It was real windy when I went to load dogs but not many days are left in the season, so I went on another Kansas quail hunt. It’s a long drive from my house to Seneca Kansas, although I haven’t been but one time this year, I’ve hunted it quite a bit over the last few years.
Sally pointing a single quail.
Luke
Dolly in Oklahoma
The first place I hunted was an eighty acre place. It had a wet weather creek running from east to west near the road and a good buffer strip along the hedge row that went to the north. It had been planted in corn and soy beans that had been harvested. I turned Lucky, Dolly and Sally out with Garmin GPS collars and Lucky and Dolly had Garmin e-collars.
We went across the creek then went to the west turned north and followed the hedge row to the north. We crossed to the east and came back south on a fence row. When we got to the creek we crossed and went to the west in a buffer strip.
About 50 yards into the buffer strip Dolly pointed with Sally honoring. Lucky saw her and honored as I went in to flush. I walked ahead of her and nothing flushed. I tapped her head and all 3 dogs started trailing. Lucky went into the strong west wind and pointed. Sally honored. I went ahead of him and a hen pheasant flushed.
We went through the buffer strip along the creek to the end of the property. The creek had run at an angle through the field and we were about 200 yards from the road. The only cover we hadn’t been through was some real short grass between this property and the neighbor’s side. Dolly was trailing along the west side of the strip. Sally came up the east side of the strip and whirled into a point. As I tried to get a picture a hen pheasant flushed.
We hunted, in the field, beside the road, back to the truck. The first time I hunted this 80 acres I found 2 coveys of quail and a few pheasants. As strong as the wind was it would be easy to miss some quail or they may have flushed ahead of the dogs.
The road was frozen when I drove in but it warmed up above freezing. I had a mile and a half of mud roads before I got to a cross road. Without 4 wheel drive I would have still been there. When I came to a cross road it was just as bad for about a half mile. Then I got to some gravel.
The next two places I tried to get to were on muddy roads. I, finally, found a road into another 80 acre place that was along a road that, for some reason, wasn’t as bad as where I had been.
This field had been in soy beans and they had been harvested. A draw started in the center of this property on the north end. It had been allowed to grow and it was a thick tangle. I turned Luke, Sally and Tur Bo out. We checked the draw from one end to the other then hit the fence row on the other side about the middle of the property and started back to the south.
I got back within about 200 yards of the truck and checked the GPS. Luke was on point, north of where we had hit the east fence line. He was over 600 yards away. I started to him across the muddy soy bean field. I got within about 100 yards of him and the GPS showed him moving. I went on to the fence row and walked it to the road on the north. Sally and Tur Bo both pointed in the fence row but when I got close would move.
Sally on another pigeon.
After getting to the road we turned and hunted the fence all the way to the south edge. Sally, Tur Bo and I went along the south edge then back toward the truck. Before I got to the truck the GPS showed Luke on point over 700 yards to the south east. He had to be off the property so I went on to the truck and loaded Sally and Tur Bo.
When I got in the truck the GPS showed Luke on point .62 of a mile. He was near the road on the south so I drove south to the road then east until the GPS showed him being straight north of me. He was standing in a harvested soy bean field pointing into a fence row. It was 260 yards across the soy bean field.
I left my gun and, regretfully, my camera in the truck and started to him. As soon as I stepped into the field I could see him. As I walked to him he slowly turned his head and looked at me. I don’t know how long he had been on point but I think he thought I should have been there sooner.
It’s been my experience that quail don’t hold real well in strong winds. I went into the fence row 30 yards from him thinking the birds may have run. I got within about 10 yards of him when about 10 quail flushed then 7 or 8 more. Most of them had flown east and there wasn’t a lot of cover in that direction.
I got Luke back to the truck and as I drove east I saw that the fence row the quail had flown toward was a walk-in property. When I tried to flush the quail to the east, which was with the wind, I didn’t know it was walk-in property.
Luke pointing a single.
I ate lunch then turned Sally out by herself. At 7 months old she needs some easy birds. The property line was a fence that had fallen down. There was a little cover in the fence row and a little short grass beside the fence.
As Sally and I started down the fence row 5 quail flushed behind us from a small brush pile. I had made up my mind that I was only going to shoot pointed birds. We went about another 20 yards when Sally whirled into the wind, took a step then pointed. I took the above picture of her. I walked in front of her and a single quail flushed. Sally chased and the quail dropped right in front of her.
She picked up the quail but had no idea what to do. I called her but she didn’t want to share her bird. I walked away from her and she started to follow. When I looked back she was lying down with the bird beside her. I went to her, petted her then picked up the quail.
We started on down the fence row and a quail flushed right in front of me. Again, I didn’t shoot. Where the fence came to an end in the soy bean field was a brush pile. Sally got really excited around the brush pile and when she got on the west side of it she went on point. To get to her I had to go under a couple of hedge trees and dodge their thorns. Just as I came under the last limb the quail flushed without Sally moving. I didn’t think I was on the bird when I pulled the trigger but to my surprise it dropped right in front of Sally.
Sally picked the bird up and I started walking away, calling her. I turned to look and she was just standing with the bird in her mouth, watching me. Kind of like, “I fell for that once. Not again.” I walked to her. I petted her until she dropped the quail.
We went back down the fence row and she even poached a little bit but we never found anymore birds. We hunted back to the truck. The wind had been getting stronger as the day went on so I decided to call it a day.
This was a typical late season quail hunt. A few pheasants, all hens, and at least one covey of quail. Luke probably had another covey on the other property but I never saw it.
This quail hunt had been good for Sally. She had pointed a hen pheasant, made two points on quail and honored twice. She’s 7 months old and she needs lots of birds. It’s my job to see that she gets them.
Tur Bo
Lucky backing Luke.
Betsy