Wrapping Up Some Loose Ends From The 22/23 Season

Posted on February 26, 2023 by windypointsj1s@aol.com

Normally, I travel to several states to hunt during the bird season but I only hunted Kansas and Missouri this year. Part of the reason was that Sally was in heat for most of January. She went in heat on January the fourth. I wanted to get one more litter out of her so when she was ready I bred her to Mann. As I write this she is big with pups and is about 3 weeks from delivering.

Sally pointing Bodie honoring.

Sally. The good ones always have a bloody tail.

Mann pointing a single, Boss honoring.

This is a repeat breeding. Several of the people from the last breeding from 2 1/2 years ago have kept me informed on their pups. Boss is out of that litter and he is doing well, as is at least 3 of the females, that I know of. Boss was the only male. That is the reason I named him Boss. Of that litter he was the boss.

I have about a dozen people on my list, who are wanting puppies, so when Abby comes in heat, which should be right away, I will breed her, also. I didn’t have any litters last year but when they come in heat I wrote it on a calendar, so I could remember. They were about 6 weeks apart. The first of March will be 8 weeks since Sally’s first day. Abby is due anytime.

I did have a hunt in New Mexico planned for February but the people I was to meet canceled. They had about 10,000 acres of private land to hunt but when it came time we heard the bird numbers were way down. My thoughts were to hunt New Mexico for a few days then go on to Arizona for a Mearns quail hunt. This was a really good year for Mearns, I think. When the New Mexico trip fell through so did the Arizona trip.

With the border wide open or controlled by the drug cartels, it’s probably not safe for one old man and a truck full of dogs to be that close to the border, either. But if I had of gone to New Mexico I was going to try a couple of days in Arizona. Oh well, maybe next year.

We were able to find quite a few coveys in the last 6 weeks or so of the season in Missouri and Kansas. It really made a difference in the young dogs. They gained a lot of confidence in their self. Once they figured out they could find birds on their own, they really started hunting hard.

Boss honoring Sally.

All of my male dogs hate riding in the truck or the truck boxes. Sometimes I load the dogs just to go to another place after I’ve hunted an area. Boss will usually come back close to the truck but he will hide. Most of the time he’s really close but sometimes he’s a hundred yards or so away. With the GPS I have no trouble finding him but it’s a pain. Our last hunt Bodie didn’t really hide but I had to call him several times to get him to the truck. Mann is reluctant but he’s easier than the other two.

Now, all of my dogs go into their box when I get them to the truck but when I first got dogs I had to force them to load up. After wadding the dogs up and forcing them into their box I saw a guy tell his dog to kennel and the dog went right into the box. I thought, “I can do that”. It never occurred to me, before seeing this, to train them to kennel. Now once I get my dogs to the truck they jump onto the tailgate and go right into their box. Getting them to the truck is my problem.

Boss pointing a single, with Abby in the center with Bodie closest to the camera, honoring

When I load dogs at the house to go hunting I pull around back, drop the tail gate and then turn all of the dogs loose and expect them to go to the truck. Sally and Abby do. Boss is better about going to the truck but Bodie and sometimes Mann will go back to the kennel. I have to walk back down to the kennel and put a leash on them.

I’ve always told people that if your dog is doing something you don’t like, train it out of them. After the season I had to follow my own advice. I started working each of the dogs on loading up. I went back to square one. I heeled them to the truck, had them jump onto the tail gate and gave them a chunk of hot dog.

That worked really well for Abby, Sally and Bodie. They will do about anything for food. Boss and Mann could care less. Neither of them will take a chunk of hot dog during training. When they are back in their kennel they love the hot dogs. Boss will sometimes smell of it but won’t take it. But both of these guys love to be petted. So I lean against the tail gate and pet them for a while then set them on the ground so they can do it again.

Bodie pointing real close to where Mann is on point.

After a few days of heeling them to the truck I started just turning them loose, one at a time, and expecting them to go to the truck. They would rather go to the back of the yard but with their e-collar on them they come to the truck. After a couple of days they knew what was expected of them and they go right to the truck. Sometimes, Boss is standing on the tail gate when I get there. Bodie too.

