I haven’t put a post on the blog for quite a while. Mainly because I screwed up and I wanted to get it worked out before I did more posts. As I get older I often find myself messing up then wondering why I did whatever. My son, Ryan, came over to help me set the concrete English setter out of my truck. We took the three dog box out of the back of the truck and set it in the yard by the drive. I started backing the truck around to set the dog on the patio and run over the corner of the dog box. I knew it was there but I hit it anyway. That isn’t my big screw up that’s just how my life is.
Boss and the backing dog.
Abby and the backing dog.
Abby honoring the backing dog.
Because I screwed up I’m not putting any names in this post but I will tell how I screwed up. I met some friends in central Kansas for a hunt. We were hunting an area that we have hunted in the past. I had only brought Sally and Mann and my friends had two dogs with them but only ran them one at a time.
The place we hunted had had row crops in the past but this year all of the places that had grain in the past were just fallow fields. When we got back in about 1/2 a mile Sally went on point about 150 yards to the east. As we started to her we saw several turkeys in the air. When we got close she was moving.
Seemed like every where we looked there was a turkey flying off. I had a turkey tag and Kansas allows fall turkey hunting with dogs. We continued on to the east. We were getting to the east edge when the GPS handheld vibrated and showed Mann on point, about 150 yards from us, along the edge.
When we got close I went to him and my friend went out front and around. Before I got to Mann I saw a quail fly from in front of him to the north off the place. We continued to him and a covey flushed well out front of him. I never saw them but my friend shot. Mann saw the bird drop and raced out, picked it up and gave it to my friend.
The covey had spread out and flown back into some heavy cover. We started toward where we thought they were. There were still an occasional turkey flushing in front of the dogs. It had been several years since we had even seen a turkey on this place.
As the dogs worked the area for singles Mann went farther than I thought but when the GPS handheld vibrated showing him on point about 175 yards from us. We went to him. When we got close I could tell the birds were a way out front of him.
Sally on point.
When I said, “okay” he looked like a cat as he eased forward just a couple of steps and repointed, with a high head and tail. He was all stretched out and was still looking a long way out front. My friend was closer to Mann and I was on his right side. I took a couple of steps and a covey of quail flushed about 20 yards in front of Mann.
I shot and a quail dropped and I missed with my second shot. My friend didn’t get a shot. Mann didn’t see the bird fall and as I walked toward the dead bird with an empty gun the dead bird flew about 6 inches off the ground. My friend started to shoot it but Mann was in the way. The dead bird only flew about 30 yards and went down. We got all 3 dogs in the area where the bird fell and never did find it.
This covey had flown off the walk-in property so we went back to the area where the first covey had flown. My friend and I were spread out a little way apart. Sally came across about 40 yards from me and as I watched her she went on point. I called my friend over. When he got there we went toward Sally and a turkey flushed right in front of her and flew my way.
Mann honoring Abby.
Kansas allows the use of dogs in fall turkey hunting and I had a tag. I had an ounce of 7 1/2 shot in my 20 gauge which was enough for a turkey at 15 yards. The way he flew his head and neck was exposed. At the shot he dropped and Sally pounced on him. I don’t think she could pick it up but he certainly wasn’t running off.
We got the young gobbler in my hunting vest and hunted our way back toward the truck. We were a long way and that turkey got heavy before we got back. I filled the tag out and taped it to the turkeys leg. Actually, at first I tried to tie it on with some dental floss that I had in the truck. The tape worked better.
We made another round on another property but it was getting too hot for the dogs. We loaded up and drove home.
I got home and took a couple of pictures of the turkey and then cleaned it. I had forgotten how much trouble they are to clean. I had already decided before I had carried this one all the way to the truck that I would never shoot another. As much trouble as they are to clean I know I will never shoot another.
Boss pointing a pigeon.
I put the picture of the turkey with my side by side, that I shot it with, on a couple of sites on Facebook. Someone came on there and said the season had ended November the tenth. They have always run it to the end of quail season but when I checked the regulations they had changed this year. I had shot the turkey, on the 17th, out of season.
I called the Game Warden in the county I shot the bird in but his phone was not working. I tried another one that was close but I got an answering machine. I didn’t want to leave a message so I called a friend that works another part of the state. He gave me a number.
I called this number and he said he would have the Game Warden that dealt with this call me. Not much later the Game Warden gave me a call. He already knew about me killing the turkey. He asked if I was going to be in his area any time soon. I told him I was planning to hunt down there today, Monday the 23rd. He said for me to bring the turkey and we would work this out.
That was on Wednesday and I wasn’t going down there until Monday. Thursday evening I called the Game Warden and told him I would bring the turkey on Friday so we could get this over with. He asked if I would be coming down to hunt. When I told him no I just wanted to get this off my back, he said, “it’s not life and death. Just wait until Monday.”
Abby pointing a pigeon.
I had to stew about this over the weekend. Finally, I drove down early this morning and met with the Game Warden. He was a nice young man and because I had basically turned myself in he just gave me a warning ticket. I had beat myself up over this enough.
I’m always telling my wife that those who don’t read are no better than those that don’t read. I never learn that everything that goes around comes around. Along with these other things my camera quit on me so I have to recycle pictures for this post. With all of this I’m living a blessed life.