I have always been a Lab guy, first dog I ever bought at 13 was a Lab and last dog was the only one that veered from that was Addie a GS/Lab mix my son picked. 40 yrs of Labs and 11 with 1 Lab mix. One of my best friends from the Army was the same way but also has a Standard poodle, that dog hunts right with his labs. The Labradoodle is a cross with both and though you may not find a Poodle breeder that has hunted their Poodle line much it is easier to find a Labradoodle breeder several generations in that hunts their dogs and breeds with hunters.
My reason for looking at this breed is a lot for the non shedding aspect as well as the much more hypoallergenic aspects of the breed. I don't hunt near as much do to cancer and chemo every week so getting a hard charging hunter isn't as important as a dog that will go everywhere with me and go hunting whatever and whenever I choose to go. In the last 10yrs I have had 3 stem cell transplants, 3 surgeries reinforcing my spine and arm and 5 yrs worth of chemo every week. Through that I have developed some allergies that I never had or suffered from before. The wife and all her family are nurses and the Labradoodle/Doodle lines are something they keep pushing on. My father-in-law and I also owned many coon hounds, anything related is getting a "no" as we live in a small town so the Mountain Feist would be a compromise which is still on the table. If I was younger and healthiier I wouldnt hesitate to buy another Lab and I would be bird hunting all the time like I use to.
This last dog was not registered like all my others. They were all great dogs but this last one was incredibly smart. Its funny, even though she was so smart she never once thought to ask me to see her papers. Maybe she knew she was a mutt and didn't want to bring it up. She might have wanted to start wearing a sweater and eating canned dog food. In my eyes many dog breeds have been crossed until the owners got what they wanted, the best mutt to do the job. I use to go to Rutledge Missouri years ago, a huge swap meet/auction for guns, dogs, potbelly pigs and about everything hillbilly/outdoors. I remember one of my old bird/coon hunting friends was looking at a dog. He asked the owner if he had papers on the dog and the owner said absolutely. He then asked what kind of dog do you want the papers to say he is. My friend said it doesn't matter, the dog cant read can he?