Traveling Pointing Dogs

Tur Bo pointed 3 of these 4 quail

Dolly is in front but Tur Bo was on point first.

Dolly pointing

Tur Bo honoring Dolly

Quail season is almost over and I’m not ready for it to end. I had a real good hunt yesterday and another today. It was already getting warm at 10:00 a.m. when I got to the first farm I was going to hunt. This farm is mostly CRP but there is a small soy bean field, over a couple of hills, that I hope not very many people know about. I put the Garmin GPS and Sport Dog e-collars on Tur Bo and his mother, Dolly.

We were going with the wind so I tried to keep the dogs going around the edge until we got to the soy bean field but they had a different idea. I had forgotten the transmitter for the e-collars. Usually, I can beep the tone on the e-collar and they will come in and I can send them in another direction. They stay with me pretty good but not as well as when I have the transmitter. If it had been the handheld for the GPS I would have gone back to the truck.

I checked the GPS and it showed Dolly on point about 80 yards from me. When I got to her she was on the top of a hill pointing into a plum thicket with the wind blowing from her back. Tur Bo was backing. I walked in and heard the quail flushing over the hill on the other side of the plum thicket. Finally, I caught a glimpse of one but not long enough to shoot at. Then a quail went straight up about 25 yards from me and I knocked it down. It wasn’t hit very hard. I got Tur Bo and Dolly in to hunt dead. The quail was running around and the dogs almost had it a couple of times but it got away. I finally had to shoot it again or it would have run off.

I had no idea where the singles had flown to so we hunted to the north then back to the south. I was watching Tur Bo when he got birdy then pointed. He was about 10 yards from a plum thicket looking into it. I walked between him and the thicket. The quail flushed from the grass in front of the thicket and it dropped in the thicket at my shot. Dolly and Tur Bo went into the thicket to find the bird. Dolly found it, picked it up and dropped it. Tur Bo was right beside her. He grabbed the quail and brought it to me.

One of the reasons that I wanted to hunt this farm was because of the huge thickets interspersed across the hills. Tur Bo needs to learn that the birds will be found in the thick cover. Before we got to the soy bean field the GPS showed Dolly on point. She was in a huge plum thicket. I started trying to get to her. I found a deer trail through the thicket and started toward her. I had to bend over to get through because deer trails don’t have to be very high and I’m 6 feet tall. Deer trails aren’t very wide either and I had to turn around twice to pick up my hat that the limbs pulled off. I got within about 20 yards and I heard the quail flush. I never saw a bird, I just heard them.

We were close to the soy bean field so I started toward it. Before we got out of the big thicket a quail flushed behind me. We went on to the soy bean field. Tur Bo and I crossed the bean field and started down a grown up fence row. I looked across the bean field and saw Dolly on point standing in the soy bean field looking back into the thicket. I crossed back toward her and Tur Bo honored her. I walked in front of her and 2 quail flushed about 40 yards on the other side of her. They flew across the soy bean field. I threw a shot at them but by the time I shot they were out of range.

Tur Bo went on down the edge of the soy bean field, turned around and slammed into a point. I started toward him and Dolly came by me and didn’t act like she was going to honor Tur Bo. I whoaed her and she stopped. That is the picture at the first of this post. It looks like Tur Bo is honoring but he was on point first. From her style, I think Dolly could smell the quail. I knew if I didn’t shoot real quick the quail would be in the thicket. The quail flushed and tried to go into the thicket. I made a lucky shot and Tur Bo retrieved.

We went on around the edge of the soy bean field in the direction that the 2 quail that Dolly had pointed flew. We checked all around the soy bean field without finding anything so we started back through the thicket and back to the truck. Earlier we had crossed the east end of the thicket now we were trying to cross the west end. I knew where a trail crossed. As I came through part of the thicket it opened up into a small clearing and across the clearing stood Tur Bo on point. I don’t know how long he had been on point but without saying anything I started to him. The opening was only about 10 yards wide where he was standing. I got within 4 or 5 yards of him and about 5 quail flushed. One tried to fly straight away and I dropped it in the thicket. Tur Bo saw the quail drop, grabbed it and ran straight to me with it.

