Woodcock Hunting with Gordon Setters - Project Upland Magazine with Stephen Faust
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- Опубліковано 5 лют 2025
- Stephen Faust has grown up following hunting dogs in the pursuit of wild birds. This story takes us on his journey as a breeder of Gordon Setters, lover of American woodcock, and professional hunting guide. From Minnesota to North Carolina his pursuit for this migrating upland game bird is about more than shooting. It is about the love of a lifestyle and the art of wingshooting with pointing dogs.
Read the cover story from the Fall 2022 issue of Project Upland Magazine: projectupland....
Presented by
@eukanubasportingdog1566 : www.eukanubasp...
and Upland Gun Company: uplandguncompa...
Learn more about woodcock hunting: projectupland....
Learn more about the Gordon Setter: projectupland....
My now 93yo Father LOVED 🥰 His GORDONS
I’ve heard All the Stories Every Season ………….
❤️
Beautiful country, beautiful bird, beautiful dog
These Gordon setters are just gorgeous and perfect
One of the very best videos I have seen. Gordons are rare here in the UK. I did a bronze sculpture for a client of a Gordon pointing on one base and a couple of red grouse on another in some heather so they could display them together.
Those Gordon Setters are phenomenal dogs. Thanks for the video.
There’s a certain calm to his voice and demeanour. I guess that’s what been in the forest and connected with nature every day does to you.
A life in the forest with dogs and a wonderful home life makes one a happy person.
Great video!!! Upland hunting has been a huge passion of mine since I was a kid. I used to get off the school bus as a kid grab my BB gun and go sit in a old abandoned apple orchard and sit on the ground and wait for them to come in. They would land in the tree’s then fly down to the ground when they felt the coast was clear. Then I would sniper them with a head shot. Then upgraded to busting brush with buddies with shotguns as I got older for grouse and woodcock. Once I had my own place and could afford it I got my first bird dog, a German Shorthair. Hunting upland birds with a dog is my favorite thing on this earth to do. There’s nothing like taking a walk in the woods with your best friend, watching all those natural instinct’s and training come to fruition. I’ve had 3 dogs now and lost my last one a couple years ago. I’m now in a situation where I can get another one this spring. I can not wait to get it, and start training for next fall.
The sound of that brass bell brings back memories of wonderful times walking behind a big GWP. He was a machine in the woods. He knew better than me where the birds were.
Fantastic! No better dog in my opinion. Love my Gordon!
I agree wholeheartedly!!
This one hit me right in the feels. Writing with tears in my eyes. My 12 year old English Setter took the walk down Rainbow Road three days ago on 9/6. I harvested many a Woodcock and Grouse over her points in and around Remer, MN over the years.
Stephen's philosophy and experience is spot on; there is something truly special about a beautiful point, the connection, the dog work, the cover / terrain, the company. It's the process, not quantity in the game bag. Perfect timing, excellent video. Thank you!
We feel for you. It feels so unfair how much shorter lives they live. It is such a difficult yet rewarding experience. ❤
Please accept my condolences. God bless, Rob
Dogs give you the best days of your life....
And one of the worst.
Thank you, and thank you for posting your vídeo!
Amazing forests, amazing woodcocks and of course amazing Gordon Setters,, that''s quite a scenario!
I'm writting you from North of Portugal and I hunted woodcocks with Gordon Setters but since they passes away I've been hunting with English Setters due Gordon Setters are not easy to find....
Here in Europe we don't see those English Setters with the "12 o'clock" tails "our" setters have an phenomenal move, fast and powerfull and at the same time so fluid "cat alike" move, so stealthy and natural guiding with most amazing and almost artistic way of pointing...
Congratulations for your amazing dogs and keep posting.
Beautiful dog work . Gordon’s are amazing
I walk every day in the last native forest in New York City, I love the woods, the birds, the sounds, the smells, I used to have a dog when I walked, your video has made me realize it’s time for a new dog, thank you, great job !
Wonderful memories of time spent behind a GWP finding Woodcock.
This is amazing talent from The trainer and the dogs!! Brilliant!!!
These dogs are so utterly IN TUNE with their instincts. As a human being I can't think of a better goal then to be so incredibly IN TUNE with mine😊
My son and I hunted with Stephen Faust, at PRGC, in 2018.
He's not only a terrific guide, but a wonderful and entertaining companion in the woods.
