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Gerald Johnson and Boots the Truck Hunting Squirrel Dog West Monroe Louisiana
Ouachita Parish Squirrel Hunting Guide by Uncle George Artie Whitlow
I met Gerald Johnson for the first time on January 31, 2011 at his rural Ozark
Mountain home outside of Berryville Arkansas, 8 miles from Eureka Springs and 20
miles south of Branson Missouri. I had
been looking for a good squirrel dog for about a month or so. I called
West Feed
Mills on Thomas Road in West Monroe Louisiana and they told me about Gerald
Johnson, who sells squirrel dogs that hunt in front of your pickup truck while
you enjoy the peace and comfort of your truck. Well I am a disabled Vietnam
veteran age 63 and that idea of truck hunting squirrel dogs really sounded
great. I had to go to Berryville.
We arrived in Eureka Springs at 1 AM
that morning. It was a 8 hour drive from our home in West Monroe.
Luckily, we had a GPS and were able to
locate and call a hotel along the route. Eureka Springs is one of my favorite
vacation spots ever since I was knee-high to a grasshopper. This was my first
time to visit during the winter off season. Eureka Springs resembled a ghost
town because all of the hotels at the outskirts of town were closed for the
season. I woke up around noon, walked the dog, and observed an
American Bald Eagle
soaring away from the nest down in the valley below.
Gerald Johnson is a unique 68 year old self-made mountain man. He took over the
family cattle farm early in life and married his childhood sweetheart Orchid.
Gerald still raises cattle on the farm but his real drive is raising, hunting,
and selling squirrel dogs. One year he said he shot 1285 squirrels. He sold the
squirrel hides for $700 to Mountain
River Fly Shop near Mountain Home. The fly shop used the hair from the hides
to make fishing fly lures. Gerald loves squirrel hunting with a passion and he
loves to take guests with him to enjoy the excitement of the hunt. Once, he even
traveled to Alabama to take the Governor and the head of Wildlife and Fisheries
squirrel hunting. Gerald has won many squirrel dog championships.
We arrived at Gerald’s cattle farm around 3 PM. He said it was a bit late for
squirrel hunting because they like to
feed at first light. He loaded 3 of his 7
dogs into the boxes of his Toyota pickup and away we went to
Pilot Knob Conservation Area. Pilot Knob is a beautiful area that skirts
Table Rock Lake. The forest consists mostly of oak and cedar and you may see
deer, mountain lions, cougars, and coyotes. Of course, there are lots of
squirrels and that is the reason we went there.
When we arrived on the gravel road at Pilot Knob, Gerald unloaded his best dog,
Sally. She ran about 50 yards down the road along the mountain ridge and Gerald
followed in the Toyota. After about 4 minutes, Sally either smelled, winded, or
heard a squirrel and took off to the right down the gully. After a few minutes,
Sally began barking and yelping at the squirrel. Gerald grabbed his 12 gauge and
jumped out of the truck and ran down into the gully. My other Brother Joe and I
are not in very good shape for the shape we are in, so we just stood in the edge
of the road and watched. A few minutes later, Gerald fired 2 shots and came back
to us with a large grey squirrel. He was breathing a little heavy after he ran
back up the hill. He said it was a bit harder running up the hill rather than
running down the hill. He is extremely agile for his age. Gerald loaded the
squirrel into the back of the Toyota as Sally trotted on down the road seeking
another squirrel. Sally treed 3 more squirrels pretty fast, but they ran into a
hole. Every time she barked, Gerald took off down the gully and fired a few
shots.
Then Gerald put Sally back in the box, and released Mary, his second best dog.
Mary took off in front of the truck, treed several squirrels, and Gerald took
off chasing the dog and shooting at the squirrels which also ran into a hole.
I settled for the third best dog, Boots. Boots is a small black and tan mutt
Blue
Heeler mixture.
She resembles a Beagle. Joe and I had pretty well made up our mind that we
wanted Boots before we even left the dog yard. Boots took off in front of the
truck, but she hunted differently than the other 2 dogs. The other dogs hunted
just in front of the truck, but Boots hunted in front of the truck, and then she
stopped and hunted beside and behind the truck. After only a few minutes she
took off down the gully to the right. She treed and barked quickly. Gerald
jumped out with his shotgun and took off down the gully. He shot a few times and
again the squirrel took off into a hole. Boots treed about 5 squirrels in about
an hour. We told Gerald that we wanted Boots and we took off back to the cattle
farm. We got there just after dark.
Angie did not want to go hunting so she stayed on the farm with Gerald’s lovely
wife, Orchid, and they had a great time. We had planned to stay in Eureka
Springs another night, until Angie informed us about the upcoming blizzard. By
midnight, they expected 12 inches of snow and ice, and they don’t have any snow
plows. The weatherman said once they had an ice storm and lost electricity for
27 days. We headed back to the hotel, ate a sandwich, packed and hurried down
the road towards West Monroe. It was 37 degrees when we left Eureka Springs and
it was 55 when we got home. It was a treacherous trip. We traveled in heavy
rain, drizzling rain, and dense fog, but we did not get stranded in Eureka
Springs for 27 days. However, the storm is headed this way. I plan to start
hunting with Boots as soon as it warms back up. I am thinking of getting some
similar dogs, training them to hunt with the truck, and selling them. My
grandfather, Roddy White, sold squirrel dogs for $400 thirty years ago. He
always took me along to hear the dogs bark because he was hearing disabled. Back
in those days I fought to keep up with Roddy and the dogs running through the
woods. These truck hunting squirrel dogs make life so much easier. I also plan
to make guided squirrels hunts just like Gerald does now. Let me know if you are
interested. Email
smokeschool@yahoo.com. Thanks for coming and thanks for your attention. Have
a nice day.
It ain't over until the fat cat sings
