Traveling Pointing Dogs

Monday the wind blew really hard so I waited until Tuesday to go quail hunting. The wind was blowing almost as hard as the day before. I met Don and Linda Hansen near Emporia Kansas and we drove to the walk-in property we wanted to hunt.

Because of the strong south wind we parked on the north end after checking to make sure no one else was hunting this site. Don turned Annie his pointer out with the Garmin track and train collar on and I turned Sally and Luke out with the Garmin e-collars ans well as Garmin GPS collars.

We crossed some CRP to a short hedge row then south down the the hedge row. As we got near the end of the hedge row Annie and Sally went into the CRP on the east side and Sally went on point. When we got close she started moving and Annie went on point. They continued, one would point and the other back, going to the east. I checked the GPS and Luke was on point north east of us about 150 yards.

After Sally and Annie quit trailing and went back to hunting we started to Luke. When we got close we saw him standing in some short grass facing into the strong wind. This looked too easy. Sally and Annie honored Luke’s point. I was close waiting for Don to get in position when the birds flushed. I hit one with the first shot then missed with the second barrel. Don was too far away for a shot. The quail didn’t wait.

We got the dogs in to find my dead bird. They hunted the area without finding anything. After I thought about it I never saw the quail fall to the ground I just knew I was on it and the feathers flew off. I didn’t see it fall. I changed birds too quick, I should have made sure of the one.

After about ten minutes searching for the bird we moved on. The covey had flown toward the north west into the CRP, we thought. We went back and forth across the CRP without seeing a bird. I checked the GPS and Luke was on the west side of the hedge row, on point.

After I fought my way through the hedge row I saw him pointing into the hedge row. As I waited on Don to get through the hedge row the quail flushed flying through the hedge row without a shot being fired. Since we were on the west side of the hedge we moved to the south down the hedge row then moved over into the CRP and started back.

The CRP is tall and it’s hard to keep track of the dogs. I checked the GPS and Luke was on point about 80 yards away. There was a small draw that ran into the CRP and he was on point in it. I was about 50 yards away watching the GPS and he moved about 10 yards and went back on point. Before we got to him I saw about 6 or 7 quail flying into the CRP back close to the trucks. Then Luke was moving.

Since we were close to the trucks we took the dogs back for water and Don put Annie up and got his puppy, Goofy, out. Goofy is a big, male pointer.

We went back through the CRP where I saw the quail from the last covey fly and we never saw a bird. We crossed through the CRP then went back across the hedge row and checked the CRP on the other side.

We went back to the truck to water the dogs as it was really hot and dry. As we were trying to figure out our next plan the man that owned the land across the road stopped to talk. He said on opening weekend every time someone left another group pulled in to hunt this property. Just last Saturday he counted 4 different groups hunting this property. These birds either get smart or they die. It was pretty warm so we quit for the day.

Thursday I went to the Truman Lake area and hunted some Corp of Engineers land. The first place I hunted was an area I had found quail a couple of years ago. Most of this land is low and prone to flooding but they lease it to farmers and they grow grain on it. I made a big loop to the south going to the road on the other side then back close to the truck.

I then went to the north and made a big circle. Both sides had grain growing with areas that were just weeds. On the south side I had hunted through a year ago corn field that had not been replanted. It was full of weeds and really short corn stalks.

I went to the east down a fence row beside a standing corn field. Along a low spot there wasn’t an ear of corn left on the corn stalks for about 10 rows. The deer, turkeys, raccoons and other critters had really worked the corn field over.

We followed the fence row to the east for about a mile. As I walk along I keep track of the dogs with the GPS. I saw Luke, on the GPS, on point about 90 yards away. I couldn’t see Luke but I saw Sally honor him. Before I got to her I saw her raise her head real quick then start toward where Luke was. I knew the quail had flushed.

When I got close to where Luke had been on point I saw both dogs combing the weeds for the birds. We spent about twenty minutes going back and forth without me seeing a bird.

We went on to the east then circled back to the truck. We were in good looking quail habitat most of the way and I had found quail there in the past but not today. We got back to the truck and I ate lunch while we drove to another place.

As I drove to the next place I saw an area that looked really good. I turned the dogs out and we went around a harvested corn field then on back into an area of thick weeds. As we got close to the lake I saw a bunch, about 200, pelicans sitting on the water. Sally had never seen birds this big and I wanted to get her close. I saw her wheel around when she got down wind from them and move to the edge of the water. She doesn’t like to go into the water but she ran the edge. The close birds just flew over the others and sat back down. She was excited but she still didn’t go into the water and the pelicans knew they were in no danger.

