Traveling Pointing Dogs

I fell, while cleaning dog pens, causing me to have double vision. I hadn’t been able to hunt for almost 2 weeks. Finally my vision returned to normal for most of the day so when Don Hansen suggested we go on a quail hunt on the 29th of December I was ready. The forecast was for 25 mile an hour winds but we went anyway. I think the forecaster under estimated.

Luke buried in the weeds on a Kansas quail hunt.

Sally

Dolly

I met Don and Linda in Junction City, Kansas and we drove to near Abilene and turned north. This late in the year a lot of the places have been grazed down. We drove by several before finding one with some pasture and CRP with a creek through the bottom.

I turned Luke and Dolly out with Garmin GPS and e-collars on. Don put the Garmin track and train on Tigger and turned her loose. One corner of this property had some harvested milo. We went along the creek to the south next to the milo. We got to the road and went to the east through a water way to a hedge row. We followed the hedge row back to the north end of the milo.

We started back to the west through some CRP. There was a pond that didn’t have any ice on it and we watered the dogs. We crossed the CRP then started across some pasture. We were about 150 yards from the truck when my GPS hand held vibrated telling me I had a dog on point. I checked and Dolly was on point about 65 yards from me. We started to her but when we saw her she was moving through a sumac thicket. I could tell she was trailing birds.

When Luke and Tigger came in they started trailing, also. As we stood watching them a single quail flushed about 30 yards in front of Dolly. Don shot but he really didn’t have a good shot. We moved up a little closer to the dogs and another quail flushed out along some brush about 40 yards from us. We tried to stay close to the dogs but all 3 were trailing several yards apart. Then about 8 or 10 quail flushed with the nearest dog 15 or 20 yards from them. I took a long shot. Sometimes you just have to see if your gun works.

Most of the quail that had flushed had flown to the south east so we followed. We crossed the creek and went back by the pond. There was a line of brush and trees without a lot of ground cover. We started through the brush and I saw Dolly off to my right trailing. I told Don that I thought she went on point and about that time he heard a bird get up near her.

Luke swung around in front of me. He was moving pretty fast and I saw him break stride trying to go on point and a quail flushed about 15 yards in front of him. On a normal day that would be plenty of room between him and the bird. Not today. It’s been my experience that quail run and flush ahead of the dogs on real windy days.

We hunted back to the truck without seeing any more quail. Neither Don or I have hunted this area before so we had to drive by each place on the Walk In Hunting Atlas. The best looking place we saw had a truck with dog trailer parked on it. We saw at least 4 hunters going down a fence row.

We still had dogs that hadn’t been out of the truck so we hunted some places that we thought were pretty marginal. Don turned Annie loose with the track and train collar and I put the e-collars and GPS collars on Lucky and Tur Bo. We hunted a pasture next to a soy bean field hoping it hadn’t been grazed down as much as we thought. It had been.

We hunted another place with about the same results. We didn’t see any more quail. I really enjoy hunting new areas and any quail hunt is better than sitting at home.

We had driven by most of the places near Clay Center. We only hunted 3 places. A month ago these places probably looked a lot better before they got pastured down. There are a lot of places that we didn’t see a little farther from Clay Center. I may come back and try some of those on a day without the strong winds.

Tur Bo

Lucky backing Luke.

Betsy

Jim Needham came down Friday night to hunt Oklahoma quail with Vince Dye and me. We ate breakfast at the Huddle House in Elk City then drove to the Reydon area to hunt. Jim had 3 pointers, Vince had a pointer and an English cocker spaniel and I had 4 English setters. I turned Luke and Dolly out first with Gamin e-collar and Garmin GPS collars. Jim turned 2 of his pointers out with Garmin GPS collars on. Vince turned both of his dogs loose. Buck, the pointer, had a Garmin GPS collar.

Sally

Tur Bo

Luke on another single.

We spread out a little and started south from where we parked the trucks. We had gone about 300 yards when one of Jim’s pointers went on point. I was on the west side with Vince in the middle and Jim on the east side of the dog. When the covey flushed 2 quail flew my way. I got on one with my AYA twenty gauge and at my shot it dropped into a thicket. The rest of the covey that flushed in front of Vince and Jim stayed low and they were shooting through brush. Vince brought Maggie the English cocker spaniel over to find my dead bird. She made a couple passes through the thicket and brought my dead bird to Vince.

We went on to the east. Jim walked a single up and knocked it down. We brought the dogs in to find the dead bird. We had give up and were walking away when Maggie came to Vince with the bird in her mouth. She had found it about 15 yards from where we thought it was. My dogs went on to the west and Jim and Vince headed north. I followed my dogs.

