Hunting Dog Breeds

[robmcleod82]

lol! Oh Man- I feel for your friend but that’s pretty funny.

He did not find it funny i can assure you. I on the other hand laughed my ass off.

 

[gelhaargerald]

You bring up a good point. I’ve never trained any kind of pointer and fully realize I would need some help. Being relatively new to the area I live in, I don’t have a lot of contacts. Finding someone to help should probably be step 1.

I really hadn’t considered a springer or cocker. Maybe I should. One of my buddies has an awesome springer. Thanks for the comments.

Where in iowa are you?

are you going to hunt a lot of public?

Grew up around pointers but when I moved to Iowa I got a pointing lab because I wanted a waterfowl dog and a pointer. She ended up being an awesome waterfowl dog. No kids so I had time and ran hunt test. She never failed a test and got a SH title. She wasn’t much of a pointer and ended up being a flusher.

I didn’t know much about flushing dogs but I am not sure I would want to go back to a pointer hunting wild birds in Iowa. Most time the cover is really thick. A lot of times I can’t even see the dog.

Pointers are awesome and have their place. In my opinion flushers on wild birds put way more birds in the bag. While a different experience it’s still a shit ton of fun to hunt over them.

 

[paul.anders.j]

Where in iowa are you?

are you going to hunt a lot of public?

Grew up around pointers but when I moved to Iowa I got a pointing lab because I wanted a waterfowl dog and a pointer. She ended up being an awesome waterfowl dog. No kids so I had time and ran hunt test. She never failed a test and got a SH title. She wasn’t much of a pointer and ended up being a flusher.

I didn’t know much about flushing dogs but I am not sure I would want to go back to a pointer hunting wild birds in Iowa. Most time the cover is really thick. A lot of times I can’t even see the dog.

Pointers are awesome and have their place. In my opinion flushers on wild birds put way more birds in the bag. While a different experience it’s still a shit ton of fun to hunt over them.

Gah! That’s exactly what makes me reluctant to get a pointer. My chessies would run through a wall to flush. Runners, cripples - no problem. Years ago I hunted over a pair of English Setters. We spent all day with those dogs on point just to find out that the pheasants were running. My other reservation is that, IMO, you can always make a serviceable upland dog out of a water dog, but not every upland dog will make a water dog - even if the breed is known as good swimmers. While I’ll most likely hunt mostly upland, I’ll still do a fare amount of duck hunting. To answer your question, I live in the Des Moines area and hunt throughout central Iowa. Thanks for your comments.

 

[gelhaargerald]

Gah! That’s exactly what makes me reluctant to get a pointer. My chessies would run through a wall to flush. Runners, cripples - no problem. Years ago I hunted over a pair of English Setters. We spent all day with those dogs on point just to find out that the pheasants were running. My other reservation is that, IMO, you can always make a serviceable upland dog out of a water dog, but not every upland dog will make a water dog - even if the breed is known as good swimmers. While I’ll most likely hunt mostly upland, I’ll still do a fare amount of duck hunting. To answer your question, I live in the Des Moines area and hunt throughout central Iowa. Thanks for your comments.

When did you move here?

I am in Adel moved here in 2001. I bird hunted my ass off into 2014 ish time frame. Kids got older and they liked deer more so I gravitated towards it. My one son really likes ducks so I have gotten back into it a little but I don’t have a great dog right now. We have a golden that does well on pheasant is awful on ducks.

Shoot me a PM if this site has it. I know trainers, training areas and some pretty decent public spots.

 

[snow_knight]

So I almost pulled the trigger on a drath puppy 6 years ago. Hunted behind a few of them upland birds and in a goose pit. Amazing dogs and a great choice in the versatile gundog world.
After countless hours of research I ended up going pudelpointer. Mainly because they tend to be as good as drath in hunting situations but much better when it comes to a family dog. Been super happy with the decision. Amazing hunting dogs and great with family. We just added another this summer.
As stated before, see if you have a local NAVDA chapter and reach out. They tend to hold training days quite often, may be an opportunity to go see some of the dogs in person.

Always remember though you can spend all the $ in the world on the best bloodlines anybody has ever heard of. These dogs still need training and more importantly, time in the field!

