Why do you got what you got?

4shot

4shot

Well-known member
As I read post from you guys daily, it’s fun knowing what dogs you run and guns you like. To me it kinda paints a picture of who you are. So why do you have or like the dogs you have. My first dog was a GSP. Thought it had to much energy and was wild….had no clue what I was doing of course. So 20 yrs later when I decided to give it another go around I chose a setter. I thought they were more docile and friendlier. Wrong! Hard running, crazy drive, unstoppable desire. I was worried burrs would be a problem but that has never been the case. She had a career ending injury her third season. So the search for the next hound landed me at a GSP kennel and he just happened to have one setter for some odd reason. What I love about my setter is the desire he has to be close to you and loves to be given affection and then will shoot like a ball out of cannon. Following him down a draw watching him creep and stalk with tail blowing in the wind to a point solid as stone. There are so many cool dogs, I wish we could try new ones like every two years. So what’s your story?
 
I have a female GSP and Male Pointer. I have had a few GSP's and love the breed but my female is fixed, so I decided it was time to try something new after owning them for 20 years. After the short time of owning the pointer personality wise their isn't much difference between him and any male GSP I have owned.
 
British yellow Lab bitch (Import) and her pup (British line stud).

Shotguns? Many. What I use the most? 12ga SKB Sporting, 20ga SKB 85TSS, 20ga Benelli M2/26"

As too the "why":

The dogs = temperament, biddability, desire, nose, memory. Very easy to live with these dogs in the house and great in the field.

The shotguns = they shoot where I look.
 
Reasons I'm a springer guy:
My friend had one years ago that I really loved.
I love their personalities.
They fit my hunting style perfectly.
One doesn't take up too much room in bed, on the couch, in the car, etc.
I like cute puppies/dogs. I find springers to be the cutest hunting breed.
Short tails. I prefer not to have a long tail banging into everything in the house.
Those are the big things.
 
I obviously run two field bred golden retrievers. Love the at home temperament and the prey drive in the field. The burrs I could do without. Don’t really ever see me switching breeds. Shotguns I switch between my 12ga side lever Holland& Holland, 12ga Purdeys and a couple other 12ga sxs‘s.
 
Always preferred pointers, never enjoyed hunting upland over flushers as much. As I introduced my children to hunting, I wanted them to be able to get into good position for the shot. I found a great breeder nearby who was willing to work with me, that sealed the deal.
GSP - Athletic, low maintenance, and versatile.
 
In 1990 I acquired a Golden Retriever--wonderful, biddable dog, would flush and retrieve roosters, quail, ducks, sharptails, Huns, etc. Beautiful dog and he lasted 11 years. Didn't think I'd ever find another like him, so--since then I've had Labs--black, chocolate and finally my 2 year old yellow Lab Newt. I like the Labs because they are easy to get along with, eager to learn when training, they are natural retrievers for the duck hunting I do, they barge through cattails, and their short hair doesn't attract as many burrs. Also he gets along with my wife...no small matter!!

As to the shotguns, I've hunted with 12 and 20 gauge pumps, 12, 20 and 16 gauge autos, 12, 20 and 16 gauge SxS's and a 16 gauge Citori Lightning. As previously stated, if they shoot where you look and don't weigh you down, it really doesn't matter; they all will kill the birds.
 
Yellow labs, Remington 1187 12 guage, Remington 870 sp 12 guage, Remington 1100 16 guage, Remington 1187 20 guage,LC SMITH 16 guage side by side, Browning a5 magnum 12 guage 1940 model. Ithica model 37 20 guage.
 
Goldens and benellis for me, why everybody in my area along lake erie has labs due to all the large marshes. I wanted something different. Since my first golden 25 plus years ago i am glad of my choice. To me they can due anything a lab can do except the extreme ice breaking/ cold water duck hunting we do in December. Their personality and style are perfect for me.
As far as there coats and burrs ect. with a quick trim before season i spend no more than a few minutes at days end on clean up.
If i was ever to get another breed i do have special spot in my heart for English springer spaniels
 
For me, it was German Wirehaired Pointers that drew me in, years before I could have one (busy life, two kids, city dweller, restricted income), but four months after I bought an old farm house in Wisconsin, I was getting acquainted with the breeders who would provide me with Button and Young Bert, the not-right, dog. I love the enthusiasm, prey drive, and sense of humor that GWPs have. Of course, I also adopted Mick, an ;undocked stray field Springer Spaniel, who locked himself in my heart forever, Early days hunting was squirrels, rabbits, jump shooting ducks, and pheasants--many, many pheasants.

But shining through all those hunts was not the game we shot, but the dance of dogs and birds, scent cones, and re-doubled efforts to lock down a runner, or catch a winged bird..

I like the wirehairs' coats, and loved the full feathering of the un-docked Springer, like a 2/3rds setter dog.

But, really, I haven't met a bird dog I didn't like.

Best wishes.
 
26 years ago I met my main hunting pal, a boon fella afield and otherwise, who had a half ESS-half Brit that was a dandy pointer and retriever. When it came time to get my own dog, I went with a Brittany, having so admired my friend's pointing ESS/Brit. Several dogs later in life, I still go with Brits. My current one and the one before were rescues I adopted at seven and nine months respectively. They were natural hunters and needed training only for whoa, range, and hand signals. My dogs are house pets, and Brittanys love people and being part of house life. They are very protective too. No one will ever be able to sneak up on me. I shoot a Browning 12 gauge o/u which is always enough gun.
 
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I am a springer guy I still have one about 8 now I bought a German wire hair pup about seven years ago started her just shy of a year old she was rock solid from the start I run gps on her from the beginning I let her run about 300 yards and I could not believe the amount of birds she would show me in a day the intelligence just glow in her eyes most likely I will not be blessed with another like her. And as far as guns browning citori’s and a5’s
 
Reading through the thread a couple things strike me.

It seems most of us pick a breed and stick with that breed. Not everyone of course but perhaps a majority?

The second thought is "so many dogs, so little time".

I have seen or hunted with other people's dogs and/or read about just about every breed in this thread. There are many I would have like to have owned and hunted myself just to see how they were.

But....so little time when you consider rearing/training/hunting a pup you bought. I'm not a started dog guy I guess. I enjoy those puppy months too much.
 
I grew up wit EP’s and owned a couple when I hunted quail often in SE Kansas. When the quail went away and I started going to the Dakotas to hunt I switched to labs. I am at the end of my third one so I may go back to a pointer.

Love my Monte but bought an older Citori 16ga that has been my gun the last ten years or so.
 
I have had three dogs and I loved them all but without a doubt the most talented was my Draht. As for a shotgun a Model 12 Winchester 16 gauge with a full choke.
 
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