[Steve Shaver]

I agree. Those of us that train alone, Stickmen are invaluable. Especially with young dogs and wingers. It teaches them to look out and locate the white and usually a sound. Once used to them, they walk to the line looking for them. I do always make sure that the wingers throw a good distance away from the stick men so the puppies dont learn to run at the gun. It also helps down the road when you teach dogs to run blinds off either side of the stickmen.

All true if you plan to compete but totally unnecessary if training a gun dog. If training alone using remoate launchers a quack from the electronics is all you need to get the dogs attention so he can see the bird go down. Just a matter of visual or audio attention getter. White is simply so the dog will see where the bird is coming from because at FT distances audio may not be heard.
For a gun dog you dont need to train for complex concepts used in competition. But you will need to be able to handle the dog. Doesnt matter if you handle on a mark when hunting because uou are not being judged. A well trained gun dog is awesome but a lot can also be learned by experience. Which is also true of competition dogs which is why FT dogs are usually just coming into their prime around 5 or 6 years old.