Ive seen mutts out hunt high end gun dogs quite a bit.

 

[paul.anders.j]

When did you move here?

I am in Adel moved here in 2001. I bird hunted my ass off into 2014 ish time frame. Kids got older and they liked deer more so I gravitated towards it. My one son really likes ducks so I have gotten back into it a little but I don’t have a great dog right now. We have a golden that does well on pheasant is awful on ducks.

Shoot me a PM if this site has it. I know trainers, training areas and some pretty decent public

Where in iowa are you?

are you going to hunt a lot of public?

Grew up around pointers but when I moved to Iowa I got a pointing lab because I wanted a waterfowl dog and a pointer. She ended up being an awesome waterfowl dog. No kids so I had time and ran hunt test. She never failed a test and got a SH title. She wasn’t much of a pointer and ended up being a flusher.

I didn’t know much about flushing dogs but I am not sure I would want to go back to a pointer hunting wild birds in Iowa. Most time the cover is really thick. A lot of times I can’t even see the dog.

Pointers are awesome and have their place. In my opinion flushers on wild birds put way more birds in the bag. While a different experience it’s still a shit ton of fun to hunt over them.

Oh cool - I’m at Norwalk. Moved here in 2021. Between getting settled into a new job and getting married I haven’t had a lot of time to get connected to ppl in the hunting world. I’ve been leasing a place to deer hunt down by Osceola. Next step is to start doing more bird hunting. My wife’s family is from around Webster City. It looks like there’s some great options for public land around there and I’m looking forward to exploring that area. I’ll shoot you a dm. Thanks!

 

[Bakes]

This is Trapper. He was a boss. Sire of litters. Retriever of many a ducks and geese. Straight from the 80s. View attachment 770

@Cagney - zoom in on this hat. It’s pretty styling. As you think about FE merch….. just saying.

 

[Cagney]

@Cagney - zoom in on this hat. It’s pretty styling. As you think about FE merch….. just saying.

Noted. We can call her Vintage Baddie LOL

 

[clearbluezaxbys]

Not a Drahthaar, but very very similar, the Wirehaired Pointing Griffon. The Drahts are a much more serious and intense version of a Griffon (goofballs). We were torn between the two breeds, but ended up with Griffs because of their "milder" temperament and we had smaller kids at the time. I think if you are looking for a great versatile hunting breed, you can't go wrong with either one!

If you have kids or want a more relaxed hunter the Griff is the way to go. Ours hunts like no other in the fields and will chill in the house. Great breed.

 

[Bakes]

Noted. We can call her Vintage Baddie LOL

Got to make sure the front panel is that old school thick foam that is probably flammable and the mesh has the camo. That would be dope.

 

[Trotter]

Does anybody have experience with Deutsch Drahthaars? I’ve always been a Chessie guy and have had good luck with that breed. Now that I live in Iowa, I suspect I’ll be doing more pheasant hunting than duck hunting. Thinking about making a change and the drahthaars sound appealing. I’d be interested in hearing about anyone’s experience with them. Lastly, please don’t tell me to just get a Lab. I’ve seen way more Labs turn out to be couch companions than good hunting dogs.

You can take into consideration italian Spinone as well, wirehaired hard working dog, albeit I do not know how good are the bloodlines in the US for this breed.
Opposite to german breeds, italian pointing breeds (Bracco and Spinone one being shorthaired and the other wirehaired, very closely related) are more quiet, their pace is not run/gallop, they trot, it is a pace which is typical to these dog breeds.
I tend to agree with what has been said until now in the thread except for the fact that any of these may be more or less true based on the bloodline of the dogs we are considering, as well as the external conditioning it has received (read: education/training). Pay attention to that.
If someone had a bad experience with DD it doesn't mean all of them are aggressive or prone to bite. Look at the bloodline first and then put the best effort in its education.
A long time breeder which is a friend of mine always told me: you always have to choose the dog you like the most.
And this is true both when you choosing which breed to go for and which puppy to choose from a litter.
Always choose what you like the most, otherwise you would regret not choosing that one you liked in the first place due to listening to tons of external advice

 

[Al "Shifty" Schultz]

I'm a Brittany fan for life..