Vince Dye and I met his friend Steve, to go quail hunting, at a café in north west Missouri, for breakfast. Steve owns some of the places we were to hunt and leases others, I think. He was raised here and knows most of the people and who owns what. After breakfast we drove just a few miles to the first place we were to hunt.
Luke pointing a covey.
Tur Bo honoring Luke.
Tur Bo on point with his daughter, Sally, honoring.
Vince turned his young German shorthaired pointer, Allie, out with GPS and e-collars on. His English cocker, Maggie, stays close enough she didn’t need anything to track her. I put the e-collars and GPS on Mann and Sally and turned them loose on a large CRP field with some food plots.
We went down the edge of one food plot then back to another. We circled the next food plot then off to the west through some CRP. We were in the middle of a huge CRP field when Mann got birdy and started moving, slowly into the wind. A covey of quail flushed in front of him. I’m not sure if he was close enough to get them up or they flushed a head of him.
I wasn’t where I could see the covey, when it flushed, but Vince and Steve saw where they had flown. They had flown into a small clump of trees. When the dogs got close we heard some birds flushing. Finally, Sally pointed on a little mound. When we got close a single quail flushed about 15 yards behind us not giving us a shot.
This farm was about 320 acres of CRP. There were probably more quail here. Our dogs worked hard but there was too much cover. The quail could have been any where in that huge field. When we got back to the truck I put Mann up and got Tur Bo and Luke out. I left Sally to hunt. Vince put Allie up and got his other short hair, Indy, out. He, also, left Maggie on the ground.
We had just crossed the road to the other side to hunt another property. This place had some soy bean fields, part of which had been harvested, and some CRP with draws running into the soy bean fields. We started down the edge of a soy bean field to the south along a hedge row when I checked the GPS and Luke was on point 350 yards east of us.
When we got close I saw Sally and Tur Bo go through a hedge row and go on point. They were honoring Luke. He was over a hill along a draw, on point. Vince stayed back with his dog, Indy, to make sure she would back. I went way out front, 25 yards or so, of Luke. He was looking way ahead and I thought the quail had run. Steve was closer to Luke. I started toward Luke and a covey of quail flushed. One of the quail was still behind me and when it flushed I shot it. Steve had shot to the west and had hit a quail hard but it hadn’t dropped.
We went up the draw in the way the most of the singles had gone. We saw a few quail flushing ahead of us and getting up in the brush. We came back down the other side and Indy, Vince’s short hair, found the quail that Steve had shot on the covey rise.
As we started back to the hedge row we had been originally going down I checked the GPS. It showed Luke on point close to where the covey had flushed from. We started to him. Steve and I thought he was on the other side of the draw. We crossed and Vince stayed on the other side. When we got close he was on the Vince’s side behind a large mound of dirt where we couldn’t see him. Vince said, “I’ll scare him out to you”. He went in and we heard him shoot. Steve and I saw the bird fall.
I thought Maggie would get it quickly but she didn’t. They were having trouble finding it. Steve and I went over to help. I called Sally in. She was hunting dead and so was Maggie. It took a little while but Maggie found the bird and gave it to Vince.
Sally backing Tur Bo.
We ran some draws that ran back into the soy bean fields. Later, we were going down a draw when Steve and Vince saw quail flushing. I could see Sally and Tur Bo. They were both hunting but didn’t know the quail were flushing. They were close to the quail but not close enough to see or hear them flushing.
Steve saw where they had flown down another draw. We started down it with Steve on the south side and Vince and me on the north. Sally and Tur Bo were in front of us and went on point. Tur Bo was pointing with Sally honoring. We thought it would be a single. I went into the brush to scare the quail out for Vince. When I went in about 10 quail flushed. Vince shot twice and killed one on the second shot. One quail flew back behind us and it dropped when I shot. I knew it wasn’t hit very hard so I called Sally to me.
Maggie found Vince’s bird, quickly. Sally and I went to where my bird had fallen. She was hunting dead when the wounded quail bounced up right beside her and she missed it when she tried to grab it. I asked Vince to bring Maggie over. Both dogs were really working. Maggie trailed the bird into a big brush pile. I checked the GPS and Sally was on the other side on point. When I got to her she was digging in the brush pile. I handed Vince my gun and got into the brush pile with her. Sally was breaking half rotted limbs that were 1 1/2 inch in diameter. Dirt was flying when she dug. She knew that bird was right there. I tried to help but we weren’t going to get that bird. When she wasn’t looking I took a bird from my vest and dropped it for her to find. I’m not sure I fooled her but we went on.
Luke pointing two quail.
A little while later with Vince on the south side of a draw and Steve and me on the north I checked the GPS and Sally was on point 375 yards to the south of us. Vince waited for Steve and me to cross the draw. We started to her.
When we got close we thought she was down in the draw. Steve tried to cross the draw as Vince and I went around the end. Steve caught up with us because the draw wasn’t crossable. Sally was on point along the edge of the draw next to a soy bean field. As Vince and I came around the end of the draw, way out in the soy bean field, several quail flushed. Sally was still on point. Steve caught up and we started to Sally. Just as we got close she started moving. She checked all of the weeds close thinking the quail were right there.
We went on to the east along the soy bean field. As we went along, out in the soy bean field, several more quail flushed ahead of the dogs. There is not enough cover in soy bean fields, with all of the herbicides that sprayed on them, for quail to hide in.
We came back through the area where Sally had pointed and as we started up a draw I checked the GPS. It showed Sally on point behind us about 30 yards. Steve was on the south side and I was on the north. We started back to her. Vince had gone up another small draw. We were still 20 yards from her and Steve may have been farther, when 3 quail flushed 20 yards from Steve. I heard them but never saw them. Steve shot but by the time he saw them they were too far.
Sally on point.
We worked our way through some more draws along the soy bean field without finding anything else. We worked our way back to the trucks and loaded the dogs.
I don’t know why these quail were so wild. This was the first time that Steve has ever hunted with me or Vince. He has to think that our dogs, and especially mine, don’t point until they flush the birds. Even when we had points, the birds ran a long way before we got to them. We had seen 4 coveys and only the one that Luke pointed was in front of him and I had walked out in front of him 25 yards then back toward him. Part of that covey was still behind me.
I don’t know why the birds were crazy but it was still fun. Any time you can get into 4 coveys of quail and get some points it’s a good day.
Sally on point, Mann and Dolly honoring.
Tur Bo on point.
Mann on wild quail.