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An Outdoor Life report published Oct. 30, 2026, revisits the 1981 World Champion Squirrel Hunt in Ethel, Mississippi. Orville Hart’s four-year-old Norwegian elkhound-feist cross, Whiskey, won the contest, which tested dogs and handlers in paired casts and reflected growing interest in breeding dogs for squirrel hunting.
Orville Hart’s dog Whiskey, a four-year-old Norwegian elkhound-feist cross, won the 1981 World Champion Squirrel Hunt in Ethel, Mississippi, according to an Outdoor Life report published Oct. 30, 2026. The contest brought hunters and dogs together to test squirrel-finding ability and handler teamwork, while organizers hoped competition could help sustain the sport and improve breeding.
The event was organized by the Yockanookany Coon Hunters Association, which had sponsored the first championship the previous year after Dick Sheets proposed a competition for squirrel dogs. The source says Sheets saw the contest as a way to preserve and expand the sport, and hoped that selective breeding might eventually produce dogs with consistently strong squirrel-treeing ability.
Rather than relying on one established breed, competitors brought a range of dogs and crosses. Whiskey was a Norwegian elkhound-feist cross; other entries included a redtick coonhound-mountain cur cross and a terrier-feist mix. One handler brought puppies descended from a small Chihuahua-feist cross. The report also describes a liver-and-white English pointer winning the 1980 championship, illustrating that squirrel-working ability was not confined to a single breed.
Competition rules had changed after the 1980 event, when four dogs were cast together and many handlers considered the group too large. In 1981, casts were limited to two dogs, ideally a male and a female, and divided into weight classes below and above 35 pounds. A judge accompanied each cast, while handlers were responsible for calling their own dogs when they believed a squirrel had been treed. The source describes a points system that rewarded the first dog at a tree, but the supplied account ends before giving the complete scoring rules.
Field Notes · Mississippi · October 30, 2026
“Squirrels As Big As House Cats.” Whiskey’s Winning Hunt
At the 1981 World Champion Squirrel Hunt, a Norwegian elkhound–feist cross named Whiskey won a field test built around sharp noses, quick teamwork, and a changing vision for squirrel dogs.
A historical report on dogs, handlers, and the work of finding a tree
1981 Champion
Whiskey
Orville Hart’s four-year-old Norwegian elkhound–feist cross took the title near Ethel, Mississippi.
01 / The contest
A sporting test with a breeding ambition
The Yockanookany Coon Hunters Association backed the championship as a way to sustain squirrel hunting and compare dogs’ working ability across different backgrounds.
Find the squirrel
Dogs worked the woods to locate squirrels and show their ability to follow scent and tree game.
Judge the bark
Handlers had to distinguish a cold track from a dog that had reached a tree, then call their own dog.
Learn from the field
Competition offered a public way to assess performance and consider which traits might be worth breeding forward.
02 / Many lineages
Working ability crossed breed lines
Entries came from varied breeds and crosses. The report describes squirrel-treeing as a working skill that could appear in dogs with very different pedigrees.
Norwegian elkhound × feist
Whiskey, owned by Orville Hart, won the 1981 contest.
Crosses and small dogs
The account names a redtick coonhound–mountain cur cross, a terrier–feist mix, and puppies descended from a Chihuahua–feist cross.
English pointer
A liver-and-white English pointer won the first championship, illustrating that the contest was not limited to one breed.
03 / Rules in motion
The cast became smaller
After handlers felt four dogs made the 1980 casts too large, the organizers revised the format for the next championship.
Pair dogs
Two dogs went out together; a male and female pairing was preferred.
Sort by weight
Classes were divided below and above 35 pounds.
Follow the cast
A judge accompanied each cast into the woods.
Call the tree
Handlers called their own dogs when they believed a squirrel had been treed.
The report says the first dog at a tree earned points, but the supplied account ends before the full scoring rules are given.
04 / The partnership
A dog’s work was only half the story
Handlers had to stay close, interpret the dogs’ barking, and decide when the search had turned into a tree. The contest tested teamwork as well as instinct.
“Neighbor down the road had a squirrel dog,”Larry White · Contest judge
“Have to get more size in my dogs. My dogs can’t compete with the longer-legged, wider-running dogs.”L.E. Goutierez · As quoted in the report
05 / Place & purpose
A Mississippi contest takes shape
The event was held near Ethel, in forested hill-country and creek-bottom habitat near the Yockanookany Swamp and the historic Natchez Trace.
Yockanookany Swamp
The report says “Yockanookany” is a Choctaw word referring to crawling on one’s belly like a snake—a vivid image for crossing soft swamp ground.
