Running Dogs

Posted on March 6, 2025 by windypointsj1s@aol.com

Vince Dye and I ran the dogs in north central Missouri, a few days ago. With Vince and me it’s hard to know whether it’s more about the dogs or more about the good breakfast on the way. It’s hard to tell but they both are important. We stopped in down town Lawson Missouri for breakfast. I don’t remember the name of the cafe but Lawson isn’t very big. Should only be one down town and it was good.

Bodie pointing a covey.

Boss and Mann with a divided find.

Abby pointing a covey.

Vince has several places in this area to hunt but the place we were going to he had hunted twice during the season. One time he found 11 coveys and the other he found 10. Just running dogs we probably wouldn’t hunt it as close as we would hunting but it is a great place to run dogs.

Another reason we are checking this place, we have had two big storms. Once about a foot of snow and the other almost as much with super cold weather. One night it got down to minus 8 at my house and this is 50 miles farther north. So the weather could have devastated the birds.

We stopped by the owners house to make sure it was okay then drove to the farm. This friend of Vince’s has several places. After putting GPS and e-collars on the dogs, Sally, Boss, Mann, Abby and Bodie, we turned them loose. They didn’t go a hundred yards until Mann and Boss were on point, side by side. As we got closer Bodie pointed, looking into a plum thicket.

I could see Bodie real well but Mann and Boss were buried in the tall grass, side by side. Sharing a find. When I got closer I saw Abby on the other side of Mann and Boss. She was not honoring she was pointing into the plum thicket, too. When I looked back, I think, only Sally was honoring.

I took pictures then we walked in without flushing a bird. But I think they either ran from the dogs or flushed while we were putting the collars on the dogs. There was too much scent for there not being any birds. I think 4 of the dogs were pointing the same scent in different spots.

Sally honoring.

We went on around. It was a warm day and the dogs hadn’t been out of their pens since the middle of January. The were out of shape. I saw a pond and we went toward it. Before we got there Abby pointed, standing on the dam with Mann right behind her, honoring. By the time we got close the other dogs were backing.

Since we weren’t hunting Vince didn’t come on up. I tried to kick the cover in front of Abby on the down side of the dam and there was some brush hidden in the tall grass. I got my feet tangled in it and down I went. The dogs went through the cover pointing and moving. All 5 made points but we never saw a bird.

I got all of the dogs to water in the pond and we went on around. Just a little farther Sally went on point. Then Boss was close either honoring or on point, according to the GPS. Vince started around a clump of brush about 40 yards from me and walked into a big covey of quail. Neither of us had seen the dogs but they were close.

Mann honoring Abby. Abby isn’t black. She rolled in a muddy pond.

I kept watching the GPS. Neither of the dogs had moved. They were just about 40 feet from me but in the brush and tall weeds. I still couldn’t see them. I went through some brush and about 35 yards away I saw 7 or 8 quail flush. There were probably more on the other side. A few seconds later Sally came by, trailing.

I think both of these coveys were close together and when they detected either us or the dogs they started running. Had Vince stayed with me we wouldn’t have seen the first covey. If I had been back just a little farther I wouldn’t have seen the birds I saw. We were close to the property line and both coveys flew off the farm we were hunting.

We went on around an edge. The GPS showed Sally on point ahead of us. When we got close she was pointing into a thicket, then moved into the woods and pointed again. We started in and saw one quail flush about 40 yards down in the timber and heard some others. As I was standing, watching, Bodie came in front of me and pointed into a small brush pile. He only stood for about 15 seconds then started trailing.

Boss and Mann honoring Abby.

It was a warm day and with the dogs being out of shape we headed back to the truck. Actually, Vince and I aren’t in top shape either but like to blame it on the dogs being out of shape. We did see 3 coveys or we think we did and I believe 2 more ran away from the dogs that we didn’t see. A friend was hunting some pen reared birds 75 miles or so away and said they were all runners, too. Would pen reared birds and wild birds have the same traits. I don’t know but if wild birds last until late February they are smart. Maybe survivor is a better word.

