Best Dog for Pheasants - Lab or Pointer?
 

Been thinking about this lately. For the Average Joe which type of dog do you think is more productive for pheasants a lab or a pointer? I know that pointers can cover more ground, but they are often confounded by running birds, some bust birds out of range if they are not steady, and many don't like the thick stuff. While on the other hand labs don't cover the same amount of ground.

My experience is limited to pointing dogs, but I remember back in the 80s when I would go every year with a bunch of field trialers down to Rolling Hills for a week, my shorthairs would have raw, raw bellies. While from time to time, I would see guys with labs sending their dogs into the thickest stuff imaginable, and putting up the wily wild roosters.

I am sure many would be interested in hearing from guys who have hunted pheasants with both what type of dog they feel is most productive.

Thanks in advance for all responses.

Had 2 labs and a GSH, short hair is my pick all day long. X100.


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Best Dog for Pheasants - Lab or Pointer?
 

Wirehaired pointers I’ve found are one of the best all round upland and waterfowl dogs. They are little more robust then shorthairs. However, regardless of breed they should be field prep. My gwp will run tells his pads bleed and wear off. He has done a lot of hunting at a pheasant lodge down south with short hair and Britney’s . They all have their perks and faults. But with training a lot of breeds unfamiliar to pheasant habitat so well. Friend of mine has a Chesapeake and does fairly well. Which ever you decide to go with you continuous training will be the difference, given the natural drive of a upland bird dog.


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Hard to beat a pointer on upland. Hunted with labs on wild roosters, a well trained pointer has them beat.

http://i.imgur.com/LEBtxPe.jpg

I sure like those labs. A pointer would probably get more birds though

It all depends on you!
 

If all you do is hunt Pheasants a pointing dog is your best bet. If you mainly hunt water fowl and are young enough to keep up with a Lab hunting pheasants, you will love your lab.

If you hunt both about equally a versatile dog has been designed with you in mind. There are 33 recognized breeds that "do it all" and as you all know some breeds are better at it than others,

It is not the dog's fault, a white short haired dog would have a tough time in an Alberta winter, my dogs would find the heat in Texas too much to cope with.

So the correct answer is that it depends on the hunter and what and how he or she hunts.

There are good dogs in every breed, BUT YOU NEED TO TRAIN THEM!

My father trailed and hunted with dogs for over 5 decades .
He used to say that any dog will do for a gun dog as long as it's a black lab!:sHa_sarcasticlol:
I've hunted over all kinds of dogs , flushers, pointers , good and bad .
I have come to the conclusion that I love hunting birds with dogs and don't care what breed the dog is as long as I can work with it .:)
Cat

Have a point ( no pun intended) half the fun is watching them work


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I have hunted with both. I walk fast, and can cover a lot of ground, so I much prefer a pointer to cover as much ground as possible. As for thick cover, it doesn't stop my DD, he just forces his way through, and his thick wire coat protects him well.

Pointers from the begining were bred for one purpose, to point pheasant type birds.

Labradors are water dogs bred for retrieving waterfowl.

So here we have a question from a serious outdoorsman as to which is the best option for pheasant. If one thinks about that for a minute there is no question as to how awesome Labradors are. No one will ever ask which is better for waterfowl.

Probably the best response... There is no Holy Grail of dog breed, pick a dog that is best suited for you and the bird you are chasing and train. If your doing both waterfowl and upland equally, look at the versatile breeds again. In my opinion there is nothing like watching a good dog working a field and then locking up, to me it's what it's all about.

I have one of each. If I was hunting release sites I would choose the GWP. Where I hunt wild birds the cover is huge, thick and wet and I prefer the Lab. The GWP is my Hun dog.

A Springer.

This is just a discussion intended for all outdoorsmen on something I was rattling around in my ever decreasing grey matter. I know which type of dog is best for what I am do, but pheasants are not my main pursuit. If I were strictly a pheasant hunter, I would buy an English Pointer, as there is nothing more classy:)

It's not quite cut and dried !
 

Having owned a Wirehair for the last eleven years
And he happens to be my 11 th versatile pointer
with a couple of Labs mixed in . I always feel your
fortunate if you do get a dog that suits your purpose
and lifestyle.
The average Hunter with Familly , job , etc has 3-4
months Hunting dog , 8-9 familly pet dog .
A lab great familly dog , very climate friendly ,
I'm not big on flushing dogs but I have hunted with
some very well trained ones , mostly labs , very
productive ...You could always get a pointing lab .

There are more and more reports about aggressive
behaviour in the versatile breeds .
If a familly is involved you want to get a few references
On the selected breeder .

