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Bird Dog suggestions

I have a friend that has recently acquired a bird dog. He wants to take him afield for both pheasants and waterfowl. He is interested in using an outfitter in the Chesapeake area for waterfowl, and the midwest for pheasants.

Not an archery related thread, I realize.....but any outfitter recommendations would be appreciated, as long as they would allow a hunter to bring their own dog.

Rulebreaker. Haha. Would he be interested in a public land put-and-take bird hunt? We have those in Illinois. Not really my kinda thing. SD would probably be best for real birds.

Jake, he wouldn't necessarily need an outfitter here in SD for pheasants. Plenty of public land and if he goes late in the season it is not crowded and there's a lot of birds to be had. Many of the outfitters here are using released birds anyway, you can shoot a pen raised pheasant in any state. When it comes to upland hunting nothing beats a late season public land pheasant hunt in SD over a good bird dog.

...On a related note, if he timed his hunt right he could just do a combo hunt for waterfowl and pheasant here or in ND. Hard to beat a limit of mallards in the morning and a limit of roosters in the afternoon.

check out Primland in Virginia.

Hard to beat the Dakotas for pheasants. I've heard on the eastern part of the state(s) is unreal for duck hunting, although I've never done that myself. If you're hunting private ground, be prepared for a little sticker shock; 10 years ago I heard the price was $150/gun/day and now more like $250. I've mostly hunted behind labs and a few things I'd advise is to teach hand signals 1st thing; they pick up the concept pretty quick so it doesn't really take that much time. I also teach mine to retrieve decoys so I don't have to wear waders (which I hate). Buy the book "water dogs" by Richard Wolters, he explains how to teach these things very quickly. For upland hunting, I put dog boots on them; their feet are usually the 1st thing that wears out (this is especially true, if they don't get a lot of miles on a regular basis). It's been years since I bought dog boots, but the best I found were disposable boots made in Alaska for the sled dogs. I bought something like 200 pairs and I recall it was not particularly expensive. For pointers and thinner skinned dogs, I also use a skid plate type vest to protect their underside (not as big of a deal on the labs who have relatively thick skin).

I'd also get a good dog 1st aid kit; it's sometimes pretty amazing how bad those dogs mess themselves up trying to get birds. GunDogSupply.com is the best place I've found for anything dog related.

I love hunting behind a good dog, I hope your buddy's dog has the fire! have fun.

Did I miss what kind of dog?

Type of dog was never mentioned....my friend is looking for ideas. I don't think that dog type will make a difference at this juncture.

Anything within a 60 mile radius of Webster SD will have all the bird hunting anyone could ask for. Both waterfowl and upland birds. Both private and public lands.

Portugeese water dog will do it all and they are hypoallergenic.

Bull Mastiff

I have been running yellow lab and golden retriever mix for 4 generations now. You get the best of both worlds with the run through a wall mentality of the lab and the calmness of the Golden. In the picture the white one is 9 and the redish is 2. These are also family sleep on the bed type pets.

I have been running yellow lab and golden retriever mix for 4 generations now. You get the best of both worlds with the run through a wall mentality of the lab and the calmness of the Golden. In the picture the white one is 9 and the redish is 2. These are also family sleep on the bed type pets.

My Frank dog was busy this day. He is a good water dog and loves pheasants. Check out small Munsterlanders. Good on water and land.

Frank does well with big geese also. He growls at em.

I have used labs for years on duck,geese and pheasants but hunting pheasants with a lab can be a challenge if they are not trained to hunt close. They are a flushing dog and will scent chase a bird out of range if not trained well to stay in close especially in short-med stubble, not so much in thick cattails.

Late season pheasants will run and flush out of range so a pointing dog might be the best answer to that time of year.

Need to head to SD this year for a late season hunt for sure.

Good luck. My best, Pau

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