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Field Trials For The Puppies

Posted on February 23, 2025 by windypointsj1s@aol.com

Over the years, I have competed in several different kinds of field trials without really getting hooked on it. But when I heard a field trialing friend was going to run his dogs on a lease in Oklahoma where they were averaging 22 coveys a day, I sent him my puppies, Stormy and Annie. He convinced me to let him run them in some field trials. So far Stormy has placed a third and a second out of the 4 trials she has run in. Annie has made some good runs but hasn’t placed yet.

Annie at Grove Springs break away.

Some of the horses.

Annie pointing an armadillo.

It has been brought to my attention that not everyone is okay with me putting their name in my blog. That really came as a surprise to me. I never put anything in my blog that I think will hurt anyone. There may be a lot of reasons for people to feel this way but from now on I won’t name names unless I have their permission.

When I heard that Annie and Stormy would be running at Grove Springs Missouri I wanted to see them. I hadn’t seen them since November 22. There were a lot of puppies running in their class. Annie was in brace 11 and Stormy in brace 14. It’s about a 3 1/2 hour drive for me. I knew it would be late in the day before they ran but I wanted to see some of their competition. I set the alarm to get up about 4 am so I could be on the road by 5:00. I must have really wanted to see the pups. I woke up at 2:00 am and could not go back to sleep. I was on the road by 4:30.

I took Thomas, Stormy’s litter mate, that I had been working. I wanted to get him with someone that would work with him. I have too many dogs, if that’s really a thing. He made the fourth male and with the two puppies I have 4 females. I need to get rid of one more male. So next week I will try to sell Bodie. I hate to do it. He has become a great bird dog but I need the room in my kennels. That will get me down to 6 adult dogs, counting Annie and Stormy as adults. That’s how many runs I have in my kennel.

The last part of my drive to Grovesprings was in a light mist. As the day went along the mist got heavier. At noon some of the people were thinking that they would not be able to run that many braces on Saturday. They were thinking maybe a couple of braces on Sunday. That meant I would see Annie but maybe not Stormy.

Stormy in the woods.

I rode in the dog wagon part of the time and we saw some of the braces run. Some of the time I rode with the handler that has the puppies but we stayed on the road but got to see a lot of the puppies.

Finally, it was Annie’s turn to run. Her brace mate was a young pointer. At the breakaway Annie started like she knew what she was doing, after going by a couple of people in the gallery and saying, “Hello”. But she was fast and to the front as she should have been. Her brace mate kept trying to go the wrong way so his handler picked him up. Annie had the course to herself.

Judges and scouts.

She ran good but she is still a puppy. There was something that she thought she should roll in and she spent a minute or so getting the smell or whatever on. There was a terrace along a hillside with some trees. A good place for some quail and she found some. She came on through and was hunting well. Right near the end of the course and of her time she was on point. She was a couple of hundred yards from us but the handler said she was pointing an Armadillo. He said she had found 3 bunches of quail and the Armadillo. Not bad for 30 minutes. I was really pleased with the way she ran. Her handler said it was the best she had run since he had her.

He says that Annie thinks too much. That the first time she does anything she thinks it out. He says Stormy just reacts. No thinking but she is pretty much a natural. The time she won second she had 3 finds and a back. Neither he nor I have worked her on honoring. She just knows to honor.

The mist was getting heavier. Now it was a light rain but they thought they would be able to get all of the braces run. That would allow me to see both pups run.

Stormy?

It was nearly dark when they let the last brace go. Stormy was paired with a male setter. Stormy got into some quail from the get go. She was almost where Annie had pointed the Armadillo. Stormy decided she could find birds in the brush alongside the course and she was really digging in. The handler was trying to get her to come on down the course but Stormy knew better. There were birds right here.

Finally he got her across the road into the next part of the course but the next time she hit a good area for quail she went to checking every blade of grass. The handler was trying to get her out of the brush and on down the course. Finally the handler was in the brush trying to get her out and one of the scouts was off her horse helping. One of the judges stayed until time expired then he rode on. The handler and scout were trying to get her out. I was riding in a side by side with a couple of guys and she came out right in front of the side by side.

Before I could do anything she picked up a dead quail and ran past the handler to the scout about another 50 yards. The scout knelt down and Stormy took the quail to her. She grabbed her and we were able to go in.

