How much is a dog worth?

Priceless

Watching a well-trained dog working a field or the forest is an art form. It one of the greatest sight I've ever seen. It amazes me every time we go out. People think that upland hunting is just killing. If they could see a bird dog working a field they would develop a new understanding and respect for the sport. Without a dog, upland hunting is work, not fun.

If I lost my dog, I would stop hunting until I could train a replacement.
 
I am new to upland hunting and new to bird dogs. This will be mine and my vizsla's first year.
What I am getting at is, I am a complete newbie and you wouldn't see me out walking around without a dog. To me the whole upland experience is made by having a dog with you.
So, as others have said, priceless.
 
cbump said:
I am new to upland hunting and new to bird dogs. This will be mine and my vizsla's first year.
What I am getting at is, I am a complete newbie and you wouldn't see me out walking around without a dog. To me the whole upland experience is made by having a dog with you.
So, as others have said, priceless.
Click to expand...

I did hunt dogless...ruffed grouse, mostly.
One can learn a lot about the bird that way and the experience is what you make of it and how deep into the side issues of tradition, equipment, literature, et al one wishes to go.
However, the experience is simply less....rich and involved...w/o a pup to share the day.
But, to say you would not hunt gamebirds dogless indicates less as well....and downplays a bit those for whom reality says...no dogs now or no dogs.
Birdhunting is a mix...a trilogy of factors, or more.....tough for me to ignore every other factor but the dogs that mean so much to me.

That is the age old upland message board question...would you hunt w/o a dog?
I would hunt dogless and accept the less or the different.
I would hunt dogless for the memories it would renew of coverts and birds and, of course, dogs.
Remembering and living an experience again, even if different, can be a fine way of honoring and deepening that experience.
I would probably go hunting fewer times and miss what was not there, but go I would.
I think respect for the birds alone, demands it.
 
I meant no disrespect by my statement. Just saying, that for me, I got into the sport because I wanted to have a bird dog. There is just something great about hunting with your best friend.
Without getting a bird dog, I would not have ever started upland hunting. That is what I meant when I said you wouldn't see me out there without a dog. I didn't mean it in a snooty way.
 
My first hunting dog was a wonderful chocolate lab, when he died I went into mourning and hunted the next fall without a dog. It did not take long for me to say that is enough of that, and I have not been without a dog since.
 
cbump said:
I meant no disrespect by my statement. Just saying, that for me, I got into the sport because I wanted to have a bird dog. There is just something great about hunting with your best friend.
Without getting a bird dog, I would not have ever started upland hunting. That is what I meant when I said you wouldn't see me out there without a dog. I didn't mean it in a snooty way.
Click to expand...

I did not take it that way, cb...just using your post to make a point that I think needs stating.
Most of us understand what a dog brings to the day....perhaps, even those who use a dog much as a hammer.

However, it does make me wonder how anyone can say no to an exercise never undertaken or assume that all the other parts of a day of birdhunting have little value or fail to provide enjoyment and memories.
I guess those early formative days for me were somehow not worth the boot leather.
Each to one's own but...each of us define and find value differently.
Locking out other parts if a certain one is absent seems....short-sighted, to me.

You do raise an interesting point though.
I never consider dog versus gamebird as a sport....trialing being different.
Whether one makes Birdhunting a Life or a lifestyle is also up for wondering.
 
I hunted for a season (my first) without a dog. I made a ton of good memories, shot my first quail and saw my first wild pheasant that season. I can take to the exact spot where that first quail fell to my gun and the dog and I make the hike in to hunt that covey every year now. I started hunting because grandpa gave me his shotgun before he died and I got a dog because I loved it so much. If it weren't for grandpas gun and that first quail I wouldn't have a dog and I would probably waste this time of year snowboarding.
 
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