Best upland gun dog breed?

[406dn]

Or maybe...

I've had a horseback field trialling addiction lasting over 20 years. With luck it will run a good bit longer. The white splotch in the second photo is another dog, on point. I went to Rowdy first, since he needed more help than Sunny. After I got done with his birds, she was still standing her birds.

 

[ThunderNocked]

are you looking only for upland? I wanted a do it all dog so got a versatile breed.
We were looking at German Wirehaired Pointers and Wirehaired Pointing Griffons. Leaning towards the Griffon because supposed to be better 'family' dogs for families with small kids and small fur pets.

We ended up getting a less known breed and we will be sticking with them in the future.
We got a Pudelpointer out of Oregon and she is extremely driven but also loves to snuggle at night when the gun and boots are put away.
I'm up in North Pole and our medium coated Pudelpointer will hang out with me outside at -30 and lower just playing in the snow and cold temperatures. I need to get better about grooming her feet so the iceballs will stop forming in between her pads but she has run scent for me at -17 for over an hour and swam in cold water in the snow down to the teens to retrieve ducks.
I can PM you the breeder in Oregon if you are interested but we love her a ton!

last picture is a little crappy but that is a Widgeon.

 

[ThunderNocked]

she has also grouse hunted with me and is very pointy/birdy. Would make a great dedicated upland dog.

 

[mxracer317]

Serious questions, I heard in Europe they hunt waterfowl with Poodles. If they don’t shed at all and are super smart, how come they don’t get much bird hunting love in the USA?

 

[Brittany Chukarman]

I've had Brits for 40 years but if I was to get a new dog I'd look hard at one of the versatile breeds. All my Brits absolutely hated ducks. Would be nice to have one dog for all.

 

[YoungGun]

I believe this is the route we are going to go here in the next year or so. Have a friend that breeds them. It’s between the cocker or a water spaniel. Want a small hunting dog that rides fine in a vehicle on trips too

I'm not sure you could go wrong either way. They live up to the name of being "Merry little hunters", both at home and in the field. Aside from wanting a front row seat to watch for birds and planes, she rides plenty fine in the vehicle.

 

[ThunderNocked]

Serious questions, I heard in Europe they hunt waterfowl with Poodles. If they don’t shed at all and are super smart, how come they don’t get much bird hunting love in the USA?

Poodles used to be hunting dogs - Poodle was water.
Now days I don't know if there is much hunting with poodles. many of the Pudelpointer, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons, Draathars etc all trace lineage back to the German Hunting Poodle and English Pointers.
I don't know if they still breed hunting Poodles in Germany.

 

[BackofBeyond]

Lot's of good breeds out there to suit the type of hunting you do. I've had labs and springers and have loved and hated them both. Currently hunting behind a Drahthaar and have been impressed. Definitely a versatile breed and good both in and out of the house.

I’ve got that one Draht guy that lives up by you in my ear about getting one… which breeder did you go through and would you recommend them? Would you recommend the same breed to a 100% upland novice?

 

[AlaskaHunter]

I like labs built like pointers, deep chest, can hunt several days in a row no problem.
My routine is to hunt pup 2 days in a row, then hunt the 8-year old 1 day, then pup 2 days in a row.

 

[Salmonchaser]

Enjoying this; my girls just turned 13 and 14. A hard half day hunt and they’ll sleep for most of the next day now. We get a couple of those in a week just for fun. Long road trips with 3 and 4 day in a row hunts are pretty much over. Not certain where we go, if we’ll go into this again. I’ve always had shorthairs, my brothers have had Goldens, Border Collies - they can figure it out, Labs, Drats and a couple of the doodles. Loved hunting with all of them.
At 68 I’m not sure I should get another ShortHair. Perhaps a lab or an English Cocker.

 

[Brittany Chukarman]

Salmonchaser, that's where I'm at. At 70 I can't hit it as hard as a high energy dog needs. Also hate the thought of the dog outliving me and it having no where to go. This season hunting dogless I've got a handful of quail, a rooster and a chukar. My swing isn't smooth, my arms get fatigued,I'm not getting the gun mounted proper and my head down. The warning a dog gives you to be ready really would help. Maybe an older rescue dog would be the way to go for me.

 

[brymoore]

I have a son who is addicted to duck hunting. He really needs a 12 step program. We have a Covid rescue GSP, previous owner was sending her to the pound when the breeder intervened and gave her to us. Boy and dog have learned to love to duck hunt together. She’s not a lab but she gets the job done even in very frigid temps.

 

[Salmonchaser]

Enjoying this; my girls just turned 13 and 14. A hard half day hunt and they’ll sleep for most of the next day now. We get a couple of those in a week just for fun. Long road trips with 3 and 4 day in a row hunts are pretty much over. Not certain where we go, if we’ll go into this again. I’ve always had shorthairs, my brothers have had Goldens, Border Collies - they can figure it out, Labs, Drats and a couple of the doodles. Loved hunting with all of them.
At 68 I’m not sure I should get another ShortHair. Perhaps a lab or an English Cocker.

Yes, the one looking at the camera is bleeding…again. Vet pulled her records a year or two ago, over 100 stitches in her career. Two thoracic punctures, Miss Sugar is tougher than woodpecker lips

 

[ismith]

Yes, the one looking at the camera is bleeding…again. Vet pulled her records a year or two ago, over 100 stitches in her career. Two thoracic punctures, Miss Sugar is tougher than woodpecker lips

Thoracic punctures from prickly pear?

