shorthair vs. lab

[Guest]

I have hunted with both shorthairs and labs and if I had to choose just one it would be a shorthair for sure. ( That should ruffle erics feathers lol) I have only had a shorthair for 2 years before that my old man alway had labs so I cant talk any s@!# about them, we have had some great labs.
But pheasant hunting with a shorthair is VERY IMPRESSIVE watching and training a shorthair from a pup, its amazing how much natural instinct they have. My shorthair amazes me every time we go out he goes longer harder and faster then any dog ive ever seen. At the end of the day when im tired I get in my truck and follow him along the ditch til he goes on point he just never stops EVER. When you have a pointer you have time to case and uncase your gun while hes on point maybe its just BUSTER BROWN but hes definately going to make me buy another when hes done.

Have you ever seen a lab and a pointer work together? Eric has a lab that is unstopable and when him and buster are together its more fun to watch the dogs then it is to bang the birds. When buster goes on point windsor waits for us when eric says when its all over but the pluckin.
Thats the reason I walk mile after mile chaseing a bird.

What kind of dog do you hunt with?

[This message has been edited by rt_sports (edited 06-04-2002).]

[Guest]

Give me my Springer any day She's the best!!

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Paul
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[DARK30]

Nothin beats hunting over a pointer....I'm biased towards My English Setter but watching any dog lock up on a bird is awsome! We just need some birds in Minnesota.

I've heard of pointing Labs but never seen one work.

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cast,cast,cast,cast......

[Guest]

Now since it is my day to work in the store here is my view of this topic. Short hairs are great upland hunting dogs, but since we are compairing short hairs to labs i would really like to see brian take his short hair out at 3am break ice, shoot some ducks and then go right out into the fields for some pheasant hunting. His dog might have more speed and stanima in the fields but a short hair has nothing on a lab when it comes to duck hunting. I could just see it now, he will bring his dog out duck hunting this year and i will have to listen to brian and his dog whinning all day on how cold they are. It is bad enough just listening to brian, haha. I also think that springers are great versital dogs but man some of them are ugly looking.lol. Cant wait to here the sh** on that one.

[Guest]

yah PINHEAD... this is a pheasant forum, if I wanted to hear about duck hunting I would go there!

[slabberknocker]

r_t,
If your looking for a dog that will hunt ducks and then got for some cocks, a wirehair is the way to go. I have hunted with a lot of different breeds and my father in laws wirehairs out perform them all. They love the water and they love the heavy switchgrass and sloughs for pheasants. We hunt some of the thickest switchgrass in SD and those dogs get the birds out. That is where the birds are because generally no one wants to walk through that stuff. I know I hate it, but I know I will get some shooting if I follow those dogs through there. That is my opinion on dogs. You cant go wrong with a wirehair.

[radke22]

Dark 30,
Do you hunt ducks with your dog? Did you self train and if so what are some good tricks. I have a 9 month old english setter that will lock up on anything that moves(including ants) but i'm wooried he will not train to point on scent.nick

[Guest]

Years ago I had a Weimaraner in North Dakota that was fantastic for pheasants, sharptail grouse, Hungarian partridge, ducks, and YES, even rabbits when other game were closed. No dog could match that incredible Weimaraner.

Well, last September I brought home my 2nd Weimaraner. She's now 11 months old and seems every bit as savvy as her ancestor. I am looking for great things from her this fall -- trouble is, it's much harder to find access to land in central Minnesota. I may have to take a couple trips to North Dakota. I love it out there, anyway.

[DARK30]

Radke22....I use him for pheasants. Its getting tuff to find birds at least for me anyways but he loves to point water spiders down in the creek just as much!

I trained him to point with a pheasant wing on a fishing rod. Now I can't take him fishing cause he thinks hes supposed to get the lure!

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cast,cast,cast,cast......

[Bird Dog]

I would go with the Shorthair for Pheasants if I had to choose between the Two breeds but I am partial to hunting behind pointing Dogs I own two English Setters and I have been very happy with there performance I also prefer dogs with a lighter colored coat I seem to think that they run cooler than darker coated dogs Also if you plan to hunt out west the pointing dogs are the way to go
If I wanted ducks I would get a Lab Good Luck

[Guest]

Springers and Goldens! I have a female Springer for Grouse, Woodcock, Pheasies, and Sharpies. I have a male Golden Retriever for the birds listed above and...oh yeah DUCKS!

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Get wet, get muddy, get birds!

[MNice]

Springer here. i'm on my 3rd one and have been very pleased.

[Guest]

I gotta go with the shorthair on this one, only because I own 4 GSP's.I have a dad, the mom, and a litter made them. I kept one of the boys, and ended up with his brother as well.They are a blast to hunt with, and are a riot for home life as well. Nothing against labs, it's kinda hard to get lab pups out of two GSP's.

[tomahawk]

Bird hunting is all about my dogs and me getting out getting away and enjoying the great outdoors the Lord has blessed us with.If I didnt have dogs I would not hunt birds.Any breed of dog is capable of being your best friend,thus being the best bird dog in the world.If you are looking to bag numbers of Phesants the dog that dominates in the NSTRA is the GSP.So if you are looking to do well in upland competition go get yourselfe a nice GSP pup out of good field trial stock.If you are looking to have a nice relaxing afternoon in the field and numbers of birds doesnt really matter,just get Fido loaded into the pickup,grab a thermos of coffee and the old model 12,get down to your favorite woods and go thank your Maker you have the means to be out there and Enjoy your best friend and the beautiful countryside!

