Quail Hunting In Missouri

Vince and I were going to hunt in northern Missouri last Wednesday but he called the night before saying he had forgotten about an appointment. I decided to just stay home and work Bodie on some birds. I put out 3 birds and turned him loose. Bodie doesn’t like the 4-wheeler so I walk. He’s so fast that he was at the first bird before I got close. The first bird he pointed then took a step. I flushed the pigeon.

We went on to the neighbor’s side and he was way off the next bird when he pointed. I waited for him to move but he stayed on point. I walked in front, kicked the cover and flushed the pigeon. He doesn’t chase very far. Just as we started toward the next pigeon Vince called. He was through with his appointment and wanted to go hunting.

I still had one bird out so I worked Bodie on it. He was well ahead of me when he went on point. I saw him through some brush. He looked good but before I could get close I saw him move. I flushed his pigeon. I gathered my release traps and put them back in the shed. Got ready and loaded dogs.

When I hunt with someone else I don’t take Bodie. I don’t want him around a lot of shooting, yet. I loaded Abby, Boss, Mann and Sally. Vince had his 9 year old grandson Grayson along, Allie, his German short haired pointer and Maggie, his English cocker spaniel. We stopped at an 80 acre place where Vince’s friend had seen some quail when they were combining the soybeans.

I just turned Sally and Mann out since it was a small place. Vince released Allie and Maggie. There were several draws running through the harvested soybean field. We ran each one and checked out some weedy waterways without seeing anything. We loaded our dogs and went to another area.

The next area was huge and last year we had found several coveys of quail. I turned all of my dogs out with Vince’s Allie and Maggie. We started through some thick CRP between some harvested soybean fields. After a few hundred yards through the CRP I noticed Vince and Grayson walking the edge of the soybean field. The CRP was so thick it was hard to walk through. I made my way to the edge of the soybean field.

I hadn’t gone far when a rooster pheasant flushed about 30 yards in front of me. Vince said it was a rooster. I wasn’t sure so I didn’t shoot.

I went down and joined Vince and Grayson. We walked along the edge of the soybeans watching the dogs run. As I watched Allie, Mann, Boss and Abby run the far end of the field we heard some rooster pheasants flushing in the CRP. My first thought was the only dog that could possibly be flushing them was Sally. We started toward where the birds were flushing from when Vince saw Sally on point a short distance from us in the CRP.

Those pheasants were flushing with nothing within a hundred yards of them. We went to Sally and by the time we got close Allie was backing. There was just a small plum thicket in the CRP and Sally was looking into this. The way the strong wind was blowing I circled around to try to chase the birds out to Vince. (This usually never works.) When I got in front of her she started moving then went back on point.

I worked my way to her front. By this time Mann was honoring along with Allie. When I got in front she started moving again. Then Allie was on point. Sally and Mann honored. Then they all trailed. We never came up with a bird. This may have been the pheasants we had heard flushing, way off.

We went on around the edge of the CRP. It was warm, windy and dry. The heavy CRP and heat took it’s toll on the dogs. We hunted on around to the truck. We will check this place later when it’s cooler and hopefully, after a rain.

Yesterday, 11/26/21, Vince and I went back to northern Missouri but to different farms. Vince’s friend that owned these farms had seen some quail, when he was mowing, on one he told Vince about. We parked in the field away from a close house. The wind was really blowing as we turned dogs out. Vince turned Allie and Maggie out and I used Mann and Sally.

Most of the CRP had been mowed with just some wide strips left. We went down a draw that went toward an asphalt road. When we got close we called the dogs and circled around. As we came up a strip of tall CRP a rooster pheasant flushed in front of me, by about 35 yards, drawing a shot but I missed, twice. It flew about 200 yards into the wind and landed in a fence row. I thought maybe it had been hit but when we got close it flushed ahead of us and flew like it had no problem. We hunted around a small pond then on back to the truck. We loaded dogs and went to another place.