It was getting really warm for the dogs so I followed a creek back as far as possible then we went by some ponds on the way back to the truck. I loaded the dogs and ate my lunch on the way to another farm.

This would be the first time I had hunted this farm in several years. I put the collars on Blaze and Luke. It was already real warm so I knew we wouldn’t be able to hunt very long. We crossed some CRP to get to a soy bean field. The warm weather has all of the water sources thawed so the dogs could drink whenever they wanted.

I was watching Luke run a hedge row then he went into the CRP to check a small plum thicket. As he rounded the thicket he whirled into a point. I was about 150 yards from him when he went on point. I started to him and when I got within about 75 yards of him he threw his head in the air like the quail had flushed. He ran like he was following some quail. I call him in with the tone on his collar and I hit the tone. He came back and went on point in almost the same place. As I got close, he looked so good, I decided since the quail had already flown I would take some pictures. I wanted to get close. As I started to turn the camera on, quail started flushing. They were coming up in twos and threes. I shoved the camera back in m pocket and was in time to make a lucky shot on the last quail to flush. Blaze pointed the dead bird then picked it up and dropped it.

Most of the quail had flown over the hedge row and I wasn’t able to see where they had flown to. We hunted the other side of the hedge row and both sides of the hedge row. On a hill side, in the CRP, I was watching Blaze trail and a quail flushed about 40 yards ahead of her. I got her and Luke in to hunt the area real well without finding any others. Blaze made a point then when I walked in she tried to dig a bird out of the grass. When a quail wasn’t in the grass she started digging in the ground. I have no idea what she was thinking. That may have been where the quail had flushed from.

It wasn’t as hot as it had been the day before but with less wind it was hurting the dogs more, I thought, so we hunted back to the truck.

My decision to keep either Tur Bo or Blaze hunting whenever I have dogs out was a good decision. They both have shown that they are ready to become bird dogs. Tur Bo made 3 points on singles, honored several times and made a couple of retrieves. Blaze didn’t make any points but she honored Luke’s point and she hunted dead real well finding a bird. I should wait until the season is over to say this but all of the dogs have become better at finding dead birds. I haven’t lost one in quite a while.

Dolly

Tur Bo

About 8:30 this morning I decided to go quail hunting. The Kansas quail season ends the 31st of January and I need to get Blaze and Tur Bo into as many wild quail as I can before the end of the season. I went to a farm that I hunted last year, near Emporia, Kansas. Last year I didn’t find any quail on this farm but the year before there was 2 coveys.

I put the Garmin GPS and Sport Dog training collars on Tur Bo and his mother, Dolly. I had to cross a large field of heavy CRP grass to get to a soy bean field with hedge rows on 3 sides. It was already warm but there was plenty of water with the creeks being thawed out.

We had a pretty strong wind from the south west as we started south down a hedge row. I saw Dolly starting to trail and Tur Bo went on point ahead of her. Dolly saw him on point and honored. I walked in front of Tur Bo and a covey of quail flushed out the other side of the hedge row not even giving me a shot. The covey had stayed real low so I didn’t think they would fly very far.

I went through the hedge row and into the CRP. Tur Bo and Dolly were birdy almost immediately. A quail flushed from in front of Tur Bo and flew east with the wind behind it. It dropped at my second shot. Dolly and Tur Bo came in to hunt dead. Dolly pointed the quail and Tur Bo honored. I told Dolly to fetch, it was dead. When she went after the quail it ran and Tur Bo grabbed it. I petted him until he dropped the quail.

