When it gets real cold, in the single digits, I put the dogs in their box in the truck, and park the truck in the garage. The garage isn’t heated but it is attached to the house and stays above freezing. Their box is small and easy for them to raise the temperature to a comfortable level and with no wind they are plenty warm. Usually, I’m awake early so I turn them out before daylight and then load them back up and pull back into the garage. They are always ready to get back in the truck.
No snow in this picture.
Quail were running and I couldn’t get very close.
Boss pointing a single.
Mann doesn’t like to ride in the truck but he does load. Boss hates to ride in the truck and after a hunt he hides. I have to use the GPS to find him. But Boss is the first one to get back in the truck of the mornings when I let them out for a few minutes to do their business. Dogs are smart.
We had about a foot of snow and super cold weather so I had the dogs in the truck with the truck in the garage. I loaded my stuff and left for some place with no snow. Most of the way through Kansas and the north part of Oklahoma the ground was white. As I got close to where I was going to hunt in Oklahoma there was less and less of snow. I hunted north of Interstate 40 and there was still some snow in protected areas but one day I hunted south of I-40 and it had to have a bluff and a cedar tree to have any snow left. And with a coat on it was plenty warm to hunt. In fact part of each day I hunted in short sleeves.
It was about 2:30 by the time I was able to turn dogs out the first day. It was about an eight hour drive down there. I drove by a couple of places that I have hunted in the past. The place I turned out on had cattle in one of the areas I wanted to hunt so we went along the opposite fence line toward the back. The place I was hunting was 480 acres. I had 5 dogs with me and turned them all out. Sally, Abby, Boss, Thomas and Mann.
We were a little over a half mile south when Sally pointed. I started to her and the GPS vibrated. It showed Thomas on point behind me. Just as I turned around he started chasing something. Thomas is only 8 months old so any bird contact is good. And anything he does is okay. I turned back to Sally and she was trailing. Then Abby pointed in the same area. Boss came through and was real birdy. I never saw anything but I’m sure that Thomas saw a quail flush.
The property jogged to the west and we went along the edge then south to the end. With 5 dogs we were covering most of the ground. After Thomas chased whatever he chased he came back close then made a long cast, over 400 yards to the south. When we got to the road on the south we turned east. The GPS vibrated, it probably beeped too but I can’t hear it, showing Mann north east of me on point. I started to him and saw him start trailing. Boss went on point about 50 yards from him.
Thomas is new puppy on this handheld.
I started to him. When I got close Sally went on point closer to me. I went toward her. She started trailing. Then Abby was on point in the same area. Before I could get close a single quail flushed in front of her. Then Thomas pointed near me. He was looking at the ground real close in front of him. I was still 10 yards from him when 2 quail flushed right under his nose. They went almost straight up and turned to my left. When I shot he didn’t see the bird fall but Sally did. She brought the bird about half way back and looked at me like, “I brought it this far, you can come half way”. I went to her and gave her the head. Most times she’s happy to eat the quail head but this time she spit it out. Thomas was close and I tried to give it to him but he didn’t take it either.
We went on to the north but the cattle had moved in front of us. The older dogs are used to cows and horses but Thomas is young. When we had first started he had barked at some horses and I had held the transmitter button, on level 2, down until he had moved away. The horses weren’t bothered by his barking. When the cows started walking in front of him he started running at them and barking. I held the button down on level 2 but that didn’t affect him. I went to level 3 and that worked.
The sun shining on my Webley & Scott 20 gauge made the engraving look good.
Since the cows were moving to the south west we went toward the north east. When we got close to the north east road Boss went on point. There were several large oak mottes in the area and he was on the other side of a large one. When I got most of the way around I saw Mann on point closer to me. I went toward him but when I passed him nothing flushed. I tapped him on the head and he didn’t want to move. I tapped him again. He went about 15 yards and went back on point. About 15 yards east of Mann, Sally and Abby were pointing. I went toward them and they started trailing. On around the corner of this big oak motte was where Boss was on point. A covey flushed 30 or more yards ahead of me without me having a shot.
Evidently that covey had been running in front of the dogs for quite aways. We went on toward the end of the property and a covey of quail flew over the top of me. I didn’t see them until they were out front of me, a long way. They flew off the property onto private land. I try to quit by 4:30, which is what Oklahoma requires on state land, but this was federal and I it took longer to make it back to the truck. There has been a lot of people hunting these birds and they have been educated. They have learned to run and flush before the people get close. But it’s still good for the dogs.
Mann honoring Sally.
I had put a check cord on Thomas because he doesn’t like to ride in the truck. All the other dogs came to the truck except him. He didn’t want to quit. I staked the others out and fed them. Finally, Thomas came back and I fed him and loaded all of the dogs.
The temperature was dropping as it got late. I had been hunting in shirt sleeves and feeding the dogs I started getting cold. I didn’t pay a lot of attention until I had loaded the dogs and started down the road. Before long I had the temperature set on 77 and the seat warmers on high. I didn’t turn it down until I got to the motel.