grouse hunting with dogs?

[Jedcote50]

I had a rare natural born bird dog in a golden retriever, didn't need much training but a lot of patience in the first few seasons, but once he was 5 yrs old he knew what I wanted him to do. He was a great family dog too. Nothing better than hunting over a dog. He still had the desire in his 12th year but his eyes, ears and stamina were gone.
I use a 410 SxS when hunting tight trails and roads but don't hesitate to pull out the 12 ga O/U when looking for blues in the open.

[Foxton Gundogs]

Get a dog that's big enough for the job though.
When I was a teenager I had a small female Cocker Spaniel that just
loved to bird hunt. She worked like a pro finding and flushing grouse
and pheasants for me, but some of the downed birds were too big and
heavy for her to drag out of the thick stuff, especially blackberry patches.
She would sit by the bird barking and whining until I hacked my way in.
She was excellent at finding them though, and although sometimes it was
a lot of work and pain for me, I never lost a bird when she was on the job.

Not very often you and I disagree Lew but this will be one of those times. It's not the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog. My 32 lb Springer retrieves everything from quail to Canadas. Sure the goose retrieves are not very pretty but she gets the job done. The big thing is they have to learn how to handle the bigger birds and it doesn't come over night. Do lots of training with bigger bumpers and dead birds. Below is a typical Foxton Springer bitch in the 30-40 lb range handling a snow goose.

Now back on track. There is nothing like shooting upland over a flushing dog(sorry pointer people JMO) to watch your dog go birdy and wait in anticipation of the flush is second to none. A 12 ga is definitely not overkill good 7.5 upland loads works for ruffies, spruce and ptarmigan but I like 6s for blues and pheasant and 9s for quail. My favorite thing though is grouse and quail with my 20 ga Fox double. The bottom line however is what ever your choice of dog and gun, it is an experience like none other.

[Big Lew]

Not very often you and I disagree Lew but this will be one of those times. It's not the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog. My 32 lb Springer retrieves everything from quail to Canadas. Sure the goose retrieves are not very pretty but she gets the job done. The big thing is they have to learn how to handle the bigger birds and it doesn't come over night. Do lots of training with bigger bumpers and dead birds. Below is a typical Foxton Springer bitch in the 30-40 lb range handling a snow goose.

Now back on track. There is nothing like shooting upland over a flushing dog(sorry pointer people JMO) to watch your dog go birdy and wait in anticipation of the flush is second to none. A 12 ga is definitely not overkill good 7.5 upland loads works for ruffies, spruce and ptarmigan but I like 6s for blues and pheasant and 9s for quail. My favorite thing though is grouse and quail with my 20 ga Fox double. The bottom line however is what ever your choice of dog and gun, it is an experience like none other.

Lol, you're absolutely right Jim. Dogs the size of your Springers and
smaller make great bird dogs even for waterfowl. My dad had a black
and white Spaniel he used for both upland birds and ducks. I was
referring to dogs the size of my little female Cocker Spaniel that might
have weighed 15-20 lbs soaking wet. Her mouth was too small to grab
a grouse by the breast (she could do so with band tailed pigeons) so she
had to drag them by a wing. I didn't try her on ducks as she wasn't a
strong swimmer.
On the plus side...because she was really small for her breed, had a very
pretty face and big white bloomers, boy did she attract the girls to my 1950
dodge special at senior high school, lol!

[FirePower]

[QUOTE=Foxton Gundogs;1672959]Not very often you and I disagree Lew but this will be one of those times. It's not the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog. My 32 lb Springer retrieves everything from quail to Canadas. Sure the goose retrieves are not very pretty but she gets the job done. The big thing is they have to learn how to handle the bigger birds and it doesn't come over night. Do lots of training with bigger bumpers and dead birds. Below is a typical Foxton Springer bitch in the 30-40 lb range handling a snow goose.

Now back on track. There is nothing like shooting upland over a flushing dog(sorry pointer people JMO) to watch your dog go birdy and wait in anticipation of the flush is second to none. A 12 ga is definitely not overkill good 7.5 upland loads works for ruffies, spruce and ptarmigan but I like 6s for blues and pheasant and 9s for quail. My favorite thing though is grouse and quail with my 20 ga Fox double. The bottom line however is what ever your choice of dog and gun, it is an experience like none other.[/QUOTE]

Spot on sir, a thrill everyone should experience.

[1/2 slam]

Foxton, I'm a Pointer guy and absolutely love watching them work. That being said I'm not a dog snob. I like watching flushers work as well.

[Foxton Gundogs]

Foxton, I'm a Pointer guy and absolutely love watching them work. That being said I'm not a dog snob. I like watching flushers work as well.

Agreed if we all had the same preferences it would be a dull world for sure. A well trained pointer is a thing to behold for sure.

[SPEYMAN]

A well trained dog of any breed or discipline is a treat to behold. Have owned both Labradors and a Pudlepointer, flusher and pointer, each had it's own.