English setters are a great choice ,my friend has had them for 30 years that I know of, the one that he brought to upstate NY was a great grouse dog, the only dog that I ever saw that would point up into a tree if a grouse was there. He had another setter that would retrieve and would drop the bird in his opened game vest. There are thousands of acres in Iowa that are free walk in access, that you can download maps that tell you acreage and types of game that you will find there. We took four of his dogs to Iowa last fall. Don't over look shooting preserves, they put out 15 or 16 quail for you for X amount of dollars and then you and your dog go after them. I drove from Indianapolis down to Pensacola where he lives and we had 30 birds set out and was able to get 26 of them, but it was hot (73 degrees) in January. We had to rotate 2 dogs at a time. But it was a lot of fun.
my name is Cody new to pheasant hunting looking to make new hunting friends
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Goosemaster
Well-known member
In Montana,The lab is best.They can pound thick cover, and flush birds.Setters, brittnrys,ect are better for light cover.
PheasantWhisperer
Member
Would have to respectfully disagree with the above statement. To the original post, I have had several different types of dogs. I have trained labs and have one currently that is coming along well. But it doesn't really matter what kind of dog you get. The dog will go where you go. At first when its a pup you may have to get in the heavy cover and show them where the birds are. It won't take long for them to figure it out. I have a setter that is a year and a half old and will disappear in the thickest brush there is. I have a vizsla that will do the same. But I have another vizsla that doesn't like it as much. Every dog is different, even among the same breeds. I don't think it matters what state you live in either.