Gina Deem was a nursing student in Bozeman, Montana when she adopted her first hunting dog in 2014. At the time, she wasn’t a hunter, but her then-boyfriend was. “He said, ‘If we’re going to get a dog, we’re going to get a bird dog. And that bird dog’s going to be a German Shorthair,’” she recalls. Aware of how many dogs were in shelters, Deem wanted to adopt a bird dog.

Deem and her partner didn’t have the funds to put down a deposit with a reputable GSP breeder. Plus, she figured they’d be able to find a GSP up for adoption. She was right. Within days, she and her then-boyfriend picked up a Shorthair named Boone from a small shelter near Sand Point, Idaho. He had been surrendered after his former owner’s health declined.

That fall, Deem took Boone hunting and watched him point his first rooster pheasant. Deem was hooked and soon developed a deep passion for bird dogs and upland hunting. After adopting several more GSPs and observing how many popped up at shelters in her region, she started Paws to Peak Rescue in 2018. Since then, she’s rehomed over 130 bird dogs in Montana, Idaho, Utah, and beyond.

Read more at projectupland.com.