Sally has always went to the truck but she wanted me to have a hand on her collar when she jumped onto the tail gate. She’s now jumping on without me touching her. She will do anything for a chunk of hot dog.

Abby loves the hot dog, too. I don’t let the dogs jump off the tail gate. I set them on the ground to keep them from hurting a bone or muscle from jumping down. As soon as Abby hits the ground she jumps right back on the truck. I cut that one hot dog into 18 or 20 pieces so they don’t get much, but it’s enough. Bodie is quick to load back up, too. He likes that hot dog.

Boss pointing a single that John shot and Mann retrieved.

After a few times, normally 3 times jumping on, I heel them near the kennel, whoaing them a couple of times then whoaing them near the 4-wheeler. I get on start the 4-wheeler, put it in gear then say, “okay”. They can run to the back after I say, “okay”. All but Bodie were used to this and waited pretty well.

As soon as the 4-wheeler started Bodie took off. I yelled, “whoa”. He turned to look at me but kept moving. I have run dogs down on the 4-wheeler and made them ride back to the starting place but this time I just waited. Pretty soon he came back and I whoaed him again in the same place. This time I had the e-collar transmitter in my hand. I started the 4-wheeler and he started off. I yelled, “whoa” and hit the transmitter on level 2, his normal training level. He stopped. I made him stand for several seconds then said, “okay”. He took off. The next time was easier and now he’s waiting for the “okay”.

Mann honoring Sally after I had walked by him.

After the dogs run to the back and around to the front yard and to the back again I sit on my tree stump and pet them. Some times I give them a chunk or two of hot dog but I mainly pet them. Boss and Mann really like this. Boss still tries to crawl into my lap. And I encourage them. The other three like the petting but they want hot dogs too.

I think this sitting on the stump and petting them is pretty important. I want each one of them to think they are my favorite. I don’t know whether that is working or not but I enjoy the petting as much as they do, maybe more.

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Running Dogs After The End Of Quail Season

Posted on February 16, 2023 by windypointsj1s@aol.com

To beat the rush hour traffic in the Kansas City area I loaded dogs early and left the house about 5:45 am. This was a good call and put me in the area I wanted to run dogs before 9:00 am. I still drove around the place I wanted to run the dogs on before turning them loose. I even drive around private lands when I hunt them. Old habits die slowly.

Sally

Bodie on point.

Abby on point.

I turned all 5 dogs, Abby, Bodie, Boss, Mann and Sally, loose with e-collars and GPS collars. This area is some harvested corn but mostly harvested soybeans. There is some grown up waterways between the fields with tall weeds, saplings and taller trees. Perfect habitat for quail. I have hunted this area 2 times before finding birds both times. This time I started farther to the south and was intending to walk farther north than I had been before.

I started to the west along a waterway with all of the dogs in front of me. Sally has been in heat and was not run for about a month. She didn’t get as far ahead of me as she would have if she was in better shape but she was hitting all of the spots. About a hundred yards down the waterway, she went on point.

When I got close she started moving. Abby and Bodie were trailing along with her. Sally pointed again with Bodie honoring. These waterways have green briars and grape vines growing in them that makes it hard to get to the dogs. And it’s impossible to get to them quietly. Finally, I got in front of her. When I kicked the weeds and grape vines she started moving again. Bodie went one way and Sally another. Bodie pointed. I got in front of him and he started moving. I looked and Sally was on point the other way. When I got close to her I heard a quail flush. Just one bird.

We went on to the the west. When we got to some heavy woods we turned north then hit another waterway and took it back to the east. We hadn’t gone far when the GPS showed Mann on point over 600 yards away and Sally on point at 50 yards. Guess which one I went to.

Mann pointing a single, Boss honoring.

When I got close to Sally she was moving, trailing. Boss and Bodie had run most of this waterway so I started toward Mann. In just a little while Mann was moving. We continued on to the north to the next waterway then back to the west along it. Several times I had points for just a minute or so then the dog would be moving.

