Traveling Pointing Dogs

Last summer Vince Dye had to get rid of his bird dog. When this season got close I loaned him Bodie and he has gotten him into a lot more birds than I could have. He hunted with another couple of guys for 3 days a few weeks ago and they moved about 20 different coveys. Bodie pointed his share. When Vince asked me to go hunting with him and a friend, I jumped at the chance.

Bodie pointing a single.

Mann and Abby honoring Sally.

Sally

The place we were going to hunt was 550 acres of CRP. They had mowed some strips around it but it was still really thick. Seldom did the dogs find birds where we could walk these mowed strips. The cover was the normal CRP but there was really a lot of wheat interspersed with the normal grasses. The heads on the wheat were long and hanging down. Perfect for all of the animals, especially ground dwelling birds.

We turned the dogs loose in a mowed part and started toward the interior of the field along a wooded draw. We were about half way down the draw when we saw a covey of quail flush at the end of the draw but about 30 yards into the CRP. There may have been some dogs around them but I’m not sure. One quail came back by us and SL killed it with a long shot.

The covey had flown over a hill so we just went in the same direction. We checked most of the area then went on to the west edge then to the north. When we got to the north edge several dogs were on point. They were in the thick CRP and were hard to see. We had a lot of dogs out and several were pointing and some were backing. A big covey was spread out evidently feeding or going to feed. They flushed well out front of us in a couple of waves then I saw 2 that were probably 75 yards down the hill from us, get up. We all 3 shot but I don’t remember a bird falling.

This covey spread all over the area. We started to the east and the GPS vibrated. Mann was on point out in the tall CRP. We were having trouble finding him in the waist high CRP. According to the GPS we were 43 feet from him when two quail flushed. We didn’t even get a shot and still couldn’t see Mann until he moved when the birds flushed. Then another quail flushed and Vince knocked it down. We looked for it for a few minutes and Sally picked it up several feet from where we thought it was and delivered to me.

We continued to the east and some of the dogs crossed the road. Boss pointed, standing in a mowed strip, looking into the tall grass. A couple of dogs, Mann and Sally, honored him but when we walked in nothing flushed. A short distance away Bodie was on point. Vince and SL were blocked by a really large thicket. I saw him and started to him. Sally and Mann honored and I took pictures. I was waiting on Vince to come down but he told me he was blocked and for me to go ahead and flush the bird.

Even a Jag terrier can honor.

I started on toward Bodie and saw a little trash bird fly by close to his head. Then 2 more little birds lit in a bush right close to his head. He didn’t move. When I walked in a single quail flushed and dropped at my shot. Bodie didn’t see it fall. I got Sally in to hunt dead. She found the dead bird and dropped it in my hand.

We went on to the east and dropped south to a pond for the dogs to cool down and get a drink. Vince start around the west side of the pond and SL and I were on the east. Sally went on point south of the pond. When we got close Sally was pointing into some scattered trees below the pond. Boss and Mann were honoring. Sally was looking way into the timber. SL and I saw birds flushing way ahead of us down in the timber. When we got close to where the quail were getting up we could see why. There were leaves on the ground but no other cover for them to hide.

Boss

Most of the birds had flown south which was the way were headed. There was a draw to the east and we were going down a fence line with a lot of cover. About a quarter of a mile from where the last covey had been, Boss pointed. He was down in the thick stuff along the fence line we were following. When we got close the covey flushed flying down the fence line before coming into the open. I shot as did the other guys but we had almost no chance.

Vince was on the west and saw the direction some of these birds had flown. We started around toward them. SL had brought his young Jag terrier with him. He was recovering from a broken leg and it started bothering him. SL decided to take him back to the truck.

Vince and I went on around where he had seen the singles from the last covey fly to. Bodie went on point down along a creek in some really thick cover. Neither of us could get close to him but in a couple of minutes he started trailing and a single quail got up well ahead of him. Too far for a shot from Vince or me.

Boss pointing a covey.

We started on around and wound up back close to the pond where the covey had run away from Sally. The other time we had followed the fence row south, this time we took the draw. Vince was on one side and I was on the other. Bodie pointed on Vince’s side two or three times with the singles from one of the coveys we had moved. Each of them flew down the draw, through the trees, not even giving us a shot.

