Traveling Pointing Dogs

It’s with a heavy heart that I must relate these hunts. I have to report that, with a lot of other things that I have lost with getting older, I miss being able to shoot most of all. In the past I had short periods of brilliance surrounded by long periods of mediocrity. Now it’s less than mediocrity. I do think it was brilliant that I figured this out.

Sally buried in the weeds.

Don Hansen’s pointer Goofy.

Abby in Kansas.

I met Don and Linda Hansen at a walk-in property in central Kansas. Don turned his young pointer Goofy loose and I turned Abby, Sally and Mann out. We went around a large soybean field in the CRP that was next to it. We had some really birdy dogs in an area but whatever it was didn’t stick around for us. All of the dogs trailed for a while but never came up with anything.

When we got back close to the trucks we loaded dogs and drove to the other end to work into the south wind. When we hunt, it really doesn’t matter where we park, we wind up walking all of the place. We wound up almost to where we had been when we parked on the south end then started back toward the trucks.

We were within two hundred yards of the truck when Sally went on point. Don and I had been talking about where we were going from here and as we started on I noticed Sally on point. I don’t know how long she had been on point. Sally was looking into a large thicket.

When we walked in a large covey of quail flushed. I had two quail flying almost straight away from me in the clear. I missed with the first shot then promptly missed with the second barrel. I heard Don shoot at least once. Long story short we didn’t have to call in the dogs to hunt dead.

We went in the direction the singles had gone. The GPS handheld vibrated showing Mann on point just 42 yards ahead of us. As we started to him Goofy pointed between us and Mann. We went to Goofy. Abby came in and honored. A single quail flushed then about 6 more that were spread out flushed. I managed to miss with both barrels. Don wasn’t successful either. Mann’s bird had flushed with the others. We worked the area looking for more singles with no luck.

We loaded the dogs and went to another walk-in property. The next property was on both sides of the road and we heard what we thought were combines working on the east side. A couple of times I’ve had really good hunts close to where combines were working. We went toward the east side.

Vince and his short hair, Ally.

Sally and Mann went to the west. I checked and it showed they were 700+ yards down the hedge row to the west. I hit the tone button on their e-collars to call them back. Mann turned and started to me. Sally kept going. I hit the tone and then give her a little electricity. Just a medium 2. A few seconds later I checked to see if she was coming back. Nope. It showed her on point at 820 yards. I told Don she was pouting because I gave her a little shock. We went on to the east.

Pretty soon Sally was back by the truck and I called her to me. We went on to the east. What I thought was combines were people working, building terraces. We made a circle then went to the west.

We were going down the same hedge row that Mann and Sally had run down earlier. Mann went to the end of the hedge row then to the south along the fence row and started east on the fence row to the south. About 50 yards down the fence row he went on point. We were about 250 yards across a harvested soybean field from him. Don and I started to him.

Sally honoring Ally.

Before we got to him he started moving and the other dogs were real birdy in the area, too. We went to the east along the fence row. As we went through some CRP next to the soybean field I saw Abby go on point in the tall weeds. After a few steps I saw that she was honoring Sally who was buried in the weeds, on point.

Since I had been shooting so bad I told Don to kill the bird. He said, “lets both shoot”. I circled around into the edge of the fence row to run the bird out to Don. A single bird flushed. In the clear open ground Don and I both missed. Well Don knocked a bunch of feathers out of the bird but it kept going.

I don’t know if this was a bird out of a covey that Mann had been pointing that flushed before we got to him or whether Sally had a covey when she was over here earlier but we saw two singles with one of them not giving us a shot. When we got back to the truck, I headed home.

Abby honoring Sally who is honoring Ally.

A few days later Vince Dye and I went to a Missouri Conservation area. Vince had his English cocker spaniel, Maggie and his German short hair, Ally. I had brought Mann, Sally and Abby. We started into an area that Vince had found birds a few days before. We were going into a south wind of just a few miles per hour.

About a half mile from the truck I heard Vince shoot. We were a little way apart and I saw two quail fly away from him. He said he had walked them up. We followed the birds. About a hundred yards on down a single bird flushed in front of Vince and went down when he shot. Maggie raced out, picked it up and dropped it into his hand. We checked the area without finding any others.

