Kansas Turkey Hunt, 10/15/14

Posted on October 15, 2014 by windypointsj1s@aol.com
Blaze backing Lucky

Blaze backing Lucky

Blaze pointing.

Blaze pointing.

Luke on a covey.

Luke on a covey.

It finally quit raining so I headed to Kansas to hunt turkeys. The rain has kept the farmers from harvesting their crops or at least they are later than usual. I wanted to try some new areas. Today, I tried some walk-in areas and some state land around Lake Perry.

The farm land on Lake Perry is planted in corn, soy beans and milo. A lot of the land that isn’t in row crops is in tall grass that looks like big blue stem. I was in some that was over my head. But I’m getting ahead of my story.

I drove by some walk-in properties, on the way, that had unharvested soy beans. A couple of the farms looked promising, for quail, so I circled them in my Kansas Walk-in Atlas. I have never hunted Perry Lake so I drove around looking for a place to try. There was an area that had 2 small corn fields separated by some brush filled draws. I pulled off the road into the edge of one of the corn fields. I got out the e-collars and GPS collars and turned them on. When I left the house the temperature was in thew 40’s but it had warmed up so I took my coat off and threw it in the passenger seat. I put the collars on Dolly and Tur Bo. I started around the truck to hunt but decided to change to a blaze orange hat. I went to the passenger door and it was locked. I reached into my pocket for the keys and they weren’t there.

I went around to the drivers side and it was locked, also. I had put the keys in my jacket pocket then pulled it off and left it in the passenger seat. I know I need a hide-a-key but I didn’t have one. The only thing to do was go hunting so we started around the corn field. As we went around the field I called my wife, June. I said, “how would you like to have lunch with me”? “That sounds good, she said, where are you”? I said, “when you come out be sure and bring your keys to my truck”. She repeated her, where are you question. Valley Falls, Kansas was my reply. She was a couple of hours away so I continued around the field.


When I got back to the truck I put Dolly and Tur Bo back in their boxes and put the collars on Lucky and Blaze. I had to walk down the road for about a quarter of a mile to get to the other corn field. We circled that field without finding anything. I brought those 2 back and put them in the dog box. The only one that hadn’t been out was Luke so I put the collars on him and so he didn’t have to run by his self I got Tur Bo out again. We went up the road the other way to some big blue stem. The blue stem was higher than my head. After about 200 yards I decided that it was too thick for quail. Maybe it was just too thick for me but any way we circled back to the truck and I put them back into the dog boxes.




June got there with her keys to my truck and I bought her a nice hamburger for lunch. She may have been expecting more but there aren’t many places to choose from in this area. I drove around looking for some more places to run the dogs but most of the places still had unharvested soy beans. When the soy beans are drying, as they are now, dogs running through them knocks a lot of beans off. I circled some more places in my walk-in atlas and I will come back, later. This area looks good and the quail forecast for Kansas says this area should have quail. It’s supposed to be dry for an extended period of time and maybe the farmers will be able to harvest most of these crops.



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Rainy Day Thoughts, Bird Season

Posted on October 13, 2014 by windypointsj1s@aol.com
Tur Bo

Tur Bo

Blaze

Blaze

Luke

Luke

It has rained so much lately that if God had not promised to never flood the earth again I would be starting an ark. For this region, October is in the top 4 wettest Octobers in history and it’s not even the middle of the month. The forecast is for rain today and tomorrow. Saturday was the only day, in a while, that it hasn’t rained. I had tires put on my truck and my Grandson, Isaac, had a soccer game. So I didn’t work dogs.

I will tell you what I have learned from the quail forecasts from some of the states close to me. Kansas and Oklahoma, both are reporting increases over last year. In Oklahoma, the report was on quail nests studied in the western part of the state. By the end of June they had already found and studied more nests than all of last year. A lot of the rain we have been getting has come through western Oklahoma first.

Kansas had late summer and early fall rain but the winter was pretty dry until mid May. The late May and June rains delayed the wheat harvest which allowed the bugs, that are crucial to young quail, to multiply. The late harvest, also, made for better nesting conditions. Kansas put out a detailed “Upland Bird Forecast” pamphlet that tells about each area.




Because of the prolonged drought the western side, of Kansas, though better on quail and pheasants is still down. The best areas, according to the forecast, appears to be the north central, south central and flint hills. Quail are up, in some areas, over a 100 per cent from last year. Pheasants didn’t make that much of a rebound but they are up, according to the forecast.

