Traveling Pointing Dogs

Tur Bo wearing his second cone to keep him from ripping the stitches out.

Luke pointing Dolly honoring.

Luke

An update on Tur Bo’s condition after getting hung up in the barb wire fence. I was supposed to take him back to get the stitches out in 10 days. On the ninth day he tore, the cone he was wearing, in 2 or 3 pieces. I took him to the vet’s office. I got there before Dr. Becker came in so Dr. Wengert looked at his wound. He put another cone on him and said to leave the stitches for another 2 weeks. The wound is in the elbow of the front leg and Dr. Wengert said this was one of the worst places to get a cut. So Tur Bo is out of action for at least another 10 days or so. Hopefully, he will be able to hunt after the stitches come out.

Robin Barrows and I quail hunted near Colony, Kansas on a rainy day. It didn’t start out rainy but after the first farm it rained most of the day. This area has quite a few farms listed in the Kansas Hunting Atlas. Most of the places where you buy your hunting license will have the Atlas.

The first place, Robin turned Emma and Molly out with Garmin GPS Astro tracking and training collars. The Garmin GPS collars that I put on Dolly and Luke were from before Garmin made the track and train in one unit. I put 2 collars on each dog, the Garmin GPS and a Sport Dog 1825 training collar. The Sport Dog collar has a tone or vibrate and I use the tone to call my dogs to me.

The first place we hunted was 120 acres of harvested corn and soy bean fields with hedge rows on one side and the back. With a couple of nice draws through the middle it looked ideal for quail. This was the first time either of us had hunted this farm so Robin hunted one side of the draw and I went down the other. The draw was wider than we thought and we got separated. I wasn’t sure where Robin was so when Emma came by me I called her to me and held her collar. I knew this would show on his GPS as her being on point and he would find her. Sure enough in about 5 minutes he came to us.

We hunted around a small harvested soy bean field that was surrounded by CRP. When we got around the field Molly wasn’t with us and we separated again. I hunted a hedge row back to the road we were parked on and started toward the truck. I checked the GPS and it showed Dolly on point about 50 yards a head of me. I was watching the GPS as I went toward Dolly and when I got within about 20 yards of her it showed her still on point but Luke was also pointing about 100 yards ahead of us. I got to Dolly and went in front of her and nothing flushed. I tapped her head and said okay. She trailed about 10 yards and went on point. I walked in front of her kicking and nothing flushed. She started trailing and pointing but we were getting closer to Luke. He was still on point. I saw Robin come in about 50 yards in front of me. He was near where Luke was on point. I heard 2 shots then Luke was no longer on point.

Robin came to where I was and said Emma had pointed and he had missed when he flushed the quail. Most of the covey had flown down the other side of the draw we were on. As we moved back down the draw Dolly pointed in a thicket. As Robin and I started to her quail flushed in the brush near us but without giving us a shot and Dolly’s bird flushed, too. We heard some more quail flushing but we never got a shot. We loaded our dogs and starte looking for another place.

The next farm was 160 acres with about 1/2 in a harvested soy bean field and the other half was a hay field. The hay field had some nice brush filled draws through it not far off the soy bean field. I had turned Lucky and Blaze out and Robin was again using Emma and Molly. We hunted down the fence row separating the soy bean field from the pasture with the dogs checking the draws that were close. As we got close to the back I checked the GPS and it showed Lucky on point 220 yards ahead of us.

We got close to the back of the property to see a hedge row with 50 yard buffer strip along side. Lucky was across the fence, in the soy bean field side, along the hedge row. Robin and I crossed the fence and when we got close to Lucky I had to whoa Blaze to get her to honor him. I walked in front of him and nothing flushed. I said okay and he moved about 15 yards and pointed again. Blaze honored without me saying anything. I started in front of him and a covey of quail flushed out the other side of the hedge row without either of us getting a shot.

