Traveling Pointing Dogs

Dolly pointing

Dolly pointing Lucky honoring

On the third morning of my Oklahoma quail hunt I got up early and drove through a thick fog to Cooper WMA near Woodward, Oklahoma. I got to Cooper WMA at about 7:00 am but the fog was so thick I couldn’t see to hunt. I let all of the dogs out to empty out and get a drink then waited for the fog to lift. I hunted here in February and found some quail so I knew where I wanted to park. The fog was so thick I wasn’t sure I had parked in the right place so I drove back the way I came in. As I drove, slowly, through the fog I saw a quail along side the road.

I drove to the next parking area and put the Garmin GPS collars and the Sport Dog e-collars on Blaze and Tur Bo. Blaze is steady to wing and shot on pigeons that I put in release traps and Tur Bo is almost there, neither of them has much experience on wild quail. I just wanted them to find some quail. We hunted down the side of the road toward where I saw the quail along the road. Tur Bo and Blaze were tired and sore. The fog was so thick that I couldn’t see the dogs if they got 50 yards away. Both dogs were not often out of my sight. We crossed to the other side.

Shortly after we crossed the road both dogs started getting more animated. They were really cracking their tails and going back and forth in front of me. I didn’t see or hear the first quail to flush but I saw the dogs chasing. I watched the GPS and they took the first ones about 150 yards then came back sweeping the area. This covey must have been spread out feeding because they flushed in 3 or 4 bunches. There was enough fog that I couldn’t see all of the birds but I saw the dogs chasing. I couldn’t see where the quail were going down, due to the fog but we went in the direction the dogs had chased.

Tur Bo and Blaze were no longer tired and sore. They were covering the ground looking for quail. They found 2 singles and chased them a long ways. We continued on past the truck then turned and crossed back to the truck. I checked the GPS and both dogs were 250 yards away. Evidently, they had found something else to chase. When they came back I put them up and drove back to the other parking area.

Before I let some more dogs out I counted my shells and I only had 8 for my 16 gauge side by side without digging them out of my truck. You would have to see my truck when I’m on a trip to understand. Anyway, I figured 8 shells were enough. I turned Lucky and Dolly out. They were tired and sore but you couldn’t tell except they were a little slower than normal. We hunted to the north then swung over to the west. In the fog I went farther west than I wanted and wound up near a road. We hunted south then back to the east toward the truck. I checked the GPS and Lucky was north of me 125 yards on point. Dolly stayed in front of me on the way to Lucky.

About 20 yards before we got to Lucky, Dolly went on point then moved, saw Lucky and honored. I walked in front of Lucky and kicked the grass and nothing flushed. I released him and they both trailed then Lucky pointed again with Dolly backing. Again nothing flushed when I went in front of him. They trailed about 25 yards and went on point again. This time I made a circle that took me well out in front of the dogs and I started back toward them. A quail flushed about 40 yards behind me. I shot both barrels without connecting. Six shells left.

Dolly pointed and when I went in front of her a quail flushed at my feet. It dropped at my shot and Dolly retrieved. Lucky went on point and when I went in front a quail flushed right in front of me. I shot and when it dropped another one flushed going the other way. I dropped it, also. I threw my hat to mark where the first one had fallen and got Dolly to hunt dead on the second. She located it and reared up on me when she brought it in. That’s her way of asking for the head. I gave it to her and we went to find the other bird. Lucky went on point just past my hat and I told him to hunt dead. He picked the bird up and brought it to me. Three shells left.

Dolly pointed again. We were probably 150 yards from where Lucky had made the first point. I went in front of her and another quail flushed. I dropped it and Dolly retrieved without me having to move. I didn’t see Lucky so I checked the GPS and he was about 75 yards away on point. Dolly and I went to him. A quail flushed when I went in front of him and dropped at my shot. Dolly retrieved it. One shell left.

I moved the dogs out of the area. When I cleaned these birds I figured out that this covey was spread out feeding on the rag weed. Their craws were crammed full. I knew quail spread out to feed but from one edge to the other, of where we found birds, was over 200 yards. I’m sure they ran from us, also, but they still had to be spread over a large area. We hunted back to the truck.

