We all Have our favorite breeds. Some work better than others in different hunting circumstances. If i am going to be wild quail hunting on a big plantation i want a dog that has alot of go so the dog can hunt the place without me having to walk every square foot of the fields.
In a shooting preserve orheavy cover situation ilike amedium range dog.

Pointers, Setters, Germans, Britts, Irish,
What do you prefer and why?What type of terain do you mainly hunt?
Do you hunt from a jeep,atv, horseback, or walk?

My wife and I hunt only wild birds -- have never tried a preserve. We hunt mostly on foot (or in blinds for waterfowl), but we do some "Jeep Trail" (logging road) hunting with the dog running out in front quartering through the forest for grouse and rabbits.
I like a multi-purpose dog, because wehunt Grouse, Doves, Quail, Pheasants, Rabbits, Ducks and Geese.
I like a dog that can sit quietly in the duckblind in the morning and make ice water retrieves and blind retrieves, and then go out in the afternoon for upland birds. For those (and other) reasons, my dog of choice is the Pointing Labrador.



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Irish

I'm a sentimental guy. My first pup was a setter so my current dog is a setter. Actually, she's a Llewellin setter strain, fairly close working. The closest fields near my house are pheasant release sites. The terrain is several acres divided by bramble hedgerows with some cornfields. So, it actually works pretty good for me, a dog that can run in the open and small enough to work the hedgerows.

I live in New England and hunt waterfowl and upland, more upland than waterfowl. Upland consists of wild woodcock and grouse, and occasional trips to pheasant stocking sites. Ducks and Geese in in-land ponds and lakes with some smallish rivers as well. At the time I was in the market for a dog I was living in an apartment, and there was a need for a very friendly dog that could handle the activity of that but I didn't want to sacrifice hunting ability. I went Springer Spaniel, and have been very impressed. I knew she'd be great on upland but have been pleasantly surprised at her retrieving skills on ducks and geese. I wouldn't cast her into the ocean on a sea duck hunt, but for where I go she does very well.

Some times I miss the skills and style of a great pointing breed as I had always owned them before this "flusher", but she is sharp and is amazingly trainable, especially compared to some of the GSP's I have owned. The one thing aboutthe Springer is I have become a more active participant in the hunt in that you need to stay aware and always be watchig your dog. Unlike a pointer who locks up and then you walk up and take the shot over the dog a Flusher will surprise you. For example I was invited to a shoot this last weekend and we were hunting along an old stone wall. Up ahead it looked like a coyote or fox hole, and I could tell my Springer was getting birdy, well she sniffed that hole then dove down it disappearing completely. Next thing out shoots a rooster with my springer basicly spitting it into the air. I shoot and drop the bird and she retrieved to hand afterward. If it had been a pointing breed I would have been trying to poke that bird out with a stick!

my gsp locks up on dog holes once in a while I just figured she was pointing the fur like when she got into it with a raccoon. I always call her off point for fear she will get into it with a yote then I would have a real problem on my hand. Maybe I should look a bit harder next time!

None of the aboveI am a treedog man! I hunt squirrels with Original Mountain Curs. They are in my opinion the equivalant to hunting a brittany because they are a "companion" hunting dog. They hunt with you. They don't get out of pocket as easily as a hound, which I sort of think of as being equal to a big pointer that gets on out a ways. I don't mind hounds, but I just prefer a cur (nothing wrong with a big pointer, either...just making an analogy). A mountain cur uses its brains as much as it does its nose, maybe more sometimesLOVE 'EM. See the photo below of my two Mountain Curs, Belle (left) and Rem (right).

I do like to hunt birds over a brittany, but I don't do it regularly. All my buddies are birddog guys and the brittany seems to be their choice for where they hunt (Southwest Okla.). So when I go with them I hunt brittanies and like what I see out of them. Remind me of my mountain curs.