My son has a 4-year-old Field Type Gordon.
We are looking forward to the upcoming season.
That closing clip with the dog pointing the bird in cover is so wonderful. The look of the dog, especially his eyes, as the bird takes flight - just loved it! Thank you.
The passion in bird dogs is tough to beat!
I was going to say exactly the same thing! Thank you for this video showing these wonderful dogs work.
Same. That last shot brought a tear to my eye. I can't wait to get beck out there with my pup!
That last scene was the perfect ending to this film.
Thank you for another great video!
Stephen is a top notch guide and his dogs are incredible to watch work!!!!
Really nice work on this one.
Thanks for posting! I was owned by a Gordon for 12 years. She was the best friend I've ever had, with a choke bore nose to boot! 😄
We hope this brought back some happy memories of her.
@@ProjectUpland oh, yes!
Damn I’m glad I’ve learned about this man. I pursued cycling early in my life, work as a chef now and in the last two years have fallen in love with waterfowl hunting and quickly becoming a love to of all hunting.
Nicely done and kudos for showcasing the Gordon’s! I’m on my second and have shot wild ring necks, Huns and Sharptails in ND. I’m a SW PA guy and we’re sure missing the glory days when grouse and Woodcock were not hard to find. Agree that the Gordon Setter has a good memory, amazing really. Thanks for great vid.
I really enjoyed watching this video and will be out with my Stephen Faust Gordon Gus, chasing woodcock in about a week.
What an amazing video. Being a passionate Gordon woodcock hunter, i really love this. Gordon setter is the best hunting companion ♥
In love with this video! Love my Gordon!
That was superb. Lovely to see the dogs as the centrepiece. Thanks for posting🐾🐾
The dogs may be the best part!
Beautiful video, and even more beautiful nature and the dogs.
Great video. Totally agree with Stephen's hunting/training approach and philosophy. Well done.
Now those are good bird dogs very nice
This guy has got it nailed! 👍 loves life's!
Incredibile dog work… I totally agree on your training methods on real wild animals. I’ve been a woodcock hunter in my 20’s and 30’s in Italy with English setters… and one thing I can say is that the feeling between a bird hunter and his dog 🐶 is something incomparable!! Congrats for your video and your words !!!
It is an incrediable experince
As long as they retrieve them after the shot.....nice dogs.
Nice story, and good dog work from a fellow Gordon owner
Great video and dog work! Love the old hammer gun!
Love this story
I came across this video before I bought my first bird dog. And I was thinking Gordon Setter. This video solidified my decision. My pup is 15 months old now.
You guys do such a terrific job showcasing this wonderful endeavor.
Thank you! We are very passionate about the dogs and birds.
Setters were the first hunting dog I owned. I started with them. I've always had soft spot for them in my heart. However, I have ended up liking duck and rabbit hunting so setters become a bit of hard to train for those tasks. I switched the breeds but I still went with a breed that looks like a Setter but is more versatile, The Langhaar. They have lots of Gordons in their ancestry and have very similar look and morphology, but they are more versatile and can do the duck hunt and blood tracking as well. The Setters led me there and I'll be for every be grateful of them. And some day I'll have them again.
You're my boy, Blue!
I miss my Gordan, such a wonderful breed/ dog.
Love hunting with big setters.
Incredible 👍
Love it!
Well done! I live in NC and will be looking up his contact info for a hunt
Lovely dog💯
Lovely to see Setters being used for working, i wish shooters in the UK would use them also instead of Springers and Labs, Setters in my opinion are far better dogs. We have had English Setters for over 30 years, not used for hunting as that is something i do not do as such, we have adopted 2 working Setters from Romania and Lukes hunting instict is still amazing even after having him for 3 years now, unfortunatley Eastern European countries and other European countries do not treat their Setters well and a lot are just abandoned when they have served their purpose, The most loyal and loving dogs you could wish for.
