Traveling Pointing Dogs

Vince Dye and I met our friend Steve at a café in northern Missouri, for a good breakfast, before our hunt. The nice part of hunting in north Missouri; there is no large towns with their rush hour traffic that I have to drive through and I don’t have to get up in the middle of the night to beat the rush hour.

Steve going past Boss who is honoring Mann.

Sally honoring Mann.

Vince and Steve

I put the GPS collar and E-collar on Mann first and then put them on Boss. While I was putting the collars on Sally I noticed the GPS showing Mann on point. I didn’t think too much about it, thinking he was probably pooping. I got the collars on Sally and we started into the north wind. I checked the GPS and Mann was still on point 250 yards to the north. I told Steve and Vince and we started stepping a little faster.

By the time we got close Sally, Boss and Allie, Vince’s short hair, were honoring. Steve walked past Boss before getting to Mann who was buried in the thick cover along a creek. When Steve passed Mann nothing flushed. I released the dogs and they all were birdy on both sides of the creek. Allie pointed then moved a few feet and pointed again on the other side of the creek. All 3 of my dogs were expecting a bird close to where Mann had been on point. We never raised a bird. Maybe if I had of paid more attention to the GPS and we had got there faster the birds would have still been there.

We went on to the east down the creek. A few minutes later Mann was on point about a 150 yards east of us. When we got close several quail flushed wild. They were scattered out in some tall CRP. Probably, the covey that Mann had pointed earlier. Boss pointed a few yards in front of Vince and me. It was on Steve’s side of a little draw in the CRP. As Steve started toward Boss the quail flushed and about the time Steve shot the quail put a nice hedge tree between them. Steve made a good shot on the tree.

We worked that area out and decided to cross the creek and go on to the north. This is a large creek with few crossing places. Before we crossed a single quail flushed in front of Vince. Maggie, Vince’s English cocker spaniel, didn’t see it fall but Vince was able to send her in the right direction. She crossed the creek where the banks were steep but with her little short legs spinning she made it up the other side where she pounced on the quail and brought it to Vince.

We went on along a draw that had a lot of cover, brush and trees. I checked the GPS and it showed Mann and Sally on point about 240 yards ahead of us. Steve was on one side of the draw and Vince and I were on the other. Steve saw the dogs when we got within about 100 yards of them, then they were moving. I don’t know what happened.

Steve and one of the dogs working the CRP.

When we got close to where they had pointed Vince and I heard a quail flush down in the really thick cover along the ditch. Just a couple of minutes later we heard Steve shoot. Later, he said that 2 quail had flushed in front of him but went right into the dense cover. We have some really bad weather coming and this caused the birds to be spooky, I think.

Vince had seen several quail roosts in some CRP along a hillside and we were determined to go through it. It was a half mile or so trek to it. When we got close the GPS showed Sally on point about 150 yards from us. When we got close she was in some really dense cover. Steve crossed into the cover. He said when he got within about 10 yards of Sally a big covey flushed about 40 feet off to his right. Not real close to Sally. He never got a shot. Evidently the birds were running away from Sally.

This covey flew back behind us and Steve thought they had landed near a pond dam. When we got close several quail flushed across a fence in some real short pasture, without holding for the dogs. We went through our side of the fence without finding any birds.

Mann honoring Sally.

Steve and I were walking along one side of a real wide draw with Vince on the other. I checked the GPS and it showed Mann and Sally on point 200 yards away. We had to cross the draw to get to them. When we got across we saw Vince about 150 yards ahead of us going to the dogs. Allie had been on point and my dogs had honored. Vince had no idea we were even heading in that direction. We were closer when the birds flushed. Vince told us, when we got together, that Allie had been on point with Sally and Mann honoring. The quail had flushed in the heavy cover and he didn’t get a shot.