We crossed a large draw with the intention of going to the west along the draw then turning south back to the truck. We started down the draw and I checked my GPS. Boss was on point about where we had crossed the draw. We went back. We couldn’t see him. He was in chest high weeds. Just before we got to Boss two quail flushed flying through a gap in the timber. An easy shot for both of us but we managed to miss with both barrels. Vince said, “How did we miss. That was an easy shot”. But we both did.

Abby on point.

Vince and I were on the same side as we went to the west along the big draw. Bodie went on point ahead of us. When we got close a quail flushed crossing the draw with no shots. A little farther a single came out on our side and tried to fly back to the east. It was out in the open and dropped when I shot. Sally saw it fall and ran to it. She picked it up but only carried it a few feet and dropped it and laid down. I told her to fetch and she picked it up but only came a couple of steps. Usually, she’s pretty good retriever but she was hot and tired. It was like she was saying, “I’m tired. You can come a few feet”. So I walked over and picked it up.

We worked our way back to the truck. We had moved 5 coveys, killed 5 quail and had a lot of dog work. Vince said we could go to another place but I thought for me and all of the dogs had had enough. It had been a good day.

This will really be about two hunts. One in Kansas and the other in Missouri. The day after my wife got out of the hospital, I went quail hunting. Don’t feel bad for her. She line dances for exercise and she went dancing the day after she got out of the hospital. From not doing much the 8 days she was in the hospital and the two days before that we were driving to Oklahoma and back, my back started bothering me. I didn’t think it was too bad and I always think that no matter what ails me can be solved by lots of walking.

Mann

Sally

Boss

There was some snow on the ground when I got to the area I wanted to hunt in Kansas. The snow should keep the temperature down and give the ground some moisture to make scenting conditions better. I turned all 4 dogs, Sally, Abby, Boss and Mann, out. The Conservation Department are doing a lot of work on this area. Removing the trees and leaving wide grass strips between the row crop fields. This should be really good for the quail.

We had circled a couple of small fields when the GPS vibrated showing Boss on point in an area where the guys had removed some trees and the equipment hadn’t left much cover. There were a couple of small brush piles. When I got close Sally and Abby were honoring. As I came real close Boss started trailing. I could see a lot of quail tracks in the snow but I never saw a bird. When he moved Sally and Abby trailed, too.

I think these birds had flushed before Boss got there. Where they had sat left enough scent for him to point. We circled another field then started working our way toward the truck. Again, the GPS vibrated showing Boss on point. He wasn’t very far from the truck but he was only a couple hundred yards from his other point. This made a good photo op. Sally and Abby honored and before I could get to him Mann showed up to honor, also.

By the time I took the pictures Boss had let down a little. When I walked in front of him nothing flushed but again I saw quail tracks in the snow. All 4 dogs trailed but again we found nothing. Sometimes, quail are really wild with snow on the ground. I loaded the dogs and went to another area on this Conservation area.

I had been able to walk in harvested soybean fields in the first place but this was CRP type grass around the grain fields. With my feet dragging through the tall grass it really started working on my sore back. I was going even slower than normal to ease the pain as much as possible.

Abby

The GPS vibrated showing Mann on point about a hundred yards away. He was almost straight ahead of me and when I started to him the other dogs were in front of me too. I was still 40 or 50 yards from Mann when Abby went on point. At first, I didn’t pay much attention to her. I was looking for Mann. Then it dawned on me that she was pointing. Then I saw Mann about 30 yards from her still on point but looking a long way ahead.

I walked in front of Abby but toward Mann through some heavy weeds and grass. I got ahead of Mann with nothing flushing. I released the dogs and they started trailing. This time quite aways ahead of the dogs I saw a couple of quail flush, not close enough to shoot at. Where they had run to was thick grass and weeds with scattered short trees every where.

Sally pointed a few yards ahead of me. When I got to her one quail flushed and got some of the short trees between us. Then Boss pointed about 50 yards away. when I got to him 2 quail flushed and they circled some trees but this time I tried a shot through the trees with no luck.

Boss in the bushes.

