Deuce is big and brawny, with a coat so white it’s inaccurate to refer to him as a yellow Lab—he’s positively ghostly. When he’s hunting, not only is Deuce’s tail in constant motion, birdy; he also truly seems to have a smile on his face the whole time. We were after pheasants in a hilly region of Nebraska, working birds down a gully below a steep plowed field. German shorthair Gracie locked on point by the brushy fence line defining the hill’s slope. Deuce kept close to his owner Trent Leichleiter, awaiting the signal to flush.

Deuce has the complete Lab package: outstanding nose, athleticism, drive to retrieve, marking skills, and desire to please— which go a long way toward explaining why a Lab makes such a wonderful hunting companion. As Lab breeder Rod Mack says, “For overall balance in an animal, the Lab is hard to beat.”

When I was little more than a wee lad, outdoor writer Ed Park told me about a hunters’ tradition adopted from English literature. The Macnab is so named for the fictional John Macnab and his challenge to poach a stag or a salmon from a landowner’s favorite beat.

Over time, the Macnab came to embody the classic Scottish quest to take a red deer, an Atlantic salmon, and a partridge all in one day, between sunrise and sunset. But the quest depends on the environment. In Oregon, Ed explained, the hunter must tag a buck, catch a steelhead, and shoot a chukar. In the finest sporting tradition, the fish must be caught on a fly and the bird taken on the wing. The Macnab concept lingered in my mind, a tantalizing possibility.

When I found myself in eastern Washington on an October forenoon with a mule deer buck on the ground, I remembered the fly-rod and shotgun in the truck. The sun had not climbed to its zenith, the shadows still tilted west. This could be the day.

The vizsla’s stunning coat has been compared to burnished gold and cinnamon. It’s been called tawny, russet, firelit, sunset, and spice. Forever eye-catching, the vizsla’s coat is actually a mixed blessing. While its striking color sets a vizsla apart from other pointing dogs, it also makes the breed a desirable commodity for the show ring. that, in turn, means some breeders put color characteristics over nose, point, drive and temperament-the traits hunters look for in a great field dog. Given the right balance of breeding priorities, however, a vizsla can be an excellent upland hunter and dedicated companion.