Anyone hunt with a Jack Russel?

[Michael J. Spangler]

Keep the stories coming. I’m convinced a might need this dog lol. Though a proper squirrel dog might be needed.
I have to try to rabbit hunting with some guys this year.

[Markopolo]

i am not a Jack Russell fan... here in my part of alaska, there have been several folks in my area that have tried, but all have been killed. lots of stuff around here that looks at them as food no matter how fiesty and tuff they are. and they tend to wander which makes them a target for wolves, bears, and eagles. so for here... that is a no...

[Carrier]

i am not a Jack Russell fan... here in my part of alaska, there have been several folks in my area that have tried, but all have been killed. lots of stuff around here that looks at them as food no matter how fiesty and tuff they are. and they tend to wander which makes them a target for wolves, bears, and eagles. so for here... that is a no...

Like anything size matters.

[pmer]

We had a Boston / Rat mix. He looked like a 25 lb pitbull. We had him till he was 8 years old when a coyote got him. He'd go in brush piles for rabbits climb trees chasing squirrels and ladders in the barn if a cat was on the second floor (hay loft).
He wasn't a total nut job either which I think had something to do with the Boston terrier mix he even helped chase up pheasants too.

[ChristopherO]

Used to raise JR's. Great little dogs with a big personality and temperament. One is wonderful, two can be terrific, if they get along. Three or more can be a test of wills, between each other and the owner. I've seen terriers hunt, but they usually don't bark when on a rabbit trail. Can't say about squirrels in trees.
JR's can be good pets but are a fireball of energy that has to be released regularly. Watch videos of them jumping to look at what's on the table or counter top. They can keep that up for the longest time. Are you ready for that kind of activity in the home?
They are fun dogs, will go down holes, coyote dens, too. One of my buddy's was torn up pretty bad for charging a pack of coyotes into the field at night. The quip in the horse and dog circles I used to run in was that JR's highest cause of mortality are their willingness to take on dogs much larger than they are.

[Bwana John]

Local gun store/gunsmith (Reeder Custom Guns) breeds JRTs and periodically returns from Africa with new breeding stock.
The African outfitters that they get their dogs from use the JRT as wounded animal tracking dogs, that ride on a platform on the front of the Land Rover with an indigenous human tracker.

https://www.reedercustomguns.com
http://www.snowcrestterriers.com

[Jeff Michel]

Have three Feists. All of them great on squirrels, never a peep until they are treeing. The brown one (female) is about eight feet up that tree, the squirrel is just out of the picture. Had Jacks in the past, and they are great dogs, but a Feist is calmer and seem to be easier to train and not as much the killer instinct. The other two are males, (Jack and Pete) were on squirrels solo on their second trip out as puppies. My Jack Russell would never pass on an opportunity to kill every cat or anything else for that matter it came across. My Feists all sleep with the cats and they get along just fine with the other dogs as well. Good luck with your search.
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[Edward]

Leopard curs are a great treeing dog /squirrel /coon and a protective dog with brains at home or on the tree ,mine were semi or silent till they hit the tree /almost forgot great at roading too!/Ed

[robg]

jack russell terriers are great ratting dogs full of energy but will fight with their shadow if not well socialised when young.

[Mr Peabody]

I saw a dachshund /Jack Russel mix the other day up for adoption, My first thought was Man I bet that's one mean little.......dog lol

Boy I'd grab that one up!

[rbuck351]

I had a 3/4 jack 1/4 fox terrier and although it loved to hunt rabbits it had no nose for smelling them. I saw ir run past a standing arctic hare not tow feet away. It wasn't the pet we hoped for as it would never sit still. We next got a rat terrier which is what a jack russell should be. Very smart and wanting to please. Had a great nose for rabbits, grouse and squirrel. It would hunt all day and then be a good house dog/pet. It didn't chew up my shoes, my fur hat or other chewy things like the Russell would. Check out the long leg short hair rat terrier before you get a Russell.

[OldBearHair]

My "Six" rat terriers were all barking "treed" and I went quickly to see what was happening on the back porch. Had my "shepherds staff and sling" The dogs had a water moccasin about three feet long hiding next to the brick pillar behind a bucket full of landscape white rocks. Grabbed the sharpshooter shovel as the snake was making a getaway. I had called the dogs off. Didn't want them to get bitten. Placed the staff tip on it's head and then the shovel came in to good use. My wife loves to sit close to where the snake was. We have two acres adjacent to 500 acres of deer lease. We don't have problems with animals coming on the property. The dogs are now reduced to hunting lizards and toad frogs and the squirrel that taunts the dogs from his nest tree. Last night they chased something away from the front yard at 3 am.

[rockrat]

My Sister had 4 JRT's. Wasn't a bunny anywhere around her 16 acres except for a couple of real smart ones. When the terrorists were out, the bunnys would head under her shed. Squirrels they could care less about. Liked to visit my Sister, except for the JRT's. She had a dog door going outside and all night long, one of them would go barking running outdoors, so all the rest would follow, barking too. All night long. Didn't wake her up. Two nights were all I could stand.

[WebMonkey]

beagles here.

reload, my oldest female, runs rabbits for me in the fall/winter and trees squirrels all season.

now, she'll jump/run rabbits out of season but she minds me enough to move off.

good luck

[Friends call me Pac]

My boy Jack loves squirrel hunting and he will go after rabbits too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVrPTkT9IDY

[GooseGestapo]

I’m partial to the Mountain Feist. I’m about to run out on the second. She’s 15 and arthritic. Can’t climb stairs any more.
She looks likes a miniature cur. Tan and white. Took me 10min to teach her to tree squirrels. I used a bream buster pole with some cord tied to it with a squirrel tail attached. I started teasing her with it and eventually let her get it in her mouth. When she spit it out to look at it, it took off again.
It “jumped” onto a mid height limb and I jiggled it blowing a squirrel call. She went crazy, with me encouraging her to bark. I left her with it. 45min later my wife came home. She asked me what “YOUR” crazy dog was barking at. I told her I’d thought her to tree squirrels...
She’s off of three generations of National Champions (North American Treeing Feist Association). They hold their annual event at the twin lakes in west Kentucky.

She’s almost as good as the first one I had. The first one had a 20 word vocabulary and “talked”. I trained her using Pop corn! Both could (does) cold trail a wounded deer. My current one has found a dozen that would have otherwise been lost dur to bleed out. She was 12.5lbs at 4yrs. She’s 17 now.
On more than one occasion she’s whipped a dog 4x her size. Sent them running. She’s VERY protective of my wife and grand daughters.

Adds meaning to phrase “feisty little bitxxh”
My wife and I both cried when the first died of parvovirus. We’ve vaxed the current one every year. A third got parvovirus within 2 weeks of bringing it home. Even though being vaccinated. Particularly virulent strain in our area. Wreaks havoc on the coyotes.

[parkerhale1200]

Perfect feisty dogs.
I had a high legged jack, perfect to train, full of energy, intelligent, but man they suck at waiting for the bang....
At a giving moment he noticed i was breating out before placing the shot....he decided that that was his que..
Quick and silent enough to catch some birds on his own.

With best regards, Igor

Ps if you know how to train them properly, get some pure bread boxers, 5 of them will bring you a wild pig, please dont forget there "armour"

[David2011]

We just adopted a Jack Russell and Yorkie mix. It didn’t take her long to discover that she had squirrels in her yard and they have kept her attention since. She’s fast and very strong but we’re not going to hunt squirrels in the neighborhood.