We went on toward the CRP where Vince had seen the quail roosts. This CRP was on a hillside that was pretty steep. We were almost to the top when Vince said Allie was on point along the creek a couple hundred yards away. I told him I wasn’t giving up the altitude I had gained. He and Steve went down the hill to the creek. All 3 of my dogs came in to be petted a few times while I waited. After a few minutes I started through the CRP, slowly. I was waiting for Vince and Steve but getting the dogs to hunt instead of licking on me.

Boss honoring Sally. This is after I had walked by him.

Boss and Sally were trailing through the CRP about 25 yards in front of me when a pheasant flushed about 30 yards the other side of the dogs. It was far enough from me I couldn’t tell whether it was a rooster or hen. Sally saw the pheasant but kept trailing. Vince and Steve caught up and we went through the CRP without finding anything.

We had another little bit of action in another patch of CRP. A couple of the dogs pointed for a few seconds then moved on, trailing but they never came up with anything. When we got to the trucks we loaded dogs after watering them.

There was spot real close where we had found a covey the last time we were here so we drove in that direction. We turned the dogs out and went toward a pond with some good cover around it. I just happened to be looking in the right direction when I saw a covey of quail flush. Vince said Allie had been on point where they got up. Most of these birds flew off the place we were hunting and crossed a road.

Mann in the back honoring and Maggie, Vince’s English cocker spaniel in front.

Allie pointed near the pond but when we got close she moved on. Sally was in the heavy cover and pointed into a little brush pile with Mann and Boss honoring. I took some pictures but when we went in front of her nothing flushed. I released the dogs and they all trailed for a while then went on.

On the other side of the trucks was a CRP patch. We started into it and Sally pointed about 20 yards in. When we got there nothing flushed but there were a bunch of quail roosts that we saw later. The CRP patch was surrounded by harvested soybean fields. When we got 3 or 400 yards into it I decided to go back and bring my truck around to the end so we wouldn’t have to just walk back. I carry my e-collar handheld and GPS handheld on my belt where they are handy and the GPS is quick to check. I unbuckled my belt and gave Vince my handheld so he could keep track of my dogs while I went back.

I didn’t re-buckle my belt until I got to the truck. When I got close to where Steve and Vince were they were walking back and forth, with all of the dogs close, near some small trees in the CRP. I got my gun and walked out to where they were. Vince had hit a pheasant really hard but they couldn’t find it. He thought it was dead in the air and my 3 dogs had run to where it fell but we never found the rooster.

Mann in full stride.

I went back to the truck and followed them to the end. We loaded the dogs and I started back to Steve’s truck. On the way I noticed that my transmitter for my e-collars was missing. It had been on my belt and I had not fastened the belt right away. I just knew it was in the tall CRP where I had give the GPS handheld to Vince. I did drive close to where I had walked out of the CRP but didn’t see it.

When we got back to Steve’s truck I walked as near as I could remember right where I had walked out. I got into the CRP and all I could find were quail roosts. There were a lot. Vince and Steve came to help. In 10 or 15 acres of head high CRP it’s hard to tell where you walked maybe 45 minutes before.

I gave up and was walking back to the truck with Steve. I was talking when Steve said, “Look right there”. My transmitter was lying in the harvested soybean field in plain sight. I had already given up. Without Steve seeing it the transmitter would probably still be there.

Mann just hunting.

The Lord has always taken care of me and this was just one more time. Thank you Steve and thank you Lord.

We had moved 5 coveys of quail and at least one rooster pheasant and were going home with 1 quail. I had not fired a shot. But we counted it as a successful day. We had got a lot of dog work and that’s what it’s about.

To go to Kansas to hunt I have to cross Kansas City metropolitan area. Usually, I either leave real early before the rush hour starts or later when it winds down. On this morning I left about 7:50 am, thinking the rush hour would be over. This would normally put me at the meeting place with Don and Linda Hansen by 9:30. No problem. On this day I made it to the meeting place at 10:40. At least an hour later than I should have been.

Sally on point, Mann closest to the camera, Bodie next to Sally and Abby in the back.

Mann honoring Sally after I had walked by him.

Abby honoring Sally.

