Traveling Pointing Dogs

On December 3, Don Hansen and I went on a Kansas quail hunt near Emporia, Kansas. I’ve only known Don a couple of years. I had an L.C. Smith 16 gauge double that needed some work and after asking some friends, Don was highly recommended. Since then he has worked on a Browning over and under and an AYA double for me. We have become friends and I value his advice on guns and shooting as well as his friendship.

Don has hunted in this area over the years and after comparing notes we found that a lot of the properties we hunted were the same. That speaks well of the Kansas walk-in hunting and the ability of quail to withstand the pressure of all that nature throws at them as well as being hunted.

At the first farm, Don turned out his pointer, Kate and I used Luke and Blaze. We circled a harvested soy bean field, down a hedge row then through a brushy creek area and into another soy bean field on the other side. Don’s pointer was on point standing in the edge of the bean field looking into a hedge row. Blaze backed. Don went around to the other side of the hedge row and I went in front of Kate. Nothing flushed.

We moved on to the south through a brushy area. My phone rang just as we were coming out of the brushy area into some CRP. When I answered it a quail flushed at my feet. There I stood with my phone in one hand and my gun in the other. I carry my phone because I hunt alone most of the time and if I have a problem I can call for help. As we stood there discussing this with all 3 dogs off to our right quail started getting up on our left in twos and threes. These quail were 40 to 50 yards from the dogs or us. We think this was the birds that Kate had pointed. They evidently, ran out and flushed without anyone seeing or hearing them.

As we worked our way through the CRP in the direction that the birds had flown, we would occasionally see a bird in the air. Most of the time no dog or person was even close. We worked our way through the CRP in the direction of the truck. Kate again went on point with Blaze backing. When we went in to flush the bird had run about 25 yards ahead then flushed. Don shot but as fast as wild quail are it was probably out of range.

We started in earnest for the truck. As we walked along I checked my Garmin GPS and it showed Luke on point 75 yards to the south. When we finally located him in the CRP, Blaze and Kate honored. We walked in and a single flushed and I knocked it down. Blaze ran out, picked it up and delivered it to hand.

Blaze on point

We let the dogs work the area and it was not long before Luke was on point again and again Blaze and Kate backed. When Don and I walked in the bird got up and circled behind Don then behind me. I was between Don and the quail and I made a lucky shot and it dropped. The dogs didn’t see it fall so we got all three in to hunt dead. Finally Blaze pointed, then moved in to pick the bird up. I was right beside her so she dropped it in my hand.

The next farm we hunted had had the milo harvested since I had been there. Earlier I had found 2 coveys of quail here and now with the milo harvested I was expecting to find more. Out of the two coveys I had only killed 2 birds so I wasn’t really hurting them.

I turned Lucky and Whitey loose and Don put Kate out again. We went south down a creek that had quite a bit of brush and trees growing in it. Farther down it went into a waterway that was 100 yards wide in places. The grass hadn’t been mowed this year so it was real tall. We hunted through the grass to a hedge row on the west side. The hedge row ran north then turned back to the east. We had just turned east when my phone rang again. When I answered a turkey flushed about ten yards away. In the fall, in Kansas, you can hunt turkeys with dogs. With my phone in one hand and my gun in the other all I could do was yell, “shoot, shoot.”

I was between Don and the turkey. By the time he moved around me the turkey was too far. This phone thing might be a pattern. If I could get more people to call me I might see more birds.

We hunted through some CRP, hedge rows and along a creek without seeing any quail. Lucky got lost from us. I’m glad I had the GPS on him. When I went looking for him the GPS said he was 799 yards away. Sometimes when you call your dog your voice echoes and they don’t know which direction to go. So I started walking. As I got closer I could tell by the GPS that he was running back and forth in one area trying to figure out where I was. Finally when I got within about 200 yards he started towards me. We both were happy to find each other. Without the GPS that could have been much worse.

The third farm we hunted was mainly pasture that had not been grazed very much. There was some clumps of trees and a few plum thickets. As we made a big circle through this we saw some quail roosts but we didn’t find any birds. When we got back close to the truck I checked the GPS and it showed Luke on point about 200 yards away. He had went past the truck, crossed a road into some CRP that we were not going to hunt although it was in the walk-in program.

When I came past the truck, I was tired and I really wanted to drive that 200 yards to where Luke was on point but I didn’t. We got within about 35 yards of Luke and we saw the birds in the air. I asked Don if he thought Luke flushed them and he said “no. If he had of flushed them he would have been chasing them when they flew.” We had seen Luke shortly after seeing the birds and he was not excited, he was trailing trying to figure out where the birds went.

We crossed the road again looking for the singles. The dogs checked the available cover real well and finally Kate pointed in some real thick brush. When the bird flushed I was behind Don and had a good view of the action. Just before he caught up with the bird his gun barrel hit a tree. By the time he got his gun past the tree the bird was behind some more brush.

