Best Bird Dogs ???

[Rapid Fire]

Thought I could be both Dog and Hunter, hasn't been working to well by the time I'm done pointing and flushing I have to run over and pick up my gun ----- Very Tiring.

All kidding aside I am ready to make a committment to finding a good pup to train, what are the best recommendations
for a dog ( English Setter Maybe )

 

[deadhead133]

Do you also retrieve? J/K
I truly love my 3 German Shorthair Pointers, but you must have a lot of time to run them as

they are such high energy dogs and will get into mischief if they don't burn off the energy.

I saw another hunter one day with a beautiful English Setter and that dog did everything but shoot the bird and cook it.

Another friend has great Brittanies that hunt extremely well. I would rather deal with the energy than long fur and burrs stuck in it.

Sorry I'm not much help. I guess it's kind of a personal preference. So many good breeds. I remember that Setter though. It was a marvel to watch.

 

[Ham Slam]

I have a friend who has a half yellow lab/half irish setter. He points and also retrieves ducks. Not sure how common they are or how common it is for them to do that, but he's a hell of a hunting dog.

 

[beangado]

love my lab. She may not point but she takes direction, was easy to train, flushes and retrieves like crazy.

 

[dixidawg]

I have to admit I am a bit biased:

Bird hunting without a dog is nothing more than an armed hike.

Going bird hunting without a dog is like going on a honeymoon without a bride!

 

[boilermaker]

Pointer or flusher? Answer that and it will help to narrow it a bit. I have hunted with a friend's lab. The dog is excellent but difficult to keep up with at times. Maybe Dixi's dogs stay closer but flushing dogs tend to roam a bit more whereas pointers stay closer.

 

[dixidawg]

Any dog needs to be trained to stay within range.

Watch the pheasant hunting shows sometimes from So Dakota. The vast majority of the time, they will be using labs. That says something to me when the most common hunting dog in the pheasant capital of the world is a lab.

 

[dixidawg]

dupe..

 

[Rapid Fire]

The Brown one is a good looking dog

 

[firestorm]

Bird hunting without a dog is nothing more than an armed hike.

Going bird hunting without a dog is like going on a honeymoon without a bride!

You aren't kidding, my first day bird hunting was a 6 hour armed nature hike, we went with the guy who had dogs the next week, 6 birds in 2 hours.

 

[beangado]

You aren't kidding, my first day bird hunting was a 6 hour armed nature hike, we went with the guy who had dogs the next week, 6 birds in 2 hours.

Even if you find a bird, it is almost impossible to get them into the air without a dog. Birds run a lot faster than you do.

 

[firestorm]

Yeah, I didn't see any that day. Its a hard road without a dog. But my boxer doesn't seem to have the knack.

 

[MrsWildweasel]

We love our Brittany's. We also foster for New England Brittany Rescue. We have had some come through our doors that are extremely birdy, and others that have no interest. Some have an extremely high prey drive, and other not so much. We had a one year old not to long ago that was basically a blank slate and no neurosies. As hubby said if he was about 20 years younger she would have been alot of fun to train.

 

[Marshallj]

Had a pointing lab I bought out of Washington state
She was Awsome!! Pointed until given flush command
We had to put her to sleep at age 13
She also sat nice in the blind
Loved to please!!

 

[Chrisg67]

i have a GSP, but they arent for everyone. saying it has amazing amounts of energy doesnt hold any weight unless you own one, and know what they are like. i have seen my pointer chase a frisbee for 20 hours straight, and still ready for more after that, she is psycho.

when im in the field i see alot of britanny's and springers. they are probably more easily obtainable locally. i got my GSP up in VT. the pointer will do it all though, point, flush and retrieve...well

 

[excavator13]

I vote for German Shorthairs too!

 

[NHKevin]

Brittaney Spaniel.

 

[Liberty60]

I just got back from a Pheasant hunt in Nebraska. We mostly hunted behind German Short hairs, but also used some labs. I personally preferred the pointers as the birds were eventually flushed closer and you had more reaction time for the shot/s.

A shameless plug - if you are interested in an excellent outfit for a Pheasant, Chucker and/or Quail hunt, check out Hunt Nebraska in Arapahoe. The guys there are good, honest folks and their facility and properties are just great. Also, this is not like they're tossing birds out for you to just shoot. You have to work for your them. But boy, was it worth it! A great time.

 

[DirkDiggler]

Just like anything else, its the correct tool for the job. Basically you're looking at 2 different types of dogs, Pointers and Retrievers.

If you want a dog that is going to hunt close, will bust through heavy cover to find a bird and naturally retrieves then you want a lab. If you're doing any waterfowl hunting you want a lab. If you want a dog that runs big, has tons of endurance, doesn't necessarily have the cleanest retrieves but can be taught, you want some type of pointing dog.

I have an English Setter and my brother has a lab so basically I get to enjoy the best of both worlds. Obviously you're not going to use a setter to waterfowl hunt. Thats not to say you couldn't, its just not the ideal tool for the job.

 

[Martlet]

Whatever dixidawg says, do.

 

[RadiCS]

I have GSP and a setter... Setters usually are much bigger running dogs than shorthairs. I do mostly grouse hunting and prefer my setter.