This time of the year the weather is crazy with strong winds, some days really warm and the next freezing. Don Hansen and I thought about hunting on Friday in Kansas but after checking the weather decided Thursday was the best day. It started pretty cold but warmed some. Checking the wind showed that it would be between 12 and 20 miles per hour through the end of the month. But we expect no less from Kansas. Usually, in Kansas, the wind blows.
Abby on the right and Boss the left honoring Mann who isn’t shown.
Mann on point, with Sally behind him and Goofy behind her, honoring.
Sally and Goofy honoring Mann.
Because I hate to drive through rush hour traffic we got a late start. If I leave my house by either before 6 am or after 8 am the rush hour isn’t terrible. So I left about 8 am to meet Don and Linda by 10:00 am. I saw 3 wrecks along my route. Two on the other side and one that slowed my side to a crawl.
For us that is about the perfect time as it gives the quail enough time to be moving around searching for food. But the down side, a lot of hunters have already hunted the areas and moved on.
When we got to the first place we wanted to hunt, a hunter with one dog, was just leaving. Don talked to him for a few minutes. He had found one covey in the field where he was parked. I was surprised when Don pulled in and parked. When I asked, Don said we were going to hunt the other side of the road, which made sense. When he told me the guy had found a covey of quail where we were parked I put the e-collar and GPS collar on Mann and turned him loose while I put the collars on the other 3 dogs.
I knew Mann would hunt the available cover, in that approximately 80 acre field. Before I got the e-collar and GPS on Sally he was on point. Don said that was about where the guy said he had found the covey earlier. Mann moved a few yards and went back on point. Then he went into the cover. When he came out he finished running the edges.
After I got the collars on Boss and Abby we turned the other dogs loose. Don had brought Ace, Goofy and Tigger. I had Abby, Boss, Sally and Mann. The CRP in this area is really thick and I didn’t want to wear Bodie out with it, so I left him home. We went to the area where Mann had first pointed then back by the trucks to go across the road. Before crossing I checked the GPS and Mann was on point 250 yards north of us.
Before the season opened I had found a covey just about where Mann was. Before we got to him at least 5 of our dogs were backing Mann. They may have all 6 been backing but I know 5 were. He was right in a corner of the field, in a small low spot with a thicket of small saplings. I got a couple of pictures of the backing dogs but I didn’t get Mann. I was expecting a covey but when I got close a single quail flushed never getting more than 4 feet off the ground. Too low to shoot at.
Goofy
We had only been out of the trucks for no more than 10 minutes but my day was made. A dug up find and all of the dogs doing what they were supposed to do by honoring the pointing dog, that’s as good as it gets. Of course we didn’t quit.
I had run dogs on this farm earlier, before quail season opened. Well I had said I was prairie chicken hunting because I have to be hunting something to be on walk-in. I had found a covey on the other side of the road in some really thick CRP. There are a few plum thickets in the CRP and the grass is not as thick around them. That’s where I had seen the quail.
It’s still pretty dry even after the rain and snow we have received over the past couple of weeks. We did find a small pool of water for the dogs but the quail weren’t home today. We worked the CRP around to the south end then hit another small harvested soybean field. The dogs circled the bean field without locating anything. When we got back to the truck we loaded dogs and went to another place.
Abby
When we got to the next place there was someone already hunting it. We went on down the road to a place neither of us had hunted in a lot of years. After walking just a short distance we knew we were not in the best of places but there was a large pond to get the dogs a drink and cool them. We made a circle back to the trucks and ate lunch.
Tigger had a cut on her chest that was no longer bleeding but Don needed to get her to the vet before they closed. We had time for a short hunt. The next place is only about 40 acres but it has a creek, with a lot of brush and cover, running the long way through it and CRP on both sides. Several years ago we found two coveys on this place. Just the right size for a short hunt.
We were close to a busy gravel road, although we were able to park off the road, I only turned Mann and Sally loose. Don turned Goofy out. We had only gone a hundred yards or so when Mann, who was running the edge of the creek, slammed into a point. By the time we got near Goofy was honoring. There was a lot of brush along the creek and when I got to Mann I stroked his side then tapped his head. I was hoping when he moved up the quail would flush.
Mann
Mann only moved a couple of steps and went back on point. Then he trailed into the brush and Goofy came in front of us and pointed. Sally was in the CRP behind us and I called her in. When she got there she was birdy, too. All 3 dogs worked the area really well without penning anything down.
On the other side of the creek was another narrow strip of CRP and on the east of it a harvested corn field. When we got across from where Mann was pointed on the other side he pointed again. He was looking almost straight down into the thick CRP grass. Sally was behind him honoring and Goofy was behind her, also honoring. When I kicked in front of Mann he thought sure something was going to flush. Nothing got up but all 3 dogs trailed through a small plum thicket then went back to hunting.
Either a covey of quail ran off or a bunch of turkeys. The cover along the creek would make a good loafing area, until evening feeding in the corn field, for either bunch of birds. Quail are hunted daily by an assortment of predators. Running works better for them because they can get away from the land animals. From the birds of prey, if they fly some of them die.
Goofy
Don and I hunted back to the trucks and loaded dogs. Still plenty of time for him to get to the vet and I could make it home before evening rush hour. In these areas we used to find a lot of quail but in these days of low quail numbers we have to be satisfied with our dogs hunting hard and to enjoy just seeing them run. I sometimes hunt areas that do not hold many birds but I can see my dogs for a long distance. Quail are too valuable to shoot. If I just take pictures I can hunt them again and the picture will last for a long time. If I shoot them it’s over.