Traveling Pointing Dogs

When my alarm went off on the morning of day two I had been up about 30 minutes. It’s not just opening day that I have trouble sleeping. I went out by Emporia Kansas to a small walk-in property. The property is 80 acres and this year it had been planted in soy beans and they had been harvested. It has a draw that runs from the south west corner to the north east corner.

Sally pointing quail.

Luke on point Sally honoring.

Luke pointing quail.

I put the Garmin GPS and Garmin e-collars on Luke and Sally and turned them loose. I had parked on the north east corner and we went to the south east along the draw. When I got near the fence row on the south side I called Sally in to hunt the fence row. The wind was strong out of the north and Sally went on the south side of the fence row. She went on point about 75 yards from me. When I got within about 20 yards of her the covey flushed. I had one shot and a quail fluttered down across the fence on private property.

I hate to lose birds so I crossed the fence and got Sally in to hunt dead. I found some feathers where the quail had hit the ground. After checking the surrounding cover I got Sally in where the feathers were and she started trailing. Within seconds the quail fluttered into the air right in front of her and she grabbed it. I let her hold it for a few seconds then took the quail from her. I went back onto the walk-in property.

Luke came in when he heard me shoot. We went on to the east on the fence row. Sally went on point where the east fence hit the north fence. There was a small thicket right in the corner. When I walked in the quail flushed out the other side without giving me a shot.

We continued to the north along the fence. There was a pond on both sides of the fence and Luke went on point between the two. I was still about 30 yards from him when the quail flushed and Luke moved. I don’t know whether the quail flushed and then he moved or he flushed the covey. He has been really solid on his birds so I will give him the benefit of the doubt. I shot at one of the quail that came by at 40 yards or more but didn’t come close.

This covey flew back onto the walk-in property so I started to follow them. As I went toward them a hunter came along the draw, that I had been down, headed toward me. This farm was only 80 acres. To check to see if anyone else is on it you only have to drive 3/4 of a mile. Had he checked and didn’t care that I was already hunting it. He wasn’t there when I got there because I drove around it. I’m not given to strong language but I said some things that I can’t print.

We were close to the truck so I loaded the dogs. I drove around to see where the hunter had parked. He was on the south west corner and his truck was registered in Missouri. Most of the time on the walk-in properties other people won’t drop their dogs off on you. Most people have better manners.

I drove to another walk-in property. We went back to the south to circle around and come back through the best cover and an area where I have found quail in the past. As we worked our way through the area a couple of trucks with dog boxes drove by saw my truck and went on. Before I was even finished with the first circle a truck parked about 200 yards from me, turned out some dogs and went to hunting.

Luke pointing a quail.

As I came through the tall CRP, checking the thickets as we came, I saw a huge covey roost. We worked back to the truck and I loaded the dogs. I checked the truck that had parked near me and it had a Wisconsin tag. Every state has it’s rude people, I guess.

The next place I went to is a long narrow property. It has some soy bean fields bordered by CRP. We checked the CRP along the edge of the soy bean fields without finding anything. As many hunters as I had seen we were probably following someone around. I loaded the dogs and headed home.

I like going on opening weekend but it’s not the best time. There are a lot of hunters out and after the first few minutes, on public land, you have a good chance of hunting where someone has already been. This was a cool day for me but not for the dogs. For the dogs, the best temperature is about 30 degrees. They are in the tall grass where they get very little of the wind and they are working hard.

As the season progresses I, usually, don’t hunt on weekends. I can hunt during the week and leave the weekends for people that have to work during the week. Also, I try not to hunt the same places over and over. I enjoy figuring new places out and seeing new places to hunt. My day is complete if I can get some dog work whether I get a shot or not.

Sally pointing a quail.

Luke pointing quail.

Luke pointing Sally honoring.

I still have trouble sleeping the night before opening day. I set my alarm for 5:00 am but I woke up a little after 4:00. I drove to the Atchison Kansas area. I had run dogs in the area before the season opened but I hadn’t been able to run on some of the places because they hadn’t harvested the crops. When I got to the first place they had harvested all of the crops. Not only that but they had dozed out a good fence row that I had found quail in in years past. Before this farm was in the walk-in program it was leased by a hunting club I belonged to. It had lots of cover and lots of quail and some pheasants. Each year a little more of the cover is lost to the bulldozer.

Sally pointing quail.

Luke pointing a covey of quail.

Sally on a single.