We worked the area looking for more quail in the CRP. I was standing on a mound in the field watching the dogs work the area and when I took a step a quail flushed from beside me. It dropped at my shot and Dolly retrieved it to hand. We worked on down the hedge row to the end then came back on the other side. When we got back near where the covey had originally flushed from Dolly went on point. She was so deep in the brush in the hedge row I wouldn’t have known she was on point without the GPS. As I went in a quail flushed near her but she didn’t move. I kept fighting my way through the brush and Tur Bo saw Dolly and honored. I got close to her and a quail went straight up trying to get above the brush. I made a lucky shot and it dropped. Dolly retrieved and I gave her the head.

We hunted around the soy bean field then back across the field of CRP. As I came over the hill and started to the truck I saw Dolly trailing in a little thicket. Tur Bo came up the outside and went on point. I started toward him but before I got to him he took a step and a covey of quail flushed. They flew across the road without me getting a shot. The thicket was clean with no grass growing. I think Tur Bo could see the quail running around on the bare ground and he couldn’t stand it. One step was all it took for the quail to flush.

We checked across the road then I put Dolly and Tur Bo back in the truck and got Blaze and Lucky out. I thought fresh dogs might have a better chance of finding the singles. We hunted across the road then made a big circle through some CRP next to a soy bean field without finding anything. We loaded up and went to another farm.

The next farm had a lot of CRP surrounding a milo field. I turned Dolly and Tur Bo out and we hunted into the south west wind. We first went around the milo field then through the CRP to a creek and along the creek to the end of the property. We started back through the middle of the CRP when I checked the GPS and it showed Dolly on point behind me about 80 yards. When I got to her she was pointing into a large thicket with Tur Bo honoring. I walked around the thicket and nothing flushed. I kicked the brush and nothing flushed. It was too thick to enter. I tapped Dolly on the head to get her to move and she took a step and went back on point. With that step she was too far in for me to reach her so I started clapping and telling her to get that bird. Finally she moved up and a hen pheasant flushed. That is the only pheasant I have seen in this area in the 5 or 6 years I have been hunting here.

We hunted on through the CRP. I crossed a creek and saw Tur Bo on point looking into a plum thicket about 50 yards from me. As I started to him I saw some covey roosts in the CRP. I thought this will be the third covey he has pointed today, as I walked to him. Some times the birds will run out the other side of these thickets so I usually circle them first but nothing flushed so I kicked right in front of Tur Bo. When I kicked an armadillo ran out. That was the first armadillo I have seen in this area. When Tur Bo wanted to chase I bumped him with the e-collar. We hunted back to the truck without finding anything.

The next farm was CRP or unused pasture around a wheat stubble field. I turned Blaze and Lucky out. The wind was still blowing pretty hard but had changed to a north west direction. We started through an old grown up house site with both dogs in front of me. Lucky slammed into a point. I wasn’t sure that Blaze saw him so I whoaed her. Lucky’s head was real high and I knew the birds were quite a ways in front of him so I made a big circle. I started about 20 yards in front of him and when I got almost to him the birds flushed behind me and on the other side of some trees. I shot once although I really didn’t have a good shot. The birds flew to the west so we followed trying to find some singles with no luck.

We went on around the wheat stubble and Lucky was out of sight so I checked the GPS and it showed him on point again. Blaze was right in front of me when we got close to Lucky. I wanted to see if she would honor without me saying anything. Sure enough, when she saw him she backed. I walked in front of Lucky and another covey flushed in the trees far enough away that I didn’t even get a shot. Through the trees I saw a quail go down in the CRP. I got both dogs in to hunt for the single I saw go down.

I had marked it short of where it went down and the dogs were wanting to go back to hunting but I moved out a little farther. I was standing watching Blaze work and she came by and went on point about 3 feet from me. Just as she went on point 2 quail flushed and put a tree between me and them. I got off one shot but no luck. We checked a large area for more singles then started back to the truck.

