It’s been cold and miserable around home for quite a while now. I got tired of not being able to quail hunt so I started checking for warmer weather. South central Kansas was without snow and was much warmer than what it is at home. Didn’t take much to get me heading that way.
Mann on pigeons.
Babe on pigeons.
Sally honoring Tur Bo.
When I left home early Friday morning it was 8 degrees. The farther I went south the warmer it got. By the time I got close to where I was going the temperature was in the upper twenties. Almost gale force winds but no snow and much warmer. Before the day was over it was in the mid forties.
The first place I turned dogs out on was a huge pasture that had been grazed but still had a lot of cover. I turned Luke, Sally and Mann out with their GPS collars and e-collars. The strong wind was out of the south west and we went to the south. There was a hedge row near where I had parked and Luke went on point before we got through to the other side.
He was standing in a plum thicket. Sally came about 10 yards in front of him, without seeing him, in some tall weeds and locked up. I was thinking, “man this is great. We’re not 50 yards from the truck”. I walked in and nothing. The dogs started trailing into the wind and we never came up with anything.
This area is really sandy and I could see pheasant tracks in the plum thickets. We went about a half mile to the south then turned west. The dogs pointed a few times but when I got close they would start trailing, again. Finally, on one of Sally’s points, two rooster pheasants flushed well out in front of her, cackling as they flew away. Sounds like laughter.
We hunted to the western fence line then went along the fence line to the north for 3 or 400 yards then back to the east toward the truck. I think Sally found some more pheasants. She was to the south about 200 yards and she would go on point but before I could get close she would be moving again.
Luke and Mann were in front of me and as I watched Mann he whirled around and went on point about 30 yards from me. I took about one step toward him and a single quail flushed from about 10 yards ahead of him. It flew right over the top of him with the wind pushing it. The worst part of hunting alone is when you make a really good shot and no one to see it. The quail fell belly up in a small plum thicket. I got Mann in to find it. He picked it up and brought it out of the thicket then dropped the bird but stood over it. I went to him and petted him. He picked the bird up and dropped it when I said, “give”.
It was warming up and when we got back close to the truck I was taking the dogs by a small pond before putting them in the truck. A single quail flushed from the other side of a plum thicket. I heard it but didn’t see it until it was a hundred yards away. I got Mann and Sally in to hunt the area where the quail had flushed from.
There was some tall weeds on the side of the plum thicket where the single had flushed from. Sally went on point looking way out front of where she was standing. I walked in from the side of her but 10 yards in front. A single quail flushed flying with the wind. It dropped into a bare ground area around the pond. Sally ran to the dead bird and picked it then dropped it. Mann ran over and she picked the bird up so he wouldn’t get it. I called her and she turned toward me but stopped short. I went to her and she dropped the bird in my hand.
The limb I shot off the cedar tree.
These two birds could have been birds from the first point that had run out and flushed. We were almost back to the truck so that would have not been far for some singles to come. The bird Mann had pointed was about a half mile away. I don’t know where that bird came from. After checking that area real good for more singles I loaded the dogs and went to another place.
I turned Tur Bo, Babe and Luke out with their e-collars and GPS collars. We went along the edge of a harvested corn field that changed to a harvested soy bean field as we got farther back. The row crops were just off the place we were hunting which was a large pasture, with lots of plum thickets.
We followed the fence row to the back, moved over 300 yards and headed back toward the truck. I had found a covey of quail a few years ago near a grove of cedar trees so we headed toward them. I checked the GPS when we got near the cedars and it showed Babe on point 325 yards to the north. I thought she was probably off of the walk-in but I started to her. I tried to go through the clump of cedars but it was almost impossible.
Sally on point.
I have never seen anything like this. The cedars were growing close together which made it hard to get through but there were also a lot of downed trees. I would start through and get stopped by some down trees almost like brush piles. I finally made it through to the fence that divided the walk-in from the harvested fields. Baber was still on point 140 yards to the north, off the place.
I went to the road and started toward her. She was standing in the edge of the road looking into some tall weeds. Tur Bo honored when he got close. I was still 30 yards or so from her when the birds flushed, flying back onto the walk-in.
I watched about 8 quail fly back onto the walk-in with some more flying along the fence row. It was pretty warm and these dogs were tired so I put them up and got Mann and Sally out. We went back to the walk-in where I had seen the quail fly into.
The dogs worked all of that plus we went up the fence row then back down with the dogs poaching, just a little. No birds. I went through some tall grass just outside the thick cedar clump with Mann. Sally wasn’t in sight and I check the GPS. She was on point inside the clump of cedars about 50 yards from me.
I started to her from the west side and got within 30 yards but I couldn’t get through. I went around to the south side but I couldn’t get to her. I went to the north side and couldn’t get through. I had to cross a 5 strand barb wire fence and walk down the road, cross the barb wire fence again then try to get to her. The first attempt failed but I was able to make a circle in the cedars and get close. I took a couple of pictures but the sun was wrong and they are terrible but they show some of the tangle.
Tur Bo onpoint. Mann honoring.
By the time I got there Mann was honoring. I had already made up my mind, as long as it took for me to get there, I was going to shoot even if I couldn’t see the quail. In this cedar grove there was no grass growing. The only cover was limbs that had fallen and the brush pile things that kept me from getting through. I got close to Sally and a single quail flushed. I knew I wasn’t even close when I shot and the only thing that fell was a small limb off the cedar tree.
The dogs went on through the cedars and I followed as best I could. Sally went on point again looking into a large cedar tree. This time she was close and I had very little trouble getting to her. The quail flushed on the other side of the tree and I heard 2 or 3 more flush as well. I never saw any of these quail.
It was close to my self imposed quitting time of 4:30 pm so I fed dogs and cleaned the two quail that I had. I’ve decided that I won’t hunt past 4:30 to give the quail a chance to get back together before dark. On state owned lands in Oklahoma 4:30 is quitting time for quail hunting for this reason. In the northern part of the quails range it’s probably more important than it is in Oklahoma.
Bad picture but it’s Mann honoring Sally. It took a long time to get to her.
I thought someone had erected a cross in the middle of a pasture.
It was an oil field pump.
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