Monday the wind blew really hard so I waited until Tuesday to go quail hunting. The wind was blowing almost as hard as the day before. I met Don and Linda Hansen near Emporia Kansas and we drove to the walk-in property we wanted to hunt.
Luke pointing quail.
Sally pointing a single.
Luke pointing quail.
Because of the strong south wind we parked on the north end after checking to make sure no one else was hunting this site. Don turned Annie his pointer out with the Garmin track and train collar on and I turned Sally and Luke out with the Garmin e-collars ans well as Garmin GPS collars.
We crossed some CRP to a short hedge row then south down the the hedge row. As we got near the end of the hedge row Annie and Sally went into the CRP on the east side and Sally went on point. When we got close she started moving and Annie went on point. They continued, one would point and the other back, going to the east. I checked the GPS and Luke was on point north east of us about 150 yards.
After Sally and Annie quit trailing and went back to hunting we started to Luke. When we got close we saw him standing in some short grass facing into the strong wind. This looked too easy. Sally and Annie honored Luke’s point. I was close waiting for Don to get in position when the birds flushed. I hit one with the first shot then missed with the second barrel. Don was too far away for a shot. The quail didn’t wait.
We got the dogs in to find my dead bird. They hunted the area without finding anything. After I thought about it I never saw the quail fall to the ground I just knew I was on it and the feathers flew off. I didn’t see it fall. I changed birds too quick, I should have made sure of the one.
After about ten minutes searching for the bird we moved on. The covey had flown toward the north west into the CRP, we thought. We went back and forth across the CRP without seeing a bird. I checked the GPS and Luke was on the west side of the hedge row, on point.
After I fought my way through the hedge row I saw him pointing into the hedge row. As I waited on Don to get through the hedge row the quail flushed flying through the hedge row without a shot being fired. Since we were on the west side of the hedge we moved to the south down the hedge row then moved over into the CRP and started back.
The CRP is tall and it’s hard to keep track of the dogs. I checked the GPS and Luke was on point about 80 yards away. There was a small draw that ran into the CRP and he was on point in it. I was about 50 yards away watching the GPS and he moved about 10 yards and went back on point. Before we got to him I saw about 6 or 7 quail flying into the CRP back close to the trucks. Then Luke was moving.
Since we were close to the trucks we took the dogs back for water and Don put Annie up and got his puppy, Goofy, out. Goofy is a big, male pointer.
We went back through the CRP where I saw the quail from the last covey fly and we never saw a bird. We crossed through the CRP then went back across the hedge row and checked the CRP on the other side.
Dolly on point.
We went back to the truck to water the dogs as it was really hot and dry. As we were trying to figure out our next plan the man that owned the land across the road stopped to talk. He said on opening weekend every time someone left another group pulled in to hunt this property. Just last Saturday he counted 4 different groups hunting this property. These birds either get smart or they die. It was pretty warm so we quit for the day.
Thursday I went to the Truman Lake area and hunted some Corp of Engineers land. The first place I hunted was an area I had found quail a couple of years ago. Most of this land is low and prone to flooding but they lease it to farmers and they grow grain on it. I made a big loop to the south going to the road on the other side then back close to the truck.
I then went to the north and made a big circle. Both sides had grain growing with areas that were just weeds. On the south side I had hunted through a year ago corn field that had not been replanted. It was full of weeds and really short corn stalks.
I went to the east down a fence row beside a standing corn field. Along a low spot there wasn’t an ear of corn left on the corn stalks for about 10 rows. The deer, turkeys, raccoons and other critters had really worked the corn field over.
We followed the fence row to the east for about a mile. As I walk along I keep track of the dogs with the GPS. I saw Luke, on the GPS, on point about 90 yards away. I couldn’t see Luke but I saw Sally honor him. Before I got to her I saw her raise her head real quick then start toward where Luke was. I knew the quail had flushed.
Sally honoring Tur Bo.
When I got close to where Luke had been on point I saw both dogs combing the weeds for the birds. We spent about twenty minutes going back and forth without me seeing a bird.
We went on to the east then circled back to the truck. We were in good looking quail habitat most of the way and I had found quail there in the past but not today. We got back to the truck and I ate lunch while we drove to another place.
As I drove to the next place I saw an area that looked really good. I turned the dogs out and we went around a harvested corn field then on back into an area of thick weeds. As we got close to the lake I saw a bunch, about 200, pelicans sitting on the water. Sally had never seen birds this big and I wanted to get her close. I saw her wheel around when she got down wind from them and move to the edge of the water. She doesn’t like to go into the water but she ran the edge. The close birds just flew over the others and sat back down. She was excited but she still didn’t go into the water and the pelicans knew they were in no danger.
We went around another corn field then back to the truck. We drove to another area I wanted to hunt. As I pulled up a guy stopped to talk. He said he picked up trash, along an 81 mile route, once a week. I asked if he had seen any quail he seemed surprised I even asked. He was a rabbit hunter and as he drove he watched for them and any other animals and hadn’t seen any quail.
After we finished talking I drove back around to an area I had noticed on the way in. I wasn’t sure if it was Corp land. Most of the area is well marked but this isn’t. I saw some county workers and stopped to talk to them. It was Corp land but he said he hadn’t seen any quail for a long time. He, also, had beagles and was a rabbit hunter. He told me where he had seen a small covey. I drove to that area.
This is me teaching heel and whoa to Sally.
I found the place he was talking about and it looked really good. We hunted to the west through some tall grass and weeds down a fence row. On the private land side, the soy beans had been harvested. We went a half mile to the west then moved over and came back through the tall weeds. We got to the road we were parked on and crossed it.
On the other side of the road there was a spring that put some water in a small creek. I thought as dry as it was there might be some quail around the water. We went down one side then back the other. When we got back to the truck I had had enough. And so had the dogs. We loaded up and headed home.
I had hunted some really good looking places, in areas where I had found quail in the past, without seeing a bird. There has to be more to the loss of quail than just habitat. I was in some really good habitat, that in the past had quail and the dogs hunted hard. I never saw a quail. I did learn a knew spot, that if the quail come back in this area, I will try.
Sally pointing quail.
Luke on point almost sitting down. Sally honoring.
Luke had a single right under his nose. He was afraid to move.