We followed the hedge row toward the road. I saw 1 quail flush ahead of the dogs but couldn’t see where it went down. The dogs stayed in front of us hunting both sides of the hedge row and the buffer strip without finding anything. We turned around and hunted back through where the quail had originally flushed. We hunted the 1/2 mile of hedge row without seeing another quail then turned and hunted back to the truck.

We ate our lunch as we drove in the rain to find another farm to hunt. The third place was a place with a fallen down house with lots of bushes. We parked in the driveway and I turned Luke and Dolly out. Robin had hunted his dogs both of the farms before so he left his in the truck. We hunted the old house place and the dogs got birdy without coming up with anything so we ran them up a fence row next to a harvested soy bean field.

We hunted most of the available cover then started back to the truck. when we got close to the house place Dolly went on point with Luke backing. I went in front of her and she moved up then went to trailing. First Dolly would point with Luke honoring then Luke would point with Dolly backing. They trailed all around the house place and one time I thought I heard a covey flush but I wasn’t sure. With the rain coming down we decided to call it a day.

So far this year I have only hunted 2 places where I haven’t found quail. That is counting the last place today where I thought I heard a covey flush but I never saw anything conclusive. This season is starting out much better than last. Not only am I finding more quail than last year, most of my friends are also. May be time for a road trip.

Dolly

Luke

Lucky

I met my friend, Don Hansen and his wife Linda, near Ottawa, Kansas to hunt walk-in properties. Don is a gunsmith and has worked on some of my guns. He, also, is more into dog work than how many quail are killed. Linda was not carrying a gun. She was going to take pictures.

The first place we hunted was 160 acres of corn with a couple of draws and a water way running through it. I had turned Dolly and Luke out. Don had only brought his pointer, Annie. He had left some dogs home. We hunted down the east hedge row to the south side then west to the road. We hit the draw and started back to the north east. Don and Linda were on one side and I was on the other. We were about 1/4 mile up the draw when Don yelled, “there they go.” I looked up and 3 quail flew over me headed back toward where we had parked the truck.

The quail had flushed in between Don and me. Don said there wasn’t anything close to them when they flushed. Other than the ones that had flown over me the covey had flown back behind us. We got the dogs in front of us and started back down the draw. Dolly went on point on my side of the draw but before I could get to her 3 quail flushed in front of her. I shot but they were too far. All 3 dogs were hunting close but the birds weren’t cooperating. A quail flushed in front of me and I knocked it down. Luke picked it up and carried it into a plum thicket then dropped it. He never picks a bird up but he did this one. Dolly came by and I tried to get her to pick it up but she just touched it with her nose and went on. She retrieves but I guess because Luke’s smell was on it she wasn’t going to retrieve. I crawled into the plum thicket to get the bird. If Luke had of left it alone it would have been in the open.

We saw several more birds fly but they were all to far away for a shot so we hunted back up the draw. From the draw we hunted across the field in a water way. I couldn’t see where the 3 birds that had flown over me had landed but there was a patch of brush, trees and grass at the end of the water way. I checked the Garmin GPS and it showed Dolly on point. I told Don she was on point and he said, “there they go.” I told Don that a quail had landed right beside me and he said 3 or 4 landed right beside you. This was another covey.

We got the dogs in front of us and the quail started flying. I missed with my first shot then dropped one in the soy bean field. As I started after it I heard Don shoot and a quail dropped in the edge of the brush. I told Don where it dropped then went into the field and picked up my bird. I shouldn’t have taken my eyes off where Don’s bird fell. We got all 3 dogs in to hunt dead and they never came up with it. We decided to go to another farm in the Kansas Hunting Atlas. We had seen 2 coveys in about an hour and a half.

The next farm I turned Blaze and Lucky out and Don put Annie down again. This farm didn’t look like much from the road but as you walk back in about 1/4 mile there is harvested soy bean fields with good grass fields, hedge rows and fence rows that could hold quail. The dogs hunted really hard but we never came up with anything. Don has found quail on this farm in the past and I believe that we missed them somewhere. I would hunt it again.

