Traveling Pointing Dogs

My cousin, Jim Smith, drove out from eastern Oklahoma to quail hunt with me at Black Kettle National Grasslands. We met about 8:00 am. Black Kettle National Grasslands is 30,710 acres scattered over Roger Mills county Oklahoma plus another 576 acres near Canadian Texas. There are 114 parcels of the Grasslands in Oklahoma. These are farms that the taxes weren’t paid, in the dust bowl days and were taken by the Federal Government. Now they are used for pasture but most have plenty of cover to hold quail.

Sally pointing a quail.

Betsy pointing a quail.

Dolly in Oklahoma

The first place we hunted, Jim turned out Dottie, that was 4 days younger than Sally, and his male English Setter that is a couple of months older than Sally and Dottie. I put Garmin e-collars and GPS collars on Lucky and Dolly and a GPS collar on Sally and turned them loose. We followed along a ridge then dropped down along a creek. The temperature started in the mid twenties but it warmed up in a hurry. We made a circle without finding any quail. We circled back to the truck, loaded the dogs and drove to another parcel.

I put the e-collars and GPS collars on Luke and Tur Bo and turned them, along with Sally, out. Luke had worn a dropper chain (a chain that dropped from his collar and bumped against his knees when he ran) the day before to keep him from running so big and I put it on him to start the day. He pouted for about 50 yards, by following right behind me, then went to hunting.

We went to the east, close to the road then moved over about a hundred yards and hunted back to the west. As we got close to the top of the hill I saw Tur Bo on point in some shinnery oak. We started to him and I saw he was honoring Dottie who was honoring Sally. We passed Tur Bo and Dottie and when we got close to Sally she moved up 3 or 4 yards and went back on point. We kept moving and when we got close she moved another 3 or 4 yards and pointed. When we got close a covey of quail erupted in front of her. Most of the quail tried to fly off the parcel we were hunting. Jim dropped one and I also knocked one down.

Jim’s dogs found his bird real quick and they came over to help find mine. Jim’s male, Willie, found mine 10 or 15 feet from where I thought it went down. I don’t think it ran. I think I didn’t do a very good job marking it down.

We hunted to the property line then to the south without finding any of the singles. We continued on to the south and east. As we went along, talking I checked the GPS and Tur Bo was on point. Before we got to him about 5 birds flushed in front of him. I saw where one landed so we went toward it. As we got close to where Tur Bo had pointed 3 or 4 quail flushed. We both shot and one bird dropped. We had both shot at the same one.

We continued to where I thought one of the singles had landed. Although the dogs got birdy we never came up with anything. We turned to the east, where some more had flown, without finding them.

We went on to the east, crossed a creek and a low draw. We looked onto the side of a hill and Willie was on point looking into some shinnery. We were a long way from where any other birds had been but when we walked in only a single bird flushed. It went Jim’s way and dropped at his shot.

The dogs got excited where the single had come from but we never found another bird in that area. We continued along the hill side. As we walked along a covey of quail flushed well out in front of me. I never saw or heard them but Jim watched them down.

Sally pointing a pigeon.

As we got close to where he thought they had landed a couple of singles flushed in front of the dogs. As we got closer Dottie pointed with Sally and Tur Bo honoring. Dottie moved up and went back on point. When she moved Tur Bo went to her left and pointed. Sally was still honoring Dottie. Jim went to Dottie and I went to Tur Bo. Dottie’s bird went through the brush without giving Jim a shot. Tur Bo’s bird went straight away and I had one shot before it got into the brush and I missed.

We had more birds spread out but another hunter turned out close to where we were so we went back toward our trucks. The hunter probably didn’t have any idea that we were there. We had parked on the north west corner and had hunted to the south east corner. That’s where he had parked.

When we got back to our trucks it was about 3:00 pm and was pretty hot. We cleaned our birds and started home. I was going to hunt another day but the weather forecast was for 80+ degrees the next day and my dogs were really tired.

Jim and I are cousins but also life long friends. I really enjoyed being able to hunt with him again.

Dolly honoring.

