Some CRP with pretty trees in background.
Luke on point in the CRP
Today was opening day of quail and pheasant season in Kansas. I hunted walk-in properties near Emporia. The weather guy said it would be windy but that was an understatement. The white caps on the farm ponds looked like tsunamis.
I turned Tur Bo and Lucky out and hunted into the north wind. I had parked along the road near a draw that had a lot of trees and brush. We worked through the draw then over a hill to some hedge rows and CRP next to a wheat stubble field. I had found a covey of quail here while turkey hunting. We checked everything without finding the quail. We made a big circle and hunted back toward the truck. As we made this circle a young doe ran out of some brush and I thought that Tur Bo might chase but he wasn’t behind her. Just a few seconds later a nice buck followed the doe and Tur Bo was right behind him. I turned his e-collar up all the way and held the button down until he quit chasing. I never said anything. He stood there for a while watching me walk along. Pretty soon he was back in front of me hunting. We were about 75 yards from the truck when a covey of quail flushed about 35 yards in front of me. Neither of the dogs were even close to the quail.
I called the dogs in to hunt where I thought the covey had flown to. We started into the wind again and Lucky pointed with Tur Bo backing. When I got close the quail flushed and flew around a tree. I shot but missed. Tur Bo went into the bottom of a little draw but before he could point 2 quail flushed then another got up behind him. He was at least 15 yards from all of these birds.
We made a circle and got back close to the truck again and I checked my Garmin GPS. It showed Lucky on point about 20 yards from me. I found him pointing near a large cedar tree. When I got close the bird went out the other side of the cedar tree. We hunted that area for a few minutes then went to the truck. I drove to another farm.
This farm had milo that hadn’t been harvested but 2 of the fence rows were wide and real weedy. It also had a draw running through the middle. I turned Dolly and Luke out to hunt. Almost immediately they started pointing then moving up. First Dolly would point with Luke honoring then they would move and Luke would point with Dolly honoring. Luke went down the hedge row and Dolly stayed in that area. I checked the GPS and Dolly was on point 46 yards away. She was over a little rise in the ground and as I came over the rise I could see her. I was still 15 yards from Dolly when a covey of about 14 or 15 quail flushed about 30 yards in front of her and flew a circle just out of range around me. Most of them flew into the milo field but a couple were along the draw running through the field.
I was trying to get the dogs into the milo to find those singles that had flown in there and Luke came in front of me, along the draw that ran through the milo field and went on point. I walked up behind him and a quail flushed on the other side of the draw without me getting a shot. There was a CRP field on the other side of the hedge row that I knew was real thick and I didn’t think quail would fly into it. I was watching the dogs working the edge of the CRP and 3 quail flew into the CRP. I don’t know where they came from but the dogs didn’t flush them.
I started into the CRP and a quail flushed behind me. I turned, shot and the quail fluttered down about 35 yards away. It was not hit very hard. I called the dogs in to find the bird. Luke went straight to the bird and picked it up. I was afraid it would be hard to find. It was still alive when I took it from him. I started on through the CRP and checked the GPS and it showed Luke on point behind me about 80 yards. I wallowed my way through the CRP to get to him. He was pointing into a brush pile. I climbed onto the brush pile and started jumping and Luke went into the middle of it. Dolly had come up and I tried to get both of them to flush the bird but they would only move when I bounced the brush pile. Finally, a raccoon came out of the brush pile. That’s what he had been pointing.
I pulled the dogs away from the area and started for the truck. I hadn’t gone very far when I checked the GPS and Luke was on point 85 yards in the opposite direction. I turned and fought my way back to him. I started to go in front of him and a truck was coming down the road about 50 yards away. I waited for them to go by and there was another truck right behind that one. I just knew when the quail flushed they would fly straight at the trucks. The second truck wanted to talk but I waved him on. They went on and I walked in front of Luke and that raccoon shuffled off. Not only Luke was interested in raccoon but now Dolly was too. I finally had to light both of them up with the e-collar to get them to leave Mr. Raccoon alone.
When we got back close to the truck 3 more quail flushed ahead of the dogs. The dogs or I neither one were within 30 yards of those quail. We followed up but didn’t see any more. I ate lunch on the way to another farm.
I will put the afternoon hunt on the blog tomorrow. I feel like it has been too long since I have posted something. I think the reason the quail were so spooky and not holding for the dogs is because of the strong winds. The weeds are rattling against each other and it’s hard for the quail to hear predators coming so they flush at any sound. That’s just my opinion.