Pointers vs. Flushers: Who Really is The King of the Uplands?

By Tony J. Peterson – MeatEater

Bird dog choice hinges on a lot of factors.

How skilled are you at training? What environments do you tend to hunt in? What’s your quarry of choice? The answers to these questions, and about a million more, can usher you one way or another on the path to a specific breed.

Upland hunters all have their reasons for going with one dog breed over another, but the group as a whole is generally split into two factions. On one side, you have the pointer folks, and the other side, you have the diehard flusher fans.

There are some stereotypes on both sides that will get me into trouble if I point them out, but I’m going to anyway. You can think of pointer owners sort of like the flyfisherman who wouldn’t be caught dead with a barb on his hook. He doesn’t take a trophy photo without his rod clenched in his teeth, and if you tried to offer him a domestic beer instead of a microbrewery craft beer, he’d probably look at you as if you just took a dump on his rug.

The flusher owner will take that domestic beer, and about 13 more, while he tells you stories about the good old days of high school football. He’ll fish for the same trout, but with a spinning rod and a dozen nightcrawlers. Some of those trout will end up on the grill, and if you look down on that and mention it to his face, he might throw a quick jab at your schnoz.

All jokes aside, there are plenty of things to consider when choosing between pointers and flushers. One of the most obvious (and most important), is to think about hunting style. CLICK HERE TO READ ENTIRE ARTICLE