Vince Dye and I went to northern Missouri. We stopped by his farmer friend’s house and gave him some quail we had gathered over the last few hunts. At one time we could supply a mess of quail from just one hunt but those times are in the past. Partly the quail aren’t there but the biggest part we aren’t as efficient as we used to be. But his farmer friend told him about another, maybe, thousand acres he could hunt on. Everyone needs friends like this.
Sally pointing a cripple.
With all of the brush it’s hard to focus on the dogs. Sally pointing a single.
Mann pointing quail.
We had driven by the place we normally eat breakfast to go to a small town café. The café in the small town was closed. We went to the next small town and that café was closed too. One of our favorite places is closed because they can’t find anyone that wants to work. One of the closed café’s had a large sign that said, “WELCOME HUNTERS”. We went to a Casey’s convenience store for something to sustain us.
Vince had brought his German short haired pointer, Ally, and his English cocker spaniel, Maggie. I had Sally and Mann. I had left my handheld for my GPS at home. Luckily, Vince had one and only had one collar on it. We programmed my two dogs to his handheld and were able to hunt. It would have been a short hunt without the GPS.
We turned the dogs loose and went through an area where we had found a covey of quail last year. Nobody home today. We went to the property line then down a fence row. The dogs were well out front, hitting the objectives. This place had been planted in wheat then soybeans planted before they harvested the wheat. Now both crops had been harvested and there were soybeans and wheat seeds lying on the ground. There was a lot of CRP alongside the field as well as fingers of CRP running into the field. Perfect for quail.
Mann had hit an edge of one of the CRP fingers running into the field and went on point a little over 200 yards from us. When we got close we found him buried in the CRP. Without the GPS he would not have been found. When we went in front of him a covey of quail boiled out. I hit a quail and thought it would drop but it kept going. Vince had missed the one shot he had. I thought the quail was hit hard enough that it wouldn’t go far.
We went in the direction the covey had flown. About 50 yards in front Sally pointed. When we got close she jumped in and grabbed the bird. She came to me and dropped it in my hand. It was still alive. I gave her the head.
The dogs were still hunting the area. Sally pointed again and the birds went Vince’s way. He knocked one down. While he was hunting it Mann went on point close to the road. Vince said for me to go ahead. When I got to him 3 quail flushed. Again I hit one hard but it didn’t drop. Vince was still looking for his bird and I started toward him but the GPS vibrated. Mann was on point close to the road.
Sally on point.
When I told Vince he said for me to go ahead. He was still looking for his bird. It sounds like this took a long time but this was just a few minutes. When I got to Mann he was buried in a clump of brush. I got about even with him and the quail went out the other side without giving me a shot. When I got back close to Vince he had his bird.
We went in the direction of the bird I had hit. About 50 yards from us Sally went over a little mound down into a small bowl. When she went over the mound we saw a quail flush. I told Vince Sally had to have flushed that one. When we got closer we saw her on point. She doesn’t stop to flush, most times, so she didn’t see or hear this quail flush. When we got to her she trailed a few feet then went back to hunting.
We went on toward the back and I saw Sally cross to another finger of CRP that ran into the field. She stopped then went into the grass but didn’t come out. I started to her and the GPS handheld vibrated. She was on point. (Vince had let me carry his handheld because I had 2 dogs on it and he only had 1.) Vince and I were separated by a hundred yards or so and I waited for him to get there.
While I was waiting I moved closer to Sally. She was buried in some really tall, thick CRP. I thought it won’t be a quail it will be a pheasant. And as long as it’s held it will be a hen. When Vince got there we walked in and a single quail flushed. It went my way and dropped into the harvested soybean/wheat field. Maggie, the English Cocker, made a good retrieve.
Mann on point.
We went on back to a good hedge row in the back with a wide buffer strip. There was a creek in a low spot where we finally could water the dogs. Vince had a little water with him but it’s better that the dogs lie down in the cool water. We worked on along the buffer strips next to the field.
We were almost back to the road when the GPS vibrated saying that Mann was on point about 200 yards from us. When we got close Vince said lets go to the road side and push them back on us. It’s been a long time since I thought you could push quail anywhere. But I went with Vince to get between the quail and the road. I stopped to take pictures and before I could put the camera away the quail stated flushing.
They were flying right over our head heading across the road. One bird waited and flushed going around a small cedar tree but turned and flew across the road. I was twisted in a knot by the time I shot and was far behind him. Vince had dropped one near a small plum thicket.
Vince asked me how many flew back on the property that we were hunting. I hadn’t seen a one. Those quail already knew, before we even got close, where they were going. Us being in their way was no big deal.
Vince and Maggie were ahead of me hunting for his downed bird when Sally came in front of me. I told her to hunt dead and she just reached down and picked the dead bird up. It hadn’t gone as far as Vince thought. When she dropped it into my hand I gave her the head. We hunted on to the truck loaded dogs and went to another place.
The camera sometimes focuses on something beside what I want.
The next place was one of the places the owner had told us about earlier that morning. It, too, was wheat and soybean stubble mixed together. We went along some buffer strips next to some hedge rows. It was a really good looking place. We went in one direction for over half a mile and the field went farther. The farmer hadn’t told us how many acres this one was but it was huge. We turned and hunted some other areas all the way back to the truck without seeing anything. We loaded dogs and drove to the east side.
This area looked just like the one we had just left. We started along a buffer strip next to a draw. As we walked along I checked the GPS and we had passed Sally. She was on point. When we got close Vince decided to cross the creek. As I waited I got a little closer. Mann came in front of me and honored Sally. He was to her right and a little farther back. When Vince got across the creek and said he was ready I walked closer. Sally went to her left and I saw Mann go from honoring to being on point.
Some of the covey, I think, had gone to Sally’s left and flushed but some had come in front of Mann. When he didn’t move when Sally did, I knew there were birds in front of him. I told Vince what I thought. I almost got past Mann and 6 or 8 quail flushed flying across the creek. I couldn’t shoot but I heard Vince shoot, once. He said it had been a really long shot but a bird had gone down. He got Maggie in to hunt dead.
There’s a dog in there somewhere.
Vince was having trouble finding his bird so I crossed the creek to help. Sally and Mann started hunting dead. Sally went on point. I thought it was Vince’s bird. When I got close she jumped in and started chasing. A rooster quail flew on to a low limb on a tree. Sally had been right behind it but didn’t see it in the tree. I told Vince it was probably his bird but I wasn’t sure.
When it flew into the tree it didn’t look hurt. I showed it to Vince but we didn’t want to shoot it out unless it was the wounded bird. Finally, Vince got close to the bird and it dropped to the ground and ran again. The dogs didn’t catch it. I saw it for quite a ways as it ran down a trail. We looked for a long time.
We gave up and started toward the back. We went down more buffer strips that should have held a lot of quail without seeing any more. We had missed a short hedge row that I wanted to hit that was near where Vince’s wounded bird was. As we came down the hedge row and well past where we had last seen the wounded bird, Sally went on point with Mann honoring.
Another time the camera focused on sticks instead of a dog.
When we got close she jumped in and started chasing the wounded bird again. Mann must have seen it too. Along with Maggie they were chasing. Pretty quick, Vince said Mann has it. Mann will retrieve but he doesn’t really like it. He will give the bird to the closest person. He went to Vince and dropped it in his hand then came by me. I petted him for a few seconds.
The dogs were tired and hot as well as their owners and we were close to the truck. We went to the truck, watered the dogs and loaded them. On this last place, while we were separated, Maggie had flushed a bird that Vince had shot. That made 3 coveys of quail, 6 birds in the bag and lots of dog work. The best day of the season so far.