We went around another corn field then back to the truck. We drove to another area I wanted to hunt. As I pulled up a guy stopped to talk. He said he picked up trash, along an 81 mile route, once a week. I asked if he had seen any quail he seemed surprised I even asked. He was a rabbit hunter and as he drove he watched for them and any other animals and hadn’t seen any quail.

After we finished talking I drove back around to an area I had noticed on the way in. I wasn’t sure if it was Corp land. Most of the area is well marked but this isn’t. I saw some county workers and stopped to talk to them. It was Corp land but he said he hadn’t seen any quail for a long time. He, also, had beagles and was a rabbit hunter. He told me where he had seen a small covey. I drove to that area.

I found the place he was talking about and it looked really good. We hunted to the west through some tall grass and weeds down a fence row. On the private land side, the soy beans had been harvested. We went a half mile to the west then moved over and came back through the tall weeds. We got to the road we were parked on and crossed it.

On the other side of the road there was a spring that put some water in a small creek. I thought as dry as it was there might be some quail around the water. We went down one side then back the other. When we got back to the truck I had had enough. And so had the dogs. We loaded up and headed home.

I had hunted some really good looking places, in areas where I had found quail in the past, without seeing a bird. There has to be more to the loss of quail than just habitat. I was in some really good habitat, that in the past had quail and the dogs hunted hard. I never saw a quail. I did learn a knew spot, that if the quail come back in this area, I will try.

The next morning about 6:00 am I got to the place I wanted to hunt. Someone was already parked on it. Sunrise is 7:21 am and me and this other guy were already here. The dogs had been in the dog box all night so I needed to get them out. I never thought about what I was doing. I pulled down the road about a quarter of a mile, pulled over and started getting the dogs out one at a time. I wasn’t going to hunt it just turn the dogs out but the other guy didn’t know that. He drove by giving me a dirty look. I felt terrible. I had just had some guys do the same thing to me.

The next place I went to was open so I turned Sally, Luke and Roxie out. The wind was blowing harder than the day before but from the north. The forecast was for 40 mph winds. I thought it was harder. This parcel is really hard on the dogs with lots of sand burrs and prickly pear. We went to the north for about a half mile and I saw a single quail flush way out ahead of the dogs. We went to the east in the direction that the quail had flown.

This property is real large and we went about 3/4 of a mile to the east and again I saw a quail flush about 50 yards in front of the dogs. This has been my experience with windy days. With every thing rattling and making noise the quail are real wild. We went to the south about a quarter of a mile then started back toward the truck.

We had only gone a little way when the GPS handheld vibrated. Luke was on point about 50 yards from me. I was still about 15 yards from him when I saw a covey of quail flush about 35 yards in front of him. They were too far for me to even shoot. I watched the covey fly to a little bowl with a lot of plum thickets.

I got Luke and Sally in to check it out. Both dogs got real birdy and Sally made a couple of points but when I would get close she would start trailing. I think the birds just ran away from us. We made several passes through the area then went on back to the truck.

I knew where a walk-in property was that had a ditch running through it that had lots of cover. One time when I went in there it had 2 coveys of quail and some pheasants. I thought on a day as windy as this it would be full of birds. I checked the map books and when I got the directions it didn’t seem quite right. I drove probably fifteen miles and when I got there it was the wrong place. I drove a mile farther west and found it but it was no longer walk-in. I didn’t want to fight the wind any longer so I went back to the motel.

I don’t really believe in Karma but the next morning when I pulled off the highway, heading to the place I wanted to hunt, a truck turned off behind me. It was still before daylight and the truck made each turn I made. When I pulled over where I wanted to hunt they stopped about 150 yards behind me, turned their dogs out, grabbed their guns and went in hunting where I wanted to go. It was still before shooting time. They were walking in and I had only gotten one dog out. I took all 6 dogs out, watered them and let them empty. I loaded them back up. It was tempting to turn all 6 dogs out and follow along behind them. If I had of pulled 2 miles down the road from the fellow the morning before would I have had this spot to my self? I don’t know.

A friend and fellow English setter owner, Troy Smith, works for Kansas Conservation Department. I stopped by to visit with him before I went on hunting. Troy’s office is a museum dedicated to English setters.

