For the first time in, maybe 50 years, I will probably miss the opening day of Missouri quail season. I had Tur Bo’s knee repaired by Dr. Becker at Independence Animal Hospital and he has to stay in a cage. I take him out 5 or 6 times a day, to go to the bathroom, on a leash. He pulls me to the grassy area then he pulls me back inside the basement. I think he could get used to being an inside dog.
Tur Bo backing Sally.
Sally honoring Tur Bo.
Dolly pointing a single.
I, also, have Lucky who was 13 years old in May. He still wants to hunt but he can’t hear anything and can’t see very well either. A few days ago I ran him for about 30 to 45 minutes and he did pretty well. It’s hard not to talk to a dog even if he is deaf. When I got ready to put him up, I called his name, just like I did for years. I think the only reason he came in, the wind was from me to him and he wanted to be close to me.
This morning I took Dolly, who will be 12 in February, to Independence Animal Hospital because she had a cough. It sounds like bronchitis. They did an x-ray of her heart lung area and said it was in good shape. A shot and some antibiotics and she should be good as new in a few days. Well, good for an almost 12 year old dog.
That just leaves me with Luke and Sally. Luke runs harder and faster than any dog I’ve ever owned and I can’t remember him ever being hurt or even sore. I wore him out in Oklahoma last year but only by hunting him 3 days in a row and two of those days I ran him with a dropper chain attached to his collar. About an hour before we quit on the third day I took the chain off. He hated that chain but it kept him in closer.
Sally had a bout with something with flu like symptoms then came in season. She’s over that too. She’s another really tough dog when it comes to hunting. Last year, when I put the chain on Luke, I ran Sally each time I had a dog down. She, was less than a year old, and hunted all day, all 3 days. She was tired but she was still hunting when we quit.
I was sitting here waiting to take Tur Bo outside, feeling sorry for myself. But just writing this has made me feel better. I may miss part of the quail season but the best part is usually later in the year. Late December and January are the best times for me. The weather has cooled down and a lot of the cover is down. Quail have to be where they should be. During warm weather quail can be anywhere.
Had Tur Bo not been injured I would have gone more places to find quail. I spent part of 3 days in the Greensburg Kansas area. I was prairie chicken hunting or turkey hunting or maybe I was rabbit hunting. You have to be hunting something to be on walk-in property. I found 10 different coveys of quail and several pheasants. The third day I had dogs down less than 2 hours and found 3 coveys of quail. That’s the best I’ve done in a long time.
I also, went to the Atchison Kansas area. Most of the walk-in there still had the crops in the field. I turned Dolly and Luke out on one place that had a hay field along side of some soy beans and a harvested corn field. We didn’t find anything on the walk-in place but Luke crossed the road and found some quail on private ground. I got permission to go get him and he made several points on singles, out of the covey that, probably, didn’t hold until I got to him. He was on point for over 15 minutes before I got to him.
Luke pointing a covey of quail.
The last place I went was Corp of Engineers land near Truman Lake area. There I didn’t have to carry a gun. You can run dogs on Corp of Engineers land without acting like you are hunting. I think. I ran Tur Bo and Dolly for just a little while, maybe 45 minutes. Tur Bo started carrying a foot and I figured he was going to have to be operated on. I picked them up as soon as I could.
I drove around some and most of the Corp land still had the crops in the field. I still had Luke and Lucky in the truck so I turned them out on a large field of weeds. Lucky is past his thirteenth birthday but he still wants to run. The weeds weren’t very high and it did my heart good to see him run. His tail was up and just a cracking as he ran. A couple of times he was out over 300 yards. The wind was strong out of the north west and when I got ready to pick him up he followed the wind to me. I called him but he can’t hear.
After putting Lucky in the truck I checked the GPS and Luke was on point about 200 yards from me. When I got to him he was along a little creek in some really thick brush. When I got close he moved about 20 yards and went back on point. Before I got to him, through the thick cover, the birds flushed well out front of him. Had I been hunting I wouldn’t have had a shot. We couldn’t see the quail down but we went in the direction they had flown but never found any singles. We went back to the truck.
I have hunted in three completely different areas and have found quail in each. That doesn’t mean that it’s going to be a great year everywhere but for me it’s very encouraging.
I started out kind of depressed about not being able to hunt opening day in Missouri but as I wrote this I could see what a great life the Lord has blessed me with. I have some good dogs and when they all get well I can go anywhere I want to hunt. What a blessed life.
Luke on point and Lucky, on the left, honoring.
Tur Bo pointing a single quail.
Dolly on point.