I have a German Shorthiar. We hunt all over Dutchess and Putnam counties (and also over in Orange county) the weeks before and after the bow season.
Here's a picture of Dakota from last year (sorry for the quality):
i hunt with shorthairs they seem to work the best if you train them right then second i would choose a lab their excellent at flushing and finding out dead birds if trained right.
I would like to know what is wrong with a nice setter? Looks and all the setters I like best and my favorite to hunt with is a nice old fashion Irish Setter brought back fromthe old daysmy friend..
I use a Chocolate Lab, mainly 'cause I do a little bit of waterfowl hunting besides upland. I would love to have a little Brittany for pheasant hunting though.
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Deer coming into my treestand, a big non-typical. Setup is perfect. I draw back, take aim, and the pin settles perfectly on it's chest.....My thumb hits the release, arrow glides noiselessly toward it's target............then I woke up.....dang, another day of classes *sigh*
I hunt grouse and pheasant (Wild birds only) with Wiley (Springer spaniel). He's my first dog and was easy to train. He has gotten better every year and this fall has really surprised me. I shot one bird a few weeks ago as I was standing on the edge of a cattail swamp. Bird dropped across a strip of cattail, then about 20 yards of open water, and in another thick cattail section. Wiley didn't see him drop and I called him over to me, thenpointed across the open water, and said "Find the bird". I wasn't too confident he'd find him but he swam across the open waterto the far end of the cattail section and I could he him splashing around in there.Thenout he swam with the bird. Then the other day, I knocked one down but he wasn't folding. Wiley was on him so I let him go and followed along. We covered about 400 yards and he found the bird. So I've been really pleased with him. Not the best dog nor probably the best breed of dog but he works for me and has far surpassed how I thought he'd turn out. Wish Icould have oneof every hunting dog as they are all unique in their own ways...
ironranger,
Spaniels are great for pheasants. Tenacious dogs and very birdy. When I go pheasant hunting (pen raised and using a setter) I'll usually go to places other people have already covered as most pheasants are in the brambles and most dogs won't attempt it except spaniels. So, if I see someone hunting with a spaniel, I'll generally look elsewhere to hunt. The only problem is in open country as keeping the dog within shooting range limits you a bit.
What's your dog?
*sigh*
