Huntin' Terms

I had a good conversation with my dad last night and gleaned some great southernisms on huntin'. You see, if you're from the South and you ain't got an ole dog layin' 'round somewhere, and a couple of guns, I wonder if you are truly Southern. Now, I don't have an ole dog around here. But we've named our fish "dawg". So I ain't being hipocritical or nonthin'.

As an amateur linguist I am amazed about how much of my Southern is subconcious. One of the purposes of this blog is to help me bring to the surface my inbedded Southernisms, which according to my linguistics classes was set at age 6. When I hear people from the South talk, there is little effort in understanding them. And I enjoy trying to figure out where all these sayings originated. It fascinates me. And I hope you are enjoying it also!!

any count- adj: useless. Is that ole dog any count? or That dog ain't no count.

right smart- adj: a lot. Well, there's a right smart of food fer 'em to eat up thar.

fed up- v: to feed an animal, usually a dog or pet and in conjunction with other "night work". He put the dogs in a pen and fed 'em up for the night. Every evening (eden) my dad does his "night work" which includes washing the poop out of the concrete pens, feeding the dogs, and cats, and any other little projects he may need to do with his fishing boats or truck.

runnin'the dogs- v: to go hunting. When the dogs are runnin' they may bark while chasing the wildlife. Example: We ran them ole dogs last night= We went hunting. In my dad's case, he hunts coons, rabbits, squirrels, and foxes/coyotes. He is NOT a deer hunter. But many Southern hunters are. They may even display their trophies in the living room.

turn loose- v: letting the dogs out of the "dog box" to start the hunt. We turned 'em out over Bull man's place (people in the South may have strange names). A "dog box" is a metal or wooden box usually home made for the purpose of transporting the dogs to the hunting area.

strike (struck)- v: 1.when the dogs find their target and begin the pursuit 2.the action of the hunting dog when in pursuit of game. Ranger (the name of a dog) was struck over in yonder. They struck right in thar.

caught- v: to overtake the game on the ground. Usually, rabbits, deer, and foxes/coyotes are caught. This is not necessarily the intent of a hunt. As in the case of rabbit and deer hunting, one uses the dogs to bring the game within shooting distance of the hunter.

treed- v: the act of an animal who finds "refuge" in a tree. This is usually the final result of the hunt with tree climbing game like coons, possums, and squirrels et al. When a dog is treed, he is barking in a frenzied manner and usually has his front feet on the tree that the animal is in. When the dogs are treed, the hunters move in to shoot the game. Since coon hunting is done at night, a strong light is used to spot the coon's eyes. If he can't be found, the hunter may use a coon sqawler which makes a sound of wounded coon. This make the animal move around. Oddly, this noise can make a coon climb all the way down the tree. However, this is not a prefered use of the sqawler. It's main purpose is to locate the victim.

to go out of hearing- v: when the dogs are running, they may go so far that you can't hear them anymore. This may be the time you get in your truck and drive around in order to hear them again.

jip- n: young female dog.