Upland Hunting - General

Highlander

The Strong, Silent Type
Lads, how is the season coming about?

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I spent thee days in hellish cold in upstate NY searching for a Ruffed Grouse.
Only saw one... in a private land. However, my dog did recover two killed deer. All hams and good parts were cut and the rest was left there. The skin and heads were left too. Probably poachers...
I took one leg for her a reword. Her favorite fetching toy now.
This gave me an idea of starting her on blood tracking and big game recovery.

Dl1.JPG
 

redthies

Renaissance Redneck
I have been missing out I see. Not paying attention to the dark corners of ExPo. I have 2 Weimaraners and we had an epic season this year. Lots of birds around in my “spot”. We primarily chase ruffed grouse, but got on some blues as well. Went to Alberta to chase sharptails, but access there is horrible. Almost all public lands on the prairie are under grazing lease, and you can’t set foot on a lease without permission. The leaseholder cannot deny you permission, but as we discovered, they can keep you off by simply not answering their phones! Jerks...

But we still found some beautiful spots, and scratched out a bird or two. Our BC hunts were far more successful with a limit or two thrown in.











 

yfarm

Observer
First time this south Texas vizsla had ever pheasant hunted, wonderful dog belongs to a friend in San Antonio.
 

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Highlander

The Strong, Silent Type
Had unsuccessful goose hunt this morning. None of them landed close to me. I didn’t have decoys or blind. I was sitting in the bush. Maybe that’s why.
It’s such a heavy equipment hunt, but in the same time absolutely exciting and addictive.
 

PirateMcGee

Expedition Leader
Anyone have experience with Pudelpointers? I've had Golden Retrievers my entire life. My current is over 15 years old and I'm starting to look at puppies. I'm really torn between another Golden and the Pudelpointer.
 
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Highlander

The Strong, Silent Type
@PirateMcGee

I have not owned them but I have seen them at NAVHDA training clinic.

Here is the thing with Pudelpointer.

The PP is a legendary breed. If you ask me the best among other wirehaired breeds.
It was used as a model dog when the creator of NAVHDA, Bodo, was creating the rules for that testing system.
Bob Farries, extremely well known PP kennel owner said that.

BUT... (and this important one)

In past 10-12 years they have become very popular and there are many puppy mills. The popularity is not always good.
There are breeders that absolutely should not be closer to any dogs as I was told...
They produce light framed, poor bone, extremely slick dogs with deranged mental soundness that won't quit barking.

You absolutely have to do your homework before picking up a puppy.
If you get them right you'll get an amazing dog, but you will have work hard.

I assume you are a waterfowl hunter on top of the upland as well.
So, you will have to see the NAVHDA scores, preferably both parents should have a UT test passed, especially in the water work section, obedience and collaboration.
I would not look at any dog that has less then a 3 in those categories. You can find that on NAVHDA website.

Ones you've done online research start calling or emailing the kennels ask question about how the potential parents behave at home, in the field, in the car, do they have a switch, how good are they with kids, how easy was to train them, what was he traying achieve with this mating...
If he/she ignores you, well too bad for him.

Also, you need to pay attention to the physical quality of the parents and the hair as well (probably for all wirehair dogs).
A PP should not be as thin as English Pointer or field trail GSP, It should be standing on strong frame, good bones, noble head and must a deep chest.
If you duck hunt you should get the too slick ones or too woolly ones.
I would read the breed standard to familiarize yourself with the physicals characteristics.

You have a few options

1. There are two competing societies of PP, The Pudelpointer Club and the Pudelpointer Alliance.
The members of those clubs produce good dogs, in some cases excellent dogs.
Keep in mind that these two societies don't get along so you will have to talk to them separately.
They have the breeders listed on the website.

2. The German club, VPP-GNA. The original Pudelpointes. I belong to very similar system / club so I am 100% biased.
This club is based and run on the German hunting testing & breeding system where all dogs are evaluated on hunting abilities, physicals characteristics and mental soundness.
If a dog fails to meet those requirements be it in the field, water, game recovery and physicals characteristics it will NEVER be a part of the breeding stock.
What you get here is a 100 -120 years old uninterrupted hunting genetics, plus correct physicals and mental evaluation. The Germans ain't messing around.
The problem here is that it is a very small club and the breeds might be picky who they sell their pups to.
The most likely they will ask you to run your pup in a puppy test... I know it sounds scary but it is absolute fun and not really hard at all.
(They use the test data to build up statistics for the heritable abelites of the parent dogs)
My vote goes to this club.

You also have a few other kind of options.

A. Get a full brown German Wirehaired Pointer that looks like PP.
You can look into German Wirehaired Pointer Alliance or VDD-GNA. The latter is 95% the same is the VPP-GNA in terms of rules and breeding requirements.
I am also biased with VDD.
One thing with wirehairs is that you will enter in a cult.. :D

B. Check out German Longhair Pointers... I am 1000% biased here because as I have that breed :D
It looks like a strong Setter but hunts more like GWP and they are just as sweet as Lab or Golden.
Check out our website. There are good info. The club is identical to the VPP and VDD in terms or testing and breeding requirements.


One thing you need to keep in mind is that, and this is regardless the breed you end yo with, there will be a big learning cure when it comes with versatile hunting dogs and a lot more work than the narrow specialized dogs such as labs. They will take more time and energy and... money.
You will have to learn how to deal with dogs that have been selected for intelligence, pattern recognition and big high drive... all in the same time.
You will have to learn thing you had no idea before.
At least this was my experience.
Good luck!
 
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Anyone have experience with Pudelpointers? I've had Golden Retrievers my entire life. My current is over 15 years old and I'm starting to look at puppies. I'm really torn between another Golden and the Pudelpointer.

Very good info from Highlander! I’m a NAVHDA member with a brace of GWPs. If you haven’t owned a versatile hunting dog, you’re in for a treat. You’re also going to be surprised at the over the top prey drive in these breeds. I do recommend contacting a NAVHDA chapter in your area, and if possible attend some training days to observe the different breeds. NAVHDA training is sneaky, the dogs have all they need instinctivel, the training is to teach you how to bring it out. All of the breeds become members of the family. They enjoy a comfy bed by the woodstove, but they all need a lot of daily exercise.

If you’re a foot hunter, like most of us, I’d recommend finding a breeder who breeds for closer working dogs. I keep my dogs in a radius of 100 yards when hunting and training. Field trial dogs will often range many times that that distance.

Good luck finding your pup, and do join NAVHDA and a local chapter. You and your dog will benefit from their experience.
 

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