Ok, I'm a guy that's had lots of dogs, and hunted over many others, over the last 45 years, hunted lots of waterfowl and chukars with all of them. Here's my experiences: First, I've only had one Lab, and won't ever have another. Not saying there are some great dogs, but mine was the worst hunter we've ever owned and the biggest pain in the rear of all the dogs we ever had. Yet, one dog is not typical of anything. I've hunted over some decent labs, but none that were exceptional. Just my experience, though.
Chessies are a different breed and trained diligently, as such. They demand to be worked. They are oily of coat and don't do hot weather well. I've had 5, though, and every one was different. They "can be" big and heavy, my largest about 95# at peak hunting condition. However, I've also had a few females that were in the 70# range, as well as one 80# male. My big male was the BEST dog I've ever hunted over, bar none - trained to voice, whistle and hand signals, great temperament with people (though not so much other dogs, as has been mentioned). However, in the 6000-7000 foot lava rock where our chukars live, his weight would eat up his pads if I tried to hunt more than one day without giving a day to rest. Pheasants we hunted only on the reserves and his pads were never a problem, and often, getting them out of the brush, his size was a help. With my smallest dogs, I would use a little "tough pad" every morning and evening, and even hunting a week strait every day in the lava rocks, was no problem. However, they were exhausted every night. Yet, if you are only hunting on reserves, I can't see that being a problem. Their noses were as good or better than most the dogs I've been over, and like you, I like a retriever.
However, day in and day out, our Brittanies (1), English Setters (1) and Vizlas (2) would cover every day with energy to spare, even when it was indian summer weather. Never a problem with pads because of light weight. The Brit was more ornery than all but one of my Chessies. The lab, setter and vizlas were all just too friendly and wanted to visit all the neighbors (even though we live in the country) and would have let anyone into our house. We live where multitudes of coyotes and the occasional lion might be around; I also want might wife to feel safe when I'm not home because the sheriff is a good 30 minutes away. Our last two females Chessies both filled the bill perfectly for me.