[Dan97]

I'm with Dark30 on this one. Although I have hunted with most of the "popular" upland breeds, my two English Setters are the best I've ever had. As Dark said, birds around here can be hard to come by. But for me, just watching my two girls canvas a piece of land is reward enough. Birds in the bag are a bonus.

Dan

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[Guest]

I've had labs all my life. In fact I just got another one, now 12 months old, I can't wait to take him out. Pointers are probably better for pheasant alone, but I like the versatility of a lab. I can do pheasant, grouse, ducks, and geese, and the dogs will love every minute of it. No whining And labs are also great family dogs.

Good Luck,
Rusty

[BLACKJACK]

Labs get my vote! For general all around hunting both upland and water you can't beat them! Plus their personality is super - friendly, loyal, happy go lucky.

[Guest]

For pheasant hunting its no contest... A pointer, doesnt have to be a gs but every dog has a great nose, labs flush they get on the scent there hot and there gone. Ive hunted both, mostly labs this will be my 3rd year with a shorthair and for PHEASANT HUNTING I will never go back to just a lab. ( I like to shoot birds not watch them fly away) My shorthair will stay on point as long as it takes me to get there and I always have a decent shot, If im going to pull the trigger im going to kill my bird not wing it because it was to far out. Ive shot far more birds in the past 3 years then I ever have and i will have to say its because of Buster my pointer..

Duck hunting my dog stays in the kennel but thats fine my uncles have plenty of labs to go round.

[USPENAMC]

I hunt with a Lab and he not only points and retrieves but he shoots them down too jk guys im a Dove hunting guy born and raised in south texas I would literaly step outside my house and shoot Dove and whitewing from our porch light up the BBQ pit and cook some birds never been pheaseant hunting would like to try but all my 12 gauges are in texas and dont know where to go any suggestions will be appreciated

[USPENAMC]

I hunt with a Lab and he not only points and retrieves but he shoots them down too jk guys im a Dove hunting guy born and raised in south texas I would literaly step outside my house and shoot Dove and whitewing from our porch light up the BBQ pit and cook some birds never been pheaseant hunting would like to try but all my 12 gauges are in texas and dont know where to go any suggestions will be appreciated

[strosh]

hey you all havent seen nothing yet till you see a lab trained to point..i get the best of both worlds having a 6 year old chocolate lab trained to point, its great!

[Early Riser]

The best dog I ever hunted pheasants with is our mut. She mostly hunted ruffed grouse but I brought her out to South Dakota twice and down around the Windom area once each fall. We got her for free. I only had to train her to come and the rest she just seemed to know. She is chesapeake, golden retriever and some other breed, maybe brittany. When we lived north of Grand Marais she chased bears away and was always outide defending her turf. I hunted with her almost every day during grouse season. She is now almost 14 but could hunt well in heavy cover until she was 12 with no arthritis or hip problems. This year I will take her out for a few short hikes and I know she will act young until she gradually tired. In her prime she was never sick, hurt or even needed a bath because she was impecable about how she groomed herself. She would be muddy or stinky one hour and then clean the next. She pointed some but the thing I'll never forget was her athletisism and stamina. She caught two uninjured pheasants on the ground in really thick stuff and even grabbed one out of the air as it was trying to lift off! All were roosters as luck would have it. She wasn't the most stylish or refined dog, but I loved watching her hunt and I guess that is a big part of it. She is almost 14 now and I always wished she hadn't been fixed before I got her. Sorry if I am going on and on but I am getting nostalgic about her now that she is in her twilight. I'll bet many of you folks feel the same way about your dogs. I hope I can find another dog that can hunt well but I realinze that no two are the same and that is probably a good thing. Enjoy your dogs they are great companions!

[Guest]

Some things to think about when chosing a pheasant dog-
First, most(seasoned, anyway) roosters will run b4 they fly. They will run right past and around a pointer. I have a buddy that has a great gs, and we have seen roosters run him ragged in an area that is the size of a cubicle, with 2 hunters kicking around, and we couldnt get the bird to fly.

To the guy who said that his labs would bust roosters wild, I had another buddy with a good lab, and it never(after its 1st season) bust a rooster wild, you have to train it to stay close, and we always got good shots at roosters.

How heavy is the cover you will be hunting?
For hunting around fencerows, trees, treelines, etc a pointer is great to watch, and a lab works good too. But get into the thickest, hairiest cover you can find (cattails, switchgrass up to your eyes, etc) you HAVE to hunt a flusher. I have seen many lost pointers in that type of cover, and it is almost impossible to bust a rooster and get a shot in that type of cover with a pointing dog. In the heaviest cover, you need a smaller, yet strong, flusher so you can get those birds to fly.

[Surface Tension]

Kdough, My thoughts exactly. The cover I hunt a pointer would be useless. When that rooster heads into the cattail slough I want my lab in hot persuit with me in there right behind. Both breeds are good at phesants but when its time to bust sloughs its a flusher and retriever you want. I dont like the idea of a pointer on point when the birds are running away either. Theres not that many phesants in Mn to let misses opertunities like that slip away. Whith a flusher your going to speed up your pace at times to stay with the dog, but better that then let the birds run away. My labs get on a sent and stay on it till that bird is airborn. Ive had them go 1/2 mile in the sloughs while on a sent. Ya its a lot of work but the reward it that much more.
You may think your pointer is the Cats meow, To Each His Own..............

[This message has been edited by Surface Tension (edited 09-19-2002).]