Another picture from the trial.

By the time we got back it was dark or nearly so. The handler and I didn’t think either of them would place so I jumped in my truck and headed home. On the way he called me and said the judges wanted me to know, that Annie had done a nice job and they had her at sixth place. That’s not bad out of 28 dogs. This was the fourth trial these pups had been in and some of these puppies have been running all year. And these two are among the youngest.

I enjoyed the day and met a lot of new people that enjoyed bird dogs, just like I do. There are a few more trials before the season ends and I will leave the puppies with him. I hope to watch them run another time or two.

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Oklahoma Trip, Day 2 And 3

Posted on February 3, 2025 by windypointsj1s@aol.com

A lot of workers staying in all of the motels close to the places I wanted to bird hunt. This wasn’t a problem other than I had to park the truck, with the dogs in their boxes, farther than I would like from the motel. When I come out first thing of the morning, to let the dogs out, I’m surprised when my truck is still there. Well not really but it is a concern when I have to walk a long way.

No snow in this picture.

Another picture of the area I was hunting.

The sun shining on my Webley & Scott 20 gauge made the engraving look good.

I didn’t take a lot of pictures on this trip so I have to re-use the ones I did take. Daylight comes a little later here than at home, so I drove in on the next place I wanted to hunt. I drove around for a while and saw some areas that I haven’t seen before. Normally, quail aren’t early risers or not much to move around real early. About an hour after sunrise I turned the dogs loose.

The first time I hunted this place I saw 3 coveys in about a half mile walk. Sally was just about 7 or 8 months old and she pointed her first wild quail here. It didn’t happen that way this time. We hunted to the north to the boundary line then turned east. About a quarter mile to the east I saw Sally crossing in front of me. She whirled around and pointed. About 15 or 20 yards ahead of her a quail flushed. Then 2 more, another one and then 2 more. Maybe 6 birds in this bunch and she wasn’t too close. They must have seen lots of hunters.

I got the dogs in and checked the area but we never came up with any others. We turned back to the south and hunted back to the truck without seeing any other birds. I loaded the dogs and we drove farther into the large state owned grounds. Someone was parked where I wanted to make the next hunt, so I drove farther. I found a road that I had never noticed before and drove to a piece I had never hunted before.

This place is huge with some really big canyons. The two tracks to drive in on are not the best and once I dropped both tires on the passenger side in some deep holes. But I turned the dogs out in a pretty place to run dogs. I could see them at 3 or 400 yards. This is western Oklahoma and there is very little water anywhere. With the snow just having melted I was expecting puddles but they were few and far between.

I had parked on a hill and walked down into one of the large canyons. The dogs were running along a dry creek where there was some small trees growing. I heard a covey of quail flush but none of the dogs seemed excited. I never saw it but I think it may have flushed near Thomas. He hasn’t been around enough wild birds to know the sound. Any of the others would have chased.

Sally pointing a single.

When we got back to the truck we started driving out. The guy that had parked where I had wanted to hunt was at his car when I came by. I talked to him for a few minutes and he had found two coveys. His had acted better than mine had. I should have turned out there early instead of hitting the first spot.

It was early afternoon but I hadn’t been paying any attention to how many miles since I had changed oil in my truck and the warning came on telling me to change, on the way out. I went in early to a quick lube place and had the oil changed. The dogs are in good shape so I will hunt until about noon tomorrow then head back home.

The next morning I headed back to near where I had hunted the first day. There appeared to be more cows where I had seen two of the coveys the first day so I drove to another place. This place was 160 acres and I drove in close to a wind mill. Sometimes quail are around these but it also gives the dogs a chance to quench their thirst.

Mann honoring Sally.

We made a large circle up past a food plot to the end of the place then to the west and back south. I worked the dogs in a big circle around the wind mill but we never came up with anything. When we got back to the truck I loaded the dogs, all except Thomas. He doesn’t like to ride and he wasn’t tired. He stayed away from the truck. I was about a quarter mile from the road so I thought if I would drive back to the road he would come to me, maybe.

