What breeds is favourites for hunting in your area.Here in South-Africa we use a lot of dogs.Pointers,flushers,retrievers etc but I have noticed lately that the Weimeraner(Spelling???) is becoming very popular.A dog that i certainly would like to have as a hunting companion is a Rhodesian Ridgeback.They are intelligint,agile,fast and strong.And the bonus is that they are very good watch dogs wich is a pluspoint here in South Africa.