My first upland dog was Weim, possibly the best dog I will ever have when it comes to being a pal. I thought he was the best bird dog around until I started running well bred setters, I now know he was a great partner in the field and a ok bird dog. If you go that route Id highly recommend...
Cant speak for the S8 but I Made the switch from the Black Gold Pro to the S6 this past season and have no regrets the sight is extremely well built and the fibers are plenty bright. The option to go from fixed to a single pin is great!
Unless you are using it as an excuse to familiarize yourself with the country for a deer or elk hunt Id look at Montana or Idaho. Sow quotas in Wy shut areas down unexpectedly and baiting makes it tough to spot and stalk bears.
@Nillion they perform extremely well when it comes to directional accuracy. I run them while upland hunting and have no issues immediately identify locations of sound
Is he not liking the scent or is it the pannier? De-sensitizing him in a controlled environment would be a good starting point, we use tarps and cans and about anything else a horse might think is scary while doing the ground work at home. When ever I have fresh hides at home I will hang them on...
I will see if my buddy has a copy of the score sheet. Going off of memory he was 14 6/8 long and his prong we figured cost him 6/8" to 1" but base and first quarter were both over 7 and
his top mass was unreal over 8" for 3rd and 4th