Back in the old days Don would have thought I overslept, backed out or something. But with cell phones I could let him know so he and Linda had a good breakfast and were ready to go when I got there.

Rifle deer season was open, so we had to be careful where we turned out. I usually drive around the properties before I turn dogs out anyway but during deer season we wanted to make sure no one else was hunting the same places we were.

Don and I had hunted this place last year and there were a couple of coveys on it. Don had Goofy and Tigger, his pointers, and I had Abby, Bodie, Mann and Sally. With 6 dogs hunting we covered most of the place without seeing a quail. By the time we got here we may have been following someone else. We did see some shotgun hulls that looked pretty fresh. We loaded the dogs and went to another place.

We stopped at a place that was about 60 acres that our dogs could hunt with very little walking from us. There was a good hedge row on one side and wide fence row on two sides with cover. We turned our dogs loose and just made a short walk as they circled the harvested soybean field. We loaded them and went to another place.

The third place was a long hedge row, maybe a half mile, to another heavy fence row that ran to the south. On the south was a draw that ran back to the road we parked on. We turned all of our dogs loose and started down the hedge row to the west. This was good for Bodie. There were a lot of meadow larks in the soybean stubble that he could chase. This also teaches him he can’t catch the birds, I hope.

When the GPS vibrated it showed Mann and Sally on point where the hedge row hit the fence row that ran south. One of them was at 499 yards and the other at 492. When I was young I would have ran but I don’t run any more. The ground was really flat and I could see a white dog, either Mann or Sally, on point along the fence row. When we got within about a hundred yards I saw the dog moving to the south down the fence row. I don’t know if one of the other dogs ran through the birds, one of the pointing dogs moved or the birds just didn’t hold. Either way the birds flushed before we got there.

Sally pointing Bodie honoring.

We followed to the south down the fence row. As we got near the end of the fence row there was a good strip of woods going east toward the road we were parked on. Just before we got to the woods, in a strip of tall CRP, Goofy went on point. The other dogs honored. Goofy was surprised when nothing flushed in front of him. All of the dogs trailed but we didn’t come up with anything.

In just a few minutes Sally was on point in the woods about a 150 yards from us. The tall CRP was tough to get through but that was the way we had to go. We got within about 40 yards of her and she was moving. We may have found a covey that doesn’t want to hold, today. We hunted back to the truck, loaded dogs and headed home. I didn’t want to get caught in the rush hour traffic, again, ever.

Friday, December 9, I decided late to go hunting. I knew I needed to walk and I may as well follow the dogs. I had run into some hunters hunting one side of a Missouri Conservation Area earlier this year. I still wanted to check it out so that’s where I headed. I drove around the area when I got there and I had the whole place to myself.

Sally pointing a raccoon.

Boss is still on light duty from a cut front leg so I had the other 4 dogs, Abby, Bodie, Mann and Sally with me. I put the GPS and e-collars on them and turned them loose. Whoever is farming this did a good job. They left 6 or more rows of soybeans next to the cover. This should be a big help to all of the birds and animals in the area.

We checked a little of the side of the road I was parked on then crossed the road. There is an area just across a soybean field where there is about 5 acres of grass, trees and brush with a pond on one side. I’ve found quail in this spot several times but not this time. We went on toward the back. Usually, there is some row crops along the back but this year it was just grown up in weeds with a lot of foxtail.

I walked along side this fallow field until the GPS vibrated. Sally was on point, away from the fallow field, inside the edge of some woods. By the time I got close Abby and Bodie were honoring. I took some pictures but it was too tight for me to get in front of Sally. She was pointing into a brush pile and I got where I could shoot and said, “okay” to her. She went into the brush pile and I heard a raccoon growl. I called Sally and told her “no”, loudly.

Bodie honoring Sally on her raccoon.

She came away but Bodie and Abbie were still interested. I hit the tone on Bodie’s e-collar and he came to me. I called Abbie a couple of times then hit her tone. We got away from the raccoon with no dog damage. I crossed the fallow field to walk along a large draw then back toward the truck.

