The weather forecast for Thursday was for strong winds. When I loaded dogs about 5:00 am the wind was really blowing from the west, the direction I was going to be driving. Oh well, nobody needs good gas mileage, these days.
I met Vince Dye and John Vaca at the place we were to hunt. With the strong winds we weren’t expecting a lot of dog work. It seems to me that with everything rattling and blowing in the wind the quail get spooky. As I put GPS and E-collars on my dogs John saw a covey flush from a thicket not far from the truck.
Vince cautioning Maggie as he and John go to Allie’s point with the other dogs backing.
Boss pointing a single that John shot and Mann retrieved.
Boss and Mann honoring Allie, Vince’s short hair, that is behind the cedar tree.
After we got the dogs ready we started in the direction the singles had flown. Boss came right in front of John and me trailing. He pointed but wasn’t sure. He moved a few steps and pointed again, still not sure. Several yards away two quail flushed going with the strong wind. Neither of us got a shot.
Vince, as he walked along, flushed another quail. He shot but the bird had put a tree between them. The wind was so strong it was hard to walk in to. Because of the wind I wasn’t expecting a lot of dog work.
We were almost to the north east edge of this property when I checked the GPS and it showed Mann on point 375 yards to the north east. He had to be a long way off this property. I waited several minutes hoping the birds wouldn’t hold but they weren’t moving. I started the trek to them. Usually, when the dogs are off the place I have permission to hunt it is uphill but not this time. This farm is pretty flat.
I could see Mann standing in a plum thicket about 150 yards before I got to him. All I could really see was a white blob. The thicket was pretty dense and that must have been the reason the birds held for so long. Abby had come along with me and when we got close she honored. I circled around the thicket hoping I could get the birds to fly back onto the farm we had permission to hunt. No such luck. Every bird in a large covey flushed going with the wind. When you can’t shoot the birds all look fat and slow.
It was hard to get the dogs going with me as I made the long slog back to where John and Vince were waiting, but after a few passes in the direction the covey had flown, I got them going with me. We made a circle and were back near where the earlier covey had flown.
Allie, Vince’s short hair, pointed just across a fence with all the other dogs honoring. Vince and John crossed the fence. When they got in front of Allie two quail flushed behind them and on the other side of some brush, without giving them a shot. We finished the circle back to the truck, loaded dogs and drove to another area on this same farm.
Mann pointing a covey.
We had hunted this farm last year and most of it had been in CRP. It still was but because of the drought they were allowed to bale the CRP. This farmer had left buffer strips of tall weeds along the fence rows and shelter belts. We checked out a small wood lot then followed a fence row into the west wind. The fence row hit a shelter belt that was close to the barns, sheds and houses on the farm.
We were almost to the end of a shelter belt that ran near a milo field when a covey of quail flushed in front of us. I had turned to look for one of my dogs and never saw them flush but heard John shoot. As we looked for his bird, Maggie Vince’s English cocker spaniel, followed Vince with the bird in her mouth. Finally, Vince noticed the bird and took it from her.
One of the dogs ran down a cross fence to the north and another covey of quail flew past us. A big portion of the covey landed about 30 yards from John and me, right at the end of the shelter belt. We started in that direction. Most of the singles had run but there were a couple that flushed in front of us and went right down the shelter belt.
Sally honoring Allie.
We started down the shelter belt and Boss came out of the shelter belt and went on point about 50 yards ahead of us. At that point the shelter belt was so thick I knew I wouldn’t be able to shoot. I tried to get around Boss to drive the bird out where John would get a shot and it worked. I really don’t think you can drive birds, I think they know where they are going to flush to before they ever leave the ground, no matter what you do, but I still try. As I came out of the shelter belt I saw Mann coming to me with the bird.
Mann dropped the bird at my feet. John wanted to get a picture with him holding the bird. I called Mann to me and said, “fetch”. Mann just looked at me. It was like he was saying, “I have already brought you that bird. I’m not touching that thing again”. At home I can make him take a retrieving dummy when he drops it before I’m ready but not this bird. I think dogs know when something is unnecessary.
We went down the shelter belt then back to the other end. I saw Mann go on point right in front of one of the two houses on this property. With the strong wind I had to really yell to get Vince and John’s attention. They started to us but the covey didn’t hold. They did fly toward them and back down the shelter belt but they never got a shot.
Boss honoring.
We worked back down the shelter belt and on back to our trucks. We loaded dogs and drove to the north where there was another CRP field and a shelter belt. We worked to the west then along the edge to the east then back to the trucks. We had seen one pheasant but it flushed a long way ahead of us. Vince and John were going to another place and I had decided to head to the motel.
When I got close to the houses and shelter belt I knew there were still several birds along and around the shelter belt. I decided to just run Bodie down the shelter belt and I would just carry a camera. I told John and Vince what I was going to do and they said they would go too. Vince turned Maggie out and started down the shelter belt.
John and I started down the edge. Some of the earlier birds had come from the fence line running to the north. I ran Bodie down the fence line. When he got close to a small tree he pointed. But it wasn’t like he looks on a bird. When I got close I saw an armadillo trying to climb the small tree. I led Bodie away for several yards. When I turned him loose he went right back. As I went back the armadillo ran to a hole and went in but left his tail hanging out. When I got to him Bodie had the armadillo’s tail.
Bodie honoring Sally.
I got him loose and led him almost back to the shelter belt before turning him loose again. Finally, he returned to hunting. I followed Bodie down the shelter belt. When we got to the very end, as he got really birdy, a pheasant flushed. He chased it for a short distance and came back. In the same area he got real birdy again. Thinking it was the pheasant scent I called him away and started into some CRP. Later Vince told me he had flushed a covey of quail from the same area.
I saw a couple more pheasants in the air, coming from the cover around the east of the shelter belt. We worked some of this area then when we got close to the truck I loaded Bodie and we went to the motel. That was the end of day one for me.