Need guidance

Hello all,

As you can tell from my name, I have always owned Labs or Springers (can't tell that from my name)

I only pheasant hunt. I have been searching for a well started or finished dog. A buddy of mine is trying to talk me into going with a pointing breed. I have never owned nor hunted with a pointer. His suggestion is an English Setter.

I would love to hear you opinions on this, words of advice, etc.

In advance, thank you.
 
Plenty of good pointing breeds out there. Shorthairs and Brittanys lead the way with Pheasants Forever members, but you can look towards pointers, setters, and a whole host of other breeds ... Most pointing breeds like (prefer) to run at the edge of gun range if not much further out. Some hunters cannot ever get comfortable with that.

I think there are two basic things to consider; range and temperament. Range and temperament are both breed and lineage (genetics) dependent.

I will speak towards Brittanys because that is what I have experience with... Range can vary by breeder and lineage. Some field trialers and breeders want Brittanys to compete with pointers in the amount of land covered and others want a dog bred to hunt with an owner on foot.

Generally speaking I have found Brittanys to be soft in temperament. You can not train (especially reprimand) a Brittany like you could a lab. Soft temperament with master in no way translates to a soft hunting style in the field. Well unless said dog is reprimanded to the point where they just give up.
 
Last edited:
It’s a generalization but shorthairs are normally much better at hunting down cripples than setters or English pointers

And they handle pressure a little better than Brittanys again a generalization

The German breeds are all similar but in shorthairs you will find a lot of strong hunting lines to choose from

I have four English pointers, two shorthairs and a Brittany at the moment

Brittanys are wonderful dogs also with strong cripple hunting characteristics but they take a gentle hand to train and are burr magnets ( you can trim them to avoid this)

Shorthairs are about as close to a “ out of the box” pheasant dog as you can get in the pointing breeds

I would rate them number one for your first pointing dog


I like them all lol
 
This is probably the first thing you have posted on here I agree with. Congrats LOL

i hunt with a buddy and his lab.....sometimes.....get tired of watching him (the dog) bust birds and this guy chasing his dog to get a wild shot.....no thanks.
there are some good ones, but most guys are too lazy to train a lab to quarter in range....me, i like a nice pointed bird to walk in and flush under the dog.
 
Flushing dogs should be trained to hup to a toot on a whistle and release on two toots

It’s simple to train

Labs are great dogs
 
i hunt with a buddy and his lab.....sometimes.....get tired of watching him (the dog) bust birds and this guy chasing his dog to get a wild shot.....no thanks.
there are some good ones, but most guys are too lazy to train a lab to quarter in range....me, i like a nice pointed bird to walk in and flush under the dog.
I do enjoy the flush if a pointer, but i never hunt with pointers.I have to run at times, to get a shot. For rooting birds out of real thick cover, ill take a lab, over a pointer.That being said, I do like the german wirehaired pointer.Great dogs.
 
If you only hunt pheasants and ducks it’s very hard to beat a lab for practicality and no dog is better on cripples than a lab
 
I do enjoy the flush if a pointer, but i never hunt with pointers.I have to run at times, to get a shot. For rooting birds out of real thick cover, ill take a lab, over a pointer.That being said, I do like the german wirehaired pointer.Great dogs.

exactly.....i have a GWP, some breeds are capable of pointing and rooting out tight sitting birds in heavy cover....i would say it is easier to get both those traits in some pointing breeds, with a little bit of situational trining, i just like the solid pointing aspect....not just a call back. got to go with what you like....good luck.
 
I have a pointing lab and for all the controversy over the breed I will say that a pointing lab doses have the ability to be a pointing dog. They have the ability inherited , with that said there is more training than would be a pointing breed maybe a lot. I chose not to train as a pointer and what I got was a 70 lbs of pure pheasant hunting machine. He was easy to train,very high energy level a dog that will hunt all week and want more. He is not the dog you get from the neighbor down the street. My dog came from huntin buddy pointing labs out of McCall ID. Sire from tiger mountain pointing labs Taz. If interested look at the blood line and get a hold of lance at hunttin buddy pointing labs you can’t go wrong.
 
Last edited:
Hello all,

As you can tell from my name, I have always owned Labs or Springers (can't tell that from my name)

I only pheasant hunt. I have been searching for a well started or finished dog. A buddy of mine is trying to talk me into going with a pointing breed. I have never owned nor hunted with a pointer. His suggestion is an English Setter.

I would love to hear you opinions on this, words of advice, etc.

In advance, thank you.

Since you only hunt pheasants & you've owned a springer before......you know the answer to your question. You need another springer. (I'm pretty biased.) :rolleyes:
 
A good pointer is a joy to watch, so is a well trained flusher. At this stage in my life I love to keep up with my flushers. When I get really old, I mean really really old I will get a pointer. Till than I will take my lumps with following a flusher.
 
If you're looking for a finished or near-finished dog, you don't need any guidance from us. The breed shouldn't matter too much, really. If it does a good job on pheasants and you like the dog, then it's a good fit. All the nonsense talk about poorly trained dogs busting birds out of range is just noise. If it is genuinely a finished dog, then it will not have any of those issues. So you'll go out hunting with the seller and the dog and you'll know if it is right for you or not. If it's the right dog, that cash will be burning a hole in your pocket before you get to the end of the field!

But, you know, since everyone has an opinion... My GWP was the best hunting dog I've had so far, but I am a really big fan of the two brittanies I have now, one American and one French. They do everything a big dog can do in the field, but take up less couch space.
 
Back
Top