Just across from where the truck was parked was a harvested soybean field with a draw full of trees and grass. I’ve found singles from coveys in it before but this time as Sally got to the south end of it she pointed. When I came around the corner I saw Mann, honoring, before I could see Sally. She was another 35 yards in front of Mann with Bodie close to her, honoring. Abbie had honored from about 20 yards behind Sally.

I passed Mann and turned around and got another picture of him from the front. I took more pictures then started in front of Sally and heard a covey flush on the other side of several big cedar trees. I never saw a bird but that’s what happens when you hunt alone. Escaping is serious business for the quail.

Abby honoring on the raccoon.

I knew the birds weren’t on the side I was on so we crossed the road. We hunted all of the available cover without finding any of the covey. But that’s the usual. Even when you see the covey fly off, often times, the quail singles are hard to find. We went south down the edge of the road for about a half mile then checked on the other side of a soybean field without finding any of the covey.

Most, maybe all, of the pictures I will use in this post was from this hunt on a Missouri Conservation Area. I really don’t need to shoot quail. The pictures will last a long time but a dead bird is gone when you eat them. Quail are too valuable to shoot.

Vince Dye and I went to northern Missouri to meet our friend Steve Long for a quail hunt on a farm where Steve works. This farm is several thousand acres of row crops and CRP. I followed Steve into the farm, across a harvested soybean field, for about a half mile. Where we parked was an area that if you could see it from the road you would think, “I would love to hunt that”.

Sally. The good ones always have a bloody tail.

Mann in the tall CRP.

Mann in the CRP.

Vince had brought his two dogs, Maggie the English cocker spaniel and Allie his GSP. Boss cut his leg and is on recuperation leave. I had Bodie, Abby, Sally and Mann. We turned them all out and started along a draw. At the end of the draw we went back up another draw to a pond. I was glad to find a good place to water the dogs but as dry as it’s been quail should be staying close to the ponds too.

Steve and I went along the side of the pond while Vince went to the north checking on Allie. Sally went on point with Abby backing. Steve started in front of her and we heard a quail flush above the pond but never saw it. A little farther another quail flushed through the brush without giving either of us a shot. Then a third quail flushed and this one tried to cross the harvested soybean field. I dropped it in the field and Sally made the retrieve. I fed her the quail head.

We checked around the pond then went across the field to where Vince was. There was some CRP beside the soybean field that all of the dogs were checking. Sally pointed and as we walked in a single quail flushed. Vince and I both shot about the same time and the quail was driven forward from the shot. Maggie made quick work of the retrieve.

We went through the CRP a second time and got a couple more quail up. The dogs worked it hard but had to be almost on top of the quail to point in the heavy CRP. I think this covey was in the harvested soybean field, feeding, when the dogs came around the edge. The birds flushed, some going around the pond and some into the CRP.

We worked the CRP back and forth then went back to our trucks and drove farther into the farm. It was a warm morning and the heavy CRP had wore Bodie and Abbie out. I left them in the truck. The next area had a creek running through the bottom with brush and trees along the creek surrounded by CRP. As we went along the side of a hill in the CRP we saw Sallie go on point near the creek. We started to her but were still over a hundred yards from her when we saw her throw her head in the air and go toward some far off CRP. The birds hadn’t held.

Sally on a covey.

We had seen Allie get really birdy in this area too so we kept going to the creek. As we stood watching the dogs work the GPS showed Sallie on point across the creek. Mann and Allie honored. All 3 of us were separated by a few yards but Steve had a better place to cross the creek. Vince and I stayed on the side we were on. When Steve got across the creek a huge covey of quail flushed. Vince was a little higher than I was and Steve was lower on the other side. I had to wait until the birds got some altitude before I could shoot. I got on one and just as I pulled the trigger it went behind a big tree. But I did hit the tree, hard.

Vince missed also and Steve didn’t have a shot. So out of the biggest bunch of quail I have seen this year we got nothing on the covey rise. We thought the birds had scattered out along a hillside of CRP. We started around the edge of CRP, along the creek. Maggie flushed a quail in front of Vince that he hit really hard but it didn’t drop. We went in the direction the quail had flown but we never found it.