Luke

Tur Bo

On the way to Oklahoma quail hunting I was feeling really good about how it was getting easier to remember everything I needed for a few days on the road. Just before I got where I was going I remembered my camera sitting next to my chair, where I wouldn’t forget it. I will have to recycle pictures. Maybe next year I will use a check list.

Luke on point and Lucky, on the left, honoring.

When I started in Sally came in front of me, saw Luke and Lucky and honored.

Tur Bo pointing a single quail.

I drove down on Tuesday and the temperature was in the 70’s by noon. I have wanted to hunt Sandy Sanders Wildlife Management Area for a long time. This was a good time to look at it since it was too hot to run dogs. About a month ago I had called Oklahoma Conservation Department and talked to a nice lady by the name of, Mikki Wilmoth. I asked her to send me some maps on Sandy Sanders. She told me I could down load them but I thought maybe the Conservation Department had some better maps, that she could send me. She didn’t say, “you’re a big boy. You can do this.” She said she would send them. Just a few days later I had several different maps of Sandy Sanders, that she had down loaded, along with a couple of articles that has been written about the area.

Sandy Sanders is 29,766 acres. Part of it is on the west of Highway 30, maybe a 2000 acres or so, and the rest is on the east side. There are no major roads through the area. They have some two track roads that meander around. My truck is a 4 wheel drive and I scraped the bottom several times.

Wednesday morning was cool when we arrived and I turned Luke, Lucky and Sally out. Luke and Lucky had Garmin GPS and Garmin e-collars on but Sally only had a GPS collar. Also, Luke was sporting a dropper chain, loaned to me by Don Hansen, to stop him from ranging so far. It was just a chain that I clipped to his collar that bumped his front legs when he ran. I have been having problems with him getting out too far and his hearing is getting bad. He can’t locate me.

The wind was out of the north really strong when we started but it got stronger as the day wore on. We started off to the south west. I had been warned about the possibility of getting lost in these big canyons so I had an extra GPS collar that I left in the truck, turned on. I know you can set the hand held to mark the truck but turning a collar on is easier, and I always have extra collars.

All of the area I had seen so far was just up hill and down hill. Not much level ground. Since this is my first time I don’t know if it’s normal but there was a lot of small creeks running in most of the bottoms. We had gone about a quarter of a mile when I saw Sally start to point then move up a couple of steps and a nice covey of quail flushed, about 15 yards, in front of her. They were too far for me to shoot but since she didn’t point them I wouldn’t anyway.

The dropper chain was working well. Luke was still getting out about two hundred yards but he came in when I hit the tone on his collar. With the dropper chain we were keeping better track of each other. As hilly as the area was I could only tell the direction the quail flew but not how far. We followed along without finding any of the singles.

The GPS showed Luke on point about 65 yards from me. When I got to him he was pointing into a group of what they call red berry junipers, with Sally honoring. I call them cedars. Before I got to him I heard the covey blow out the other side. I never saw a bird.

We were still going to the south west when I saw Sally go on point. Lucky saw her and honored. I almost got to her when this covey flushed. They were over a rise about 20 yards in front of her and most of them flew low and to the north. One bird hooked around and flew with the wind but by the time he turned he was too far to shoot at. I shot into the air to let Sally know she had done good.

Dolly in Oklahoma

We tried to find some of the singles with no luck. We went on to the east. Again the GPS showed Luke on point. He was about 80 yards away. When I got to him Sally and Lucky were backing. He was standing in a clump of cedars, red berry junipers. When I went in front of him, the covey flushed from the top of the hill giving me just a glimpse. Not a shot fired.

When we got back to the truck and I was putting the dogs up I thought 4 coveys and not a decent shot. But that’s Oklahoma quail hunting late in the season and a really windy day.

On the way to a different area I stopped to talk to a couple of hunters from Durant, Oklahoma. One of them was a cousin, to a friend of mine, that lives in Oklahoma. I never got their names.

The next spot I tried I turned Dolly, Tur Bo and Sally out. We headed straight into the north wind. We went past a shallow pond then over another couple of hills. For some reason this area was more dry than where we had been earlier.