Also Labs smell bad all the time and the worse farts .
Otherwise enjoy

The biggest advantage of a pointer, is that they can cover huge amounts of terrain, and can find birds 100 -200 yards away, and point until the hunter arrives. With a flushing dog, I want to be within 20-30 yards of the dog , so that I am in range when the birds flush. When Huns and sharptails are added to the mix, the advantage swings farther in favor of the pointers, that range farther and hold point far enough away , to not flush the skidding birds. If I was primarily hunting waterfowl over water, I would have a lab, but we are talking pheasants, and the pointers were developed for that type of hunting. Yes you can be successful on pheasants and other upland birds with a lab, just as you can be successful on waterfowl with a versatile pointer, it comes down to what your primary goal is and what kind of hunting you prefer. I met a waterfowl outfitter that uses WPGs exclusively, but he hunts fields rather than water, and he is the exception. Some upland outfitters use labs, but again, they are the exception. I hunt with the OP, and we hunt upland in heavier cover, and our waterfowl hunting is done on dry fields, so a versatile pointer is likely the best choice. I would go with a larger dog as well, as carrying those 10lb plus geese is harder for a smaller dog, especially for 30-40 retrieves per hunt. I would also choose a longer haired breed, that can handle the cold better which is more of a factor for our location than heat.

I have never seen a disadvantage hunting any kind of upland with flushers , simply a different style .
People like Oldgutpile, wwbirds , Clint , and many others hunt with Labs goldens and springer spaniels very successfully .:)
Like I stated earlier ,I am a firm believer that it has far more to do with what a hunter likes than what breed is actually " better "
Cat

All breeds will hunt that are mentioned, now it comes down to the individual dog, throw in a hunting relationship/understanding between the hunter and the dog things are great....or can be a train wreck....gotta fit each other.

Aww...that's not fair. They don't smell bad all the time, but I won't argue on the farts. lol.
My lab/golden cross can find a pheasant in a haystack but if it's a runner, boy you gotta be in shape. He puts up an awful lot of birds and yes, a few are still out of range for me when I can't keep up in the thick brush. We use him in thick trees, cactus covered desert, rose and thistle thickets, deep grass (7-8 feet tall),... you get the picture. I have a cordura vest to protect his chest and belly or he'd be a bloody mess. The places we hunt also have water and are in waterfowel fly paths so we are constantly changing shot in our guns and methods to jump shoot these birds or call them in. His short hair sheds burrs easily and he is never cold. He may not be the best at any given thing but he's my best at everything, including quail, grouse, and even retrieved a turkey for me.

Neither, "Springer Spaniel" is my favorite pheasant hunter by far.

My vote is for Brittany.....

Mine is a pheasant machine. She has the eyes of an eagle, nose of whitetail and was easy to train and always eager to please.

http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/attac...1&d=1518111913

Guess I've had bad experiences with pointers, they seem to not be able to find a lot of downed birds.. so I've been forced to look into a retriever because they will ALWAYS find downed birds.

Maybe I've been hunting over bad pointers?? I'm still mulling a Toller.

To date, my dog has not lost a bird that was shot over him, that is around 150 birds over two years. We also didn't lose a single bird shot over any of densa44s dogs. As for the toller, I still recommend talking to wwbirds about his experiences training them. I have only had experience with one toller on pheasants, and it was not favorable.

Ya we've spoke. You running GSPs ELK?

Drahthaar.

The only gun dog breed I have owned are GSPs and I loved them dearly. Actually a Lab would have been my first choice for all round Alberta hunting but for some reason my wife did not like them.

I have been to quite a few field trials and hunting dog tests and if I had to choose a pheasant breed based on my own observations I would go with a Springer.

I'm not suggesting they are the best dogs for bird hunting at all but my border collie has turned out to be a very versatile and amazing little bird dog. A good friend of mine has a professionally trained field lab and we would walk our dogs together out in the bush. The field lab was constantly looking for birds and putting them up. I took my dog out with his dog on a hunt and she learned what the lab was doing in 2 trips including commands. Now I can take her on my own, send her to find birds and being a border collie her default is to slowly stalk in on them. That's how I know a bird is around when I can see her. She is a bit too competitive and now when we are with the lab she tries to beat her to the birds - so not a perfect bird dog by any stretch! That and she is missing the 'soft' mouth. I think with good training you can teach dogs to do a lot of things. Having the natural instinct of a pointer of a lab is a big plus for sure. But I also have to agree with what someone else said - hunting season is short so pick a dog that you enjoy being with the rest of the year and matches your lifestyle. She is no perfect bird dog but a decent one and a blast the rest of the year.

Labs are my choice as i hunt upland and migratory. Another thing is how many days you hunt per year vrs how many days in a year. You cannot beat a lab for a family member in the house. Good with kids, other pets, quiet etc. Pointers are definately easier to hunt upland birds behind, but my Labs get me a more exersize, which i need haha

x2