevy 

[lbealor]

@steeler92 & @hillbilly stalker thanks for the advice.  I like the idea of getting my first to be a started dog since it will be my first hunting dog.

Need to do some more research on close working blood lines for the curs as well.

I did a brief search on local coon clubs and came up short as well but will try and expand my search for that as well.

Thanks,

Luke