I hunted for years without a dog. Now that I have one, I could not imagine hunting without one. More for the companionship and pride in having a dog I trained bring my ducks to hand. But although I personally consider it a necessity, I had several seasons of taking over 100 birds where I lost zero or only one or two birds fetching myself. Just make sure you aren't picky about shooting a cripple on the water, because by the time you get to it, it may well have put a lot of distance between you and it.

And contrast, I do agree that having a dog in a city apartment would be difficult and just a bit unsporting to the animal, dogs do need space to run.