I think this covey had started out near where Mann was on point. They ran east and were about 35 yards or so from Mann when Abby smelled them and pointed. Then what I saw of them turned north. I saw 5 or 6 quail flush and as we went back toward the truck I had several more points but when I would get close the dogs would start trailing.

I tried to work the dogs farther through the tall weeds and grass but strain on my feet was really causing pain in my back. Sometimes I was making some noises that I’ve never done before. I knew it was time to load dogs and head home. It was only about 11:00 am but time to leave.

The next day I drove to an area that had a walking trail. Thinking that walking would heal about anything I walked about 3 miles. When I got home, I put heat on the back. I continued to do this each day for 10 days before I felt like I could try another hunt.

I went back to a Conservation area in Missouri that I had hunted opening day. Opening day none of the crops had been harvested but with the weather we have had I was sure it was harvested now. Wrong. When I got there, there were less deer hunters but nothing had been harvested. Since this was a test to make sure my back could handle the strain I turned the dogs out.

I had brought all 4, Sally, Abby, Boss and Mann. The Conservation department had mowed a path to the east where I wanted to hunt. I started down the path. I was only a couple hundred yards from the truck when the GPS vibrated. Boss was on point just north of where I had parked the truck. I turned back.

I was about 40 yards from Boss when I saw him moving. He was really animated so I was sure a covey had flushed. Since I never saw them or heard them, I had no idea where the singles may have gone. There was a bunch of tall CRP looking grass and weeds close so we worked through this. This was a good test for my back. There were no trails so after a quarter of a mile with no back pain I knew I was okay.

I circled a few corn fields as I went to the east. A lot of years ago I had hunted this area, but it has been allowed to grow up in saplings. And the crops need to be harvested. The side I was hunting was a lot higher than the east side. I remembered some small grain fields over the bluff, down in the bottoms. I thought maybe if they were in soybeans, I would give them a try. When I got down the hill the first field was in unharvested corn.

Going down that steep hill or off the bluff was easy, getting back to the top was tough. On the way to the top Mann pointed just off the trail I was following. Sally and Abby were honoring by the time I got close. I walked ahead of him and nothing flushed. I released the dogs. They went about 40 yards and Sally pointed. She was looking way out front. It could have been turkeys, but I really think that a covey of quail ran away from us. I never got anything to flush.

We went by a pond to cool the dogs down and get them a drink. I walked the edge of a corn field above the pond. I was almost to the end of the corn field when I checked the GPS. Sally was on point down in the thick nasty stuff below the pond. She was only about a hundred yards away but it took over 5 minutes for me to get close. I could see her on the other side of a thick black berry patch. I had to have sounded as loud as a freight train coming through there. I finally made it through. Sally was looking way up the hill. She was in the edge of the heavy woods. The trees had shaded out most of the ground cover. There wasn’t enough for birds to hide.

Abby

Abby and Mann were honoring. I knew there was no birds right in front of her and as I stood there a single quail came from up in front of us flying through the trees. I released the dogs and they all were really looking, expecting birds everywhere. Where we were there was a short barb wire fence that I had to cross. As I worked up the hill through the woods another quail flushed out of a tree. We checked the area all the way to an unharvested corn field. Nothing.

Boss had got separated from us and was hunting close to the truck. I kept trying to get close enough to him to get him back. We started on toward the truck. We were getting close to the truck when I saw Sally go on point. She was pointing into a cedar tree in a hedge row along the side of a corn field. I went through the hedge row as Abby came in to honor. When I got close a single quail flushed putting the cedar tree between me and it. I shot through the cedar just out of frustration.

Shortly after I shot all of the dogs just knew there was a dead bird. Boss even joined us. I went on around the corn field when a quail flew right past me. About that time Boss pointed in the corn field just a couple of rows in. It, probably, was where the quail I had just seen had flushed from. I tapped him on the head and he moved just a few feet and went back on point but he didn’t stay long. He started trailing. We worked the area without finding anything else. Those quail had to be from the covey that Boss had pointed when we first got here. We went to the other side of the Conservation area.

Mann

This where there is a covey that Vince Dye and I call the phantom covey. It’s there every year but it usually beats us. The last time I had been here I had killed one quail out of the covey. But I had only seen 2. We hunted the whole area but we never saw them this time. With all of my wife’s problems and my bad back the dogs aren’t in very good shape. They were really tired when I got back close to the truck, so I loaded them up and we went home. I had walked a long way with no problems from my back, but I was tired too.