We were going through some mesquite and cedars when I saw on the GPS that Sally was on point. When I got to her Tur Bo was backing. She was pointing into a mesquite tree. The cover was bare on the other side so I went around to come into her front. A single quail flushed and I dropped it right in front of her. She pounced on it. She brought it back near me and laid it down. I took a couple of steps and petted her.

As I picked the bird up I noticed Dolly on point. As I went to her Tur Bo and Sally honored. Before I got to her a single flushed. I shot and the bird came right down. All three dogs ran to the area and we spent 10 minutes, at least, and never found the bird.

We went back where we had found the singles. I stood in one place for several minutes watching the dogs. When I went to take a step a quail flushed right at my feet. I centered it and Tur Bo picked it up. He also tenderized it a little. We have some off season work.

Betsy

The dogs were pretty hot and we went back to the shallow pond. (I hadn’t brought any water with me.) We went back to the area and Sally pointed into, if not the same mesquite, close to it. I circled around to come into the front of her and a quail flushed. As I turned to shoot another quail flushed. I hit the bird and Sally grabbed it as soon as it hit the ground. She’s still not coming all the way to me but she’s getting closer.

The dogs were really combing the ground. I was walking real slow behind them, with my gun over my shoulder, just enjoying watching the dogs. A quail flushed right in front of me and by the time I got everything working I missed. Good thing the dogs don’t have an e-collar transmitter.

After a while we went on to the east about a half mile then started back south. I checked the GPS and Tur Bo was on point about 75 yards from me. When I got close I saw Sally honoring and when I walked in Dolly saw Sally and backed her. The quail flushed before I got to him but fell when I shot. Tur Bo grabbed it and started to me but dropped the quail. I picked it up.

Luke pointing a quail.

We went on to the south. I saw a quail flush in front of us and watched it land. We followed but the quail flushed again before we got close. I turned the dogs back to where they had originally flushed from. I checked the GPS and Sally was on point just a few yards away. As I came around a cedar tree a quail flushed. When the shot hit it the shot pushed the bird a few feet in the air. Sally grabbed the bird when it hit the ground. A few more feet and she would have been to me. Not to be yet.

We found more water on the way back to the truck but no more quail. I hadn’t brought a lunch with me and this is a long way from anywhere. Luckily, I had some Nutter Butter cookies and a few Little Debby cup cakes. After a few of these I drove to another area.

This time I turned out Tur Bo, Sally and Luke with his dropper chains. Luke followed me for about 50 yards pouting about the chains. I didn’t pay any attention and pretty soon he was at about 150 yards, hunting. As we went into the wind Sally pointed with Tur Bo honoring. When I got close they started trailing into the north wind. I looked across at Luke about 50 yards away and he was also trailing. As I watched him 3 quail flushed probably 40 yards in front of him. He never heard or saw them. We crossed a little creek and Tur Bo pointed but when I got close he started moving, trailing.

We crossed to the west and made a swing back to the truck without seeing any other quail. On some state owned property Oklahoma quail hunting ends at 4:30 pm. It does on Sandy Sanders and Cooper Wildlife. I think this is a good deal. Spreading the birds out late makes them easier for predators and during cold weather possibly freezes them. I’m more interested in having birds to work my dogs on than I am about having another few birds in the bag.

As I was cleaning birds my friends from Durant, that I had met that morning, stopped to talk for a few minutes. They had one quail that they hadn’t cleaned so I cleaned it and threw it in with mine. They didn’t say, and I didn’t ask, how many coveys they had found all day but they did say they had found 2 coveys near where I was cleaning birds.

Oklahoma quail season will be over soon and I won’t be able to go back before the end. Now’s the time to think about how the dogs did. Sally is 8 months old now and to say I was pleased with her would be an understatement. I’m always excited about my young dogs and I always hope they will be better than their parents. She’s making a good start.