I watched Thomas to make sure he was following but when I got close to the road he passed me. There is hardly any traffic on the road so I just followed along behind him. I thought he would tire quickly. The first half mile he was going 16 mph. Then just across a fence line a bunch of snow geese flushed and that really fired him up. A highway was about a half mile ahead of us so I turned around. He got in front of me again.

Quail were running and I couldn’t get very close.

After just a little way he thought he was supposed to stay in front of the truck, I think. When I came to a cross road, if I turned he went with me. If I went straight, he went straight. Some of the time he ran in the road and sometime he ran inside the fence line. I turned up the road where I had fed them the first day after hunting and he went into the field. I stopped in the middle of the road thinking he would come to me, maybe. About that time a farmer came over the hill in his truck and I had the road blocked. He stopped and Thomas came right to him. I asked him to step on the check cord. Finally, I was able to load him.

I talked to the farmer for a little while. He had a cow get out and he had just put it back in. After he left I drove back the way Thomas had run to check the distance. He had started at 16 mph but after a while settled in to run at 10 to 12 mph. According to the odometer, after hunting for about an hour and a half, he had run 5.6 miles along the road. And at the next stop I hunted him about 2 more hours. He’s tough.

Thomas is new puppy on this handheld.

The next place had a lot of the shinnery oak. We were just a short distance from the truck when the GPS vibrated. It showed Sally on point about 50 yards from me. I started toward her through the tall shinnery. I was about as quiet as a large bull in a crowded China shop. I was close to her when I heard the quail start flushing. I only saw one bird and it was a long way out.

I had read that quail wouldn’t use shinnery oak when the patches were bigger than 5 acres. Whoever wrote that article has never hunted quail in shinnery. Right after I read that my cousin and I were hunting in about 50 or 60 acre patch of it. Just after I told him what I had read all of the dogs went on point and a huge covey ran and flushed, a long way in front of us. We watched them fly down a hill and hook to the left to set down in the same shinnery oak.

I had just started so there was nothing to do but keep on busting through the shinnery. As we got close to the road I saw Boss trailing. I stopped to watch him. I stood there without moving for maybe a minute or two. Just as I took a step a quail flushed from behind me. I think it had run from the dogs and when it saw me it flushed. I may have scared it with a shot but when they get up behind me they are pretty safe.

Boss pointing a single.

But when I shot the dogs came in to look for a dead bird. Well Boss, Sally and Abby did. Thomas came in because everyone else did. The dogs were really working the short shinnery. We had moved away from the taller stuff. Boss went on point just a short distance from me. I took a couple of steps and a quail flushed right in front of him. This bird flushed in shinnery oak that was about knee high and had no where to hide. Boss saw it fall and although he doesn’t really retrieve he picked this one up and started toward me. I waited but he laid it down but stood over the top of it. I went to him and petted him before picking up the bird.

We hunted on back to the truck and I loaded the dogs. Well everyone except Thomas. I started walking away from the truck and Thomas came with me. I came close and I tried to step on his check cord but my foot came down with the check cord in the hole between the sole and heel. He didn’t even slow down.

Abby pointing wild quail.

We went a little farther and he came close again. This time I stopped him and took him to the truck. When I did get him to the truck he jumped on the tail gate and walked right into his box. One of the reasons for these wild bird hunts is to see what your dog needs work on. Thomas will get a lot of training on the “here” command.

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A Trip To Oklahoma

Posted on January 24, 2025 by windypointsj1s@aol.com

When it gets real cold, in the single digits, I put the dogs in their box in the truck, and park the truck in the garage. The garage isn’t heated but it is attached to the house and stays above freezing. Their box is small and easy for them to raise the temperature to a comfortable level and with no wind they are plenty warm. Usually, I’m awake early so I turn them out before daylight and then load them back up and pull back into the garage. They are always ready to get back in the truck.

No snow in this picture.

Quail were running and I couldn’t get very close.

Boss pointing a single.

Mann doesn’t like to ride in the truck but he does load. Boss hates to ride in the truck and after a hunt he hides. I have to use the GPS to find him. But Boss is the first one to get back in the truck of the mornings when I let them out for a few minutes to do their business. Dogs are smart.