We ate our lunch on the way to the next farm. The next farm was one that Don had not hunted before but I have. When Don got out of his truck he said, “I marked this one, in the Atlas, as a piece of junk.” Or something like that. It looks, from the road, as just a harvested corn field with no cover. I turned Luke and Dolly out again. We started down the east fence row and when we got over the hill Don could see the draws, CRP and hedge rows. We took the east fence to the end then turned west along the fence line at the end.

About half way across the back side of this farm Annie went on point. Luke and Dolly honored. Again Don said, “there they go.” The covey flushed about 40 yards ahead of the dogs. Without Don, I wouldn’t have known the birds were even there. I never heard nor saw a quail. We hunted on across the back line and Dolly went on point. Luke and Annie honored. I was standing, trying to figure out how to flush the birds so Don could get a shot when 6 or 7 quail flushed. I threw my gun up and touched it off. I centered a bird. It was a really lucky shot or a really unlucky bird. Don didn’t have a shot.

Don started down the fence row to the north and I hunted a patch of CRP that was along a hillside. Don yelled, “I got a point.” Annie was on point and I went across the corn field. When I got there Dolly came in and honored. Then Luke honored. Don walked in kicking the grass and nothing flushed. We released the dogs and they all trailed like a bird had been there but ran off. We checked the west fence line with Luke and Annie working well ahead of us. I hadn’t seen Dolly in a while so I checked the Garmin GPS. She was on point about a 110 yards from us along the draw that splits this farm.

The draw was really thick with plum bushes and we couldn’t see Dolly. We knew we were close. Then the quail flushed. One came close and I made a lucky shot. When the covey flushed they went both ways on the draw and we went to the west edge. As we neared the end of the property we walked a quail up. Don shot and hit the bird hard but it kept flying. We went to the east on the draw hoping to find the quail Don had hit.

We were almost at the end of the draw when Don noticed Annie on point. She was on the edge of the corn field in some grass and we almost walked by her. When the quail flushed it didn’t get very far. Don made a really good shot on it. We went back down the draw to the west with one bird flushing without either of us getting a shot. We started back to the east and Dolly was on point behind us on the other side. By the time we found her Luke was honoring her point. I walked in and a bird flushed but it had trouble getting up. I think it was the bird that Don had hit earlier. I dropped it and thought Dolly would bring it right back but she didn’t. Where it fell it was really thick with brush. As I was trying to get to the bird I saw on the GPS that Luke was on point. I put my hat where I thought the bird had fallen and started to Luke. I was watching the GPS and Luke’s position kept changing. Finally, I caught up with him and he was eating it. I took it from him but I didn’t get much. Usually he doesn’t even pick a quail up. He must have been hungry.

We were crossing to the other side of the draw and Annie came in front of me. She tried to go on point but she was going with the wind and was on top of the quail before she smelled it. It flushed and I shot. I was surprised when it fell. Annie found the dead bird for us.

We started back up the fence row on the east side that we had come down. The dogs were in the CRP off the walk-in place. The CRP was pretty tall so I was checking the GPS pretty often. I checked it and saw Luke was on point. Just as I said, “I have a point.” Don said, “there they go.” The covey flew into a plum thicket about 100 yards off the walk-in property. I called the dogs and went on to the truck. I was still watching the GPS and again it showed Luke on point about 100 yards across the fence. I handed Don my gun and crossed the fence. I got within 40 yards of him and he was moving. I called him and started for the truck. I checked the GPS and Dolly was on point near where he had been on point. I started back to her. I got within about 30 yards of her and she was moving. I called both dogs and started to the truck. Dolly and I made it to the truck.