I was told to be careful about getting lost at Sandy Sanders. A couple of times my truck wasn’t exactly where I thought it was and having a GPS was handy. Each time I would have been able to find it without the GPS but it made it easier. The big side of Sandy Sanders is about 27,000 acres. That’s a lot of hills and a lot of valleys. I have an app on my phone that show’s how far I’ve walked and how many flights of stairs I’ve climbed. By bedtime I had walked 11 miles and climbed 61 flights of stairs. Maybe I could go chukar hunting.

Sally Joe pointing a pigeon.

Luke buried in the weeds on a Kansas quail hunt.

Lucky

I headed to the Marysville Kansas area on the last day of the Kansas quail season. I turned off the highway onto a gravel road and before I got to my first walk-in property I saw twelve bald eagles sitting in a harvested soy bean field with 5 or 6 flying around. I drove on for about a half mile then stopped and got my camera ready. I drove back by and turned around to get the eagles on my side of the truck. Most of them started flying but I finally got a picture of two eagles that didn’t fly off. They were about 150 yards from the truck. I think they were feeding o a dead deer.

Eagles sitting in a field.

Tur Bo pointing a single quail.

Sally honoring Tur Bo.

When I got to the walk-in property I wanted to hunt I turned Lucky, Sally and Tur Bo out. Lucky and Tur Bo had Garmin GPS and Garmin e-collars on. Sally just had a Garmin GPS on. We crossed a corn field to get to a fence line that ran between this property and private property on the south. The private property had been soy beans and part of the walk-in was also in soy beans.

About a quarter of a mile down the fence row Tur Bo went on point. Before I could get close 2 quail flushed in front of him. All 3 dogs were acting real birdy. I stopped and encouraged them to hunt the area real well. Tur Bo pointed and Sally honored. I took pictures then when I got close to Tur Bo a single quail flushed. When it dropped Tur Bo pounced on it. I went to him and said, “give” and he spit it in my hand. I had the dogs check the area. We never found any more birds.

That must have been a covey coming to feed in the field and we caught them spread out. The others could have run off or flushed when I was looking the other way. We followed the fence line to the corner then the dogs ran the north south fence line to the road. When they came back we hunted a ditch that ran diagonally from the south east corner to the north west corner. We hunted back to the truck without seeing any more birds.

We drove west about 10 miles to another walk-in property. This property is about 320 acres with most of it in CRP except for about 20 acres in a bottom on the south and another 20 acres on the north. I turned Luke, Dolly and Sally out. Luke and Dolly had e-collars and GPS collars. We checked the CRP on the north side of the harvested soy bean field. Luke ran the north side of the soy bean field then came back down the south side along the creek. I called him back to check the CRP on the north side. There is a draw that runs to the north and an area that looks like a grown up strip mine area. All 3 dogs ran the draw then came back as we started through the strip mine area.

I was about half way through the strip mine area when I checked the GPS and it showed Luke on point about 40 yards ahead of me. It was so thick that I couldn’t make a straight line to him. When I saw him he was on a mound of dirt in a thicket and I had to go down, around then back up to get close. When I got close I saw a quail running in the thicket then it flushed out the other side without giving me a shot.

I called all of the dogs in to check the area. I hadn’t seen a covey, just the one bird. All 3 dogs were trailing, then Dolly pointed. She was only about 10 yards from where Luke had pointed. She was on the same mound but was pointing into another thicket. I hadn’t moved off the mound and I saw her go on point. When I got beside her the quail flushed out the other side of the thicket. Two points, two quail and no shots.

We hunted on to the road on the west then crossed the creek to the south and hunted along a hillside back to the east. We turned north and hunted along a draw then through the CRP back to the truck without seeing any other quail.

There were a couple of places, several miles to the west, that I hadn’t hunted in a few years, that I wanted check so I ate lunch on the drive over. The first one had another hunter just quitting as I drove past so I went to the other. I turned Luke, Lucky and Sally out. This farm was 160 acres and most of it was soy bean stubble. Near where I parked was a small (3 acres) CRP field with a creek next to the soy bean field. I went to the south down the creek.

Sally Joe pointing a pigeon.