We went on to the west edge of the property then started north toward the trucks when Luke went on point near where the first covey had flushed from. As I walked in Dolly came by and honored. I walked about 15 yards in front of Luke and a single quail flushed in front of me. It came out low then hooked to the left. It dropped into a cow trail at my shot. Dolly saw it fall and brought it to me.

I hunted back to the truck and put the dogs up. Vince and Jim got another covey up along the north edge fence row. When they got to the trucks we loaded dogs and went to the other side of this property.

We pulled in near a wind mill. It was hot and dry so we all carried water but we had to keep refilling our bottles. I turned Tur Bo and Lucky loose with the e-collars and GPS collars on. We started to the east from the wind mill. Just a short distance from the wind mill a covey flushed. Jim was too far to the north to get a shot and when Vince shot his gun just went boink. I shot once and two quail came down.

I hurried to the area where the birds had fallen. Lucky came in front of me and went on point. I kept saying, “it’s dead, it’s dead.” When I got to him a quail started running and he pounced on it. I took it from him. We searched for the other quail without finding it. Jim had seen both birds drop.

We went on to the east then came back near the wind mill. I put Lucky up and turned Dolly out with Tur Bo. Jim and Vince turned south and my dogs went to the south west. I followed my dogs. After a while I turned back to the east to get with Vince and Jim. Dolly started trailing in a small thicket. She went to the south but I saw Tur Bo make a big circle to the north. He went on point in some short grass. I started to him but a quail flushed before I could get close.

Tur Bo moved about 20 yards and went on point, again. He was standing with the south wind blowing into his face. I walked toward him and when I got close about 5 or 6 quail flushed flying to the west. The wind was real strong from the south west and it seemed to slow the birds down. The quail came out low and I had to wait for a second before shooting. One fell at my first shot then I swung on another and it fell too. Tur Bo saw the second bird fall and ran to it. He brought it most of the way to me.

I called him to where the first bird had fallen. He made a couple of passes without finding anything. He kept wanting to go find more birds. Dolly was still south of me and Tur Bo was wanting to go back to hunting. I never got him real close to me. Finally, I looked and the bird was lying right by my feet. I picked it up and went looking for Dolly.

I saw some people south of me, where Dolly was, that I thought was Jim and Vince. I started to them to get Dolly. I walked 2 or 300 yards calling Dolly. Soon I saw a guy that wasn’t either Jim or Vince holding Dolly for me. I went on to him and got her. We hunted back to the truck. I saw some scattered quail but nothing held for me to get close enough for a shot. We hunted back to the truck.

Jim and Vince had seen several coveys and even more hunters. Besides us 3, there were at least 3 other bunches of hunters. We ate lunch.

After lunch Jim and Vince wanted to hunt to the north west from the wind mill. I decided to hunt Tur Bo by his self. We went to the north east. We hunted north to the road then moved to the east and started back. As we came near where I had knocked the 2 quail down Tur Bo went on point. When I got close he moved about 20 yards and pointed again. I started toward him but before I got close a single quail flushed 20 yards ahead of him. It was a long shot but I knocked some feathers out of the bird. I was watching to see if it fell and 4 more flushed way out front but flew to the north past me at about 35 yards. I shot the second barrel and a bird fell into a small thicket. I got Tur Bo to hunt dead and he found it really quick. I was beside him when he picked it up. I said, “give” and he dropped it in my hand.

We hunted in the direction the bird I had hit flew but never found it. We headed back to the truck and just before we got to the wind mill Tur Bo pointed. When I walked in a single quail flushed. It flew right through some oil tanks that were close to the wind mill. I never fired. When I got to the truck Vince and Jim were ready to go to another place.

We drove to another place but we ran into more hunters at most of them and settled for a place we had never hunted before. After making a circle around the edges we never found anything. We cleaned our birds and fed the dogs before heading back to the motel.

Any day with the dogs is a good day but I had had a good day with the gun also. I had shot 7 times and hit 8 birds finding 6 of them. That doesn’t make up for the days that I have shot bad but it feels good to have a good day with the gun. Also, this is one of the few days when I will tell how many times I shot to get whatever amount of quail.

Luke pointing Dolly honoring.

Dolly is honoring Lucky.

Luke pointing a single quail.

Vince Dye and I drove to Oklahoma on a Thursday night, 12/8/16. We stayed at the Bedford Inn in Elk City, Oklahoma and got up early Friday morning to hunt the Black Kettle National Grasslands. Oklahoma quail are up from last year and last year was a good year. I had been here opening weekend and it was wall to wall hunters. I was hoping for less competition.

