Squirrel dog enthusiasts treed and barking about upcoming competition
Some of my fondest hunting memories have been logged with good friends on the heels of a good squirrel dog. It seems like only yesterday when I made my final hunt with the late B.K. Lowery of Etoile.
Lowery was a great guy with genuine ways who lived life at wide-open throttle. He usually wore a suit to work but was always happiest dressed in dirty overalls and rambling through the woods on the trail of something wild.
Ol' Tiger loved it, too.
Tiger was a fox terrier/fiest mix that belonged to the late John Stanley of Zavalla. The dog might have weighed 25 pounds soaking wet, but he had a heart as big as Texas.
Tiger didn't lie, neither. If he barked "treed," you had better be locked and loaded. If you killed a squirrel and Tiger refused to leave the tree, you could pretty much bet the dead one had company. He was just that good.
I killed quite a few cat squirrels over Tiger. Lots of people did.
Stanley was a personable man who raised Tiger from a pup. Failing health prevented Stanley from hunting much, but he saw to it that Tiger got plenty action. If he liked and trusted you, Stanley had no problem loaning the dog out for the weekend, so long as you promised to bring him back.
Lowery and I hunted behind Tiger several times in different places, but I will always remember one chilly January afternoon we spent chasing him around the 800 acres his family owns in southeast Nacogdoches County. The cat squirrels were stirring particularly well that day, and Tiger was on them like a bee on honey. In no time we collected our two-man limit, but Tiger made it clear that he was just getting warmed up.
Tired and wet from traversing creeks, hills and gullies, I finally caught up with the weekend warrior well after sunset. Tiger was buried up in the middle of a sweet gum thicket wrapped in briars, and I could tell by the tone of his voice that he was locked on another target. While it took some doing, I finally managed to get a hand on the dog's collar and secure him with a leash. I didn't dare scold him, however. Tiger was born to hunt, and he lived for the tree.
Gary Rowe knows all about good squirrel dogs. Rowe is president of the Lone Star Squirrel Dog Association (LSSDA), a statewide organization whose mission statement is to promote the squirrel hunting heritage and the use of dogs to aid in the cause.
A former raccoon hunter, Rowe got his first taste of hunting squirrels over a dog about six years ago and has been hooked ever since. He especially enjoys the competitive aspects of taking his squirrel dogs to strange places and seeing how many points that can stack up alongside others in organized field trial events.
"I love it so much that I don't even deer hunt anymore," he said. "It's a great competition sport. To me, it's all about the training and watching the dogs at work."
Rowe and dozens of others who share his passion will gather at daylight Saturday on private property in Angelina County for one of several LSSDA field trial competitions that are held over the course of the year.
The day-long event will feature three competition brackets that include treeing, barking and bench show. There will be divisions for puppies, small dogs, large dogs, champions and grand champions. All dogs must be registered with the National Kennel Club to be eligible to compete.
Entry fee is $20 per dog for the treeing competition, $10 each for the barking contest and bench show. For more information or to get directions, contact Rowe at 936-366-6791 or Ernest Hudgens at 936-676-2673.
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