I checked the GPS and Luke was on point, again. I started to him, again. I walked up the road and I could see him about 20 yards across the fence. I crossed the fence with Dolly beside me. She honored him. I walked in and flushed a single quail. I called the dogs and started to the truck,again. Both dogs went back to hunting. It was like they had no idea what “here” meant. Both dogs pointed quail but the birds didn’t hold. Finally both dogs wound up at the truck and I loaded them up.

We had found 5 coveys of quail just hunting 3 farms. It had been a good day. I will be back.

Luke pointing Dolly honoring.

Luke

The weather people said it was going to snow by 5:00 am. 100% chance of 1 to 3 inches in my area with more north west of here. When I got up it wasn’t snowing nor had it been. I decided to go to some walk-in areas around Atchison, Kansas which is north west of here. There are a lot of walk-in properties, in the Kansas Hunting Atlas, near Atchison.

I didn’t see a flake of snow until I got to Atchison. It was cold with a light south wind. The first place I turned Luke and Dolly out with Sport Dog e-collars and Garmin GPS collars. Tur Bo had a cut on his leg and Lucky was limping from hunting the day before so I left them home. I started down a fence row with soy beans on both sides that had been harvested. There was some brush that grew from the fence row over to a creek that ran through the soy bean field. I crossed the creek and continued on north to the end of the cover. As I turned and started back down the creek I checked the GPS. The batteries were almost dead. I would turn it on and it would locate the dogs then turn off.

I started to the truck to get more batteries. There was a water way that ran from the soy bean field down to the creek. The water way was about 50 yards wide and 1/4 mile long. I saw Dolly running up the water way. When she got almost to the end she slowed down and got birdy. About 30 yards in front of her a big covey of quail flushed. Dolly didn’t see or hear the birds. She went on point and Luke honored. I kicked the grass knowing that the birds had already flushed but hoping a few had hid in the cover. No such luck. I had seen where the covey had flown to but with my GPS not working we went to the truck to get more batteries.

After replacing the batteries and putting extra batteries in my hunting vest we started back to where I saw the covey fly to. Blaze had been in the truck waiting her turn so I had turned her out, too. When we got to the area Luke was in some wild cane and a couple of quail flushed out the far end. Far enough away that he didn’t see or hear them. We kept checking the area and Dolly pointed into a brush pile. Blaze and Luke honored her. I kicked the brush pile and nothing came out. I tapped her head and she moved up past the brush pile and went back on point. When she moved the other 2 dogs started moving also. When she pointed both of them honored. I went in front of her and a quail flushed. I tracked the quail and just as I pulled the trigger the barrel hit a bush. Needless to say, I missed.

We checked the creek and all of the brush out without finding any more quail. We started back toward the truck along the fence row and I checked the GPS. It showed Luke on point ahead of me in the fence row. When I got close Dolly honored him. I went to the fence row and Luke was on the other side. Where he was standing was off the walk-in property. I went to the fence, kicked the barb wire, kicked a tree and threw a limb over the fence and nothing flushed but Luke didn’t move. I thought maybe the bird had already flown so I told Luke, “okay”. He moved about a foot and went back on point.

There was a house about 250 yards from Luke on that side of the fence. I crossed the fence, off the walk-in property, and went to Luke. I took a picture because I knew I wasn’t going to be off the walk-in property and shoot at the quail. I walked in front of him and a quail flushed straight away. When you aren’t shooting they fly so slow. We went on back to the truck without finding anything else.

It had been snowing harder and harder and I had been snowed in, in Kansas before when the weather people had been saying snow flurries. Once when they said only snow flurries, it was snowing so hard we couldn’t see the front of the truck as we drove down the road. So I decided to go on home.

It was a short hunt but I again found quail. I’m finding birds in most of the places I’m hunting in Kansas. I’m not as efficient as I used to be but I am getting dog work. For instance, I wasn’t sure whether Luke was flushing his birds or they had been getting up ahead of him. The bird he pointed here makes me think, he’s not flushing his birds. He was really steady on that bird. As the season goes on, I will find out.