Feists and future dogs
Some hunters worried feists were becoming less common as purebred dogs gained favor. Others crossed breeds to develop capable working dogs.
06 / What remains open
The record has limits
The account captures the contest in its early stages. It does not show whether the organizers’ hopes for long-term breeding progress were realized.
The report is a historical snapshot, not a current event notice. Its supplied details leave several questions unanswered:
07 / Quick answers
Key questions
Who won in 1981?
Whiskey, Orville Hart’s four-year-old Norwegian elkhound–feist cross.
Where was the hunt?
Near Ethel, Mississippi, with the Yockanookany Coon Hunters Association as sponsor.
How were dogs grouped?
Two dogs per cast, preferably one male and one female, with weight classes split at 35 pounds.
Were all entries one breed?
No. The report describes several breeds and crosses, including hounds, curs, terriers, feists, and a pointer.
How Competition Shaped Squirrel Dogs
The championship mattered to participants as both a sporting test and a way to compare dogs with different backgrounds. The report presents breeding and performance as linked: handlers could see which dogs located squirrels efficiently and which traits might be worth carrying into future generations. That did not establish a new breed, but it offered a public setting for evaluating working ability.
The account also makes clear that a dog’s results depended on more than instinct. Hunters had to interpret barking, keep close enough to reach the tree, and recognize whether a dog was following a cold track or had located a squirrel. The story’s central point is the partnership between handler and dog, rather than a contest of dogs alone. Its value for readers today is a record of how a local sporting event tried to encourage skill and breeding while adapting rules to the dogs’ independent working styles.
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A Mississippi Contest Takes Shape
The Yockanookany association held the event near Ethel, Mississippi, close to the Yockanookany Swamp and the historic Natchez Trace. The source describes forested hill-country and creek-bottom habitat around the grounds. It says “Yockanookany” is a Choctaw word referring to crawling on one’s belly like a snake, a fitting description of how hunters sometimes cross the swamp’s soft ground.
The first championship took place in 1980. By the following year, the event had already prompted changes to how dogs were grouped, and at least one participant had bred puppies from a placing dog. The report places the contest within a broader concern among squirrel hunters that feists—small, intelligent working dogs often described as mongrels—were becoming less common as more people favored purebred dogs. Some hunters responded by crossing purebreds to develop their own working dogs.
The article also recounts unusual examples of squirrel-treeing ability, including a Doberman that learned from coonhounds and an Australian shepherd that reportedly began treeing squirrels without formal training. These anecdotes illustrate the report’s point that ability could appear in varied dogs; they do not establish how common those cases were.
““Neighbor down the road had a squirrel dog,””
— Larry White, judge at the 1981 contest, as quoted in Outdoor Life
What the Account Leaves Open
The source identifies Whiskey as the 1981 winner but does not provide a full results table, the other placements, or a complete account of the final scoring. It begins to describe the points awarded at a tree, then cuts off before explaining the rest of the system. The exact number of entrants and the full list of judges are also not stated.
The report describes hopes that competition could improve breeding, but it does not establish whether the championship ultimately produced a stable purebred squirrel dog or measurable long-term changes in the sport. Anecdotes about unusual dogs are attributed to the people involved, and the supplied material offers no independent verification or broader data about how frequently such dogs occur.
The Contest’s Longer-Term Legacy
The account is a historical report about a contest held in 1981, not an announcement of a new event or a current competition schedule. It does not identify a forthcoming championship, later winners, or a next milestone for the association. Any update on the event’s later history would require additional reporting beyond the supplied source.
For readers following the story, the unresolved point is whether the organizers’ original goal—improving squirrel dogs through competition and breeding—was borne out in later years. The provided article records the experiment in its early stages: revised cast rules, varied dog lineages, and handlers evaluating performance in the field.
Key Questions
Who won the 1981 World Champion Squirrel Hunt?
Whiskey, a four-year-old Norwegian elkhound-feist cross owned by Orville Hart, won, according to the Outdoor Life report.
Where was the championship held?
The contest took place near Ethel, Mississippi, with the Yockanookany Coon Hunters Association as sponsor.
How were dogs grouped in the 1981 competition?
Handlers competed with two dogs per cast, ideally one male and one female. The event also divided dogs into weight classes below and above 35 pounds.
Were the competing dogs all one breed?
No. The report describes several breeds and crosses, including Whiskey’s Norwegian elkhound-feist mix, a coonhound-mountain cur cross, and a terrier-feist mix.
What remains unknown about the contest?
The supplied account does not give the complete scoring rules, full standings, or evidence about whether the organizers’ breeding goals were achieved in later years.
Source: outdoorlife.com