Mann on a single.

We came back through the CRP and Sally pointed a single. It was up and over the hill in a hurry with a shot from Vince to move it along. I thought it was hit but we didn’t find it. As Vince shot another flushed and I made a lucky shot. Sally retrieved it and only charged me one quail head. At home when she retrieves something I give her a treat so I will feed her the quail heads.

We found several more quail in the CRP. The dogs did a good job, the shooters not so well. But for the most part, I just want the dogs to find birds. The dogs work really hard and some days they don’t even see one. This had been a good day. A lot of dog work and we had 5 quail which were enough for Steve a good meal.

Mann in the CRP.

Yesterday morning I decided I needed to walk so I might as well follow my dogs. Boss is still on light duty so I left him home but took the rest. Abby, Bodie, Mann and Sally. I went to a Missouri Conservation Area. It seems like this area is going down hill each year. Several years ago I hunted this area and was able to find several coveys. Last year I only found 2 coveys. But I keep hoping it will get good again.

Some years I run dogs on this area before the season opens but it was too hot this preseason. I went to the west side and turned all 4 dogs loose. This year whoever farmed this actually left a few rows next to the cover. The last few years there was some left but this is much better.

The highest temperature I saw on the truck thermometer was 29 degrees. There was a north wind but before the day was over it had changed to the south. But the weather was about perfect.

I’m not sure which dog this is.

I walked most of the west side, especially where I had found birds in the past without seeing a quail. I did have one point. Sally was about 200 yards ahead of me when she pointed near the harvested soybean field. There was an area of big woods that grew right to some open CRP looking cover. By the time I got close the GPS showed Mann, Abby and Bodie were honoring. I got within about 30 yards of Sally when I saw Bodie and he looked good. I wanted a picture but I had a bunch of thorn bushes that I needed to get around. Just as I got in the open they all started moving.

All 4 dogs trailed with Sally and Mann going into the woods. I think it may have been a flock of turkeys came from the woods to feed in the soybean field. They won’t hold for very long. We hunted on back to the truck. I had walked 4 miles according to the GPS in a place where just a few years ago I saw 3 coveys of quail without seeing a bird. I loaded the dogs and drove to the east side.

When I got to the east side there were guys just suiting up and turning dogs out. It’s big enough for more than one party of hunters but I don’t like to turn out close to other guys or have other guys turn out close to me. I decided to drive to another Conservation area.

Bodie with a nose full of quail scent.

The temperature had stayed near 30 degrees all day. Just about perfect for the dogs and for me. It has been several years since I had hunted this area. There were a few deer hunters and at least 2 bunches of bird hunters but this is a big place. I turned all 4 dogs loose.

Some of the grass in the grassy areas on this place are head high. There are a few trails where the farmers drove the grain trucks and a few service roads. This area was really good for Bodie who doesn’t have much experience. He’s 17 months old but he broke his leg about a year ago. He missed all of the season last year. This is his first year of running with the other dogs.

I came around a corner of one of the roads to see Bodie just a short distance ahead of me on point. He was pointing into a thicket of small saplings and black berry vines. When I got closer some little stink birds flew. He was excited. But this is the way they learn. Then he started going from clump of brush to the next because they smelled good. Most of them had the little birds in them. Check enough of them and there will be a covey of quail in one.

Abby

We continued on. Just shortly after this the GPS showed Sally on point just about 90 yards from me. It’s almost never that close. I shouldn’t have been too excited about the close distance. Before I got to her I got into a big area, maybe two acre circle, of black berry vines. I got within 25 feet of Sally, according to the GPS, without being able to see her. A rooster pheasant flushed about 35 yards away and was too far to shoot at by the time I got on him.

After I fought my way in there I had to get out. Sally wanted me to break a trail for her but gave up on me in a short time. Some of these black berry vines were above my head. Just as one hit me in the face I kicked the lower end of it by taking a step. It was against my lip and my chin. The reason I know this is, that’s where the blood started flowing from.