We went back to the west and then Vince got to thinking about where he had found some singles the day before when he was there. We circled around to the east of where he had walked up the two birds. As we went through some really thick weeds and black berry vines my GPS handheld vibrated. Mann was on point in some woods that ran into the weedy patch.

Sally

Before we got to him the GPS vibrated again and it showed Sally on point. I thought she was honoring Mann but when we got close she was on point, too. Before we got to them the birds started flushing. The covey was spread out in a large area and we weren’t close enough for a shot.

This must have been the covey the first two birds that Vince had walked up, were from. When we came down the field they must have run. Vince, by chance, had cut a couple off and they flushed in front of him. We checked the area without finding any others. We hunted back to the truck, loaded the dogs and ate lunch.

We drove to another area of the same Conservation area. I left Sally in the dog box but took Mann and Abby. Vince was still running both of his dogs. We went to the east into an area I had hunted years ago but Vince had never been.

Vince and I got separated as we circled a harvested corn field. He was on one side of a hedge row and I was on the other. There was a draw that came off on his side. By the time he got part of the way around the draw I was ahead of him. I heard him shoot one time. I started back but the GPS handheld vibrated. It showed Mann on point 245 yards ahead of me. I started to Mann.

Boss pointing quail.

I got within about a hundred yards of Mann and he was moving. Then he went on point again. I continued toward him. Then he was moving again. Then he pointed about 45 yards in front of me. Finally, I got close enough to see him. He was in the edge of a small wood lot with Abby honoring. I walked in front of him and nothing flushed. I released them and they trailed for a while then went on.

Where he had been on point looked like a really good place for some turkeys. I started back toward Vince. When I got to him he said Ally had pointed in a plum thicket and the birds had flushed out the other side. He had shot but didn’t really have a shot. Two singles had flushed close to where he was at when I met him.

We started back through where the two singles had flushed from when a quail flushed right in front of me. It tried to fly over a tall tree and when I shot it dropped. I knew it wasn’t dead but it was hard hit. Although it was a long shot Vince and I both thought we would go right to the bird. We got all of the dogs in to hunt dead but we never found the quail. Usually, with Maggie, the cocker spaniel, we don’t lose many birds.

Sally pointing a quail.

We hunted through an area we thought there would be some singles with no results. When we got back to the truck we loaded the dogs and headed home.

I don’t need to kill birds to have a good hunt but I don’t like to shoot bad. And I don’t like to lose birds I have knocked down. Vince and I spent probably 20 to 30 minutes looking for the bird I had knocked down with no results.

Missouri Conservation Department have a trap and skeet range just a couple of miles from my home and I shoot a lot of skeet. I think I know what I’m doing wrong and I worked on it a little today and yesterday. May shoot again tomorrow. I may never get back to mediocre again but I’m going to try.

Missouri gun deer season was finally over the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, so Vince Dye and I hunted in north Missouri. I don’t like to expose my dogs to people that are armed with deer rifles. Shortly after Missouri deer season closes it is open in Kansas. Both states continue to have black powder and several other gun seasons but there isn’t near as many hunters as the regular gun deer season.

Boss pointing wild quail.

Sally pointing a quail.

Vince’s German short haired pointing quail.

Vince has a friend that owns a lot of land in northern Missouri and he helps him mow it each year because they are friends but he also gets permission to hunt the land. And he lets me tag along. Most of the time he hunts it after the gun deer season.

The first place we hunted Vince had seen a large covey of quail when he was mowing. We turned all of our dogs out. Vince had his short hair, Allie and his English cocker spaniel, Maggie. I had brought Sally, Mann and their son Boss.

This place was mostly CRP with a lot of lespedeza, rag weed and other grass with seeds. There was a couple of ponds for water and it looked ideal for quail. We circled the ponds, went along the edge next to a soybean field and back to near the truck without seeing a quail. We loaded the dogs and went to another place.