The next place was mowed CRP and harvested soybeans. Last year we had found 3 coveys and a few pheasants when we hunted here. We turned all of our dogs out and started down a draw. When we got to the main draw Vince went on one side and I stayed on the other. We hadn’t gone very far when my GPS handheld vibrated. Mann was on point about 150 yards ahead of us. We continued down the draw and the GPS vibrated as Sally, Boss and Abby honored.

When we got close the dogs were on Vince’s side. The draw was real wide with a deep creek in the bottom. I told Vince to go ahead. He said it looked like 3 of the dogs had pointed at the same time with one of them backing. He said it would make a great picture but I couldn’t cross. A covey of quail flushed without Vince getting a shot. He told me later they flew right into the sun. Most of them flew down the draw the way we were headed.

As we continued down the draw a quail flushed right in front of me. I shot but the quail had already beat me. About the time I shot the bird turned into the draw and I was way behind. We went on down the draw.

Then Sally pointed. When I told Vince he said to go ahead. Finally a bird that gave me decent shot. It flew along side the draw and fell when I shot. Sally retrieved.

Vince said Allie was on point back behind us. I told him I would wait, at a pond, for him to go back for her. He told me about it later. When he got there he went in front of her but nothing flushed. He released her and she moved around a few feet and pointed again. This time a single quail flushed down the draw without giving him a shot. As Allie hunted close Maggie flushed another quail that flew down the draw. Vince still didn’t get a shot. Then Allie pointed again. Again the bird flushed without giving Vince a shot.

While this was happening to Vince I had the same kind of problems. Sally made 2 more points before I left the spot where I shot the one quail. Neither of them gave me a shot. I went on to the pond where I told Vince I would meet him. As I waited I saw Sally go on point in the bottom below the pond dam. I finally remembered my camera. By the time I got the camera Mann was honoring close to Sally and Abby was at the top of the dam honoring. I got a picture of Mann and Sally then one of Abby. When I walked in the single quail flew down the draw toward where Vince would be coming. I didn’t shoot.

We followed the draw to the end then crossed to another. I had to cross the next draw to follow down another draw that led back to where we had found a covey last year. By the time I got across and started down the draw Vince said Allie was on point a long way ahead of us. Vince had a little shorter distance to go than I did. By the time I got close the other dogs were honoring.

Vince tried to get in to flush but the cover was really thick. I should have been taking pictures but I didn’t remember. As Vince worked to get in to flush I heard at least one bird flush but I never saw it. Then from way in front of us a single quail flew down the fence row. I marked it down. We kept trying to get something to flush close to us but it didn’t happen.

I told Vince that the covey must have flushed ahead of us because I only saw the one come by us. We started on down this new draw. I just happened to see a quail flying from the draw out across the harvested soybean field. I shot and missed then shot again. The bird hit the ground running. My gun was empty and by the time I took the empties from it, placed them in my game bag and reloaded, the quail had made it back into the draw. I have ejectors and I need to use them. I usually don’t.

I got the dogs in to hunt dead. I had seen where the cripple had run and got the dogs looking. They were birdy but didn’t come up with anything. There must have been a lot of smell because they all really hunted well. We looked for quite a while with no luck. Then Vince said Allie was on point 39 yards from us. By the time we got to her she was moving. I saw Mann go down the fence where a quail had flown. He got a little birdy but never pointed.

We started back through where the cripple had run. There was some really tall fescue that Maggie kept trying to get under. Finally she disappeared under some tall grass and came out the other side with the quail in her mouth. That quail was at least 30 yards from where I had seen it run into the draw. But Maggie found it.

We took this draw to it’s end then came back through where the dogs had originally pointed without seeing any other birds. This was right along the property line. There was better cover on the next property. We went on down the fence row to the end. All of my dogs except Abby got on the wrong side of a woven wire fence. I helped them over and started down another draw. Boss wasn’t keeping up. In fact he was way behind. We needed to go down this draw a short distance then come back so we did. When I got back close to Boss he was back on the wrong side of the woven wire fence.

I decided if he could get over there he could get back. I could see him trying to stay with us on the other side then in a few minutes he came to me. We worked our way back to the truck and loaded dogs. It had been a good day. Not many killed, Vince never fired a shot, but we had a lot of dog work and that’s why we go.