I did find some of the largest acorns that I’ve ever seen. According to Google they were from a Burr oak tree. But as I got close to the north edge Mann was across the road and south of me on point. I made it across the road before he was moving but we went on back to the truck. That side of the road had good cover for quail but in two trips I’ve never seen one on that side. This area is public hunting, near a road and it’s easy to hunt. Almost everyone that drives by turns their dogs loose and we have really educated these birds. But there are birds here. I loaded the dogs and went to another place.

Years ago, I had hunted this area. One of the places was a soybean field that ran parallel with the road but wasn’t very deep. The dogs got a little birdy in a little thicket just off the soybeans. When they harvested the soybeans they left about 6 or 7 rows the length of the field. One of my dogs pointed in those standing soybeans. When we got to them with the other dogs backing the dogs all started trailing. We just happened to be looking in the right spot when about 300 yards, at the other end of the standing soybeans, we saw a covey of quail flush.

Burr oak acorn.

After the hunt I took a GPS collar and placed it where the dogs were on point and then walked to where the birds had flushed from. I don’t remember the yardage now but it was around 300 yards.

When I saw this farm I wanted to see if there were still quail living there. There had been a tree row taken out by the road but it was still a soybean field. Sally being out of shape, I left her in the truck. This time the soybeans had all been harvested. On the edge there was still a good weedy strip of fallow ground.

We worked our way down the soybean field and when we got to the end Bodie was on point. He was across the CRP or whatever it was. As I started to him I saw him in a small wood lot. Then I heard some turkeys putting. The turkeys must have gone out the other side of the wood lot. I could hear them but I never saw them. As we circled back toward the truck Boss pointed in some big woods. Not hardly enough cover on the ground to hold a quail but that may have been where some of the turkeys had been.

This is Mann pointing a covey with Abby in the middle and Boss close to the camera, honoring.

When we got back to the truck Boss got a drink from the water I put out then wandered off and laid down in some tall weeds. He hates to ride. I got him in the truck and Bodie was hiding from me. He doesn’t like to ride either. I was able to call him to me.

Well, I started this week working all 5 dogs on loading in the truck. I used to just back my truck out of the garage, go turn dogs loose and they would all come to the front of the house and load up. Not anymore. Now I drive around to the back of the house and turn dogs loose. Some start toward the truck and wind up back at the kennel. Sally, Abby and Mann load pretty good. Boss and Bodie not so good.

This week, a couple of times so far, I worked all 5 dogs on heel and whoa. Then when I got close to the truck I had them jump on to the tail gate. When they jumped onto the tail gate I gave them a piece of hot dog. Always, when Bodie got close to the tail gate he liked jumping up. But when he found out he would get a chunk of hot dog he was hard to keep off the tail gate.

Boss pointing a single.

Abby and Sally liked the hot dog chunks, too. But Mann and Boss wouldn’t even take them. I did get them to jump up with no problem they just didn’t want the hot dog. Can’t buy them that cheap, I guess.

After the heel, whoa and jumping on the tail gate I let them run the yard as I follow on the 4-wheeler. I take the dogs to near the 4-wheeler, put them on whoa, go to the 4-wheeler, start it, put it in gear then say, “okay”. The dog has to stay on whoa until he is released. All but Bodie. He stayed until I started the 4-wheeler and he was gone. I shouted, “whoa” but that did no good. I hit the e-collar but it was only on level 2. He went to the back. I just waited.

Abby on the far side with Bay Lee and Josie.

In just a few minutes he came back. I whoaed him in front of the 4-wheeler. Now I had the e-collar on level 3. I started the 4-wheeler and he took off, again. I whoaed him and he slowed and turned to look at me. I held the button on the e-collar down until he stopped. I sat on the 4-wheeler watching him then put it in gear. He didn’t move until I said, “okay”. The other dogs know the drill and Bodie will get it pretty soon.

I will try to continue running the dogs somewhere at least once a week and will work them on loading. To keep me moving around, I’m glad there is something to work them on.