The creek went off the property about a quarter of mile south so we went down the fence line. Lucky went to the east along a hedge row and Sally and I followed. Luke stayed along the fence row and the creek. After a little while Sally, Lucky and I went to see what was keeping Luke along the fence row. He was birdy and trailing and when we got there the other two started trailing, also.

The dogs were heading toward the truck and into the north wind. They got close to the CRP near where the truck was parked and Luke went on point. Lucky saw him and honored. I took a picture then started toward them. Sally came in front of me, saw Luke and Lucky and honored. I took another picture. I walked in and a nice covey flushed. I missed with the first barrel but dropped one into the brush with the second barrel. Sally saw it drop and grabbed it and brought it out. Not to me but she got it out of the brush. She held the bird with me calling her. After about 20 seconds she laid the bird on the ground. I went to her, picked the bird up and petted her.

We checked the CRP for any singles that had stayed on the walk-in property but didn’t find any. These birds were near the line and they all flew off. These quail haven’t made it to this late in the season by being dumb. They have this figured out.

I had one more place I wanted to try before quitting time. I had hunted it a few weeks ago without finding anything except a couple of hen pheasants. It’s only 80 acres and the first time, several years ago, that I hunted it I found 2 coveys of quail. I turned Luke, Sally and Dolly out.

Luke pointing a single.

There was a buffer strip, along a creek, next to a corn field and on the other side of the creek was a soy bean stubble field. About half way through the buffer strip Dolly went on point with Sally backing. Before I could get close or even get the camera out a hen pheasant flushed. Then another one. We followed the buffer strip to the west edge of the property and I wanted to go north along a hedge row but the creek had too much water in it. I walked back the way I had come almost to the truck before I found a place to cross. We then went back to the west edge then north along the hedge row.

When we got to the fence on the north we moved over closer to the soy bean field and went back. We hunted back to the truck without finding any quail or any more pheasants.

Not a bad way to end a quail season. I hadn’t killed a lot of birds but I got some nice pictures and Lucky will be 13 years old in May. This may be his last hunt. This year he was good for about 2 hours or a little longer. Dolly will be 11 years old in two weeks. May be her last year. If it is they have been good bird dogs and I will miss them but I have dogs coming on.

Luke on point and Lucky, on the left, honoring.

When I started in Sally came in front of me, saw Luke and Lucky and honored.

Sally backing Dolly.

It was real windy when I went to load dogs but not many days are left in the season, so I went on another Kansas quail hunt. It’s a long drive from my house to Seneca Kansas, although I haven’t been but one time this year, I’ve hunted it quite a bit over the last few years.

Sally pointing a single quail.

Luke

Dolly in Oklahoma

The first place I hunted was an eighty acre place. It had a wet weather creek running from east to west near the road and a good buffer strip along the hedge row that went to the north. It had been planted in corn and soy beans that had been harvested. I turned Lucky, Dolly and Sally out with Garmin GPS collars and Lucky and Dolly had Garmin e-collars.

We went across the creek then went to the west turned north and followed the hedge row to the north. We crossed to the east and came back south on a fence row. When we got to the creek we crossed and went to the west in a buffer strip.

About 50 yards into the buffer strip Dolly pointed with Sally honoring. Lucky saw her and honored as I went in to flush. I walked ahead of her and nothing flushed. I tapped her head and all 3 dogs started trailing. Lucky went into the strong west wind and pointed. Sally honored. I went ahead of him and a hen pheasant flushed.

We went through the buffer strip along the creek to the end of the property. The creek had run at an angle through the field and we were about 200 yards from the road. The only cover we hadn’t been through was some real short grass between this property and the neighbor’s side. Dolly was trailing along the west side of the strip. Sally came up the east side of the strip and whirled into a point. As I tried to get a picture a hen pheasant flushed.

We hunted, in the field, beside the road, back to the truck. The first time I hunted this 80 acres I found 2 coveys of quail and a few pheasants. As strong as the wind was it would be easy to miss some quail or they may have flushed ahead of the dogs.