Black Kettle is hard on dogs and boots.

Luke

Tur Bo

We saw some hunters camped at Skipout Lake but none out hunting as we drove to the first place. I put the Garmin e-collars and the Garmin GPS collars on Luke and Dolly. Vince turned out his English cocker spaniel, Maggie and his pointer, Buck. Buck was wearing an e-collar and a Garmin GPS.

Although this part of Oklahoma had a rain last weekend it was really dry. We hunted to the west fence line then south along the edge of the property to a wind mill. I carry water for the dogs but I like to get them into water as often as I can. The second day of the season I had found birds around the wind mill but they weren’t close today. We headed to the east and a single quail flushed about 30 yards from Vince and flew away without either of us getting a shot. Then a covey flushed. Vince shot once but they were too far away.

We followed the singles with no success but as we hunted to the north east Dolly pointed in a thicket. Vince was on one side with me on the other. He knocked a bird down but I had a clean miss. Maggie went in and found his dead bird. This covey also flew to the north east.

We hunted all the way to the road without finding any singles. They may have crossed the road. We circled back to the wind mill. After the dogs got water we headed into the strong south wind. As we got into the second half of the section we were hunting Dolly started trailing. I knew she was working birds so I called Vincent over closer to her. She pointed then moved about 15 yards and pointed again. Four or five quail flushed about 30 yards in front of us. I shot but missed with the more open barrel then three or four more quail flushed. I pulled the back trigger shooting the tighter choke and a quail dropped. Dolly saw it fall and pounced on it.

We followed the singles on to the south. The dogs were quartering the field in front of us when I walked a quail up. It dropped, at my shot, just on the other side of a bush so I marked it down. I called the dogs in and they started searching. About 10 yards from where I saw the bird drop Luke went on point. He doesn’t retrieve but he usually rolls the dead bird around. When I got to him I encouraged him to get the dead bird. He dove in and held a wounded but still alive quail in his mouth until I took it.

We checked the area but found no more singles. We continued on to the south edge then started east. I checked the GPS as I walked. It showed Luke on point about 101 yards away. I started to him. It was a cloudy day and I walked toward the direction I thought he was in but after a long walk he was still about 100 yards away. I thought he was moving but it was me. I wasn’t going in the direction that I should have been. Finally, I got going in the right direction. I saw him standing with a high head and tail right where he had been all of the time.

He was standing in some scattered trees. I got close then waited for Vince to get where he could shoot too. When he was ready I walked in and a huge covey erupted. I shot one of the trees right in front of me and heard Vince griping, “I shot a tree.” Long story short, after Luke being on point for over 5 minutes, the largest covey either of us had seen in years flew off without us hitting a bird. The whole covey had flown to the north so we followed.

Luke came in front and went on point about 30 yards in front of me. I told Vince he was on point but before either of us could get closer a single quail flushed about 15 yards in front of me. I shot but it was too far. When I shot 3 more quail flushed too far away to even draw a shot from either of us. We checked the area for more quail but didn’t find any.

We were about a mile from the truck so we hunted back. When we got close to where the other singles were Maggie flushed a single and Vince shot it. She saw it fall and hustled it right back to Vince. We checked the area but think most of the birds crossed the road.

We ate lunch and moved to another area. Black Kettle National Grassland is over 30,000 acres scattered out in a lot of different parcels. The next area Vince left Buck, his pointer, in the box but took Maggie along. I put Tur Bo and Lucky down with the e-collars and GPS collars on.

As we came down the edge near the road a covey flushed between me and the dogs and flew off the property. The dogs were trailing in a thicket and, I think, the birds ran from them but heard me coming and flushed. Neither of us got a shot. We continued into the south wind.

The GPS showed Luke on point about 65 yards to the east in a clump of trees. When we got close we still couldn’t see him. Vince got on the north edge of the clump and I went in. I saw about 5 birds fly to the north but they were too far away for Vince to shoot. He watched them to the ground.

We got the dogs to hunt where they had gone down. Although the dogs got real birdy we never found a single quail. We hunted on to the east.

Another covey flushed in front of the dogs and flew east. That made 3 coveys that we had seen on this property and neither of us had fired a shot. We finished the day at this property without shooting at all.

We had found 7 coveys, only killed 4 birds but had had a good day. Of the 7 coveys both of us had not been in a position to shoot on at least 4 of the coveys but it had been a good day for the dogs. When I was here opening weekend there was too many hunters for me to hunt where I wanted. Now it seems the Oklahoma quail are back.

Dolly in Oklahoma

Luke

Lucky backing Luke.