Which is better hunting alone

The one that has the hunting style you like and finds and retrieves the birds.
 
I've done a great deal of solo hunting with all three of my current dogs. One is an extremely aggressive flusher, one ranges far and wide and points and one stays relatively close and points. My favorite is whichever one is on the ground at the time.

No way I could choose between them.
 
If you have no preference, I think it really comes down to terrain.

I have hunted some pretty thick stuff this year, and lost a few birds because of having to go in after the birds when the dog was on point. Not sure that if I would have had a flusher I would have been guaranteed to get them, but I think I would have at least had a better shot.

When I go out to the "open" areas though, I forget all about that stuff.

There is no wrong answer. Good luck in your search! :cheers:
 
ditchparrot19 said:
I've done a great deal of solo hunting with all three of my current dogs. One is an extremely aggressive flusher, one ranges far and wide and points and one stays relatively close and points. My favorite is whichever one is on the ground at the time.

No way I could choose between them.
Click to expand...

You are one lucky guy! You got the ultimate stable. If you are married, could you have your wife call mine? :D
 
your asking to start a fight with that question lol just joke n...

i have hunted with pointers & flushers a lot more flushers then pointers or should i say well trained pointers & after hunting with both i could never go back to running just a flusher again...

the pointers help us get or be ready for the flush & be prepared more then with a flusher most times... also we train our pointers to hunt close & or range out but i value a close working dog in thick cover & late season with spooky birds more then a far range n pointer so a close working flusher late season is hard to beat...

im sorry pure flusher lovers & im sure many flushers are well trained & dont run wild but for me & my father who can not keep up with a hard running flusher all day any longer my pointer is the way to go for us...

like said above the dog that works for you & finds/retrieves the downed birds to you is the best dog to have 1 on 1...

me personally 1 guy 1 pointer that retrieves is as good as it gets... i love the suspense of walking up on a dog on point once you do it a few times it gets in your blood & its hard to go back to flushers...

i think have to get a small little lab or a springer & run it with my SM & see how that goes??? maybe a small pointing lab??? had a 100 LB lab back in the day he got tired quick but a machine in the duck blind...
 
I have two dog, and I like to have them both down at the same time.
Ace is closer working, great on quail singles and pheasants, Indy is much bigger running and is the main covey finder.

If you have two pointing dogs that back, thats hard to beat.
 
dogs

don't see the point, what diff. would it make, most of us don't have a dog for each specie or terrain so take what ya got and hopefully they like water just in case that happens. usually though, my friend leaves his lion's dogs in the kennel.

cheers
 
there are many versatile hunting breeds out there that do damn near everything you want them to do so 2 dogs may not be needed??? if you have 2 dogs that work well together that is hard to beat like said above...

maybe there are guys looking for info on what dog/breed to get if they hunt mostly alone??? that i think is the point of the question???
 
Any bird dog breed worth his feed should be able to do everything an upland hunter needs in a dog, which is find birds and retrieving shot game. Some may excell in one area but should give a passable performance at both.

Of course we all have our prefernce and for me he looks like this.

20131125_151350-1_zps72be8610.jpg
 
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I hunt wild birds in the open country of the Kansas high plains. In such an environment I want a dog that ranges out, finds, and locks on point until I get there. My Brittanys have filled the bill very well.
 
on them late season hunts when pheasants cluster flush im worried to let my dog range to far in fear of bumping any birds...??? that being said i dont hunt vast open grasslands in the late season the birds are in the thick stuff then... in early season ill let my dog range out farther when the birds are in the seas of grass & less educated... or prairie grouse hunting...

i think the time of year & how weary the birds are has a little to do with how far my dog should range as well as the terrain/cover...

lovely pic there quail hound... i need to get a pic of my girl on a hard point then i can say my prefrence looks like this maybe SETTERNUT can help us out with his dogs on point & backing 1 another???
 
I've thought about the subject more and I've come to the conclusion that breed of dog has far less to do with the success of a one man, one dog team as the relationship and trust between the team. There's nothing more rewarding to me than hunting solo with Jp, we can hunt for hours without any communication. We trust each other, he leads and I follow and rarely I will make a decision to head another direction and he comes around and starts hunting to our new objective. No one, even those who hunt often with JP and I, will understand how wonderful this dance is while we are alone. This partnership wasn't always so seamless, it has taken years for us to understand what the other is thinking at any given moment.
 
HolyMoses said:
You are one lucky guy! You got the ultimate stable. If you are married, could you have your wife call mine? :D
Click to expand...

I certainly can -- just PM me your number (or her cell number, if you prefer).

My only regret is I'm not going to have such a diversified stable for much longer, as my Lab is 12 1/2. He's nearly as good as he ever was for short periods, but he has his limits these days. I'm the one who has to decide when he's had enough because he'll never show any sign of wanting to quit.

I won't be able to replace him right away. With my daughter already taking dance classes and about to start Little League softball (and no doubt several other activities, too), plus all of the fishing we're going to do next year, I just don't have the time to devote to a puppy.
 
I like a dog I can hunt with without any noise, no whistles or hacking him in just working as a silent team, when you have a dog like that the pheasants better beware.

Breed doesn't really matter.
 
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