We worked on around the soybean field going through the CRP. I saw a lot of deer in the CRP and the dogs may have seen more than me. As I started back to the truck Bodie was going the opposite direction. He may have been chasing a deer. Most of the dogs leave them alone but I’ve never seen him close to one. Each time I called him he seemed to go the wrong direction.

Boss backing Sally.

When I got to the truck he was over half a mile away. I drove the road to see if I could get closer but it seemed like if I went one way he went the other. When I drove the road he was 900 yards north. As I went north on a farm road he was 800 yards east. I turned around and went back to the main road. Then he was over 800 yards north. I went back to the farm road and drove in about half a mile then turned east on the road.

About a quarter of mile east I came to an area I didn’t want to cross and Bodie was about 250 yards from me. I stopped the truck and went toward him, calling. Finally, he came to me but was unconcerned. He went right on by me and continued hunting. Before we got to the truck I had to whoa him once when he was getting to far away. I led him to the truck and loaded him.

Bodie working on the backing dog.

I was happy to have him back. Sometimes young dogs will lie down when they get tired. It was getting late and if he laid down I could find him with the GPS on him but I might have to walk 8 or 900 yards each way. The way it worked out was the best way. I had my dog back. It had been a good day.

I was sitting around Saturday morning with nothing to do. Usually, I don’t hunt on the weekends. Since I’m retired I leave the weekends to the working guys. It’s not a hard fast rule just something I usually do. Vince Dye called about 9:00 am to see if I wanted to go hunting. He has some private land to hunt on in northern Missouri so it wouldn’t be getting in any working guys way, so I said sure.

Mann in the back honoring and Maggie, Vince’s English cocker spaniel in front.

Sally honoring Boss.

Allie, Vince’s GSP.

It was 11:00 am before I got to Vince’s house and was after 1:00 pm by the time we got to the property we were going to hunt. As we turned dogs out, Vince’s two, Allie and Maggie, and my five, Abby, Boss, Bodie, Mann and Sally, we felt blessed to be alive and able to do what we love.

We had parked in a CRP field that bordered a harvested soybean field. Part of the CRP had been mowed leaving sapling stubs. I sometimes wonder how the dogs go through this as well as the stubble of the harvested soybeans without cutting their feet. But they are tough. They run full tilt and almost never have a problem.

When we got to the fence row bordering the soybean field Vince said the last few times a covey had been in a small draw that ran into the soybean field. I watched Sally run the small draw and round the end. She was on the side with the wind blowing across to her. When I checked the GPS I had failed to turn her collar on. I crossed the fence and started down the other side opposite of where Sally had run. Vince was on the other side. In just a few minutes he yelled, “Sally is on point just about 70 yards in front of me.”

I’ve been working Bodie on whoa and honoring. I worked him several times with a mechanical dog and a couple of times with real dogs in the backyard. This was the first time on a real hunt to see if all the work would pay off.

I couldn’t see any of the dogs as that side was lower than the side I was on and the brush on the draw hid them. I heard Vince whoaing Bodie and Maggie. Later Vince said all of the dogs were honoring. When the covey flushed they went down the draw through the brush. One bird came out my side about 40 yards ahead of me. Vince also got one long shot but neither of us connected.

We went on down the draw. Another quail flushed ahead of us flying back, out in the soybean field. It was a long shot but dropped into the soybean stubble. I got Sally to hunt dead although I could see it lying in the field. She scooped it up and when she gave it to me I gave her the head. Just a treat for a job well done.

Bodie pointing right beside the road where the quail had paused earlier.

We came back up and followed the fence row to the west. Vince’s dog, Allie was off to the south west so we separated and I went along the fence to the north as Vince went to Allie. In just a few minutes the GPS showed Boss on point about 270 yards ahead of me. By the time I got close Sally, Abby and Mann were honoring. Then Bodie came across the CRP and saw either Boss or one of the other dogs and honored too.