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Last Day Of Kansas Quail Season

Posted on February 9, 2023 by windypointsj1s@aol.com

I have always felt sorry for the quail that were killed on the last day of the season. If they had of lived one more day there would have been one less predator after them. Also, the birds killed on the last day, and maybe even the last couple of weeks, may have lived to raise a covey for the next season. So on this day, the last day of the season, I didn’t even bring a shotgun. I only had my camera.

Boss pointing a single, with Abby in the center with Bodie closest to the camera, honoring

Boss on point with Abby backing.

Boss honoring Sally.

I parked near where I had found a covey of quail in the past. I had all 5 dogs, Abby, Bodie, Boss, Mann and Sally with me. I put their e-collars and GPS collars on them and turned them loose. It was supposed to be warmer than what it felt like while I was putting the collars on the dogs. The wind, predicated to be 8 mph, was about twice as hard. I walked about 50 yards and my ears felt like they would break if they were hit by a limb or something. I went back to the truck and got a pair of head phones that I use when I’m shooting skeet. They not only kept my ears warm they enhanced my hearing.

I had put the collars on Bodie first and while I was putting the collars on the others I noticed he was birdy along a soybean field. I ran all of the dogs around the field then crossed a road and ran some waterways between soybean fields. I was almost back to the truck when the GPS showed Boss on point in a clump of brush. I had already walked past that clump with Boss on point.

The clump was thick with brush, saplings and large trees. As I started looking for Boss, Abby came in front of me, saw Boss and honored. I couldn’t see him until I got almost to Abby and then Bodie honored, too. It made for some nice pictures but when the single flushed I would not have had a shot if I had been carrying a gun. Maybe while I was putting the collars on the dogs a covey had flushed or maybe someone had already hunted this spot. On public hunting land it’s hard to know whether you are following someone else or not.

It was dry and what little water was in the low spots was frozen. I had water in the truck for the dogs and they were happy to get it. After watering them I loaded them and drove to another place.

The next place, I parked in the edge of a harvested corn field. Across the field was some rough land that had tall grass and scattered trees about a hundred yards wide. On the other side was a big field that had some harvested corn and some harvested soybeans. Along the edge of this rough land was a terrace or maybe an old abandoned road that was higher than the corn field. Just as we crossed the corn field I saw Boss on point along this higher ground.

Boss on point.

When I got close he moved about 15 yards and pointed again. Then he moved again. He pointed 4 or 5 times then went on to the east. Then across the rough land Mann pointed but was moving before I got to him. I crossed the rough land and walked along the edge of first the corn field then the soybean field.

When we got back close to the rough land area I wanted to go in a different part of it but Sally went on point close to where Boss had earlier. By the time I got close to her Boss and Bodie were honoring. Sally was pointing into a plum thicket in the rough land. When I got in front of her she moved up about 10 yards and went back on point. I got close again and she started trailing. All of the dogs were really birdy but I never saw a bird.

We went on through the rough land then around the end of the corn field. There was a river along the edge with heavier cover. Abby was right along the bank of the river and I saw her slam into a point. Sally, Bodie and Boss were all honoring her. I kicked in front of her and nothing flushed. I tapped her head and she moved about half a step and pointed. I kicked in front of her again. She couldn’t believe nothing flushed. She ran her nose right to the ground where she thought the bird was. I thought she was going to start digging for it.

Abby on point.

Hunting with a camera is different from hunting with a gun. There’s no limit on how many or how few pictures you take. When the dogs start getting tired or the weather doesn’t warm as much as you’re expecting, you can go home. When I hunted with Jim Smith a few weeks ago we walked 7 miles according to my GPS. On this day I walked just under 5 miles and decided to load the dogs and go home.

Bodie honoring Abby.

This time of the year the quail on public properties have been well educated by hunters, their dogs and every other predator that roam these areas. The coveys have learned to break up and run for long distances before flushing and flying for another long distance. But with all of that it’s still fun to watch the dogs try to point and hold the birds. I can hardly wait for next season.

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Back To Kansas For A Quail Hunt

Posted on February 3, 2023 by windypointsj1s@aol.com

Missouri quail season is over and most of the western states have been hit hard by the drought. Kansas is about the only place left to hunt. The drought has worked on Kansas really bad, also. There are pockets that still have quail but they are limited. I have read, and I believe, that some and maybe most of the birds killed in late January might live to nest in the spring. I have felt that way for most of my adult hunting life. I’ve always felt bad about shooting quail on the last day of season. If those birds had of lived one more day there wouldn’t be any hunters after them.

