Best Grouse Dog

[Tinkhamtown]

Best Grouse dog

I’d like to cast one vote each for my two experienced grouse hunting machines. My field bred six-year-old male English springer spaniel and three year old male Pointing Chocolate Lab. A true joy to hunt with, as I see a third more birds and get all the birds I shoot. They are also good on woodcock, ducks, geese, pheasant, rabbit, and squirrel. And yes I will show you my dogs on birds!

Lab one vote.

Springer one vote.

Tink

[Shack]

I in a second vote for lab's. If you train them correct, they do very well. Here are some images from last season.

This grouse (due to the very wet cond. last fall) was shot over a 3' to 4' deep wetland. Dakota got it and posed for an image

[setterguy]

The best grouse dog is the one that hunts and performs up to your style and expectations. Everyone's style is different and so are people expectations. For some people seeing a few birds out every time is a success, for others, not having their limit pointed is a failure. If you find a dog that does what you want, hang onto it. They don't come around all the time.

[2thepointsetters]

The best grouse dog is the one that hunts and performs up to your style and expectations. Everyone's style is different and so are people expectations. For some people seeing a few birds out every time is a success, for others, not having their limit pointed is a failure. If you find a dog that does what you want, hang onto it. They don't come around all the time.

very well said.... Nobody will ever agree on the best breed.

[Tinkhamtown]

Vote Setterguy Vote, you sound like a liberal politician with all your explaining of what is and what ain’t. Bet you’re a fun guy to be around when on the rare occasion you miss a bird and your setters look at you and roll their eyes. I know I know you never miss either.

[Tinkhamtown]

Setterguy, 2thepointsetters would vote for you too.

2thepointsetters, May I be Half the man my Bird-Dog thinks I am

Me thinks on some days you are. Vote 2thepointsetters Vote.

Tink

[gspman]

For me it's a pointing dog. Preferrably one with speed, high style and intensity.

[gspman]

Tink, what do you think they're going to vote for? Beagles? They own setters for a reason. They like them. They produce birds and they do it in a way they like.

If you are thinking one dog is best for everything and for all people you are wrong. I can tell you there are only about 5 breeds I would own if I had the money and space. One would be a field trial springer and the others are pointing breeds. The rest just don't do it for me for one reason or another. They certainly make others happy though.

[Tinkhamtown]

May be they want them just for pets.

Hey I owned two beagle and they were just awesome on running pheasant never lost the track plus were easy to keep up with on moving birds. They were quit on birds unless they seen them but would not retrieve. Some of my bird dog friends would get mad when the beagles would out produce their dogs.

Not bad on rabbits either and I sure enjoyed the extended season plus the excitement generated when they were making noise while closing the circle with a rabbit.

Never hunted them on grouse though.

The grouse I hunt today are running and wild flushing birds which would take a textbook soft footed setter with birds on the brain and a 50-yard nose. I read about soft-footed walk behind setters that produce lots of grouse and would just like to know if they really exist today.

[Jameson]

ah heck, I vote for my pitbull/rotty mutt. She loves to grouse hunt. I am sure others dogs would run circles around her grousing, but she is my best grouse dog, beating out my lab/springer mutt.

Greatest thing is when she is done grouse hunting she will rip a black bear to shreds or lay at my feet keeping them warm .

[Tinkhamtown]

Thanks for the mixed breed vote. I've seen lots that do a wonderful job hunting and just flat get the job done. Proof you don't need a pedigree to be a good dog.

Best grouse dog

Mixed breed one vote

Springer one vote

Labs two votes

[Shack]

Quote:

The best grouse dog is the one that hunts and performs up to your style and expectations. Everyone's style is different and so are people expectations. For some people seeing a few birds out every time is a success, for others, not having their limit pointed is a failure. If you find a dog that does what you want, hang onto it. They don't come around all the time.

Very well said.

