Lucky on point.
Dolly
Tur Bo
The weather has kept me from hunting, lately. This last week we have had rain, sleet, freezing rain and snow. The roads were icy so I waited until about 9:00 am to leave the house. I drove to near Emporia, Kansas to hunt walk-in properties.
The highways were in good shape but when I turned on the gravel road leading to the first place I wanted to hunt it was solid ice. There was not much snow but every thing was covered in ice. Last year I had found quail a long way back from the road on this farm. I turkey hunted in here before the quail season opened and the spring rains had caused the cover to be really tall and thick. I thought the snow and ice might have knocked down some of the cover so this would be a good day to try this place.
I put the Garmin GPS collars and Sport Dog e-collars on Lucky and Tur Bo and started to the back of this place. It’s about 7/8ths of a mile to the back from where I parked. The grass was still really thick, about waist high and each piece was encased in ice. It was harder to walk through instead of easier. We went to the east along the south side of the farm. The wind must have been out of the north when the freezing rain fell because most of the grass was pointing south. When we turned north at the east side it was even harder to get through. Both dogs were looking for deer trails or anything that would make it easier to get through. For some reason when we got to the north fence and started west the cover wasn’t as heavy.
As I went along to the west along the north side I saw a covey of quail fly across in front of me. I watched them fly into the tall grass and go down. I don’t know whether the dogs flushed them or they just got up. I called the dogs in and we went toward where the birds had gone down.
The grass was really tall, bent over and encased in ice. Tur Bo was trying to jump over the grass and bull his way through while Lucky was just easing his way through. I saw Tur Bo point before we even got to the area where I thought the birds had gone down. He was looking in my direction so we had the bird between us. I got almost to him when a quail flushed about 10 yards behind me. When I shot the quail fell on the other side of a small bank. I walked up to the edge and looked over. Tur Bo was pointing the dead bird. I went to him and said, “he’s dead” and tapped his head. He picked the bird up and dropped it when I said, “give.”
I got both dogs in front of me and we went on to the area I thought the birds had down in. We went back and forth. Lucky had disappeared and I checked the GPS. He was on point back close to where Tur Bo had pointed the first quail. I started trying to find him in the tall grass and I saw Tur Bo honor him. I walked in front of him and a quail flushed behind me. There was one tree in the area and the quail got it between me and him. I still should have got him but I missed. Twice.
There were some harvested soy bean fields next to the tall grass so I hunted around these. There were a lot of quail tracks. I hunted back to where we had found the 2 singles, in the tall grass, so we went through it again without finding anything. I was walking down a deer trail probably 75 yards from where I thought the birds had landed and saw a couple of quail tracks in the trail. I don’t know this was the same quail I had seen land in the other area but it could have been. Quail seem to run more now than ever before. We hunted back to the truck without finding anything else.
The next place I went to I was hoping for easier walking. I had turkey hunted it before they harvested the crops and didn’t find any quail. Last year I had found 2 coveys on it so I thought I might find some now that the crops were harvested. I put the collars on Dolly and Blaze and we started down an old abandoned road way. About 200 yards from the truck with both dogs off to my right I walked through a covey of quail. I was walking next to some head high weeds and I only saw the quail for about 10 yards but most of them flew north. I took the dogs on to the south down a creek with a lot of weeds and brush growing in it. I thought we might find another covey and when we started back to the first covey we would have the wind right.
We circled the end of the draw and started back to the north. The farmer had built a pond on the creek but below it the draw was over a 100 yards wide with scattered trees and a lot of shorter brush. I got the dogs in to hunt for the covey I had flushed. Dolly pointed and as I started toward her Blaze honored. When I got close 3 quail flushed and when I shot another got up. In all of the trees and brush I was lucky to hit one. Dolly retrieved it.
As we hunted the area I heard a couple more quail flush that I couldn’t see. Then Blaze went on point along the edge of the cover in some tall weeds. When I walked in a quail flushed out across the harvested corn field. There was one small bush and I shot before it went around it and missed but knocked the bird down with the second shot. I broke my double open and right in front of me a quail flushed. As I fumbled for shells another quail flushed then another and another. Four quail while my gun was empty. Dolly retrieved the bird I had shot.
We made a circle and in front of us, about 20 yards ahead of the dogs, a quail flushed. We went back through where the covey had flushed from originally. Dolly pointed in some heavy brush. Blaze didn’t see her but pointed the same bird real close to Dolly. When the bird flushed I took a shot but didn’t connect. We continued through the thick stuff. Blaze pointed and Dolly honored but when I walked in nothing got up. I released the dogs and Dolly went on point just a few yards in front of where Blaze had pointed. Before I got to her she started trailing. After trailing several yards she went back to hunting. I believe a quail ran away from us. We hunted back to the truck without finding anything else.
I took 4 dogs with me and they all pointed birds. I was able to kill a bird for each dog except for Lucky. I missed his bird but he doesn’t care. He will retrieve if he has to. If I can’t get the bird and no one else will do it Lucky will but he would really rather go find another bird.
After the weather keeping me close to home for over a week it was good to get out. Any day that I can get some dog work I count as a good day.
Blaze
TurBo pointing a pigeon
Luke pointing Dolly honoring.