We had walked a long way, saw 2 coveys of quail and a turkey. Had only killed 2 quail but we had quite a bit of dog work. Only 3 quail actually held for the dogs point all day. The only explanation I can come up with is that a storm was supposed to hit that night and the quail weren’t holding because of the changing weather conditions. But that is the way it is nowadays on a Kansas quail hunt.

November 22 I again hunted near Emporia, Kansas but this time I stayed east of Emporia and south of I-35. The first place I hunted was a soybean stubble field with 2 good fence rows and a creek running through the middle. I had hunted this property last year without success but the year before there was a covey of quail deep in the brush along the creek.

As usual on a Kansas quail hunt the wind was blowing real hard from the north as I turned Lucky, Luke and Annie loose. Luke and Annie started down the creek as Lucky and I started down a fence row. About 50 yards down the fence I saw a covey of quail in the air. I don’t know whether Lucky ran through them or they flushed ahead of him but we were going with the wind so he probably got them up.

I called Luke back to help find them and we searched for about ten minutes without any luck. We hunted south down the fence row to the corner and started west. It was a cold morning and the dogs were showing their pleasure by really running. When I checked the Garmin GPS even Annie, at 5 months old, was out over 200 yards.

Later I checked the GPS and it showed Luke on point 300 yards ahead but along the creek.
When I finally found Luke, he was standing at the creek bank with his head up and his tail at twelve o’clock. What a sight. I was no longer cold. When I went in front of him the birds got up in the thick brush without giving me a shot. Two coveys and not a shot fired.

I got the dogs in to search for the birds in some cover along the side of the creek. Lucky went on point with Luke backing. When I walked in a quail flushed behind a tree, again without giving me a shot. A few minutes later Luke was on point looking into a cedar tree with Lucky backing. (Luke didn’t look as good on point as he did earlier but I remembered to take a picture, this time.) The quail came out the other side of the cedar tree. I heard it but never saw it.

We worked our way back up the creek to near where the first covey had gone down. Lucky went on point along a pond dam. When I went in front of him a covey of about 12 birds got up at my feet and gave me my first shots of the day. I knocked 2 quail down. Lucky retrieved the first bird from a tangle of weeds below the pond. I picked up the second from the fence row where it was lying on its back. I had shot 3 times and connected on 2.

I saw Luke go on point in some brush in the direction the singles had gone. When I went in front nothing flushed. I released Luke and he trailed for about 30 yards and went on point again. When I went in front of him this time 3 quail flushed. One flew straight away giving me a perfect shot, wide open. I missed. Twice.

Luke on point. I missed perfect shot. Twice

We worked the area but didn’t find any more singles.

The next place we hunted had good fence rows on the east and west with a nice draw across the back. It was also a harvested soy bean field. As I went down the fence row with the wind at my back, I kept looking at the draw thinking maybe I could get out of the wind if I would get on the south side of the draw. It helped some but not much. The temperature was in the teens but the wind chill was way down.

I had turned Dolly, Whitey and Blaze out. At least they were enjoying the weather. When we got to the west side of the draw there were several dozer piles where the owner had been clearing some of the draw. I checked the GPS and it showed Whitey on point. When I checked the distance it said “near”. As I looked for her I took a step and a covey flushed. Most of them stayed behind the dozer pile where I couldn’t see them but one bird came back over me. At my shot it folded. When I got to where it had fallen, I picked it up. Blaze came by and I threw it for her and she retrieved it.

We worked some CRP for the singles without finding anything. Then we started into the north wind working the fence row. It seems warmer when you get into birds. The dozer piles were several years old and this farm had not been mowed in quite awhile. There were several large thickets growing along this fence row. Soon Dolly was on point deep inside one of the thickets with Blaze and Whitey backing. Whitey has been backing with style but Blaze has just been stopping. She wouldn’t move but she had no style. This time she was only about 3 yards behind Dolly and she was backing with style. Either, she was getting the smell of the bird or she’s finally figured it out. Time will tell, but that’s the way they learn. The only thing I could do was crawl in, flush the bird and say good girls. I had no shot.

Dolly made 2 more points in thickets without a shot from me. We worked our way back to the truck without finding anything else.

The next farm had a long hedge row beside a wheat field that had soy beans planted after the wheat was harvested. They had also picked the beans. I turned Luke, Lucky and Annie out. We worked our way down the hedge row about 3/4 of a mile. The dogs poached a little by running the CRP next to the hedge row, that was off the walk-in property. The dogs had run almost to the road on the other end without finding anything so we returned to the truck.

We had found 3 coveys and had a lot of dog work. I had only killed 3 birds but I was satisfied.