I went to a walk-in place that was split by a river. The side that I hunted had a good creek running through the middle. The lower ground on both sides of the creek were pasture that had not been grazed very much. Still lots of cover with grass seeds everywhere and on both sides were winter wheat field with plenty of seeds left from the harvest.

The sand burrs and prickly pear had taken a toll on the dogs and only Dolly and Sally were ready to go. Dolly hadn’t hunted much and none of the sand burr and prickly pear land. Sally is only 17 months old so she bounced back from the day before.

If I could make a quail hunting place it would look like this one. Today it was cold and we had a good breeze, of about 5 to 10 mph, from the south. We went all of the way south to the property line crossed the creek and came back to the river. We spent almost 3 hours scouring this property and didn’t see a quail or a pheasant. Perfect weather and perfect place and no birds.

When I got back to the truck I could hear Lucky breathing. It sounded like a death rattle. He’s 13 1/2 years old and I know he can’t live forever but I wish he could. I got him out of the box and he didn’t act like he was in distress, but he still rattled. I put him back and started home. When I got home I took him out of the box before any of the others. He acted and sounded just fine. He’s kind of like the energizer bunny.

I got up in the middle of the night and drove to central Kansas to go quail hunting. Maybe past central Kansas. I started hunting between Russel and Hays. I’ve never hunted in this part of Kansas before and it was a new experience. I need at least a tree or I can’t see anyplace to go. That caused me to drive by several spots. This area has lots of walk-in properties.

The first place I stopped was a big soy bean field that had been harvested. It was strange in the fact the farmer had left CRP type grasses to grow between strips of soy beans. I’ve only seen this when it’s planted for food plots but that’s the way it was. I turned Luke, Sally and Roxie loose. Roxie is a pointer that belongs to Vince Dye. Vince is having some medical problems so I’m using her. I have 3 Garmin e-collars and 4 Garmin GPS collars so I know where everyone is at all times.

The wind was pretty strong from the south so I parked on the north side and we went into the wind. (I only thought it was strong. Tuesday, the wind showed me what strong wind was.) About a half mile to the south Sally got birdy and the other two dogs came in and started trailing. All 3 dogs pointed then moved on. Pretty soon a hen pheasant flushed, flying to the north with a tail wind.

We got to the end of this place and started back to the north close to the road. All the way down the farmer had left CRP between strips of soy beans. There was a strip of CRP next to the road as we came back. Sally went on point in front of me. When I got to her she started to trail. She would go about 20 yards and go on point. When I would catch up she would start to trail again. After several points and start ups a rooster pheasant flushed. It was too far away for a shot but it was good for Sally.

When we got back to the truck we drove to the other side of the same farm. Low and behold, over a quarter of a mile there were, in a line, probably twenty trees. I understand this kind of hunting. Those 3 dogs hadn’t hunted very much so I put them out, again. When we got to the line of trees I saw 2 quail flying back to the north. Roxie was behind them. As they went through the edge of some CRP about 15 more quail joined them and flew north. I had one close enough to shoot at and it dropped at my shot. It hit the ground and bounced right back up. I watched it fly toward a snag of a tree and go down again.

One of the reasons that I didn’t shoot at the bird again I was watching the covey down. I saw right where they landed. I got the dogs in to hunt for my dead bird. None of them acted the least bit birdy. We spent about 15 minutes looking without finding the dead bird.

I took the dogs to where the covey had spread out. All 3 dogs went through the area. Nobody even got birdy. We worked it all the way back to where the dead bird was and I got them to hunt for it again. Nothing. We went back through the area where the singles had landed. Not a dog got birdy.

Since we were close to the truck I took Luke back and got Dolly out. I just knew she would find my dead bird. I worked her through the field where the covey had spread out. Nothing. I took her down to where the dead bird was. Nothing. We went on to the south and this was when I realized that, where the covey had originally flushed from, was some real short soy beans that hadn’t been harvested. They probably won’t be harvested. I took the dogs on around this field.

We went all the way around it without finding any other birds. We came back through where the covey had landed. I worked the dogs into the wind. I looked and Dolly was on point. When I walked in the quail was right under her nose. When the quail flushed it tried to hook around me. Sally saw it fall and picked it up. She just held it until I told her to give.

We went back and forth through that area but never came up with any others. I loaded the dogs and started looking for another place.