The next place is one of our favorite places. Most of the time we find several coveys of quail but this year the owner was required to mow, spray and burn the available cover. Because of how dry the fall was it was too dangerous to burn but the grass had been mowed and sprayed. This destroyed most of the quail cover but there was some along the row crops and the fence separating the CRP from the row crops.

The road was real muddy so we drove in, hunted one side then drove around to the other side to hunt the remainder. But on the first side, we crossed a bridge to get to an area where there was a small field with a lot of lespedeza. As we crossed the field the GPS handheld vibrated. It showed Sally on point about 200 yards to the north. We started slogging our way through the mud to get to her.

Vince saw her and I had to cross a really good 5 strand barb wire fence and a deep ditch. When I got close to Vince we started in to flush the birds. Vince said, “There they go”. About 15 doves flushed off the ground in front of her. They had held while we had walked 200 yards.

Mann buried in the thick stuff, on point.

We started on down the fence row separating the CRP from the row crops. Again the handheld vibrated and it showed Sally on point about 200 yards ahead of us. Before we got to her Mann and Boss were honoring. Sally was looking into a small low spot, that had cedars and other brush growing and run into the corn field. Vince was on one side and I was on the other.

When I walked in a covey of quail flushed about 15 yards in front of Sally inside the brush. I heard several birds but only had a glimpse of one bird. It flew above the trees and I saw it for a split second and shot behind. Vince shot at the same bird but it was out too far for him. We weren’t sure which direction the covey had flown but we went back down the fence line.

There was enough brush between Vince and me that we were about 25 yards apart. Vince yelled, “a couple of quail flushed ahead of us”. Just a second or two later I heard him shoot then, “dead bird, dead bird.” He told me later that Sally had pointed and a quail had flushed before he could even say anything.

We went back a ways then back toward where the covey had flushed from. When we got close to where the covey had flushed Boss went on point. I thought it was just the hot spot where the covey had flushed from. I took some pictures then started toward him. Vince said two quail flushed about 15 yards in front of him but deep in the brush. Neither of us were able to get a shot.

Sally on point.

We went back and forth along the fence line trying to find other singles. Mann went on point about 175 yards along another fence row. When we got close to him Sally honored. When we got near, Mann started moving and Sally moved just a few yards and went on point. Then she started trailing. Maggie and Allie went to trailing but we never came up with anything but all of the dogs knew something had been there.

We hunted back through where the covey had flushed from then down a draw that ran into the corn field, back to the river then back to the truck. We drove around to the other side of this place.

I opened the dog boxes to let the dogs out and Boss just sat inside the dog box. I left the door open and set Sally and Mann on the ground and Vince turned both of his dogs loose. I thought Boss would get jealous and follow but he stayed right there. We hit the fence row between the CRP and row crops. We followed each draw down into the corn field. When we got to the end we turned across the end then came back toward the truck along the fence row next to the road.

We had a couple of points that may have been pheasants that ran out on the dogs. When one of them would point the honoring dogs would trail like something had run along with the dog that pointed. We made it back to the truck without seeing any more quail. Boss was lying in his box. He didn’t try to get out.

Sally honoring.

The next place we hunted was one we have hunted several times before. Vince and I have hunted together for a lot of years and we talked about some of the dogs we had hunted on this place that are no longer alive. Too bad dogs can’t hunt for 25 years or more.

Boss still didn’t want to get out of his house but I drug him out. He acted like he was happy to be out. I have a dog box that is right behind the cab and this is the first time he has ridden in it. For some reason he’s not sure about getting out of it. When we got home this evening I had to drag him out. He’s never had this problem with riding in the box near the tail gate.

Vince and I started off to the north down an abandoned road with a draw right beside it. He on one side me on the other. We got together to cross a bridge over a creek. As we started to the west along a draw Vince’s Allie pointed to the north east of us. By the time we got to her Sally was honoring. When we got close Allie and Sally started trailing. We never came up with anything.

Another shot of Boss’s point.

We went on to the west and I saw Sally running like she was chasing something. I called her back and she came in front of me and went on point where there was a gap in a draw. I told Vince she was on point and it was hard for him to get to us. He told me to go ahead.