For pheasants, the north west part of Kansas had the highest densities. Although still down the brood survey was up 50 per cent from last year. The north central area had an increase of 76% compared to 2013. The south central showed the largest gain of any area with a summer brood survey increase of 173%. Keep in mind that the 2013 season was, for me, the worst season ever. To have an increase of 100%, if you only have 1 covey in 2013, you only need 2 coveys in 2014 to be a 100% increase.

In Iowa, the pheasant forecast was up so much that they decided that last years count had to be wrong. The spring was drier than normal and that helped the pheasants and quail. Iowa has data that says wet springs negatively affects pheasants. I have hunted Iowa but just across the line a few miles from Missouri. I don’t know much about hunting in the state. If you are interested in Iowa go on their website.

Nebraska was not as optimistic as Kansas or Iowa. They had cold wet rains in the spring that hurt the pheasants. They are projecting the same or slightly better than 2013 on pheasants but the rain came before nesting for the quail and they are up. For quail the south east and south central are best. Habitat is still the key in all of the states that I have mentioned.

This is just a little of what each states website said. If you are going to any of these states, study their websites. Each of these states have detailed maps showing the areas with increases and decreases of birds.



I have watched the bird seasons get worse and worse for a lot of years but I’m still like a Chicago Cubs fan at the start of the season. “We’ll get’em this year”. Good luck. Any day hunting is a good day.



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Training Young Dogs 10/8/14

Posted on October 8, 2014 by windypointsj1s@aol.com
Luke

Luke

Luke

Luke

A nice cool morning. When I went out to train about 8:00 am it was 52 degrees with a light wind out of the north east. I put 9 pigeons in the box on the 4-wheeler and hid birds in 2 release traps on the training grounds. I like to change things so the young dogs will be ready for anything in the field. I had enough birds to drop one pigeon by hand when the dogs point the first time.

I released Luke with the e-collars on his neck and flanks. When I got to the first quail he was on point. I took a pigeon from the box on the 4-wheeler and hid it behind my back. I took pictures (which is no small thing with the camera in one hand and a pigeon in the other) and walked in front of him. I dropped the pigeon behind me and shot the blank pistol. Luke watched the pigeon fly away but didn’t move. I continued to kick the grass and flushed the pigeon from the release trap. He didn’t move even when I shot the blank pistol. I stroked his sides, then started the 4-wheeler and released him with an okay.

He pointed the second bird and I took more pictures. I walked in front of him kicking the cover and shot the blank pistol. He didn’t move. I continued to kick the tall grass, flushed the pigeon and shot the blank pistol. He didn’t move. I continued to kick in front of him and shot the blank pistol again. He still didn’t move. I went to him, stroked his sides and tapped his head for a release. I let him run for a while before taking him back to the kennel.



Tur Bo

Tur Bo

Tur Bo

Tur Bo

I brought Tur Bo out with the e-collars on his neck and flanks and whoaed him near the 4-wheeler. I started the 4-wheeler and released him with an okay. When I got to the first bird he was on point. I got a bird from the box and hid it behind my back. I took pictures then went in front of him kicking the cover. I dropped the pigeon behind me and shot the blank pistol. Tur Bo raised his head really high but didn’t take a step. I continued to kick the tall grass then flushed the pigeon in the release trap and shot the blank pistol. He didn’t move even when I shot the blank pistol again. I went to him and stroked his sides telling him what a good boy he is. I started the 4-wheeler and released him.

He was on point on the second bird when I got to the area. I took pictures then went in front of him kicking the cover. I shot the blank pistol and he never moved. I continued to kick the cover, flushed the pigeon and shot the blank pistol. Tur Bo took 2 steps and stopped. The pigeon only flew about 15 yards to a tree and landed. I picked him up and set him back. He was still watching the pigeon in the tree and I didn’t want to release him as long as he could see the bird. I threw a stick near the pigeon and it flew away. I shot the blank pistol and he didn’t move. I stroked his sides then tapped him on the head for a release. I let him run for a while before going back to the kennel.

