Traveling Pointing Dogs

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.

The last two times I’ve hunted by myself. I like to get there fairly early and leave about 2:00 pm to come home so I can beat some of the traffic. To get to Kansas I have to cross all of the Kansas City metro area. Yesterday as I returned, in time to beat most of the traffic, I encountered a car fire that shut down two lanes and a wreck that just slowed both directions of the highway. I had to get off the highway, for a ways, just to get around the traffic from the burning cars.

Abby pointing a single.

Abby pointing another single.

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

As I approached a new, to me, area to hunt I saw a harvested milo field that had a lot of grass growing amongst the almost waist high milo stalks. Years ago if you could find a milo patch you would almost always find quail. That hasn’t worked for me for several years but I haven’t quit trying. As soon as I saw the milo I started looking for a place to park the truck.

I had Abby, Boss, Bodie and Mann with me. Sally was home, still in heat. I put their GPS collars and e-collars on and turned them loose. I started around the milo field but didn’t get very far. The GPS showed Mann on point south of me, away from the milo. He was across one soybean field and along the side of another in a tree/water way. I started to him and got within about a hundred yards and he was moving.

Mann doesn’t want to flush the birds. He will stay as long as the birds hold. These evidently flushed. I continued on to the tree row he was in. All of the dogs were really birdy. Abby was working just ahead of me and as I watched her moving really fast and then she slammed into a point. Those are always fun to see.

Bodie honored as I walked in. At least 3 quail flushed, one right in front of Abby, and two others that were a little way apart. I shot and the bird came right down. Abby went right to where it fell and I expected her to grab it. It didn’t happen. We spent 15 minutes or more looking for the quail with no success. Sally is my best retriever and she’s home. Maybe the next hunt I will have her.

We just went a little way when Abby pointed again. This time Mann was honoring but not real rigid. I thought they were just honoring each other. When I bulled my way through the thick vines, thinking they were honoring each other I said, “okay”. Mann went on down the tree row. Abby took maybe a half step and got really rigid. I knew from all of the trees I wouldn’t have a shot so I got a picture. Sure enough when the single flushed it put two or three trees between us not giving me a shot.

Right where the tree row hit some thick woods Mann pointed. Before I got to him Bodie pointed into a thicket but when I got to him he moved on. He saw Mann and honored. That is one of the pictures of Mann pointing with Abby and Boss honoring. When I walked in front of Mann nothing flushed. All of the dogs were really birdy. I stood waiting on them to find these birds.

In just a few minutes with all of the dogs working hard the GPS showed Mann on point 120 yards from me down in the deep woods. There was very little ground cover under the trees. By the time I got to Mann the other dogs were backing. This time when I passed him a covey of quail flushed well ahead of us. They flew through the trees without giving me a shot. Most of them had flown deeper into the woods.

Bodie pointing real close to where Mann is on point.

I started after them. I saw Mann pointing as I got closer. As I watched him, with him not moving, I saw the quail flush. It’s near the end of season and these birds have been educated by a lot of hunters as well as their natural predators. I have seen a lot of coyote droppings and with the creek running through this property I know there are plenty of raccoons and opossums here. To make it this far quail have to be smart.

I started trying to get the dogs out of the woods and into the more open fields. As we started out the GPS showed Mann on point. When I got close Boss was honoring. The only way to get through the woods in some areas is to follow deer trails. Some of these look like super highways. I wish deer were taller. It’s hard to bend low enough to get through some of the thickets. As thick as this was I knew there would be no shot but I took a couple of pictures. When I got close a single quail flushed, without me getting a shot.

Mann pointing a single, Boss honoring.

We continued trying to get out of these woods. We didn’t get far when I saw Boss on point. This time Mann, his dad, was backing him. I took pictures and before I got to Boss a quail flushed about 15 yards or more in front of him. Again no shot.

We came out of the deep woods and started toward the milo field, again. Again, Mann was on point by the harvested soybean field. He was over 300 yards from me. I went through a tree row and saw him, still a couple hundred yards ahead of me, still on point with Abby honoring. Then Boss honored from across a portion of the soybean field. Bodie saw Boss and honored him. I was still 50 yards or so from Mann when I saw a single quail flush from in front of Mann. It’s a good thing I’m satisfied with pictures.

Boss pointing a single.

Mann honoring Boss.

Mann pointing Abby honoring.

I took more pictures than usual on this trip so I just threw a few extras at the bottom. I enjoy taking pictures more than shooting these days. A lot of the quail killed in late January may have made it to nest and give us more birds to work dogs on next year. `This time of year I think about things like this. Maybe I think too much.

