vom Sturmland Kennel is located just outside of Tallahassee in the heart of the Florida panhandle. The adjacent Apalachicola National Forest and numerous state wildlife management areas make hunting opportunities plentiful.

Many large lakes including, Lake Seminole, Lake Eufala and Lake Micosukee offer an abundant's of water fowl hunting opportunities. Deer, wild hog, and turkey hunting are all popular. Bobwhite quail hunting, though certainly not what it used to be, is still available in some areas of the panhandle and adjacent southern Georgia.

I am fortunate to have such a diverse environment to hunt in and train my dogs in. With many hunting opportunities in both Georgia and Alabama less than an hours drive away, the hunting season for a hunter, that enjoys hunting all types of game, can extend from late August to April.

Through vom Sturmland, and in tandem with my contacts with other hunters that enjoy a variety of hunting activities, I hope to promote the Deutsch Kurzhaar breed. I also wish to promote the German performance based breeding system in the southeast region as well as the rest of North America.

Versatile Hunting dogs are scarce in my area of the U.S. and the versatile hunting Deutsch Kurzhaar and the German performance based breeding system are not well known either.

Much of that is do to old hunting tradition and unquestioned paradigms regarding how specific hunting venues should be approached. Though tradition certainly has it's place, and all types of hunting can be fun, some of the more traditional hunters unknowingly deny themselves exactly what they've always dreamed of; a dog that can do it all!

Many of the original German Kurzhaar hunting lines that came to the southeast region and the U.S. as a whole, have been spoiled and diminished by cross breeding to other pointing breeds for the sole purpose of success at various field trials.Others have been bred with no performance based restrictions at all. Any one who has attended a field trial event, that has any knowledge of the Kurzhaar, will quickly see difference in both capability and conformation between the DK and the "Americanized German Shorthair".

It is a given that much of the dog hunting focus in the south is on dogs that specialize at one type of hunting. For example many bird hunters use only english pointers and/or setters for upland bird work and only retrieving breeds such as labradors for water work. In fact many use one dog to point game and another to retrieve it.

My desire is to show those that are interested in a variety of hunting activities a better training system and a versatile breed of dog that can do it all.

First and foremost I am a hunter and my intention is to breed dogs exclusively for hunting. I enjoy hunting all types of game on the land and water. For that reason I want a dog that can perform the tasks necessary to hunt all of the game I enjoy hunting and more. That includes the tracking and location of wounded game.

It is my firm belief that good performance in the field is primarily a function of a dogs good temperament. It follows that a dog that is well behaved, loving and cooperative in the home will be the same in the field. In a nutshell my intention is to breed for excellence in both temperament and ability.

I would like to encourage other hunters that share my interest in a broad spectrum of hunting venues to come watch, and see for yourself the excellent temperament and outstanding ability of the versatile hunting Deutsch Kurzhaar.

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