On the way back we went through an area of scattered trees and tall grass. I saw Blaze get birdy then go on point. I walked straight in to her and a single bird flushed. It fell at my shot. Blaze went to retrieve and she knew it was there but couldn’t pinpoint it. Lucky came in to hunt dead and retrieved the bird. We continued on back toward the truck and Blaze pointed again along a fence row. I walked in and nothing flushed so I released her.
She started trailing and Lucky came by and pointed in almost the same exact place. We never got anything up but something had been there. We hunted on back to the truck.

It had been a good day. We had seen 4 coveys of quail and all 4 dogs had pointed birds. The big thing was both young dogs had found quail. Each time they get into birds they get better. The season is about over but I’m going to keep either Blaze or Tur Bo on the ground whenever I’m hunting.

Blue bird skies

Dolly

I have driven past the Ft. Riley, Kansas army post for years and wondered what the quail hunting would be like. On January 19 I got to try it. I met Don and Linda Hansen at the main gate of the post at 9:00 am. We had to register our shot guns with the M.P.s at the gate. It only took about 5 minutes. We then met David McNeal. Dave has a website that will tell you how to check in and out on the post and has a lot of useful information about hunting Ft. Riley. His website is huntfortriley.com

David has hunted Ft. Riley for thirty years so we followed him to the area he wanted to hunt. Don had his pointer Tigger and Dave and his grandson, Daniel had a wire hair named Mattie. I turned Dolly and Tur Bo out first. I put the Garmin GPS and Sport Dog collars on the dogs but forgot to take the Garmin handheld device. When I first noticed that I had forgotten the handheld device I thought, I will just go ahead and hunt without it. I went about 10 steps and thought, I can’t do this. I walked the 1/4 mile to the truck for it then a 1/4 mile back.

We hunted over the hill to a milo field that had good cover around it as well as some draws, running into the grass fields, next to the milo. Most of the milo had been harvested but they left some for the wildlife. We hunted through some standing milo as well as along the grass beside the milo. Just as we hit the end of the standing milo Tigger, Don’s dog went on point. The other dogs honored. Nothing flushed when we walked in but when we released the dogs they all started trailing or acting really excited. I believe a covey had run through the standing milo and flushed without us seeing them.

We hunted on through the milo field and on to the north west corner. Dave’s dog Mattie pointed in the milo field with Dolly and Blaze backing. When we went in nothing flushed but all of the dogs trailed for a way then went back to hunting. we then turned south down a hedge row along side the milo. The hedge row ran south to the end of the milo then we hunted to the west along some draws and old dry ponds. As we hunted down the draw, Dave and Don both saw 2 quail flush in front of the dogs. We called them back and had them hunt where the 2 quail had flushed from, expecting to find more quail. The dogs checked it real well but we didn’t find any more birds. We made a big circle through some really good looking cover, back to the truck, without seeing anymore quail.

The second place we hunted, I turned out Luke and Blaze. We started off in some milo then worked down some draws to the road. We crossed the road to some cover around a soy bean field. There was an old house place back in the woods. We had seen some elk sign on the first place we hunted but there was a lot more on this one. This is probably the first time I’ve quail hunted where elk were. We hunted around the soy bean field, down a hedge row and through an area full of rag weed without seeing any quail. Both of these areas we have hunted looked perfect for quail.

At the next place we hunted, we parked on top of a hill where you could see a long way. I took the picture of the blue sky at the first of this. It would have been a beautiful place for a house. Luke whips his tail on all of the bushes and gets it bleeding real bad. He and Blaze hadn’t been out very long but I left him in the box and got Dolly out to run with Blaze.

We hunted off the hill and crossed a creek into a bottom of harvested soy beans. We started around the soy bean field next to the creek. I checked the GPS and Dolly was on point then Blaze came around and honored. When we got close Dolly started trailing then went back to hunting. We crossed the soy bean field and went through a good looking grassy area without finding any thing. As we came around close to the creek again we saw Mattie on point. When we got closer we figured out that Mattie was honoring Tigger. Blaze came up and backed Tigger, also. Before we could get close the quail flushed across the creek without a shot being fired.

