When I left home this morning, 11/10/18, I was on my way to Iowa but the thoughts of an opening morning took precedence. When I got to Liberty Missouri I had to make a decision whether I would drive I-35 or I-29. I took I-29. I had hunted Nebraska opening day without having a decent shot. Dolly did point a covey of quail that flew out the other side of a draw without giving me a shot. Where I hunted in Kansas was just south of where I was in Nebraska.
I saw this near where I was hunting.
Some of the shoes nailed to the tree.
Even had shoes hanging from the tree.
I started checking properties west of Atherton Kansas. The first two places I wanted to hunt had people already on them. The temperature was about 20 degrees with a 30 mile per hour wind. With a wind like that, coming across the snow that was on the ground, it was really cold. I kept driving north and west.
I came to a half section, half mile wide and a mile long, with only about 3 acres of cover. The rest was harvested soy beans. I turned Dolly and Babe out with the e-collars and GPS collars. Dolly is old and can’t see very well and I’m not sure if she can hear at all.
As soon as I got off the road I saw tracks where someone had already hunted this area. Since I needed to run dogs I continued on around a small creek that ran on an angle back to the cross road on the east. There was a small draw that ran a short distance into the soy bean field just south of the creek. Beavers had dammed the creek up and I didn’t want to walk across the creek or have the dogs cross so we went all the way to the cross road and around.
Babe and Dolly beat me to the draw with Babe being in the lead. Babe was on the other side of the draw when I got there but I couldn’t see her. A covey of quail came boiling out of the draw about where I saw Babe just seconds later. I don’t know whether she flushed them or not but I’m glad she found them or was close. The quail crossed about 50 yards from me and some flew to the corner of the roads. I shot so Babe would start getting used to the sound of the gun. I’ve shot the blank pistol around her but this was the first time with a shotgun. She was still 40 yards from me, chasing the covey.
We went on to the end of the draw. I circled the end and started toward where the quail had flown. Babe went into the draw about where the covey had flushed from. She pointed and before I could take a step a single quail flushed and flew near where most of the covey had flown. Again, we crossed the creek by walking the road. We started back toward the truck along the draw. Babe was in front of me and I saw her wheel around and point. A quail flushed in front of her and crossed the creek. Babe really started hunting the edge of the creek.
The GPS showed Dolly on point about a hundred yards to the west. Babe and I started toward her. We were still 50 yards from her when I saw a quail flying away. We had checked most of the cover on the walk-in side so most of the birds had flown off the walk-in. I loaded the dogs.
There was a truck parked at the cross road when I started to drive away. I slowed before I got close to them and a quail flew between my truck and theirs. It lit near a brush pile off the walk-in. I pulled up and talked to them. They said they had hunted the walk-in before I got there. As we talked another quail flew toward the brush pile. They said they had permission to hunt that and if I wanted to turn a dog loose it would be okay.
I wanted to get Mann on some birds so I turned him loose. I walked him in to the brush pile but he didn’t seem to smell anything. I turned Sally loose to help. We never came up with a bird. I think they had run into the brush pile. I loaded the dogs and went to another area.
There was 3 to 5 inches of snow on in this area. I have never been here before so it was really hard to tell how much cover was in the draws. I turned Luke and Tur Bo out at the next place. 160 acres with a draw running through a harvested corn field. Once I got close to the draw I could see that the farmer had had a lot of cattle on this place. Most of the cover was gone. I don’t give up easy. We hunted the whole thing. I loaded the dogs.
Tur Bo pointing a pigeon.
When you are new to an area you have to look at every place. The temperature was getting into the upper 20’s and the mud roads were thawing. I drove a lot of questionable roads to get to some of these properties to find that some had been taken out of the walk-in program. That doesn’t happen often but there were several properties that had been removed in this area.
I drove slowly down a mud road. As I got to the edge of the property I saw a bird fly up along side the road and go right back down. I stopped and got out to see what it was. A wounded red tail hawk tried to get away but stopped about 15 yards off the road. I think he had been shot by a hunter. Hawks are a protected species but, in my opinion, the worst part of this is leaving an animal to suffer. If you are going to shoot something make sure it doesn’t suffer.
Each of the walk-in map books has the game warden, for that area, in the back. I called the one for that county and he assured me he would take care of the hawk. I offered to wait until he got there but he said it wasn’t necessary.
I found another place to check. Another 160 acre place with a harvested corn field on one side of a draw and soy beans on the other side that hadn’t been harvested. Mann and Sally hadn’t been out of the truck except for about 5 minutes when I had them check the brush pile, so I turned them loose.
I had parked about 75 yards from the draw. We hit the end and started into the strong wind. I was watching Mann run the edge of the draw when I saw some birds fly out of the field well out in front of him. Through the brush I couldn’t tell what kind of birds. When Mann got to the area where the birds had flushed from he pointed then started trailing. He was so excited. He ran back to me as if to say, “hurry, Boss”. I started to him but checked the GPS and Sally was on point across the draw, 45 yards away.
Sally backing Tur Bo at Black Kettle Grasslands.
I started to her. She was pointing into a little thicket with a small brush pile. I was still 30 yards from her when a covey of quail flushed, low toward the farmers house and lit in the standing soy beans. Sally didn’t move so I figured there were some quail that didn’t flush. When I got within about 20 yards a single quail flew straight up and lit in a tree. I got real close before it flushed. Usually, these birds figure out some way to beat you but when I shot it dropped into some heavy cover and a small snow drift. Sally must have seen it drop because she had her head under the snow snuffling. When I walked to her she pounced on it.
I couldn’t chase the singles through the standing soy bean field so we went on to the south down the draw. When it quit I could see a fence row with some cover in it as well as another draw coming off the fence row. Sally went down the fence row and I called Mann to me and sent him down the draw. I checked the GPS and it showed Sally on point down the hedge row, 158 yards from me. I started to her. I wanted Mann to see her and checked the GPS. He was on point, in the draw, but was only 98 yards from me. He was closer so I went to him. I would have gone to him if he had of been farther, also.
When I crossed the corn field and got near the draw Mann was on point on the other side. I don’t know when he went on point for sure but he held his point as I walked to him. A covey of quail flushed between him and me flying down the draw. One cleared the brush and went down at my shot. I missed another with my second shot. I don’t know what Sally had but she showed up and had my bird in a thicket of black berries. I called her to me but she didn’t pay attention. I beeped her with the collar and she came to me but left the bird. I sent her back but she couldn’t find the dead bird. I crawled into the berry patch. No bird.
Tur Bo at Black Kettle National Grasslands.
I got both dogs in to hunt dead. I had to kneel down to get into the berry patch. I was trying to get the dogs in with me when I finally looked and Sally had her head and shoulders in a small brush pile under the snow. She was out of the berries. I crawled out. When I stood she moved a few feet and grabbed the bird. It was still alive when she gave it to me.
We started on down the draw and a couple of quail flew from the dogs back by me. I saw where one landed so I got Sally in to find it but it flushed well out in front of her without giving me a shot. We went on down the draw then back up the east fence line to the fence line where Sally had been on point. We worked all the way back to the truck without seeing any more quail. I loaded the dogs and we headed home. It was only about 4:00 pm but on cold days and with the snow on the ground I like to give the birds plenty of time to get back together.
I was satisfied with the opening day of quail season in Kansas. Both of my almost 7 month old puppies had seen wild birds and I had shot the gun, when they were chasing, with no problem. I had killed one bird over Mann’s point although I’m not sure he saw it fall. Now I need to get them into more and more quail. It’s a tough job but someone has to do it.
Mann pointing a pigeon.
Luke
Babe pointing a pigeon.