I have grouse hunted with several breeds of dogs and they all have great points. I voted lab, because that is what I own as of know. My grouse hunting consists mainly of a couple hours during the week, after work and by my self. Any dog is better than no dog. A trained dog is even better.

[setterguy]

As soon as we're done with this we can vote for:

1.)Best Song of all time

2.) Best Pizza in NY

3.) Best Brand of pick up truck

4.) Blondes or brunettes.

Of course I say setters, I've never seen a dog handle grouse the way they do. Not saying they're not out there, but I just haven't seen it.

[Shack]

We can throw Ford and Chevy into the mix also

[pointerspal]

Tink we need to show u how english setters can handle ruffies. Second I could not agree more with setter guy. That being said there is something about an animal when it is doing what it was born to do in in its natural setting. For example a springer busting through the cattails hot on a pheasant or a Lab sitting in a duck blind. My shorthair does very well on ruffies and I love hunting her on grouse but when hunting the young aspen that I normally find ruffies in the young setter I have is in its element. The shorthair is a very athletic dog but its not built for those tight areas. I'm not saying one is hands down better that the other, its just like asking an offensive tackle to play running back. But like setterguy says its all about what you want. have a good day.

[2thepointsetters]

Setterguy, 2thepointsetters would vote for you too.

2thepointsetters, May I be Half the man my Bird-Dog thinks I am

Me thinks on some days you are. Vote 2thepointsetters Vote.

Tink

I vote for you to read the forum policy before you start to single out more users. You like your lab and springer which is great and I dont knock them down. I like setters and I dont care what you or anybody elese thinks about them. Please dont turn the hunting dog forum into a waste of space.

[kentuck_ike]

A brittany can be very good in the grouse woods as, well.

[Harmonica Bear]

I hate to cast a vote but I will.

Setters - based on my experience, generally they just have the right temperament and disposition to handle ol' ruff.

[Tinkhamtown]

Tink we need to show u how English setters can handle ruffies. I think so too.

I don’t mean to ruffle any ones feathers just trying to have a good time by joshing with the setter people. We have a history. I take grouse hunting very very seriously as I get to hunt grouse thirty plus days a year (last week of September and all of October). I know Labs are breed for retrieving waterfowl and will hunt most anything well, Springer’s are breed for pheasants and will hunt most anything well, Setters are breed for grouse and I would like to know more about how well they handle grouse. Temperament do they bond with they owner and hunt well for the foot hunter, what is their range and quartering pattern when in the grouse woods, can I walk a trail in the woods and expect them to cover 30 to 50 yards on both sides, how far from the grouse are they when they point average-maximum-minimum, how long do they take to get to good hunter stage? What is the bump or flush to point rate on grouse? Well setters find and retrieve all shot birds grouse and woodcock and through and over water?

First year labs and Springer aren’t much good but with a couple years experience they can be great and at around 5 years are in their prime. I’ve read setters are slow developing but think the 5 years I read is a cop out and that they should be good and hunt able at 2 years old and progress to their prime.

Tink

[jbdragon17]

I shot grouse over my 9 month old Red Setters points. This will be our fourth season and I have never shot at so many birds before in my life.

[Tinkhamtown]

The BEST Grouse dog.

Seems like everybody agrees a good grouse dog is one you can hunt and shoot more grouse with than if you didn’t have a dog.

Some like pointing and some like flushing but they all add to the hunt and most of us wouldn’t be as successful bird hunting if we didn’t have our dogs. Their companionship, personalities, and pure enjoyment of hunting add immeasurably to the hunting day. The days we spend hunting with them makes us appreciate them and the birds we hunt beyond what most ordinary people can reasonably understand.

Good hunting this fall and good luck.

Tink

[brittman]

Plain and simple: The dog you are with is the best dog.

[Smoke20]

rocket scientists I tell you another problem solved

[Ely Lake Expert]

This pic doesn't completely apply here, but they are great grouse dogs and i felt like posting it.