My cousin, Jim Smith, and I try to get together a couple of times each season for a quail hunt. He lives in Oklahoma so we try to meet in Kansas. It’s about the same distance for each of us. The drought has hurt some areas of Kansas but there are some pockets that have a few quail.

Abby on the far side with Bay Lee and Josie.

Another single with Boss in the back ground.

Jim taking a picture of Dotty.

As we got dogs ready with their e-collars and GPS collars there were dogs pointing. Jim had his 3, Dotty, Josie and Bay Lee and I had 4, Boss, Abby, Bodie and Mann. I had put the collars on Mann first and as we stepped away from the truck he was on point 375 yards away. About that time Dottie pointed near the trucks. Several of the dogs were close enough to honor.

We had parked by a tree line and Dottie was inside the clump of trees on point. When we got close a quail flushed flying through the trees without giving us a shot.

We started toward Mann, who was still on point. Mann was in some real tall grass and as we got closer he was moving. It had taken us too long to get there, maybe. As we went on down the CRP we saw some singles flushing ahead of us. In just a few minutes we had moved 2 coveys and hadn’t got a shot.

We turned down a hedge row along a harvested soybean field. One of our dogs pointed inside the hedge row and we went inside. The bird flushed well ahead of us and with all of the trees there was no chance for a shot. Then 2 got up well ahead of us and flew down the edge. I shot once but thought I had missed.

We started on down the hedge row and the GPS showed Bay Lee on point just behind us. When we got close Abby and Bodie were honoring. We walked in and a quail popped up about the top of the weeds and dropped back down. I must have hit the bird I had shot at but we spent 15 minutes, at least, trying to find that bird but never did.

Near the end of the hedge row Abby came into the harvested soybean field and pointed. She was looking way out at some grass that was growing along the edge of the field. Several of the dogs honored. When I got close Abby went toward the tall grass and all of the backing dogs moved up. They all acted like something would flush at any moment, but nothing got up.

We continued along another edge and Dottie pointed about 300 yards ahead of us where a fence row intersected the hedge row we were on. We were still about a hundred yards from her when about 5 quail flew over us. We weren’t sure what happened. We went on to the fence row and turned down it.

Abby honoring.

About 300 yards down the fence row Dottie was on point again. We were close when we saw this covey flush from the other side of the fence row and fly back the way we had come. We went on the way we had started.

Farther down there was a grassy area between the soybean field we had been following and a harvested corn field. Both of the row crop fields were without any weeds or even grass. We let the dogs check all of the grass between fields then started around the corn field. Jim and I had separated by a hundred yards or so. I saw a single quail flush from the corn field but only fly about 20 yards and go back down. Before I could say anything a covey flushed from the corn field.

I got Jim’s attention and went to where I had seen them land. There was a deep ditch with some brush along it. We got the dogs in to search for the quail. The dogs found nothing. They worked both sides of the ditch and even down in the ditch and never even got birdy. I know I saw them but they beat us some way.

Boss honoring.

We crossed the ditch and went around another field. Then back along another to the trucks. We loaded our dogs and ate our lunch on the way to next farm.

The neat part of hunting this time of year all of the crops or nearly all have been harvested. The next farm had harvested the soybeans but there were a lot of grassy draws and fence rows. We started down a hedge row and Dottie went on point in the next field over. We went to her. When we went in front of her she was surprised that no birds flushed. All of the dogs came in front and started trailing. They had been there.

After the dogs checked the area we followed the grassy area between the fields. Jim’s dog Josie was on point not far away. The birds flushed before we got within shooting distance. We started in the direction the birds had gone but Dottie pointed from the direction we were originally headed. We went toward her.

Dottie on point.

When we got there Abby and Bay Lee were honoring. Abby was pretty close and when we went in front Dottie started moving. She went one way and Abby went another. Abby went the right way and pointed. The other dogs honored. Jim told me to go ahead. I walked in front and 4 or 5 quail flushed flying low. I got on one and just as I pulled the trigger the gun barrel hit a small tree. Of course, it was a miss. As we moved down this grassy strip we had several points but the birds had run off.

To hunt this part of Kansas I have to go all the way across the whole Kansas City metro area. At 70 miles per hour and no problems it takes 45 minutes. During rush hour there is no telling how long it will take. I left about 2:00 pm to keep from hitting the rush hour. We had moved 7 or 8 coveys and not killed a bird. Actually didn’t get that many shots. I think I shot twice and Jim not at all.

Bay Lee nearest and Abby, honoring.