Luke was the only dog that hadn’t got to hunt this morning so I turned him and Tur Bo out. Luke’s feet were really sore so I didn’t want to hunt him very long but the trip home is about 6 hours and I wanted him to empty out. He’s still young and runs faster and farther than any of the others. I let him run for about 20 minutes and returned to the truck.

One of the hardest things to instill in a young dogs is the knowledge that they can find birds, in these days of very few quail. This was a good trip for both of the young dogs. Blaze has pointed wild birds before but last year was so bad she had very few opportunities. Tur Bo was just a puppy last year but he found a few birds. On this trip, they both pointed birds and they chased quite a few this morning. Now they know they can find birds.

When I cleaned the birds from this hunt I found a band on one. I called the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation and talked to a Wildlife Biologist. He said it was probably from a bird that was banded last year or the year before. They didn’t have any studies on Cooper WMA this year. He’s going to get the band number to Oklahoma State University and they will send me the information on the bird. When I get the information I will put it on the blog.

Lucky pointing

Luke pointing

Luke pointing Lucky honoring

I was awake early for the second day of my Oklahoma quail hunt. My cousin, Jim Smith, had told me about an area that he had found quail so I decided to try it first. Most of the motel rooms were full of oil field workers so I stayed in Elk City, Oklahoma and this property was on the way.

I put the Garmin GPS collars and Sport Dog e-collars on Luke and Lucky. It was about 40 degrees and we started north into a cool breeze. The area we started into was a 160 acres but the area where Jim had found birds was land locked. We had to cross this one to get to the other. Before we got to the land locked farm Lucky crossed the fence on private land and pointed. He was pointing toward the land I was hunting. I tried to get him to flush but he wasn’t moving. Luke came around, saw Lucky and honored. Now I had 2 dogs that were poaching.

I crossed the fence and went in front of Lucky but nothing flushed. He and Luke both started trailing toward the land we were supposed to be on. We crossed back over. They trailed a ways then went back to hunting. We made it to the land locked area and it looked good. It is far enough back that most people won’t walk that far to hunt. We hunted some draws but it was getting warm and I hadn’t brought any water so we started back to the truck.

We got back to the first place near where Lucky had pointed on private property and he pointed again. This time he was on land we were supposed to be on. I started toward him and about 40 yards ahead of him a covey of quail flushed. Lucky didn’t see or hear them flush. I watched them fly toward some cedar trees right on the edge of the property. Lucky was still on point but all of the quail had already flushed. We started in the direction the covey had flown.

The GPS showed Lucky on point and when I got there he was across the fence but only about 3 feet pointing into a deep draw filled with cedars. Even if this was on the property we were supposed to be on there was no way I would have a shot. The birds were under the cedar trees. I kicked the fence and 2 quail flushed then a third. As I turned to walk away Luke whirled into a point along the edge, just before the cedars. I stayed between the cedars and Luke hoping to flush the birds into the open. A quail flushed and I dropped it with a lucky shot. At the shot another flushed. I knocked it down, too. Lucky retrieved the first bird and we looked for the second. I would make them look where the quail had fallen but they kept going into the cedars. If Luke found it he only picked it up then dropped it. He doesn’t retrieve, yet. We never found the second bird.

Several years ago I had hunted another land locked area. I hadn’t found any quail but there were a lot of tracks around a wind mill. I turned Dolly and Blaze loose with the GPS collars and e-collars on. I started seeing tracks where someone had been hunting this farm either today or late yesterday. I figured they would hunt this place but wouldn’t walk far enough to hunt the land locked portion. I was wrong, I saw tracks every where I went.

Dolly pointed just before we got to the land locked place. Blaze honored. I walked in and about 8 quail flushed. I hit a quail with the first barrel but it wasn’t hit very good so I dropped it with the second barrel. We were close to the edge and all of the covey flew off the place I was hunting. Dolly retrieved the bird. This may have been some birds that the other hunters had found and only about 8 had got back together. All of the coveys I have found were bigger than this.