We crossed the creek and went up the hill through the brush growing along the creek. We stopped to discuss where to find the singles and when Don took a step a quail flushed at his feet. He made a good shot and the bird dropped. Dolly and Don went out and retrieved his bird. We got the dogs to hunt the immediate area and never came up with another quail. There was enough cover in the trees and brush along the creek that they may have lit and ran away from the dogs. We hunted back to the truck.

It was really hot for a January day. It was 66 degrees in Kansas City and that tied a record for January 19 going all the way back to 1906. Don and I had a long way to drive so that was a good place to end the hunt. Each time the dogs pointed and we couldn’t flush birds I think the birds were there but ran then flushed before we got close. I talked to a friend that hunted the same day and his birds did the same.

If you ever decide to hunt Fort Riley the best place to start is on David’s website: huntfortriley.com Dave not only has a good website he does a lot of work with on duty Fort Riley personnel and wounded warriors.

Tur Bo

Blaze

I have been guiding at Bird Fever in Richmond, Missouri a lot using Lucky, Dolly and Luke. Then when I hunt I usually put out the older dogs before I use Blaze or Tur Bo so they get very little experience. I decided that on this day I would just take Blaze and Tur Bo.

Some friends told me about finding quail in south eastern Kansas so I drove a long ways south to hunt the walk-in properties. The first place I hunted today had a soy bean field along the road on the south with a brush filled creek on the west side. The soy bean field was only about 1/4 mile deep then the north side had some rougher ground that was in CRP.

I put the Garmin GPS collar and Sport Dog e-collar on Blaze and Tur Bo. We started up the edge of the creek along the soy bean field. We passed the soy beans and went on to the north through the CRP. I really enjoy hunting young dogs. They have lots of energy and they have to explore everything. A couple of deer ran out of a thicket with the dogs close behind. The Sport Dog collars convinced them that they shouldn’t chase.

When we got to the north side we went east through the CRP to the east edge then south to the soy bean field. The dogs were birdy when we turned west along the north edge of the soy beans. Tur Bo was in the CRP but right along the soy bean field and Blaze was about 40 yards into the CRP but both were in front of me. A scattered covey flushed in front of me with neither dog very close. I dropped one with the first shot and missed one farther away with the second. I got Tur Bo and Blaze in to hunt dead.

It was really getting warm (about 50 degrees when we started) and dry. I had some water with me so I watered the dogs when they came in to hunt for the downed quail. They made a pass then wanted to go on but I kept calling them back. Pretty soon Blaze pointed. I could see the quail lying there so I tapped her head saying “it’s dead”. Finally she picked it up then dropped it. We made a circle in the direction the covey had flown without finding any of the singles. We hunted back to the truck.

The next farm that we hunted had some CRP close to the road then it fell off into a bottom with harvested corn fields. The corn fields had water ways running through them. We checked the CRP on the way in. I saw several quail roosts so we checked the CRP really well then went down a water way through the corn field. Blaze and Tur Bo got really excited when about 100 meadow larks flushed out of the corn field.

As we came back up a water way in the corn field Tur Bo pointed and Blaze backed. When I got to him he and Blaze started trailing. We checked the immediate area and went to some close CRP. We checked the CRP then back down the water way. They trailed for a while then went back to hunting. We followed the water way almost to the road and Blaze pointed at the very end. Tur Bo was honoring when I walked in. I went about 10 yards in front of her with nothing flushing. I went back and tapped her head but she wouldn’t move so I went about 20 yards in front of her, down the water way. Still nothing flushed. I tapped her head and this time she started trailing.

We checked the water way back down, the close CRP and crossed the road to check that without finding anything. Maybe, more experienced dogs would have come up with something but this time of year a lot of these quail have become pretty good at getting away from hunters. We hunted back to the truck.

I watered the dogs at the truck and when I started to the next farm the temperature was 61 degrees. That’s too hot for the dogs so I headed home. The season is already over in Missouri but I’m going to try to get these two a lot of experience in what is left of the Kansas season.