In the many posts we’ve written about gun dogs, we’ve frequently mentioned the word, “upland.” According to PheasantsForever, (a non-profit conservation organization formed in 1982), there are, after all, thirty-eight proven breeds for upland hunting, and in their view, the top ten of them are the Golden Retriever, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, German Shorthaired Pointer and German Wirehaired Pointer, English Cocker Spaniel, Brittany, Labrador Retriever, English Setter, English Springer Spaniel, and the Vizsla. We’ll leave it to hunters to debate whether or not PheasantsForever got it right, but what we will do is explain what “upland” even means.

It’s an old term, and over the years, it has come to mean different things to different people when used in different contexts. As Orvis points out, the smart-alecky answer to the question, “what is an upland” is that it is “the area between lowlands and highlands.” As a rule, however, it refers to generally dry ground that’s higher than the meadows and gaps lying on the banks of rivers, between hills, and near the sea. That being said, many upland hunters would be amused at the phrase, “generally dry” because in their pursuit of peasant, grouse, quail, prairie chickens, chukars, grey partridges, and other species of upland game birds, they often emerge soaked to the skin. While birds are the predominant upland species, different state game agencies may also include rabbit and squirrel in the definition of “upland game.”

That takes us to a more simplistic view of the word as it pertains to bird hunting: There are wetland birds and upland birds. Each can be found in the other’s “territory,” but “upland” birds don’t need to be near a body of water or marsh in order to breed and raise their chicks, and wetland birds do.

Upland hunters tend to work with one or more trained gun dogs to find game, and they tend to walk, though we’ve read that in some parts of the country, hunting buggies are used.

Hunting purists may also argue that “uplands” is almost a zen-like frame of mind. Back in the day, upland hunting meant hunting in the countryside, but these days, it can refer to getting away from the city and “burbs.”

We invite upland hunters to weigh in on the dogs they use, and if they disagree with our admittedly simplistic explanation.

Image: “My Buddy Arson with a Pintail” by dglassme is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0