The next place I turned the dogs out was near a harvested corn field with a creek running along side. I turned Luke, Sally and Roxie out with the e-collars and GPS collars on. It had looked good from the road but after I got into the property I saw that it had been grazed until there was very little cover left. I got the dogs into the creek, made a circle back to the truck and loaded the dogs.

As I drove around I saw some guys from Ohio I think they said. I talked to them a while and they said they had been hunting for several days. I drove some more looking for a place to hunt and came by the property where I had talked to the Ohioans. They were gone so I turned Luke, Sally and Roxie out.

Across the road was a huge field of milo that was walk-in but it had very little cover. On the side I parked was CRP and next to the walk-in was more milo. We still had a real strong south wind that we were working into. A couple hundred yards from the truck Luke went on point. He was about 50 yards from me in the CRP. As I started to him he moved about 30 yards and went back on point. I got within about 20 yards of him and the quail started flushing behind me. In the wind it was hard to figure out where they were. By the time I saw them they were too far to shoot at although I shot, once.

I watched about 6 quail light around a little scrub tree beside the milo field but still on the walk-in. I started to them. I looked for the dogs and saw Sally on point right where the covey had flushed from. I thought she was pointing a hot spot but walked to her anyway. I don’t know why I was surprised (she has the nose) but a single quail flushed. It surprised me and I missed with the first shot but hit it with the second. Sally and Luke made a couple of passes to find the bird then tried to leave. I called Sally back and she picked the dead bird up. She has me trained, she picks up the bird , I walk to her and say give. She drops the bird.

I got all 3 dogs in around the little scrub of a tree but they didn’t even act birdy. I worked them in a semi circle in the CRP around the tree. Nothing. We went on to the south along the milo then it changed to wheat stubble. We moved over about a hundred yards and went back toward the truck. When we got close to the little scrub tree I went toward it through the CRP. Nothing. We went back out into the CRP and the dogs did start getting a little birdy back closer to the road but we never came up with anything.

We crossed the road and checked out what little cover was there without seeing anything. I was just a couple of hours from Greensburg and I had found 10 coveys in 3 days down there before the season opened so I decided to go on down there.

By the time I fed the dogs, ate supper, found a motel and got in bed it was after ten o’clock which is late for me when I’m on a quail hunting trip. But tomorrow will be a better day.

Last year when Don, Linda and I quail hunted near Abilene, Kansas I had just had my cataract surgery. I thought I could see really well. I told Don I would meet him at the McDonald’s in Junction City. When I got there I couldn’t read the highway signs for what eating places were at the exits. We still managed to get together. This year after another eye operation I had no problem reading the signs or finding McDonald’s.

I followed Don’s truck on to the west until we got to a walk-in property that we had hunted last year. It was a large place, 320 acres, maybe. It was in soy beans and milo with some CRP right through the middle. The CRP had a few thickets in it with a lot of blackberry and rose vines.

We went down a hedge row to the north that ran into a soy bean field. We wound up going up one side then back down the other to get back to the CRP without going through the soy beans. We hit the fence row on the east side and took it to the north. I had put a dropper chain on Luke to keep him from running so big but it wasn’t working. When I checked the Garmin GPS it showed him on point at over 700 yards. As I tried to make up my mind whether I could get to him before the quail flushed the GPS showed Sally on point just off the property to the north. She was only about 50 yards from us.

She was on the east fence row about 20 yards off the walk-in property to the north. Trouble, Don’s pointer was backing her. When I got to her she moved about 10 yards and the covey of quail flushed about 30 yards in front of her. Some flew back behind us onto the walk-in property. Sally went into the milo field that was off the walk-in and went on point. I went into the milo but when I got close she started trailing back toward the walk-in property. Trouble pointed right along the edge of the walk-in. When we got to her she started trailing.

As we worked back and forth with the young dogs pointing and moving I checked the GPS and Luke was still on point.
We started toward him. As we went along I kept checking the GPS. We were within about 400 yards of him and when I checked the GPS I noticed that Sally was on point and I had walked past her. I called Don and showed him Sally on point about 40 yards away. Trouble came by and honored.

I don’t know how long Sally had been on point but when we walked in front of her she started trailing. Trouble went in front of us and pointed. Sally honored her. When we went in front of her a quail flushed and curled to the left. I shot and missed but when I shot another quail flushed and flew to my right. It fell at my shot. Sally found the bird but didn’t retrieve. She just picked it up. The first quail that flew to my left was a long shot for Don and it lived for us to find again.