Blaze

Blaze

Blaze

Blaze

I put the e-collars on Blaze and heeled her out near the 4-wheeler. After whoaing her I started the 4-wheeler and released her with an okay. All 3 of these young dogs are really fast to the bird field. When I got close to the first bird she was on point. I got a bird out of the box on the 4-wheeler and hid it behind me. I took some pictures then walked in front of her kicking the cover. I dropped the pigeon behind me and shot the blank pistol. Blaze watched the pigeon fly away without moving. As she watched she saw a pigeon sitting in a tree about 20 yards from her. I kicked the cover but she didn’t turn her head away from the bird in the tree. I finally went to the bird in the tree and made it fly. I shot the blank pistol but she didn’t move. I went back close to the bird I had hidden in the release trap and flushed it. I shot the blank pistol but she never moved. Three birds and three shots with no steps taken. I went to her, stroked her sides and told her what a good girl she is. I started the 4-wheeler and released her with an okay.

She pointed the second bird and I took pictures then walked in front of her kicking the cover. I shot the blank pistol but she never moved. I continued to kick the cover and flushed the pigeon. I shot the blank pistol then shot it again. She didn’t move. I went to her, stroked her sides and released her with a tap on the head. I let her run before going back to the kennel.



These young dogs really enjoy pointing the pigeons but when they pointed wild quail they were totally different. On the pigeons their tails curl or is to one side but on the wild quail it’s ramrod straight. They are even more intense on quail than they are on pigeons. On pigeons I can flush them when I want to but the quail will not hold for me to walk around the dog to get the best picture. Usually, during the hunting season, I’m so excited about the moment that I forget to take pictures, anyway.



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Kansas Turkey Hunt 10/7/14

Posted on October 7, 2014 by windypointsj1s@aol.com
Dolly

Dolly

Lucky

Lucky

Summer is back. It was warmer this morning when I left to go to Kansas, turkey hunting. Kansas allows the hunting of turkeys, with dogs, in the fall. Some of the walk-in properties open to hunting the first of September and some aren’t open until the first of November so it’s necessary to check each property in the walk-in atlas. A lot of the farms I have hunted in the past but I have to make sure they are open to turkey hunting.

The last month we have had a lot of rain so the farmers haven’t harvested very many of the crops. Some of the corn has been harvested but not very much of the soy beans. I found an area that had corn on one side of a small draw and soy beans on the other. The corn had been combined but the soy beans hadn’t been harvested. I turned Lucky and Dolly out and started into a strong north wind. The draw ran down the corn field about 3/8 of a mile then died into a pasture.



The first time I hunted this farm, about 20 years ago, I found 2 coveys of quail in this little draw. Lucky, Dolly and I hunted down the east side of the draw to the pasture then around a large pond at the end and started back up the draw on the west side. I got to a cross fence and before crossing checked the GPS. It showed Lucky on point 15 yards away and Dolly on point 12 yards. My heart got to beating a little faster but when I saw them I could tell that they were backing each other. I crossed the fence and walked in front of them, then released both. We hunted back to the truck without seeing anything.

Luke on a covey.

Luke on a covey.

Tur Bo

Tur Bo

Blaze pointing.

Blaze pointing.

I put Lucky in the truck but before I could even close the door a truck was coming down the road. I grabbed Dolly and put her in the dog box then went back and shut the door on Lucky’s box. A farmer from down the road stopped to talk. He was a hunter, also. He hunted deer, turkeys and also had bird dogs. He said that the quail in this area was still down and that’s what the Kansas quail forecast said but last year on a farm not far from this one I found 2 coveys of quail. I had driven by it earlier and the combines were harvesting the corn so I didn’t stop. I will come back in about a week and check it.

I drove to the Effingham, Kansas area but by the time I got there it was about 75 degrees. I grabbed a soft drink and sandwich in the store in Effingham. I ate it as I drove, looking for another walk-in property that I could hunt. All of the farms I came by had standing crops or the farmers were combining on them. I finally found one that had a pasture on one side of a grove of trees and soy beans on the other. I turned Blaze, Tur Bo and Luke out but just for a few minutes. They had been in the box for about 3 hours and needed to empty out. I let them run for about 5 minutes then called them in. All three came back. I loaded Blaze and Tur Bo up then turned to get Luke and he was no where in sight. I waited a while then drove down the road looking for Luke. I turned around and went the other way without seeing him. I turned around and went back. He was running toward me when I pulled into the farm gate where I had released him.




I may be about 2 weeks early here. I hunted farther south last week and they had harvested more of their crops. It’s still a month until the season opens in Kansas for quail and pheasants but by then I should know more about where the quail are. I’m going to try to get out at least twice a week until the season opens.



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