I'm still going to preach the praises of Mossberg. If you don't mind a pump (I started duck hunting with an auto, pumps took me awhile to get used to, I know it makes me sound like an idiot, but it is what it is), you can get an 870 or Mossberg 500 for cheap. There's a reason they've made the 870 for LOTS of decades.
When I was a teenager we would hunt pheasant and grouse in upper Michigan, near Iron Mountain. We didn't have a dog, we just walked in the woods and fields for awhile. We never did too terribly well, a dog isn't too important, but it will greatly increase your chances at a bird or two.
The flipside to that is the costs involved with a hunting dog, I have my first hunting dog now. He's just over a year old. I spent nine months researching breeders and sending myself and my in-laws to breeders to check their facilities out, I kid you not. I finally settled on a breeder in Missouri, about ten hours away from me.
The initial costs with a decent dog are high, also the first year vet bills are high, part of that can be attributed to the fact that I have him vaccinated against anything and everything, as well as before the season I took him in for a check up to make sure he wouldn't injure himself and everything would be okay.
I also researched vets for three months, I went to every single vet in two counties. They must have thought I was crazy since at the time I didn't even have a dog. I was also one of the few people that checked the vets references and got in contact with my local kennel club to see what they thought about breeders or the vet.
And don't get me started on food. I researched food for a few months. I've read so many labels on dog food bags it's crazy. I'm positive the pet store employees thought that reading labels is what I did for fun. I know so much about stupid dog food that I'm pretty sure I can make it myself in my kitchen.
And keep in mind this has nothing to do with training time, supplies, equipment, ect. My dog goes with me everywhere, except work. We spend an hour or two a night after work training. We've done this since he was two months old. At the time I didn't know or realize that even thirty minutes training an eight week old dog might be pushing it, but he didn't seem to mind.
All in all, frankly, I'm afraid to add up everything I've spent money on for this dog. He eats better than me, he exercises more and better than I do, and he gets the best of everything (ever buy a water bed for your dog? I have).