Before I got to her Mann honored. When I got to her she started trailing. Mann moved over a little way and pointed. I went to him and he started trailing. Allie came by and pointed. Then Sally was on point. With all of this we never saw a bird. Vince took one side of the draw and I took the other.

As we went down the draw there was a draw that came off the main draw on Vince’s side. I waited for him to go around. Boss had gone with Vince, Sally and Mann were with me. The draw off to the side was a lot larger than I thought. I decided I needed to go on down the main draw.

Abby pointing a pigeon.

I hadn’t gone far when I heard Vince shoot. A little later he called on his cell. Allie had pointed a covey and he had killed one and they had spread out up some short grass. He wanted me to come over there.

I started to him and the GPS handheld vibrated. Sally was on point to the west about 150 yards. I turned and went to her. By the time I got close Mann was honoring. Sally was right on the very end of the draw on point. When I got close to her a rooster pheasant came out about 25 yards in front of her and I missed with both barrels. Before I could reload another rooster flushed near me. When your gun is empty or you don’t have a gun all game birds flush really close and fly really slow.

I started toward Vince who was about a quarter of a mile from me. Before I got to him he shot another couple of times. When I caught up with him he told me that his short hair, Allie, had pointed the covey then pointed a single. The neatest thing was his English cocker spaniel had also pointed one. She has learned to honor the pointing dogs but she has evidently learned to point from them.

Boss pointing a pigeon.

A lot of years ago a friend that I hunted with had a lab that he made heel while the pointing dogs worked. When we shot quail he would send the lab to retrieve. One day when he wasn’t paying attention to the lab it went a few yards away and when he noticed him he was on point. That was a long time before I knew anything about pointing labs but he had watched the pointing dogs and learned to point. Maggie must have done the same thing.

We made several passes through where Vince thought the singles would be without finding any others. We went back toward the truck, along the draws. We were about to hit a draw to the south that would lead us back to the truck when the GPS handheld vibrated. Mann was on point about 150 yards north of us.

When I got close he was across a creek on the other bank. Sally was honoring then Boss honored. I crossed the creek and when I got in front of him I saw a single quail flush about 40 yards from him. I released him and they all started trailing. Allie had, probably, been honoring too. When I released the dogs she was right there.

Boss.

When I got back across to where Vince was we decided that this had to be a bird out of a covey that we never saw. It was real near where all of the dogs had tried to point but we had never come up with anything. We hunted on back to the truck.

It was a little after 4:00 pm and that is my self imposed quitting time. On Oklahoma state hunting land you must quit by 4:30 and I decided that if I quit by 4:00 it would give the coveys plenty of time to get back together before dark.

We had seen 2 coveys for sure and maybe 3 and only killed 4 birds. We can come back and hunt these birds again without hurting them. When I was younger it was really important for me to kill a limit and most of the time we did. Now I think quail are too valuable to kill. We need these birds to work our dogs.

I haven’t put a post on the blog for quite a while. Mainly because I screwed up and I wanted to get it worked out before I did more posts. As I get older I often find myself messing up then wondering why I did whatever. My son, Ryan, came over to help me set the concrete English setter out of my truck. We took the three dog box out of the back of the truck and set it in the yard by the drive. I started backing the truck around to set the dog on the patio and run over the corner of the dog box. I knew it was there but I hit it anyway. That isn’t my big screw up that’s just how my life is.

Boss and the backing dog.

Abby and the backing dog.

Abby honoring the backing dog.

Because I screwed up I’m not putting any names in this post but I will tell how I screwed up. I met some friends in central Kansas for a hunt. We were hunting an area that we have hunted in the past. I had only brought Sally and Mann and my friends had two dogs with them but only ran them one at a time.

The place we hunted had had row crops in the past but this year all of the places that had grain in the past were just fallow fields. When we got back in about 1/2 a mile Sally went on point about 150 yards to the east. As we started to her we saw several turkeys in the air. When we got close she was moving.

Seemed like every where we looked there was a turkey flying off. I had a turkey tag and Kansas allows fall turkey hunting with dogs. We continued on to the east. We were getting to the east edge when the GPS handheld vibrated and showed Mann on point, about 150 yards from us, along the edge.