The road was frozen when I drove in but it warmed up above freezing. I had a mile and a half of mud roads before I got to a cross road. Without 4 wheel drive I would have still been there. When I came to a cross road it was just as bad for about a half mile. Then I got to some gravel.

The next two places I tried to get to were on muddy roads. I, finally, found a road into another 80 acre place that was along a road that, for some reason, wasn’t as bad as where I had been.

This field had been in soy beans and they had been harvested. A draw started in the center of this property on the north end. It had been allowed to grow and it was a thick tangle. I turned Luke, Sally and Tur Bo out. We checked the draw from one end to the other then hit the fence row on the other side about the middle of the property and started back to the south.

I got back within about 200 yards of the truck and checked the GPS. Luke was on point, north of where we had hit the east fence line. He was over 600 yards away. I started to him across the muddy soy bean field. I got within about 100 yards of him and the GPS showed him moving. I went on to the fence row and walked it to the road on the north. Sally and Tur Bo both pointed in the fence row but when I got close would move.

Sally on another pigeon.

After getting to the road we turned and hunted the fence all the way to the south edge. Sally, Tur Bo and I went along the south edge then back toward the truck. Before I got to the truck the GPS showed Luke on point over 700 yards to the south east. He had to be off the property so I went on to the truck and loaded Sally and Tur Bo.

When I got in the truck the GPS showed Luke on point .62 of a mile. He was near the road on the south so I drove south to the road then east until the GPS showed him being straight north of me. He was standing in a harvested soy bean field pointing into a fence row. It was 260 yards across the soy bean field.

I left my gun and, regretfully, my camera in the truck and started to him. As soon as I stepped into the field I could see him. As I walked to him he slowly turned his head and looked at me. I don’t know how long he had been on point but I think he thought I should have been there sooner.

It’s been my experience that quail don’t hold real well in strong winds. I went into the fence row 30 yards from him thinking the birds may have run. I got within about 10 yards of him when about 10 quail flushed then 7 or 8 more. Most of them had flown east and there wasn’t a lot of cover in that direction.

I got Luke back to the truck and as I drove east I saw that the fence row the quail had flown toward was a walk-in property. When I tried to flush the quail to the east, which was with the wind, I didn’t know it was walk-in property.

Luke pointing a single.

I ate lunch then turned Sally out by herself. At 7 months old she needs some easy birds. The property line was a fence that had fallen down. There was a little cover in the fence row and a little short grass beside the fence.

As Sally and I started down the fence row 5 quail flushed behind us from a small brush pile. I had made up my mind that I was only going to shoot pointed birds. We went about another 20 yards when Sally whirled into the wind, took a step then pointed. I took the above picture of her. I walked in front of her and a single quail flushed. Sally chased and the quail dropped right in front of her.

She picked up the quail but had no idea what to do. I called her but she didn’t want to share her bird. I walked away from her and she started to follow. When I looked back she was lying down with the bird beside her. I went to her, petted her then picked up the quail.

We started on down the fence row and a quail flushed right in front of me. Again, I didn’t shoot. Where the fence came to an end in the soy bean field was a brush pile. Sally got really excited around the brush pile and when she got on the west side of it she went on point. To get to her I had to go under a couple of hedge trees and dodge their thorns. Just as I came under the last limb the quail flushed without Sally moving. I didn’t think I was on the bird when I pulled the trigger but to my surprise it dropped right in front of Sally.

Sally picked the bird up and I started walking away, calling her. I turned to look and she was just standing with the bird in her mouth, watching me. Kind of like, “I fell for that once. Not again.” I walked to her. I petted her until she dropped the quail.

We went back down the fence row and she even poached a little bit but we never found anymore birds. We hunted back to the truck. The wind had been getting stronger as the day went on so I decided to call it a day.

This was a typical late season quail hunt. A few pheasants, all hens, and at least one covey of quail. Luke probably had another covey on the other property but I never saw it.

This quail hunt had been good for Sally. She had pointed a hen pheasant, made two points on quail and honored twice. She’s 7 months old and she needs lots of birds. It’s my job to see that she gets them.

Tur Bo

Lucky backing Luke.

Betsy