Traveling Pointing Dogs

It’s been a while since I wrote a post. The weather has been the pits but mostly because of one of my renters moving out leaving me a mess. Most of this month will be devoted to working on the rental.

Boss

Boss honoring Sally.

Boss on point with Abby backing.

Vince Dye and I took our dogs to some private properties of a friend of his. On the last day of the season, in Missouri, Vince had killed a limit of quail and had seen a few pheasants. The quail were all found in about 25 acres of really good CRP next to a large corn field. The CRP was mostly lespedeza mixed in with some other low growing grass. Vince had found 3 coveys in this 25 or so acres.

On the way up with a strong east wind I told Vince we would be lucky if we got any dog work. Fishermen don’t like an east wind and it is my experience that quail hunting is not good with an east wind.

We decided this was a good place to turn Bodie out by himself. Bodie is about 20 months old but he missed his first season with a broken leg. He was about 6 months old and I was working him on some pigeons. One of the birds lit on a low hanging branch. Bodie thought he could catch it. He jumped and when he came down it sounded like breaking a big stick. I knew immediately that he had a broken leg.

I tried to carry him to the 4-wheeler but he was too heavy. I laid him on the ground and he didn’t move until I came back with the 4-wheeler. I hauled him to the truck then to the vet’s office. He had to wear a cast and stay in the basement. I would take him outside several times a day. But this put him way behind. I like to run my pups from 5 or 6 months old with the other dogs. They learn a lot in their first year.

I have shot several chukars and some pigeons for him. And he did point a few wild quail the last season. As any puppy will do, he hunts some really good places and some times he’s running a harvested soybean field.

Abby on point.

Any way, we turned Bodie out in this CRP. There were several draws running through the CRP. Bodie hit one and ran it from end to end. The next one he hit in the middle and ran to one end. Vince and I waited for him to return, which took a little while because he left the CRP and ran a harvested corn field. When he came back I made sure he checked all of the draw.

We checked all of the CRP and crossed the corn field to another draw. Bodie was about 300 yards ahead of us when we came over a small hill. He was inside the draw when 3 deer came out. Bodie was not far behind them. This is one of the times I want the e-collar turned up to a high level. Deer chasing is dangerous in several ways. The first time I hit the button on the transmitter it was on the wrong collar. But when there was no change in Bodie I knew something was wrong. I moved the toggle switch and hit the transmitter. Bodie is tough. He didn’t make a sound but just made a circle and came back to the draw.

Mann pointing Abby honoring.

We worked that draw and went a little farther to another draw. This one had a pond in the middle and Bodie started at the pond and ran the draw to the north. There was about a hundred yards of draw that he left out. When dogs are hunting good I don’t like to hack at them. But I don’t like for them to leave out a big portion of the cover. We waited on him to come back.

Vince and I were standing in the corn field a good ways from the draw. Bodie came back and hunted the part of the draw from the pond to the north again. We continued to wait. The next time he came close I walked to the south of the pond and he hunted that portion.

He ran good and he’s learning what to hunt. He stayed in front of us most of the time and we went back through the good CRP where Vince had found the quail earlier with no success. When we got back to the truck we went across the road to some CRP where Vince had seen some pheasants.

Sally pointing Bodie honoring.

This time we turned all of the dogs, Vince had Allie and I had Abby, Boss along with Bodie, out. This CRP had some lespedeza but it had a lot of tall blue stem. About a third of it had been mowed kind of like a hunting preserve. With the mowed strips we could see our dogs for a long way. We made a complete circle with 4 dogs and never saw a pheasant or a quail. When we got back close to the truck we loaded the dogs and called it a day.

I would like to go back and try it again with the wind out of any direction other than east, just to see. We may still try that after I get this rental going again.

Another thing that is going to keep me close to home, Sally is about 2 weeks from having puppies. I bred her to Mann and she looks like she’s pretty full of puppies. This will be the second time of this breeding. Boss is out of their other litter and about 4 of the guys who bought females (Boss was the only male) have kept me up to date on their puppies. They are really happy with them. I have a list of about 13 potential puppy buyers so when Abby comes in season I will breed her too.

Bodie with a nose full of quail scent.

From no puppies last year to two litters this year is quite a change. I enjoy the puppies and I get to see friends and family that might not come by if I didn’t have puppy.

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.