I started loading dogs before 4:00 am to go to west central Kansas. The older dogs will go right to the truck for me, to load them, but the two puppies don’t like to ride. I loaded the older dogs and went back through the light rain to get the puppies. I put them on a leash and tried to lead both of them to the truck. I know better than this. I should have made two trips but I had both of them pulling on me. The grass was wet and slick. When I got close to the truck the puppies went from pulling ahead to lagging back.
Sally on point 144 yards off the walk-in. I set the camera on the fence corner post.
Mann honoring Sally.
Abby’s second point.
All of this is my fault. I should have worked them on leading and heeling. More than that they don’t honor. Not only do they not honor they think everything is for their pleasure. When a dog goes on point they run up and lick it in the face. All of this is my fault. I will start them on heel and whoa in the next few days as the weather gets a little better.
I drove what felt like forever. I drove by several walk-in hunting places before settling on a large, 40 acres or so, a corner that was a wet weather creek with CRP on both sides. Around this area, on 3 sides, was harvested cornfields. Across the road to the south was a harvested soybean field.
Luke has been retired because he no longer will stay with me but I couldn’t leave him home. With the GPS I know where he is and I can do whatever I need to do to find him. I turned him, Mann and Abby loose. They all had on GPS collars and Luke and Mann had an e-collar.
Abby thought she could stay with Luke and they started to the north. I kept Mann in close, mostly with-in two hundred yards. It wasn’t long, Luke and Abby, were about half a mile away. Soon Luke came back close and then went back to the south. Abby was still to the north as Mann and I hunted the CRP.
I have the GPS handheld in a holster on my belt. As I walk I hold my gun in my left hand and the GPS handheld in my right. I no longer can hear the handheld beep but I can feel it vibrate. It vibrated and it showed Mann on point just over 200 yards to the north, near the north boundary.
It is nearly always uphill when these dogs go on point. I chugged up the hill and I could see him standing, regally, on point. But he was honoring the white sign on the fence to tell me that the other side was private. I had to say, “okay” 3 or 4 times to get him to continue hunting.
We had gone up the west side of the CRP and we went back on the east. From the top of the hill I could see an SUV near my truck. The GPS showed Luke at the truck. Then I saw the SUV go to the south and Luke was going south, too.
Mann honoring Sally.
Abby was still off to the north as Mann and I started back through the CRP. When we got to the road, east of where we parked the truck, Mann went on point but left it before I could get to him. As Mann came by me he would stop then roll on the ground. I couold smell the odor of a skunk. Not real strong but I could smell it. The guy in the SUV drove to us. He thought I had lost Luke and he had caught him for me. As I thanked him we talked for a few minutes and he said, “wow, someone got into a skunk”.
When we got back to the truck I took the e-collar and GPS collar off Luke but I wouldn’t touch Mann. I made him jump into the truck and go into the box on his own. I didn’t take either collar off. Abby was about a hundred yards away and came to me when I called her. I loaded her into the dog box.
For everyone reading this I hope you live long enough to get old and forgetful. I hunted another place. I opened the dog box and made Mann jump down. I put the e-collar and GPS collar on Sally and a GPS collar on Josie and turned them loose. I have no recollection of this place at all. Needless to say, we never saw a quail or pheasant.
But when I loaded the dogs back into the truck the smell from the skunk was gone. Just from Mann running through the weeds, I guess. I still didn’t touch him but I couldn’t smell the skunk at all. This is the second time he’s been sprayed and both times it was so slight the grass wore the scent off. Thank God. I hope he doesn’t get to hating skunks and want to kill them.
I was pretty close to a place that Austin Farley and I had found 2 coveys of quail last year. When I got to it, it looked really good. It was only an 80 acre place but about half of it was in CRP. The ground with CRP wasn’t real good land so the CRP wasn’t real thick. It had a small milo patch in a low spot. The rest of it was in corn that had been harvested.
Sally on point.
I turned Sally, Mann and Abby out. I think Sally was getting tired of Abby trying to play with her as she hunted. In just a few minutes Sally was way north of me with Abby running with her. Mann stayed with me as we went to the north.
This place was about perfect for quail. Mann and I got to the north edge without finding anything. We moved over and started back. I was watching Sally on the GPS and she was a way off. I toned her e-collar and she started toward me. I felt the handheld for the GPS vibrate. It showed Sally on point 565 yards to the north west. I thought to my self, “I’m not going to walk that far”. I waited a couple of minutes and she was still on point.
I started up the hill through the cornfield. Did I say it’s always up hill. When I got to the corner of the walk-in, I could see her still on point, in the pasture, just off the walk-in. The GPS said she was 144 yards from the corner post. I set the camera on the corner post, to steady it, and took a picture. While I was taking the picture Mann honored her so I got his picture, too.
Sally honoring Mann.
I watched for a while then crossed the fence. I tried to get way out front of her to run the birds back onto the walk-in. When I got close Sally moved up a few feet and went back on point. I continued to try to get in front of her but she moved, again. Then a third time. Then her and Mann both started trailing farther away from the walk-in. I called them back and we got back where we belonged.
We went to the south along the west fence line then crossed back across the cornfield into the CRP. Just as I got to the CRP I got a phone call. I talked to a friend for maybe a minute. When I quit I checked the GPS and Mann was on point, in the middle of this place along the milo field. This time it was only a little way up then down to the edge of the milo field.
Just before I got to him Sally saw him and honored. Abby saw Sally and tried to get her to play. Sally was all business. Then Abby saw Mann and went to him but when he wouldn’t play she went on. Mann was standing under a honey locust tree. When I tried to get in front of him there were thorns everywhere. I came back beside him and kicked a small brush pile and nothing flushed. I said, “okay” and he moved a few feet and went back on point for just a second then started trailing. Sally came to help but whatever it was had run out on them.
I have tree leads for leashes and I like to find a good spot to tie the dogs to a fence and feed them before going in of the evening. I found just the right place and had all of the dogs tied out and eating. Josie was the last.
Mann on point.
I had her on a leash and her food pan in the other hand taking her to the fence. I’m color blind and there was some rusty woven wire crumpled up in the brown grass. We were almost to the fence when my feet got tangled in the woven wire and I fell almost on top of Josie. That really scared her and I got most of her food in my face. I went ahead and placed what was left of her food in front of her.
As the other dogs got through eating I put them back in the truck. Luke doesn’t eat very much on trips so I took what he had left to Josie. She started shying away when I got close thinking I would fall on her. She was happy with the food, though.
I gave all of the dogs a little time to eat then put them all up. I knew that Josie was almost traumatized with me almost falling on top of her. I made a big circle to stay out of the wire. Danged if they weren’t some more wire and I fell again. Almost on top of her. Luckily she’s quick and got away. She may never be the same.
On trips, I like to be in bed by 8:00 pm but after a hot shower and a good meal, it was almost 9:00 pm before I got to bed. It had been a long day. In a few days I will put day 2 on the blog if I can still remember what we did.