Goosemaster
Well-known member
Labs can be excellent pheasant dogs. Nice looking dog.
Weight of labs and golden retrievers
- Thread starter Bob Peters
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carptom1
Well-known member
I have had labs of several sizes. I will agree with the above that the biggest importance is the size of the heart. I am down to 1 and have been for awhile. Unfortunately his heart is huge but age has definately caught up with him and at 12 years old he is about done hunting. In his prime he was one of the best pheasant meat dogs I ever had the honor of hunting behind. Great nose and one of the few I had ever seen wind birds like a pointer. Perfectly built for the cattails and thick cover at about 65lbs of pure muscle.
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Goosemaster
Well-known member
I don't think there is a better all around bird dog than the lab retriever. Waterfowl, pheasant, rabbit. Great family dogs,good around other dogs, and kids.Just awesome dogs. Give me 10!!
A5 Sweet 16
Well-known member
sleepwalker
New member
My boy Kalik starts off at 73 and will float down to 69-70 when he is hunting quite a bit. The video below is from his second trip ever hunting pheasants last year when he was about 3.5 yrs old. I was very happy with his energy and drive hunting 7 of 9 days in SD. Not bad for a pup living in Miami, FL!
My last lab was like that. Around 100 pounds and could get into cattails, blackberries, and other thick brush that smaller dogs couldn't...or wouldn't.
Gotta agree on the big dog and heavy cover. Back in the day, we came across a deep silage pit? on an abandoned farm, which was now full of tumbleweeds, and a few inches of fresh snow on top, with bird tracks everywhere. We snuck up and I sent my dog in and he burrowed right in. Within a few seconds birds were busting out and we downed a few roosters. Took Bo (4 yrs old at the time) a bit to make it out of the pit, but our smaller dog was already busy fetching birds.
About a week later it had snowed a bit more and we ended up at the same spot, and again I sent Bo in, but this time he did not burrow down into the pit, but instead jumped on top of the tumbleweeds and was pouncing on the weeds and somehow stayed on top clear across with birds again busting out.
He figured out last time, he could not see the birds flushing out, only hearing them, so remembering that spot he came up with his new plan that totally worked and he could see them flush. One of the most impressive things I witnessed him do. He loved to burrow thru the laid over sorghum and cattails while we walked the edges. And he never got tired no matter how deep the cover or snow.
Yeah, when buying my pup I got tired of people telling me that smaller labs are better for upland. Now I do agree that a small dog might not have the joint issues that bigger dogs do later in life. But I've hunted with a guy that had to chop a small female out of a thicket with a machete. Mean while, my last dog and went threw that same thicket and had no problems. Maybe I just hunt way thicker cover than most people do.
A5 Sweet 16
Well-known member
Interesting. I've never had a springer that couldn't get through absolutely everything.
jackrabbit
Active member
My current lab can bulldoze his way through the cattails with no problem. But I am curious if he is missing some smart wily birds that stay under the cattails and use it like a tunnel system, and if a smaller dog that could tunnel under the cattails would be more beneficial.
A5 Sweet 16
Well-known member
Yes, a brown & white one w/ long ears & a short tail would be better. Kidding; just kidding. I think any experienced dog w/ decent genetics & an understanding of how to hunt pheasants can figure out almost any situation. They may approach them a bit different, but they figure them out.
You hit the nail on the head. We mostly hunted thicker cover areas, the bulldozer would dive into the thickest cover while the smaller chocolate female would hunt the lighter cover and edges. It was a beautiful combo and it didn’t matter during Phes, Quail, or dove season, we never lost a single bird after they crashed into the gnarliest, thickest cover. I don't think there is a bad weight of a dog when you hunt to the dogs strengths. I don't think a Dog with a good nose is likely to pass any birds. But then some dogs have better noses than others. My dog seemed to have a sixth sense and even knew which cover to examine more thoroughly. But I’m totally Biased if you couldn’t tell.
jackrabbit
Active member
Most likely sticking with a lab for my next dog in a year or so, but I have not ruled out the one you are mentioning... but yes, for the most part any hunting breed with good genetics, decent obedience, an owner that gets them out more than a couple times a year, should pick up and excel at pheasant hunting.
grossklw
Active member
My golden is in the low 60's towards the end of pheasant hunting and floats around mid 60's late winter into summer when we begin running heavy. I generally have to bribe him to eat during pheasant hunting, otherwise he starts skirting with the too light category. He's tall for a field bred golden.
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sleepwalker
New member
My boy Kalik ranges from 74 in the off season down to 70 when we are putting in quite a few days. We hunt in some very hot weather where I live and this keeps him pretty lean for a big ole fat head! I sure enjoy getting him out to SD every once in a while. .
UplandHntr
Well-known member
Great looking pup! Where are you from?