We had about a foot of snow and super cold weather so I had the dogs in the truck with the truck in the garage. I loaded my stuff and left for some place with no snow. Most of the way through Kansas and the north part of Oklahoma the ground was white. As I got close to where I was going to hunt in Oklahoma there was less and less of snow. I hunted north of Interstate 40 and there was still some snow in protected areas but one day I hunted south of I-40 and it had to have a bluff and a cedar tree to have any snow left. And with a coat on it was plenty warm to hunt. In fact part of each day I hunted in short sleeves.

It was about 2:30 by the time I was able to turn dogs out the first day. It was about an eight hour drive down there. I drove by a couple of places that I have hunted in the past. The place I turned out on had cattle in one of the areas I wanted to hunt so we went along the opposite fence line toward the back. The place I was hunting was 480 acres. I had 5 dogs with me and turned them all out. Sally, Abby, Boss, Thomas and Mann.

We were a little over a half mile south when Sally pointed. I started to her and the GPS vibrated. It showed Thomas on point behind me. Just as I turned around he started chasing something. Thomas is only 8 months old so any bird contact is good. And anything he does is okay. I turned back to Sally and she was trailing. Then Abby pointed in the same area. Boss came through and was real birdy. I never saw anything but I’m sure that Thomas saw a quail flush.

The property jogged to the west and we went along the edge then south to the end. With 5 dogs we were covering most of the ground. After Thomas chased whatever he chased he came back close then made a long cast, over 400 yards to the south. When we got to the road on the south we turned east. The GPS vibrated, it probably beeped too but I can’t hear it, showing Mann north east of me on point. I started to him and saw him start trailing. Boss went on point about 50 yards from him.

Thomas is new puppy on this handheld.

I started to him. When I got close Sally went on point closer to me. I went toward her. She started trailing. Then Abby was on point in the same area. Before I could get close a single quail flushed in front of her. Then Thomas pointed near me. He was looking at the ground real close in front of him. I was still 10 yards from him when 2 quail flushed right under his nose. They went almost straight up and turned to my left. When I shot he didn’t see the bird fall but Sally did. She brought the bird about half way back and looked at me like, “I brought it this far, you can come half way”. I went to her and gave her the head. Most times she’s happy to eat the quail head but this time she spit it out. Thomas was close and I tried to give it to him but he didn’t take it either.

We went on to the north but the cattle had moved in front of us. The older dogs are used to cows and horses but Thomas is young. When we had first started he had barked at some horses and I had held the transmitter button, on level 2, down until he had moved away. The horses weren’t bothered by his barking. When the cows started walking in front of him he started running at them and barking. I held the button down on level 2 but that didn’t affect him. I went to level 3 and that worked.

The sun shining on my Webley & Scott 20 gauge made the engraving look good.

Since the cows were moving to the south west we went toward the north east. When we got close to the north east road Boss went on point. There were several large oak mottes in the area and he was on the other side of a large one. When I got most of the way around I saw Mann on point closer to me. I went toward him but when I passed him nothing flushed. I tapped him on the head and he didn’t want to move. I tapped him again. He went about 15 yards and went back on point. About 15 yards east of Mann, Sally and Abby were pointing. I went toward them and they started trailing. On around the corner of this big oak motte was where Boss was on point. A covey flushed 30 or more yards ahead of me without me having a shot.

Evidently that covey had been running in front of the dogs for quite aways. We went on toward the end of the property and a covey of quail flew over the top of me. I didn’t see them until they were out front of me, a long way. They flew off the property onto private land. I try to quit by 4:30, which is what Oklahoma requires on state land, but this was federal and I it took longer to make it back to the truck. There has been a lot of people hunting these birds and they have been educated. They have learned to run and flush before the people get close. But it’s still good for the dogs.

Mann honoring Sally.

I had put a check cord on Thomas because he doesn’t like to ride in the truck. All the other dogs came to the truck except him. He didn’t want to quit. I staked the others out and fed them. Finally, Thomas came back and I fed him and loaded all of the dogs.

The temperature was dropping as it got late. I had been hunting in shirt sleeves and feeding the dogs I started getting cold. I didn’t pay a lot of attention until I had loaded the dogs and started down the road. Before long I had the temperature set on 77 and the seat warmers on high. I didn’t turn it down until I got to the motel.

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