Mann buried in the green briars.

Mann on another single with Bodie honoring.

Bodie hunting the cover.

This is the first hunt for almost a month for Sally. She has been in heat so she’s been off for at least 3 weeks and the weather kept us out of the field for a while just before she went into season. So today I had five dogs to run. After driving around the place I wanted to hunt to make sure no one was on it, I turned them all loose.

I had turned Sally loose first and by the time I had the e-collars and GPS collars on the others, Sally was on point. I had parked near a water way/tree row in between two harvested soybean fields. She was about a 150 yards down the tree row on point. I walked down the road to the end of the hedge row and started toward her. Out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw a couple of quail fly down the other side of the tree row and light on my side of the road. I watched the GPS and in a few seconds it showed Sally moving.

These birds were close to the road where they have been well educated by hunters with dogs plus this late in the season if they are still alive, they are smart. Every thing is after quail. I stood waiting for some of my dogs to come near so we could work the birds I had seen land on the other side. In a few seconds Mann was on point 350 yards down the tree row.

When I got even with him along the side of the tree row I couldn’t see him. I started into the tree row and it was covered with green briars and wild grape vines. I could just barely see him and I was within 15 feet. There was no way to get closer. I kicked a few times and heard a quail flush out the other side. I never saw it.

It was as hard to get out of the tree row as it was to get in. I got back to the edge and checked the GPS and Mann was on point about 15 yards from where he had been before. This time Bodie was honoring when I got close. Again I could get a picture but I knew there would be no chance for a shot. But when this single flushed I saw it for a split second. Not long enough for a shot but I saw it.

This woodpecker is an over achiever, I believe.

We went on down the tree row to some woods at the end. We went along the edge of the woods for a ways then down another tree row or two. The GPS showed Sally on point inside a tree row about 250 yards ahead of me. When I got within about 75 yards of her she was moving. She came by all excited. I think she probably had another covey that didn’t hold for her.

Most of the public hunting areas have been hard hit this year. There is a river real close and some of these birds have figured out that hunters can’t follow them if they cross the river, I think. We hunted most of the available cover with no luck. There was some of this place on the other side of the road that we decided to try.

There was a harvested corn field and a couple of small soybean fields. Although the soybean fields and corn field had very little grass there were a lot of cockle burrs. A guy that runs English setters notices stuff like that. I checked the GPS and it showed Mann on point about 350 yards from me. I started to him and when I got to the end of the property he was still a 150 yards away.

Check out the chips at the base of the tree.

I got as close as possible without getting off the property. In a few minutes Mann was moving. I hit the tone button on his e-collar. In a minute or so he was in front of me as we went around the property. We made it back to the truck without seeing anything else.

I loaded the dogs and went to another place. The next place was a large pasture that had not been grazed down. And it was flat enough to see the dogs for a long way. I love to run in places like this.

It seems as though the dogs enjoy places like this too. They definitely run bigger. I checked the GPS and Mann was off to the west at 600 yards. When I looked for him I saw a dog and thought that can’t be 600 yards. It wasn’t it was Bodie at about 450 yards but he was cracking his tail about like Mann. All 5 dogs were in different areas but running from objective to objective. Through out the pasture there were plum thickets and they didn’t seem to miss any of them.

We made a big circle and when we got back to the truck I loaded the dogs and started the drive home to beat the traffic in the Kansas City metro area. That didn’t work either. When I got into the metro there was a car fire on the highway I was on and on the other side there was a wreck. Two of the lanes on my side were shut down. Both sides almost stopped. I finally got off and hit a few streets to get around the car fire and drove on home.

Boss pointing a single.

Although the quail this time of year have been well educated it is still good for the dogs to get into wild birds. They learn that they can’t crowd them or they will fly and they may fly after the dog points for a few seconds anyway. This will make the dogs more cautious, hopefully.

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