We hunted the land locked 160 acres by going west along the north fence row to the north west corner. We followed a draw diagonally from the north west corner to the south east then back through the first place without finding anything else.

Tur Bo was the only dog that hadn’t hunted. I paired him with Luke on the next 160 acre place we hunted. Most of these places are about the same. They don’t have a lot of tall trees but the cover they have is very hard on dogs and boots. The dogs have to go through shinnery oak patches, plum thickets, sage brush and there is yucca plants every where. Some of the dogs stop and pull the sand burrs out of their feet but some just carry the foot until they get close to me. Most would rather hunt on three legs than take time for me to get the burr out.

We hunted to the north then started east along the north fence row. There was a little patch of saplings near a cross fence about half way down the fence row that Luke and Tur Bo were in. I saw 4 or 5 quail fly to the south then about 4 or 5 more. I couldn’t see what was going on but I didn’t get a point. I got both dogs hunting toward where the quail had flown.

I was standing on a small hill watching both dogs working out in front. Tur Bo came by a little cedar tree in the field and slammed into a point. Then he adjusted his front end and pointed again. I wanted to see how long he would hold but the quail flushed without him moving. The quail flew straight to me and crossed from my right to my left at about 20 yards. He dropped at my shot. Tur Bo picked it up and dropped it into my hand. He’s not been giving them up without me blowing in his ear but this time he just dropped it.

The last time I hunted this place there was water around the wind mill but today it was dry. We were hunting toward the truck and as we started through a large patch of shinnery oak a large white tail buck jumped up and ran. Luke saw him and I reached for my e-collar transmitter. I had left it in the truck. I yelled “no” loudly to Luke and he came back in front of me. I thought he wasn’t going to bother it but he made a pass in front of me then when he went back the way the buck had run he went after him. When I got back to the truck he showed up for a drink as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

The next farm was about 320 acres with a tangle of plum thickets and sumac near where I parked the truck. Tur Bo hadn’t been out very long on the previous place so I turned him out with Dolly. Dolly started trailing into the tangle just as soon as she got close. We got to the edge of the property and even Tur Bo was trailing. His tail was going 90 miles an hour. I was trying to stay close to the dogs in case the birds flushed. One quail flushed behind me. I shot and it dropped. When I shot the covey flushed across the road off the place I was hunting. Dolly retrieved my bird.

Yesterday Tur Bo came back pretty often to check on me but after finding quail in the last two places he didn’t need me as bad. He stayed in front checking all of the cover. There was an area about 1/2 mile in that I had found birds several years ago so we checked it without finding anything. We made a big circle back to the truck without seeing anything.

It was getting late but I had one more place that I wanted to check. I turned Dolly and Lucky out and to give them the best chance, went into the wind. Both the dogs and I were tired. We weren’t moving very fast but we were hunting. The GPS showed Lucky on point about 75 yards east of me. I started toward him and saw 3 quail fly out. They flew to the east. Then 2 flew out. I checked the GPS and Lucky was still on point. Just before I got to him, he moved about 10 yards and went back on point. Dolly came in and backed. I went into the tangle where I knew if a bird flushed I would get no shot. The dogs must have heard it flush because they both moved. I neither saw or heard it.

I got both dogs to hunt near where I saw the first birds fly to. They both started trailing then Lucky started going back and forth with his head high trying to get the scent cone. Dolly kept trailing. Both dogs would point every once in a while but when I got there they would start trailing again. Dolly trailed for about 150 yards without ever finding a quail. One smart covey of quail. We made a circle back to the truck without having a quail close enough to shoot at.

I fed the dogs on the way back to the motel. We had seen 5 coveys and only killed 4 birds but I was getting dogs into wild birds. The dogs were getting pretty beat up from the cover so I decided I would hunt until about noon the next day and head home. This trip had been good for all of the dogs but especially for Tur Bo and Blaze. Blaze is older but, the last 2 years, there haven’t been enough birds for her to know that she can find them. Now they are both hunting real well.