 

[OntarioHunter]

I am on my sixth Lab, age 8, and my only Fr Britt, age 12. The little Britt was my go to dog this year as Ellie was recovering from cranial cruciate ligament repair. For several years now the Lab has been the go to upland dog. Pheasants have been few and cover has been scarce during the drought so this big pointing dog (yes, a pointer) has been the answer for busting cattails. And she almost never loses a downed bird in that crap. Amazing. A close working pointing dog just can't be beat.

My pretty Britt performed wonderfully this fall. For a change we had good cover and I was able to work the tall grass ... because there was grass. Unfortunately, she's not a great retriever (except ducks on water which she is passionate about!). It's something I could maybe have fixed early on with force fetch but I always had one or two Labs along to clean up retrieves. Because Ellie was sidelined, we lost four roosters this fall which is very unusual. Nevertheless, "Puppy" performed heroically given her age and surviving a bout with cancer in January. That little stinker hunted as hard as most dogs half her age.

Fr Britt generally work much closer than their American cousins. And the tri-color are much prettier. Generally smaller too. I love my little gal but have to admit Labs are hard to beat. They work very close and are great retrievers. Personally, I do better hunting behind a flushing dog. Pointers give me too much opportunity to prepare for the shot. I shoot better instinctively. It's why I shoot skeet low gun. You know when a flushing dog is "birdy," you just don't know exactly when or where the bird will flush. Most pointing dogs work in the next zip code. Especially for late season uplands, you need to be close when the dog finds a bird, eirher on point or flushing. Or it's gone before you're in range.

Especially if this is the OP's first dog, I would strongly recommend Lab. Hard to go wrong.

 

[406dn]

Most pointing dogs work in the next zip code. Especially for late season uplands, you need to be close when the dog finds a bird, eirher on point or flushing. Or it's gone before you're in range.

I've called you on this more than once. Just because it is your experience, does not mean it's everyone's.

If a pointing dog is honest on its birds, the range it hunts is not that important. One person might want them inside a couple hundred yards, and I might want them well outside of that.

Does every bird hold every time, in the late season, for an easy shot? No. But enough of them do to make it work.

A pointing dog that works as close as a flushing dog, is leaving a lot of its potential, on the table.

A flushing dog makes the most sense, when you know, more or less, where the birds are. A pointing dog makes more sense, when you aren't certain where the birds are, and the bird density is less.

Then it is an individual choice, about how you like to hunt.

Earlier in this thread I posted some photos of two of my dogs pointing sharptails, likely in August, when training for field trials. Here is a photo of them in December. Rowdy is pointing a big bunch of huns, and Sunny backed him as soon as she saw him. Rowdy pretty much always hunted 400 to 600 yards from me. So, I had to walk a bit before I got close enough to take a photo.

 

[BirdManMike]

Most pointing dogs work in the next zip code. Especially for late season uplands, you need to be close when the dog finds a bird, eirher on point or flushing. Or it's gone before you're in range.

I agree with the above that this is flat out wrong for any upland save maybe pheasants.

A good pointer will stand off pressured late birds enough that they will not flush. They dont flush because of the dog, they flush because of the hunter approaching. The birds will flush upon seeing the hunter before the hunter can get into range for a shot, but a well thought out and cautious approach will get shots on birds that one would never get following an underfoot dog.

Falconry season goes into the new year, and, while most years I dont go much past it, on the years I do my dogs have little problem holding point without flushing December, January, and February birds, often birds that have been hammered on public land. Its a little different for me because I am not trying to shoot the birds and dont have to approach the point, plus once I have a falcon in the air (after the point, sometimes 10 minutes or more after), the birds will pin even harder, but its rare that I miss an opportunity because the dog has bumped the birds - following an underfoot dog like a lab around that time of year would be totally different and very unproductive.

 

[Salmonchaser]

Thoracic punctures from prickly pear?

No broken tree limbs, chasing cripples.

 

[Salmonchaser]

I've called you on this more than once. Just because it is your experience, does not mean it's everyone's.

If a pointing dog is honest on its birds, the range it hunts is not that important. One person might want them inside a couple hundred yards, and I might want them well outside of that.

Does every bird hold every time, in the late season, for an easy shot? No. But enough of them do to make it work.

A pointing dog that works as close as a flushing dog, is leaving a lot of its potential, on the table.

A flushing dog makes the most sense, when you know, more or less, where the birds are. A pointing dog makes more sense, when you aren't certain where the birds are, and the bird density is less.

Then it is an individual choice, about how you like to hunt.

Earlier in this thread I posted some photos of two of my dogs pointing sharptails, likely in August, when training for field trials. Here is a photo of them in December. Rowdy is pointing a big bunch of huns, and Sunny backed him as soon as she saw him. Rowdy pretty much always hunted 400 to 600 yards from me. So, I had to walk a bit before I got close enough to take a photo.
View attachment 308282

What a perfect picture, who had the wind?

 

[406dn]

Sometimes, when the stars align, you can get late season pheasants to hold. Fresh snow that impedes their desire to run off, can make for some really good hunting. One year, my brother went in front of one of my dog's point, and declared that he saw a frozen hen. Sounded plausible since we were hunting after a pretty good storm. He went to pick it up and it flew out of his hands. Here's another late season pheasant hunt that went pretty well.