Home Forums Birds & Dogs Upland Game German Shorthaired Pointers for Pheasants?

Lifes to short to hunt a dog without a tail... There is only one bird dog, a english pointer. My buddies hunt GSP and my biggest complaint is they don't cover enough ground for me. I know there are different lines that range more than others but for me there nothing like watching a english pointer covering a field.

Dink

personal preference.......ive got busted knees, dont want a dog that ranges a 1/4 mile.....some GSPs do, mine doesnt and i prefer it that way....

Tonk, my stuff is Rugerheim/Hustler/Palmglades predominantly, I breed for DC's. Jess & Jet are out of my Rugerheim/Palmglades bred bitch bred to DC Lowrys Eagle Ridge V Rugerheim. My new pup Nitro is out of the same bitch bred to a Hustler/Odyssey bred male.
My girl is a show CH & FT pointed & I promise you she is neither noisy nor hyper & one helluva bird dog. Jess is as quiet as they come & calm but a dynamo in the field & flat ass hauls. 2 of his litter sisters are also doing well in FT's, one is on Terry Chandlers string.
I agree straight show bred stuff leaves something to be desired for the most part, but there are a lot of nice dual bred GSPS out there. We are in deep snows here right now, but I will try to get a video of Jess this spring running, hope to finish his FC next year & start running Jet his sister who I had originally sold & took back (long story, not a good home) who is proving to be a lil dynamo herself.
I have no property, horse, nor quad & cannot keep birds where I live, mostly train off foot once or twice a week if lucky as I have to drive a ways after work, so I am quite proud of all the winning my guys have done field and show & I handle myself in all venues.(Jesse won 5 shows and 5 FT's in a row this spring)
Havent run them once the last 2 weeks, been working from 8AM to 1-1:30 AM almost every day - I own/run a grooming shop & help process deer eves, our rifle season now & very busy, working 100 hrs a week.(we cut deer Saturdays & Sundays & I work at my shop Sundays also -never work there Saturdays so I can hunt, LOL!!)

I sent you a PM of the dogs in my kennel and the breeding they do bare! They have back to back to back "national field trial champions" and hall of famers backing them up on their AKC Pedigree. It just doesn't get any better than that for a fact.

Each year as you very well know I hope, 45 of the top trainers around the nation compete for the #1 field trial dog honors. This is done at Eureka Springs Arkansas. Now ever dog competing for that title is a FC or Field Champion being shown by a Professional Trainer.

My stud Major was pick of he litter by Mr. Randy Coffelt in Missouri, he and his wife won $1,500 dollars because that litter produced the national 2yr old Futurity Winner that year in 2006 "FC Wild Feathers Face The Music". They also campained the titled dog known as "NFC Magnums Touch Of Gold".

GSPs, on the whole, are great hunting dogs. Most I've known tend to work fairly close and have great noses.

But a GSP as a family dog? You've heard the expression, "Bull in a China shop?"

Kentuck, now what do you call fairly close in yardage?
I get to see a fair share of the breed hunting Upland game and most of those dogs are running 65 to 100 yards out in front of the hunter.

I have a couple of dogs that will range from say 65 to 175 yards if I let them. Then there is Tara who will roam out to 100 plus from the start and wind up 250 yards out coverning ground. If in a very large field (500 yds) I will send out 3 dogs to find those birds. Duke will stay close in at 45 yards to 70 yards, Clint will jump out to 80 yards right off and slide further to 125 yards. Big Jake will take off and be at 150 yds in a blink of an eye and whirl on out to 250 yards! So we get a good idea if there are birds there are not and don't waste time.

What do I call fairly close? It all depends on what you're hunting and where you're hunting. I'll readily agree there are times and places where a big-running dog is a plus, but I hunt a lot of California quail and mountain quail in thick cover where a big-running dog can be detrimental -- and the last thing you want is an out-of-control dog bumping coveys far out of range. Once scattered, they have a disconcerting habit of disappearing like Houdini. I like dogs working close for this type of hunting, and so do most of the guys who regularly hunt these birds and/or train dogs to do so. Other birds, other places... different story.

that describes Jake pretty well....dont care, he is happiest with the family so its where he spends alot of his time....aint the best house dog but would rather i put anything he can hurt high up and have him hanging out with us....

*laughin*

Man, that's brave of you. I have seen the damage they can do.

he is kenneled when we arent home.....he isnt left to his own devises in the house.....but if we are home though he gets to be out with the family.....no worse than having a 3 year old tearing around the house

my "indoor" GSP

I have had, or had in the family 5 "indoor" GSP's. None were nearly as destructive as my current 2 year old English Pointer.

My GSP is a house dog, when we're in the house. When visitors show up she runs around like a crazy dog, but when its just us all she wants to do is rest her head on our knee or sleep on her bed.

Kentucky I have 3 and all live in the house. We kennel them when we are gone, not because they would destroy anything but because they will make a beeline for our bed which they are not allowed to be on when we are home.
I love this breed and hope I never have to be without a few.

Kentucky Windage.....I don't really know what all GSP dogs you have had in your home but I can assure that our dogs are better than most peoples children and are trained to those DO's & DONT'S.

Now as matter of fact I just sold a young 16 week old pup today and those people remarked right off the bat how calm and pleasant she seemed in the house. The pup lives in the kennel behind the house with it's sipplings. The only dog in our string that would not be ok for the house is a bitch out of "show bloodlines", yes some of those are a bit crazy and not suited perhaps for some homes. However please lets not through the entire breed into a catagory with your blanket statement sir!!!





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Great thread. Brings back lots of fond memories of all our GSPs. I have been without for about 6yrs now and I miss him.

Heres my IMO. Not necessarily about GSP's, but pointing dogs in general when it comes to pheasants. GSP's, Brits, EP's, and ES's, can all be great pheasant dogs. I prefer them for pheasants 90% of the time. However, if you hunt a lot of late season wild roosters you simply can't touch a lab or a springer (imo one of the best pheasant dogs you can get). Late season roosters give pointing dogs fits, even the best pointing dogs with lots of wild rooster exeperience. If your going to hunt early in the year, hunt released birds, or birds that don't get much pressure, then get a pointing dog. If you going to hunt late season roosters that have been hunted pretty hard, then get a close working flushing dog. Late season roosters are what good, close working flushing dogs are perfect for.............. BTW.. Im a hardcore pointing dog fan, and don't really like flushing dogs, but they are wonderful in the right conditions.

These were all very good and informative replies.

Someone may have posted it prior in this thread, but "Timberline" also known as Bill Krenz who started this thread passed away unexpectedly in early December of a heart attack. He is missed by many. Here is the link to his obituary http://obits.dignitymemorial.com/di...&pid=147132109&mid=4476245&=

Maybe he's met my GSP's that have passed on and will take a liking to them!

My brother raised shorthairs for years and they were absolutely awsome quail/pheasant dogs,by the way who is the cat on the first post with the glasses on as it looks like a member of ZZ Top......

my wife having some fun with our indoor GSP......his "Jake Be Good Collar" is on cause ive got 3 feet of snow in the back yard and was taking him out in front of the house to run up and down the plowed street and hadnt taken it off yet.....