But it was really good for the dogs. With 7 dogs running, probably, some of the birds were flushed by dogs not honoring or just not seeing the pointing dog. It was good for Jim and me too. If we had of been hungry we would have used the gas money to buy groceries. As I’ve said before, “Quail are too valuable to shoot.” We need wild birds to work our dogs.

When Vince Dye, John Vaca and I got to the property, we were to hunt, the owner was working in the garage and we stopped so John could talk to him. As John got out of Vince’s truck a covey of quail flushed from the bushes right in front of my truck. Not a bad way to start a hunt.

Abby pointing Sally honoring.

Sally pointing Abby backing. Allie, who normally honors, ran by Sally then stopped.

Vince with the bird in the air.

By the time I got the e-collars and GPS collars on my dogs John was back and we started down the fence line, along a shelter belt. I was carrying my big camera, so I didn’t bring a gun. It was a cold, clear morning with very little wind. A perfect day for quail hunting. Just as John and I passed the end of the shelter belt he saw a covey of quail in the air. They flew toward the other end of the shelter belt.

Vince said he had a point on the other side. The shelter belt was real thick so we told him to go ahead. We heard a shot and in just a few seconds he said that Sally had the bird. He said, “She’s coming to you”. I called her a couple of times but when she got to me she didn’t have the bird. In a scolding tone I said, “You go get that bird”. I watched her go back into the shelter belt, she must have been retracing her steps. She turned 2 or 3 times inside the shelter belt, picked up the bird and brought it to me. I fed her the head.

When we got to the end of the shelter belt Allie, Vince’s short hair, pointed along a fence row near the edge of some milo. With my big camera I can take pictures just about as fast as I can trip the shutter. I took 5 or 6 as Vince walked in and got a real good picture with the bird in the air and Vince’s gun up ready to shoot. He hit the quail and Sally made the retrieve.

We started on through the buffer strip and I saw Sally standing in some bare ground pointing into a small clump of grass and weeds. Abby honored but Allie, who usually honors, ran by Sally then either smelled the birds or thought, “oh, yeah. I’m supposed to stop”. John and Vince walked in with me behind them. A quail flushed and flew right toward the old farm house. No one could shoot. But the quail never tried to get any altitude or slow down. It flew right into the side of the house with a loud noise and bounced several feet off, and fell dead.

Mann running, with a smile on his face.

About the time the quail hit the house another quail flushed close to where that one did and John knocked it down. Allie retrieved it to Vince and then we all went to the dead bird by the house. None of us had ever seen anything like this. John picked the dead bird up.

We had several more points in the area with a few more dead birds then went to the north down a fence line to some CRP. We had just about finished the big patch of CRP when a covey of quail flushed ahead of us. Vince watched them down a long way out. John said we should hunt back to the truck then drive to the area where the covey had flown.

I left my big camera in the truck. I had an old hammer gun, made in 1875, with me that Vince and John thought I should shoot a quail with. It shoots 2 1/2 inch shells and I had some, from RST. That’s the nice part, after this the story gets ugly.

Sally on point and Vince walking in.

Vince had gone down one side of a hedge row and John and I were on the other. Mann pointed south of us and we couldn’t get Vince’s attention so we went to him. Bodie was with us and honored Mann. When I really want to kill a bird for a young dog I frequently miss the bird. This must have been the same for me. A single quail flushed and I missed, twice.

Boss came to us and pointed. I walked in front of him and when a single flushed I missed it twice just like before.

I couldn’t see Bodie and checked the GPS. He must have flushed a single or chased some meadow larks. He was 660 yards away. In just a few minutes he was back. He came toward me looking happy. He was proud of what he had done, I think. He got within about 30 yards of John and me still running all out. He hit a scent cone and locked up. Full tilt one second and like a statue the next. I told John to come over and back me up.

When we went in front of him a single quail flushed and I missed with the first shot and John knocked the bird down. Bodie was on it when it hit the ground and picked it up. He started toward me but stopped about 10 yards from me, dropped the bird but stood over it. I went to him and petted him for a few seconds then picked the bird up.

Abby honoring Allie and Vince going in.

Not only was this embarrassing when it was happening it was embarrassing to write about. And I only wrote about 3 missed birds there may have been 4, in knee high grass with not a tree or any brush to blame it on.

Oh well. We hunted on back to the truck and since I had a long drive I loaded dogs and started home. I no longer have the need to kill birds but I don’t like not shooting well. Birds in a picture will outlast a bird in the hand. But maybe with a mild winter there will be even more birds next year.