Or maybe I was turkey hunting, since Kansas allows you to hunt turkeys in the fall, with dogs. To be on walk-in properties you must be hunting. You can’t just run dogs. Kansas has added several new walk-in properties and I wanted to check some of them out so I loaded all of my dogs early Tuesday morning (3:30 am) and went toward the Greensburg area.
Luke
Abby
Mann pointing what may have been a skunk.
Most of the time I let the dogs out to clean out at a Conservation area before I get to the area I want to hunt. They have been in the truck for about 4 1/2 hours and are usually ready. I don’t put e-collars or GPS on them. They are used to the exercise and usually load back up to go on down the road. Most of the time Luke is the first to get back in the truck. When I loaded the others he wasn’t around. I called him. No Luke.
I wasn’t too concerned because I could run dogs on this Conservation area. I drove the road both ways looking for him. I don’t often use a whistle but I got one out and blew it for him. After driving up and down the road several times I circled the sections on both sides of where I had turned him out. Nothing.
I parked the truck where I had turned him out and put GPS collars on Sally, Mann and Abby. I put e-collars on Sally and Mann. The side that Luke had gone into wasn’t part of the Conservation place so I couldn’t run there but we ran on the Conservation side.
The cover was thick but not too thick for quail. Everything looked good as we went to the south about 3/4 of a mile then moved over and came back to the road we were parked on. I expected to see Luke at the truck but he wasn’t there.
I took my shirt off and left it in the ditch close to where the truck was parked and drove the roads some more. Still no Luke.
I went to a walk-in property several miles away and ran Tur Bo and Josie. They were the only ones that hadn’t been run. Tur Bo is Josie’s sire and it was funny watching her. She thought she was as big as he is and she could stay with him.
Josie, pointing a pigeon.
We ran in a large pasture that hadn’t been grazed down too much. There were a lot of rag weed and other weed seeds for quail food. When you have a lost dog it’s hard to stay out. We made a short circle, about a quarter mile and back to the truck. I loaded them up and started back to look for Luke.
I hadn’t driven a half mile from the last place when I got a phone call. A nice man asked if I had lost a dog. I was elated. I wasn’t sure when I lost him if I would ever see Luke again.
When I got to Bill Parker’s house, his wife, had put Luke in the garage with food and water. When I called him he came to me but it was like he was weighing his options. Maybe I could just stay with these nice people. They invited me into their home and were as nice as could be.
By the time I went back to get my shirt and fed dogs it was almost dark. I tried to see how far Luke was from where I had turned him out and according to the odometer it was nine miles. I don’t know how far he had to go to get that far away but it was a bunch.
The second morning I turned Luke, Mann and Abby out about 8:00 am. I had GPS collars on all three and e-collars on Mann and Luke. We started to the east along a fence row next to a harvested corn field. I was trying to keep track of Luke.
Tur Bo
We were about a half mile from the truck when I saw Luke was close but headed in the wrong direction. I called him and he came in front of me. Just a few minutes later he was 500 yards behind me and still going. I called Mann and started back toward the truck.
As we were going back Mann pointed into that large yucca plant in the picture above. He didn’t look exactly right but I went to him and kicked the yucca plant two or three times. Nothing came up so I started away and called Mann. He jumped into the yucca and I continued away, calling him. He came with me.
As we walked away I got just a little of the essence of skunk. Every time he got down wind I could smell him but it wasn’t real bad but it was definitely skunk. When we got to the truck I loaded Abby and made Mann jump onto the truck without any aid from me. I opened his dog box but didn’t touch him. On a scale of 1 to 10 he was about a 1 or maybe 2.
Luke was about a half mile north, along the road, so I drove to him. When I got close he was 64 yards off the road. When I got out of the truck and called he came right to me. He acted like I should have stayed with him.
Luke has always been a handful to hunt. He runs fast and ahead. He should have been owned by someone that hunted from a horse, on a huge acreage. When he went on point he would stay until I got there or the birds flew. If they ran he would wait until I got close then move up and re-establish point. I’m not sure what has happened but I can’t hunt him they way he is. He’s almost ten years old which isn’t old for most dogs but I’m going to retire him. He will have a good home here and I will work him on pigeons, occasionally.
Sally
It was getting warm and I had dogs that hadn’t been out. I put GPS and e-collars on Sally and Tur Bo and turned them loose. When I put Josie on the ground (her neck is too small for the GPS) I opened the box Mann was in and had him jump off the tail gate. Normally, I set the dogs on the ground because I think it’s hard on their bones but I made him jump, this time. I still didn’t touch him.
We were in the same pasture as before but on a different side. That skunk was already mad. I didn’t want another encounter.
Along with the temperature getting warmer the south wind was getting stronger. We were in the pasture next to a harvested corn field going into the wind. We were getting close to the end of the place when Tur Bo went on point. His head was real high and he was looking out front quite a way. I got the camera out to take a picture and Sally came by. I waited on her to honor and just as I started to take the picture a single quail flushed about 10 yards in front of Tur Bo.
Tur Bo followed the quail for a few yards then came back and went on point, again. About two or three seconds after he pointed another quail flushed. He chased a few yards and came back and went on point, again. This time, after just a few seconds about 4 quail flushed. They were spread out. Either feeding in the weeds or spread out going to the corn field. He followed them a few yards then came back.
Tur Bo on point.
I had tried to get Mann and Sally to hunt with him in this small area but they wouldn’t stay close. He came back and pointed again. Another single quail flushed from in front of him. I think he made 4 points and none of the birds held for me to flush but they were close. I think there were probably only 7 or 8 quail that I saw. At least one of these birds was real small. A late hatch, probably.
I didn’t want the dogs catching any of the baby birds so we went on to the end moved over a couple of hundred yards and went back. It was getting really hot for the dogs. When we got back to the truck I took the e-collars and GPS off the dogs. I no longer smelled the skunk on Mann. He must have just barely got a little and running through the weeds wore it off. The collars don’t even smell. I’ve been with guys when their dogs got sprayed by a skunk and you could smell it forever. Mann and I were lucky. I think blessed.
At 10:20 am the temperature, according to the thermometer in my truck, was 64 degrees. Way too hot to run dogs and it was getting warmer. I drove toward home checking some new properties on the way. I had all of my dogs and there wasn’t a green cloud of skunk odor hanging over my truck. My life is good.