Who has hunted with dogs and what breed do you use? Does your dog pickup ducks as well? I have never really ever done this. Sort of once but that is another story.

I don't have a hunting dog at this time, but I used to have labs that I hunted with. Only for waterfowl. I have hunted sharp-tail grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus) and ring-necked pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) behind friend's springer spaniels.

I think there is precious little in the Hunting world that compares to hunting with a well-trained dog, be it for upland birds or waterfowl. It is one of the true pleasures of life in my opinion. By the same token, hunting with a poorly trained dog is real close to hell on earth.

Paul

The other story when you talk of untrained dogs is this. When me and a couple of friends were 16 years old. We were hunting upland birds  we saw an old guy with his dog the dog was a half mile ahead of him pointing then running the dog cam to us and pointed. We shot the bird and the dog was off at full speed we were fast enought to keep up with him. Lol. Now I am the old guy.

I don't think my three and a half legged bulldog would work to well! Lol.

I own a German Shorthair. She's great on the point but I've never hunted ducks with her. The breed isn't exactly a duck hunting breed as they aren't built as thick for hunting ducks over water. I fee up with Labs. They are the best IMO dog for all types of bird hunting from dove to upland game, ducks and geese. Good luck.

The old bulldog died last week. I am wondering about an English setter.

I`ve had both English and Irish setters.  English was far better then the Irish, great for upland birds. I`ve hunted ducks  and pheasents with  Chesapeaks ( sic ) and Labs.  Springers for quail.  
 
  Just darn hard to pass up a good lab for everything.  They are smart and just don`t quit..........   plus they have the best mentality for everything.

American Irish setters suffered the curse of "popularity", and were bred into idiocy. I had no idea what extraordinary dogs Irish Setters were until I saw a pair of them in England. Holy Cow! It was difficult to tell they were the same breed!

Can't argue with the Lab sentiment. I owned them for most of my life. I love 'em. However, now that I don't hunt upland birds or waterfowl anymore, I got a Scottish Terrier when my last Lab died. That Scotty is a RIOT! But the only hunting they do is for critters that "go to ground": Badgers, rabbits, etc.

Paul