Magnifico
They sorta taste like liver , but I’ve cooked every one I’ve ever shot , and I’m a retired chef , never had a Gordon, but my dad and then me have had American Water Spaniels , that’s a hundred years of water spaniels , and I have my old girl at my feet ,she’s 18 now , and she’ll be my last , I’m old now too and have health issues , I sure miss grouse and woodcock hunting. And now it’s almost time for the tamaracks to be smoky gold here in Adams county, I live here and probably hunted some of the same covers as Aldo Leopold , now I take Curly for rides through the woods on sandy roads with the windows open, I think she misses our time chasing birds too.
i noticed in the video that you shoot a hammer gun,what gauge and who is the maker of your gun, also i always had a fondness for those guns' was first introduced to them by a gun dealer who once me and said hey man i want you to come over to my shop i have an old hammer gun and a 20gauge shell is to big and a 28 gauge shell is to small right away i knew that it had to be a 24 gauge because i had seen a box of 24 gauge shells many many years priori went bought the gun and I've been shooting 24 gauge guns ever since, as for the gordon setters i feel in love with them having seen an field and stream and outdoor life articles of them in the early 1960s......keep those gordon videos coming..
Good dogs.
Complimenti.
Watching from Pakistan 🇵🇰
Do you shoot with a 12 or a 20ga
In VA who sells these? what is the typical cost?
Old fashion setters not those English pointer cross with the 12 o’clock tails
In the 1970’s and into the 80’s the woodcock were everywhere and like that, they were gone.
😊💖🐶🐶
Why Gordon Setters? My litter mate pair of Gordon Setters, Sherlock Holmes and Jessica Fletcher pointed and retrieved to hand a limit of 5 woodcock near Stockton Lake in Missouri on Saturday.
I ask my wife to please go with me on Sunday to take pictures if it should happen again. It did, Another limit with pictures to prove it.
Woodcock hunting is not popular in Missouri. Maybe more hunters should have Gordon Setters.
A friend once told me, “If you ever own a Gordon Setter, you will never want another dog”. He was right.
As old age creeps in stealing my stamina I treasure the days I spend following my little English Setter, Bliss through my woodcock coverts carrying a sleek 16 gauge Belgium built hammer gun .
ONLY Gordon Setters for me
If feasible, I agree with the idea of exposing dogs to nothing but wild birds for the same reasons cited in this video. The question I have is if you happen to be a guy who hunts alone almost entirely for grouse and woodcock in the same types of thick, woody cover, how can one man train one dog to honor the other’s point in that environment. Grouse in pressured areas barely tolerate being pointed by one dog, let alone the commotion of trying to bring in another dog for a training lesson in honoring points. Even the woodcock are becoming so jumpy that it isn’t very realistic to bring in a dog to another on point. I know some guys say their dogs have naturally honored other dogs’ points. Mine are too competitive to do that.
I have had a few that naturally back. But I teach whoa very early and when my puppies see an adult dog pointing, I tell it to stop. It doesn’t take long for a puppy to learn to stop on its own. Then the real learning begins. Find me on IG and see some videos of my little puppies whoaing. They’ll be ready to tag along in just a couple more weeks.
👍👍👍👍👋
Why does he walk into points with his gun broken open?
Because I was shooting a hammergun and I can close the breech easier than pulling the hammers on the flush. And it’s safer.
sadly, quail are missing from the entire NC landscape.
All this video does is make me miss my dogs.
Правильный шотландец. У нас вальдшнепа нет в таком количестве, да и лес густой, редко под выстрел подаёт.
One, interesting to see he leaves his gun open and closes it before the shot. I believe he shoots a RFM Minerva. Secondly he isnt the only woodcock guide in NC. Just so its known.
I find it much easier to close the breech at the flush than to pull a hammer, which may slip and mis-fire. The RFM is a sweet gun.
Wood WHAT ? 😳🙄
Why on earth would you hunt Woodcocks when they are in serious decline!
Please cite your reference for historic woodcock populations in the US. Thanks
I quit hunting Woodcock when I discovered they were probably the most unique animal on earth.
My experiences in Turkey production caused me to post the Woodcock. Their hind gut was devoid of fecal matter. They never defacate. Their ability to detect earthworm trails in soft soil slows them to exist solely on an earthworm diet.
The earthworm is perfect nutrition for them. There is no waste, no need to defacate.
The Woodcock caused me to lose my killer instinct.
A very cruel pastime, I cannot believe anyone would enjoy killing things for fun. 💐
starting to trap and eat raccoons
OMG….. that hunting looks so lame, I love the Gordon setters, but cmon, it’s a punish to them not to be doing the real hunting they are made for….
what a bad dog i hate dogs like this and poor bird :( my grandpa used to hunt dogs for meat
my grandpa used to eat dogs :D
I have a 6 month old Irish setter and I’m not sure where to start is it too late?