I have always worried about shooting quail late in the season. We have been told over the years that hunting has no real affect on the quail. Bob white quail life span is less than 8 months. Over the last couple of days I have read two different articles that dispute that. At Rollin’s Plains in Texas the radio collar on a quail had the battery run down. When they retrieved the radio collar they found out it was a scaled quail that had the collar attached in the fall of 2019. And several times they have seen quail that lived for a long time.
Abby.
Sally honoring Mann.
Mann pointing a single quail.
To further complicate the picture, we’ve been told that hunting doesn’t matter, but there is a new study, done by Quail Forever’s Leslie Elmore, that says that maybe it does. The study says you can’t expect every quail that is left after the season is over to make it to spring, to mate. But the quail that are taken after January 15 are the ones that may reproduce the next years coveys. I have often examined the quail I’ve shot late in the season and wondered if I was hurting next years crop. Knowing when to quit shooting may help next years coveys.
I left early, about 5:30 am, so I could beat the traffic through Kansas City. I was driving out I-70 to the west for about 2 1/2 hours. Before the season opened I had hunted prairie chickens in this area and had found a few quail.
There was a walk-in place that I had found a covey right on the edge. I kept thinking about it as I drove out. I thought I knew about where it was. When I got close I drove by several places and before the day was over I drove by all of them, where I thought it was. I never found it.
By the time I looked at a few places the dogs had been in the truck for about 3 hours. I saw a place that was pasture next to a harvested soybean field. I turned all 4 dogs, Sally, Mann, Abby and Boss loose. The pasture had not been grazed down too much and was full of rag weed and other weeds that had a seed. I had parked on the south east corner and we went into the north west wind.
The pasture had a nice pond and just a little cover at the end. The cover ran toward the soybean field. As I came around the north side of the pond I heard some pheasants flushing. A couple of hens came back over the pond, then I heard a rooster laughing at me. He never got as close as the hens had. There were about 10 or 12 pheasants that flushed but only one was a rooster, for sure. There may have been one more rooster.
All of the dogs were smelling lots of scent and were really happy. We went on down to the fence line between the soybean field and the pasture then went north along it. I had found some 28 gauge shells at Walmart the day before so I was carrying my Dickinson 28 gauge. With the wind blowing like it was I wasn’t happy about shooting 3/4 ounce of 7 1/2 shot.
As we got to another smaller pond Sally went on point just off the fence row in the pasture. I wasn’t sure about her because she was slowly moving her head back and forth. I circled around so I could come into her face. I was still fifteen yards from her when a single quail flushed right beside me. I pretty well centered it and Sally saw it fall. She picked it up but didn’t come very quickly. Finally, she brought it to me.
Sally honoring Mann.
I was wondering what a single quail was doing in the pasture when Boss came close to me. He pointed then moved and pointed again. I had turned to go to him when a quail flushed right in front of me. When I shot it dropped and Abby saw it fall. She ran to it and picked it up. Sally and Boss were trying to get it from her but she wasn’t letting them get close. Abby laid the bird down and it tried to run. She caught it again. I whoaed her and she held it until I got to her. She turned it loose. It was still alive.
I felt good about getting a live bird from Abby. She has caught a couple of pigeons that didn’t fly when released from the release traps and she has never took a prisoner. They are always dead or dying. I thought she might be really hard mouthed and I was dreading force fetch with her. This is better.
I was feeling pretty good about the 28 gauge. Two birds up and two birds in the bag. There was a couple of quail flushed that were too far for a shot. This covey must have been spread out as it came off the roost and went to the soybean field to feed.
Sally on point.
I took the dogs back through the same area again. A single quail flushed about 15 yards from me and I shot twice but didn’t turn a feather. I still thought it was maybe a little too far by the time I got on it.
We went on down the fence row to the end then moved over and started back through the pasture. Mann went on point but when I got to the east edge of the property he was still 150 yards to the east. I waited hoping the birds would flush without me having to go over there. Pretty soon the GPS showed him moving. I called him back to the walk-in property.
We were headed back to the truck through the pasture. Just north of where Sally and Boss had pointed Mann went on point. I circled around to come in to his face. He was looking almost straight down. I was still 15 yards from him when a single quail flushed. I missed with the first barrel but saw a lot of feathers fly when I shot the second barrel. The quail flew about a hundred yards before landing.
Abby honoring Sally.
I let the dogs work this area and we started toward where I thought the wounded bird was. Before we got there Sally went on point. She was going pretty fast and just did a 180 and slammed into a point. This quail stayed really low when it flushed and I had to wait until it got a little height before I could shoot. I missed.
I let the dogs work around for a little while then went to where I thought the wounded bird was. I saw Boss working along the edge of the smaller pond. He whirled and went on point. It was close to where I thought the bird would be but we never came up with it. It had either ran or flew away, probably when I had shot at the bird Sally had pointed.
When we got back to the truck I loaded dogs and started looking for another place. The next place was almost the same as the first place. It wasn’t as flat but it was a pasture next to a soybean field on the west side.
Mann pointing into a huge cedar tree.
When I started through it I noticed that there wasn’t as much rag weed. But it still looked good. We were about half way through it when the GPS showed Sally on point. She was 400 yards to the south west of me. Uphill. I started to her and by the time I got close the other dogs were honoring. She was about 30 yards from the fence between the pasture and soybean field looking toward the fence line. I walked in front of her and got to the fence line before she moved. She just knew there were birds there.
All of the dogs trailed but we never came up with anything. We went to the south edge, moved over and came back to the truck. By this time the wind was really howling. I decided to quit for the day. Shooting is mental and if I don’t feel good about my gun or my loads I don’t shoot very well. A 28 gauge on a normal day is plenty but in this wind I’m not sure if anything is up to the task.