When we got close I went to him and my friend went out front and around. Before I got to Mann I saw a quail fly from in front of him to the north off the place. We continued to him and a covey flushed well out front of him. I never saw them but my friend shot. Mann saw the bird drop and raced out, picked it up and gave it to my friend.

The covey had spread out and flown back into some heavy cover. We started toward where we thought they were. There were still an occasional turkey flushing in front of the dogs. It had been several years since we had even seen a turkey on this place.

As the dogs worked the area for singles Mann went farther than I thought but when the GPS handheld vibrated showing him on point about 175 yards from us. We went to him. When we got close I could tell the birds were a way out front of him.

Sally on point.

When I said, “okay” he looked like a cat as he eased forward just a couple of steps and repointed, with a high head and tail. He was all stretched out and was still looking a long way out front. My friend was closer to Mann and I was on his right side. I took a couple of steps and a covey of quail flushed about 20 yards in front of Mann.

I shot and a quail dropped and I missed with my second shot. My friend didn’t get a shot. Mann didn’t see the bird fall and as I walked toward the dead bird with an empty gun the dead bird flew about 6 inches off the ground. My friend started to shoot it but Mann was in the way. The dead bird only flew about 30 yards and went down. We got all 3 dogs in the area where the bird fell and never did find it.

This covey had flown off the walk-in property so we went back to the area where the first covey had flown. My friend and I were spread out a little way apart. Sally came across about 40 yards from me and as I watched her she went on point. I called my friend over. When he got there we went toward Sally and a turkey flushed right in front of her and flew my way.

Mann honoring Abby.

Kansas allows the use of dogs in fall turkey hunting and I had a tag. I had an ounce of 7 1/2 shot in my 20 gauge which was enough for a turkey at 15 yards. The way he flew his head and neck was exposed. At the shot he dropped and Sally pounced on him. I don’t think she could pick it up but he certainly wasn’t running off.

We got the young gobbler in my hunting vest and hunted our way back toward the truck. We were a long way and that turkey got heavy before we got back. I filled the tag out and taped it to the turkeys leg. Actually, at first I tried to tie it on with some dental floss that I had in the truck. The tape worked better.

We made another round on another property but it was getting too hot for the dogs. We loaded up and drove home.

I got home and took a couple of pictures of the turkey and then cleaned it. I had forgotten how much trouble they are to clean. I had already decided before I had carried this one all the way to the truck that I would never shoot another. As much trouble as they are to clean I know I will never shoot another.

Boss pointing a pigeon.

I put the picture of the turkey with my side by side, that I shot it with, on a couple of sites on Facebook. Someone came on there and said the season had ended November the tenth. They have always run it to the end of quail season but when I checked the regulations they had changed this year. I had shot the turkey, on the 17th, out of season.

I called the Game Warden in the county I shot the bird in but his phone was not working. I tried another one that was close but I got an answering machine. I didn’t want to leave a message so I called a friend that works another part of the state. He gave me a number.

I called this number and he said he would have the Game Warden that dealt with this call me. Not much later the Game Warden gave me a call. He already knew about me killing the turkey. He asked if I was going to be in his area any time soon. I told him I was planning to hunt down there today, Monday the 23rd. He said for me to bring the turkey and we would work this out.

That was on Wednesday and I wasn’t going down there until Monday. Thursday evening I called the Game Warden and told him I would bring the turkey on Friday so we could get this over with. He asked if I would be coming down to hunt. When I told him no I just wanted to get this off my back, he said, “it’s not life and death. Just wait until Monday.”

Abby pointing a pigeon.

I had to stew about this over the weekend. Finally, I drove down early this morning and met with the Game Warden. He was a nice young man and because I had basically turned myself in he just gave me a warning ticket. I had beat myself up over this enough.

I’m always telling my wife that those who don’t read are no better than those that don’t read. I never learn that everything that goes around comes around. Along with these other things my camera quit on me so I have to recycle pictures for this post. With all of this I’m living a blessed life.