Yep, as others have said a good lab sounds like a great fit for you if you plan on chasing ducks and roosters. I grew up as a kid with labs and loved them to death, they are great family dogs and great hunting companions

I would avoid the english/british/color specific marketing hubbub. Find a good pedigree of health tested parents that are proven hunting/family companions

If you buy a lab, there are many issues to consider to increase the odds of getting a good healthy long lifetime family member. PM me. If you want.

The author Gene Hill explained that for some people, the length of our lives is measured in lab lifetimes. He wrote it much more eloquently.

One of our sweet lovable sophisticated waterfowl and pheasant hunting labs loved to go coonhunting. He walked along with us while the lowly hounds did the work. But, when a coon hit the ground, he was the toughest coonhunting kill dog I ever owned. He hated raccoons and groundhogs. After he made certain the raccoon was dead, he would pick it up and slam it on the ground a couple times. When scrubbed clean, he slept at the foot of the bed. My wife used to say she hoped he never had a dream and thought her hair was a raccoon.

The prices I’ve seen on walkers and blueticks surprised me by how cheap they were. Lol makes up for having to buy a spendy tracking system. Then it’s about a wash for cost vs a good bird dog. I’ll have to look into curs, they sure seem to have a following.

I’ve hunted around a lot of labs, lol because they’re so popular. And I consider them to be an excellent Jack of all trades. But genetic issues always seem to be an underlying issue. I know a few guys that’ve had dogs with genetic issues but paid for a supposedly clean animal.

We always do a tremendous amount of research and investigation if not buying from a breeder we already know.
We have found a few horrible breeders and a very few top shelf breeders. Most fall somewhere between.

There are too many neurotic women breeding labs and pretending they are placing children for adoption - sick! They have applications and questionnaires that go on and on. They ask for measurements of the backyard.
One nationally famous breeder with a good advertising company used a ferocious lab as his stud dog. When wife and I went there, the breeder was sloppy drunk. The mean dog tried to come through a fence at us like he was a junkyard dog. A couple years later I met a guy who bought a puppy there that bit his daughter severely in the face. He was shocked when I told him what I knew.

People have asked me to train their labs. Two guys wanted to sell trained labs. I looked at their dogs and said I would not get involved because I could not turn them into more than a household pet. A great lab already knows his business. As a trainer, my job is to create scenarios with commands to help the lab get organized. And for both of us to have the best time of our lives together.

Our labs and coonhounds have been some of our fondest family members.
Plus they were amazing hunters and remarkable athletes.

I have been told that there is no such thing as a bad dog only bad owners . That may not be 100% true but dogs learn quickly what is allowed and what is not going to be tolerated .And a dog out of control is no benefit to a hunter or a pet owner.

There are tons of backyard lab breeders producing "silver" or "fox red" labs at record pace with no regard to health testing or breeding ethics. Of course these same breeders will also produce black yellow and chocolate dogs

Also lots of guys importing dogs and breeding them and claiming them to be the "best of the best" english/british dogs when half of them can't run a weekend AKC senior test in the US

Just please do your research and verify health clearances. You want OFA Hips, Eyes, and Elbows. Also genetic tests such as EIC, CNM, PRA, and Dilute.

As WF mentioned, beware of the people that make you fill out an "application" and ask tons of stupid questions. Also another red flag is when they put clothes on the puppies