I haven’t put anything on the Blog for a while because my wife has been hospitalized for 8 days. She is doing fine now so, hopefully, tomorrow I will be able to go again. But before this happened I had a short hunt in Kansas. It was short because me and the dogs aren’t in very good shape. It’s hard to work dogs in 100 degree heat.

Boss pointing a single.

Mann pointing a single.

Mann pointing a single.

I hunted a Conservation area around a lake. Abby was still in heat so I had Boss, Mann and Sally with me. On this day it was still warm but we started into an area where I had hunted before and had seen several coveys, last year. Had the weather been milder I would have ran dogs here before the season started but that didn’t work for me.

There was some harvesting equipment parked near where I parked with about half of the row crops already harvested. This may have disrupted the birds. I walked a large area, with the dogs hunting really well, but didn’t see anything for a long while. Finally, the GPS vibrated showing Boss on point 501 yards away. I always say that when they go on point a long way off it’s always up hill but not this time. The area I was in was about as flat as a table top. I started to him.

When I was about 400 yards from him the GPS showed Mann on point near him. He was probably honoring. I was within about 200 yards when they started moving. They had been pointing in some standing corn. Most of the time birds run down the rows and it’s hard to get close to them.

I started calling the dogs but Boss went to some deer hunters. It’s my experience that when you call a dog they will sometimes go to the closest person and think they have done what they are supposed to do. Before I figured this out I had an old female that wouldn’t come to me and I thought she was being stubborn. I would call her and turn the e-collar up one notch and call her again. Finally, a guy that was hunting the next property said, “she’s standing right beside me”. I crossed the fence to where she could see me. Then she came to me but I’ve always felt bad about this. She thought she was doing the right thing but got punished anyway.

The deer hunters weren’t far from me so I went to them. They said your other dog was here but he went down that hedge row. About that time the GPS vibrated showing Mann on point about a hundred yards away. Boss, Sally and I started to him. When I got close Mann was on the other side of a hedge row. Between me and him was a sign saying Refuge in large letters. I don’t know the legalities of this so don’t do what I did. I unloaded my gun, broke it open and went to Mann. I took a couple of pictures then went in front of him. A single quail flushed.

Boss pointing a single.

Boss and Sally were really hunting the hedge row and I went back to the side I could hunt on, calling the dogs as I went. I still had my gun broke open when the GPS showed Boss on point. He was still on the refuge. I went back over. The first picture in this post is him pointing a single. I took a picture and flushed his bird. I went back to the other side. I looked and Boss was on point in the hedge row again. I took another picture then flushed another single. Boss must have had a covey in the corn field and this was some of the singles from that.

I was getting a little worried. I wasn’t sure whether I was breaking the law or not but when the dogs go on point they will stand until the birds flush. Finally, I got them away from the refuge. About 5 minutes later I found a small pool of water along the road and called all 3 dogs in for a drink and a chance to cool down. As they were drinking and cooling down a truck came down the road. It was a Kansas game warden.

Sally honoring Mann.

We talked a while and he said there were quite a few quail this year. He had seen a lot along the road ways as he patrolled the area. I didn’t tell him what I had done nor did he ask. Had he asked I would have owned up to what I had done. For me honesty is the best policy. Flushing the bird for the dog is no worse than letting it sit there waiting for the dog to do something. Since the dog can’t read it doesn’t know it’s doing something wrong. Flushing the bird get’s the ordeal over quicker than waiting.

We had gone about a half mile north of the truck, turned west for about another half mile and now we were about a mile south of the truck. We hunted our way back to the truck where I watered the dogs and loaded them. It was good exercise for the dogs but it was getting too warm to run unless I saw a place I couldn’t resist. There was some walk-in areas close that I had never seen. So we drove by some of those.

Boss pointing a single.

Actually, a covey point that I didn’t get to see and 3 points on singles was a pretty good day. The temperature got in to the low 70’s so it was a good time to take it to the house. With the deer gun season opening Wednesday I may try to go back tomorrow.