I parked in a spot where just a few years ago I turned some dogs out and found a covey in the fence row they dozed out, found another covey in a little draw about a quarter mile away and a third covey just across the road. I turned Sally and Luke loose. We checked all of the cover near where I had parked went over the hill to another draw. The dogs checked the draw and we went to the end near the road. We crossed the road, to the big side of the property.

We started down a fence row and Luke went on point about 50 yards from me. He was pointing in a small thicket right on the fence row. When I got close to him a woodcock flushed, out the other side, without giving me a shot. We followed a creek then turned up some draws. We hunted back to the road and started back down another draw we hadn’t been on. Luke had just run to the end of a little finger that came off the draw and came back in front of me. About 30 yards in front of me he went on point. When I got to him his tail was wagging so I knew the birds had run. The draw had been dammed by a beaver and was filled with water. I didn’t see the birds but I heard a covey flush on the other side.

We hunted back to the truck and drove to the other side of this property. I turned the dogs loose in the middle of a small draw that ran north to south. We went to the north end then crossed to the other side and took it to the south end then back to the truck. This farm had been a great place to hunt but now I know why I have a property this large all to my self on opening day.

I had a couple of small walk-in properties that I wanted to hunt so I started driving. The first one I came to had a combine harvesting the soy beans and it started to rain. A couple of places already had hunters on them. The rain was getting harder. I decided to just drive and check out walk-in properties.

I came to an eighty acre walk-in property that, what I could see, was in CRP. All the way around this eighty was harvested crops. If there were any birds close they had to be in this CRP. The grass was tall and there was a line of trees about half way back that I couldn’t see through. The rain was down to just a mist so I turned Sally out by herself.

As we came down the edge and turned along the trees Sally went on point. Before I could get to her the covey of quail flushed about 20 yards on the other side. They went to the south through the trees without giving me a shot. Sally and I went through the trees and found an area of mature cedar trees and black berry vines.

Luke pointing a single.

As I walked in I heard a single flush on the other side of some cedars. Then Sally pointed at the edge of a big cedar. When I got close I saw 4 quail flush but they put a tree between us before I could shoot. Sally moved about 2 steps and went back on point. Another quail flushed. Still no shot.

There was a little clearing with some short grass in it where she pointed next. I thought I might get a shot but the quail had run to another tree and flushed. It was really hard to keep an eye on her with all of the cedar trees. I saw on the GPS that she was on point about 30 yards from me. She was buried in some black berry vines among the cedars. I had to fight my way through the blackberries to get to her. I was right behind her when the quail flushed. It went straight up then around a cedar. I shot just as it went around the cedar. I never saw it fall but it felt right. Sally ran around the cedar and picked the bird up. She didn’t bring it even one foot in my direction. I had to fight my way through the blackberries to her.

Most of the birds that had flushed went back in the direction of the CRP so we went back. The rain was coming down harder now. We went along the trees then up the fence row on the other side. About half way up the other side we cut across the middle of the CRP. Sally went on point near where the first covey had flushed from but out in the CRP. When I got to her she moved off to the west real slow. A covey out in the CRP and ahead of her flushed. One quail flew back by me and dropped when I shot. Sally ran to it and picked it up. I had to walk to her but she dropped it when I said, “give.”

Most of this covey had flown back to the cedars and blackberries we had just come out of. We were both really wet from the rain so we started for the truck. I saw Sally go on point in the fence row. As I continued toward her several quail flushed in front of me. I hit a quail hard with the first barrel and one dropped when I shot the left barrel. I thought the first bird was dead in the air so I got Sally in to look for the second bird. She found it right away but we didn’t find the second bird.

Sally pointing a quail.

We were close to the truck so I got Luke out to help find the lost quail. Sally and I were already wet and as Luke got wet he gave me a disgusted look or two. We looked for about 15 minutes (I hate losing birds) without finding that bird. When we got close to the truck Luke went to the back and stood there waiting for me to drop the tailgate. I loaded the dogs and we headed home.

The big farm at the first of this post was a good place to hunt 30 years ago and it could be again. There is no place left for a quail to hatch a setting of eggs. Years ago there were grassy spots around the draws and some fallow fields in the center. I understand the farmers wanting to make money off the land. In Missouri the state is paying farmers to plant buffer strips close to hedge rows and fence rows. This gives the quail an area to hide and lay eggs. If there are no hatchlings there won’t be many quail as I found Saturday.

Luke had a single right under his nose. He was afraid to move.

Sally pointing quail.

Luke backing Dolly.