Luke was still on point so we continued toward him. We were still in CRP. As we went toward Luke Don saw Trouble on point. Before we got close with her not moving 4 quail flushed then another one. We never got a shot. We kept on going toward Luke. He was all the way to the west on this property. There was just a little strip of brush that ran into the CRP and he was on point in the strip. We got within about 35 yards of him and he moved another 35 yards and went back on point. Before we got to him the covey flushed well out front of him. We had shot two or three times, it had taken us over half an hour to get close to him and Luke was still on point.

We went back across the CRP to a strip that was an old fence row that had enough trees to almost be called a hedge row. We started to the north. Don was on the east and I was on the west. I heard Don shoot. He said he had walked into a covey of quail. They flew into the CRP to the south. We continued toward the north.

When we got to where the fence row quit in a soy bean field, that was off the walk-in, Sally was right at the end on point. I yelled at Don that she was on point and he said that he couldn’t get there quickly so I was to go ahead. The quail hadn’t been holding very well so I walked in. A covey flushed in front of her, some going east and some going west. I turned to the east and missed with the first barrel. I didn’t get another because the second shot would have been toward Don and Linda. If I had turned the other way I would have better shots and I could have shot twice.

I went around on the side that Don was on and we went back to the south. He had seen several birds settle into the CRP. We got all 3 dogs in front of us and worked our way through the CRP. Trouble and Sally both pointed in front of us and before we got to them a single quail flushed. Don was on my left and the bird flew to my right. It dropped when I shot. Sally ran by the bird on the ground and I called her back. She picked it up when she found it but didn’t bring it to me. She did drop it in my hand when I told her to give.

When we got to the end of the CRP we moved over to the west side of the fence row and started back north. The dogs were birdy all the way. Luke pointed at the edge of a large cedar with Sally honoring. When we got to him Don saw a quail run along the ground and I heard another flush on the other side.

Trouble had had an operation and was out of shape so Don took her back to the truck. As he was going to the truck Luke pointed near a small clump of brush. When I got to him he was a little way away from the brush in the edge of the CRP. I thought I would have a good shot. I walked in and two quail flushed, never got 2 feet off the ground and circled the little clump of brush. I shot but not even close to the quail.

When Don came back we went back to the north on the west side of the fence row then over to the east side. As we went back to the south through the CRP Sally pointed, then moved up, pointed and moved up. A quail flushed 30 yards in front of her. And she did that several times.

We continued to wander around then decided to go to the truck but would take a route back that was still in the CRP but quite away from the fence row. Sally pointed, then moved up, pointed, moved up and pointed. About 50 yards in front of her a covey of quail flushed. The birds never got very high so we didn’t think they would fly very far.

There was a low spot with some brush growing in line with where the birds had flown. When we got close Luke pointed about 40 yards in front of me. Sally saw him and honored. Don was on the other side and the way Luke was pointing I thought I could chase the quail out for Don. I kicked a cedar tree and the single quail flushed. It went toward Don but never got over 2 feet high and flew toward his truck.

As we went on down the ditch Don saw 5 quail flush out the end. They only flew a little way and went down in the edge of the soy bean field. Most of the soy bean fields have no grass or weeds growing in them but there was a small area with some grass. We thought maybe the birds would hold. They hadn’t held all day but we thought these would. That may be the definition of an optimist.

As we started into the soy bean field Luke and Sally both started pointing then moving up. About 75 yards into the soy beans a single quail flushed and circled from in front to my left. This time Don was on my right and I hit the bird really hard. Evidently, Luke was hungry because if I hadn’t been close he would have eaten that quail. Usually, he doesn’t even pick them up but that wasn’t the case this time.

The soy beans ended at the road and Luke crossed the road and went on point. We started to him but we were still 40 yards from him 2 quail flushed. I shot but they were too far away. Luke moved up about 10 yards and went back on point. As I turned toward him 2 more quail flushed. Neither of us even shot. Sometimes the quail win.

Now a little bragging. Don has been hunting for a lot of years, as I have, and he’s owned a lot of dogs and knows a good dog when he sees one. Sally is only 17 months old and Don was talking about her when he said, “She’s too young to know that much about birds, but she knows.” I thought the same thing and sometimes it seems that she just goes where the birds are.

I hope that doesn’t ruin her. I usually say, “Don’t brag about your dog until they are dead” but I did this time. Oh well, if she goes screwy I’ll come back in and delete this post.