Perhaps relevant to what you are pursuing:
I recall a comparison (don't know how valid) that a weimaraner tended to stay w/in 600 meters while a viszla tended towards 400 meters. Never head similar comparison to GSPs.
Sweet Jeezus! Have you ever actually hunted over dogs? If I had one that ranged like that, I'd trade it for a fat 3-legged Lab!
This is a somewhat typical Campfire discussion: A guy asks about two breeds and others start suggesting Springers, Setters, etc. The same thing happens with various firearm discussions, but it's even more understandable with dogs, because they can easily steal our hearts. In my case, it's the Vizsla that's stolen mine.
I'm on my third female; they've all had slightly different personalities, but they've been wonderful hunters and companions. I've hunted (along with my Vizslas) with three different GSH. One was a guy I bumped into on public land that had a young female the same age as mine. He struck me as a "dog man" and we agreed to hunt together to give the dogs experience in hunting with other dogs. All we put up were hens, but watching the dogs work together, honor each other's points, and having fun was wonderful. Wherever he and his dog are, I hope they're doing well. The other GSH belongs to a close friend. Abby is now 16 years old and mostly blind, but she's still happy to see me and I'm happy to see her. She had the makings of a good dog with a good nose, but she never got worked and trained enough when she was young and had a tendency to run wild. The third GSH belongs to a friend of the last friend and is a beautiful young dog with a marginal owner. He sent her to a trainer, but I don't think he communicated very well. The dog has a lot of potential which I hope is met. (I know that people have different schedules, but I've really enjoyed training my own dogs and watching them develop.)
Which is part of the reason I went with the breed I did: I had heard Vizslas were easy to train, and they have been. Pretty much the only commands I've trained have been "Whoa" and "Heel". Ten minute sessions a couple of times a day have worked, along with a little "wing on a string" play and fetching. They've all just naturally seemed to pick up hand signals. The latest one is probably the poorest retriever (unless she's hunting with other dogs, in which case everything that falls from the sky belongs to her and gets brought to me). I've heard that GSH can be hard-headed, but I don't know how true that is. I've heard that Vizslas can be "soft": I know all I've ever needed was to raise my voice and sound stern. I don't think the Vizsla does well with long hours in a kennel. They want to be with their humans and there's a reason they're called "velcro dogs". Probably the same is true with the GSH or any other breed; the more time they spend with their human buddies, the happier they are.... Unless your a real [bleep], and I think there's more crappy dog owners than there are crappy dogs. Oh yeah: Vizslas are amazingly odor-free..... unless they decide they need a little "cover scent". That's when their short hair and lack of an undercoat is nice.
If you find a good breeder, preferably with a chance to see both the parents, and spend time training, playing with and exercising the puppy, I think you would be happy with either breed.