By the time Bodie got there I had taken a picture of the other dogs and put the camera away. I didn’t get his picture that time. When I got to Boss there was a little pile of brush where the fence turned, right in front of him. As I started to the brush pile I heard a single go out the other side. I kicked the pile and another single ran through the small brush pile, came out the other side about 2 feet off the ground making almost no noise. The quail flew right beside Sally’s head. She turned and followed for a few feet. Can’t shoot at low flying birds.

Bodie with a nose full of quail scent.

I had told Vince that if he didn’t get with me I would meet him at the truck. I was close to the truck when I heard Vince shoot. Later he told me Allie had pointed a single and Maggie had retrieved the dead bird. Abby and Bodie have more hair than the other dogs and were getting hot so I put them in their box, on the truck, and just kept Boss, Sally and Mann out.

We went back to the fence row and took it to the east. There were several draws running into the CRP and the GPS showed Sally on point about a hundred yards off the fence row. By the time we got to them Mann was honoring from behind her and Boss was down in the draw backing. Vince made Maggie whoa. I got a picture of them all and Vince started in front of Sally. He was 10 yards or so in front of Sally when Maggie decided that she needed to flush the birds. When Maggie started in front of Sally, Sally thought, “no way. If anyone is going to flush my birds, it will be me”. Sally beat Maggie to the covey but not by much. We never got a shot.

Vince going in to flush.

It looked like some of these birds stayed on our side of the road. We worked toward where the singles had flown. Mann decided to cross the road, where we didn’t have permission to hunt. He was on point about 200 yards from me. I started to him. To cross the fence it was easier to go back to where we had parked and go through the gate. When I crossed the road Sally and Boss crossed with me. Just before I got to Mann, Boss came around and honored. I saw him first then I found Mann. When I kicked in front of Mann he was surprised nothing flushed. I released him and they all 3 hunted the available cover without coming up with anything.

I started back across the road. When we got to the truck Vince was close and we watered the dogs and went back through the area where the singles had flown. I went down one side of the short draw and Vince the other. I heard a quail flush then two shots. Then Vince said, “That bird fell up near the road”. He went on after it. I think it may have been a quail with a bad heart and he had scared it with his shots. He came back in a few minutes with his bird. Maggie had found it for him.

Vince kicking the birds up.

We made a big circle around the soybean field and Vince wanted to hunt along the bottom to the west. I told him I would hunt to the truck then drive around to pick him up. As I went back to the truck I went up the draw where Sally had pointed our first covey. With no dogs close I heard a quail flush out of the draw but never saw it. When I got back to the truck I watered the dogs, took their e-collars and GPS collars off and put them in their boxes. It was late in the day, not enough daylight to hunt another place. I drove around and Vince loaded his dogs.

As we were driving home we saw a covey of quail along the road. Vince asked if I wanted to work Bodie on them. He had permission to hunt the side the birds were on. I knew it was a good idea but a lot of times I have never been able to find the birds when I’ve seen them along the road. But then I thought we have the time and maybe we will find them.

I didn’t take time to put the e-collars or GPS on Bodie. I just opened the box and turned him loose. Vince grabbed his gun and I got the camera out. Bodie hit the scent in the dirt road and followed it into the weeds along the fence row. Where we had seen the birds mill around a few seconds, Bodie pointed. I knew the birds weren’t right there so I took a picture, went to him and stroked his sides then tapped his head. He went to the fence then down it for about 35 yards. He was really moving and wheeled into a point.

Boss pointing a single.

I took a couple of pictures then Vince started in front of him. We’ve worked him on some chukars and he’s let us get in front to flush the bird but wild quail are, probably, more exciting. I took more pictures as Vince went in front. Bodie let him get in front and kick the birds up. Bodie never moved until the birds flushed.

All of the quail flushed and flew out the other side and Vince never got a shot but that’s okay. Bodie got to make his first point on a wild covey of quail. And he had honored Boss from about 40 yards so today was a good day for him. And for me.