A Kansas Turkey Hunt, With Dogs

Posted on October 27, 2018 by windypointsj1s@aol.com

Austin Farley and I hunted two days in Nebraska and were now on a turkey hunt in Kansas. We really don’t want to shoot a turkey but you have to be hunting something to be on walk-in properties. If the dogs point a turkey, we probably wouldn’t shoot because we would be through hunting Kansas until the quail season opens. Woodcock season is probably open but turkey hunting, where I hunt, is more plausible.

Luke pointing a covey of quail.

Sunrise in Kansas.

My truck with enough boxes for 8 dogs.

Austin and I were out by sunrise, looking at properties. Early morning is a good time to see lots of deer. We drove by several places without seeing what we wanted to hunt. Some of the walk-in in Kansas doesn’t open until November first. To be turkey hunting we had to be on walk-in that opened September first but we marked some maps to try later.

We came to a large property that was mostly pasture. Austin turned his short haired pointers, Bray and Drifter out and I turned my boys, Luke, Tur Bo and Mann out. We thought the cattle had been moved off this property but as we got farther in the cattle came out of a draw. We tried to stay away from them.

On the way to the back to get away from the cattle, we went to the west fence line and back toward the truck. We were about 50 yards from the truck along the south fence line when Luke went on point. There was just a little brush growing along the fence where he was looking. Tur Bo, Drifter and Bray honored and Mann paused wondering why every one was stopped, I think. Austin saw the birds running on the ground and the pups must have, too. About 15 quail flushed flying to the east with dogs after them.

Just as we were talking about what a nice covey it was, about 15 more quail flushed from almost the same spot and flew to the west, across the road, off the place. We followed the dogs to the east and immediately started finding singles.



It was great for the young dogs. And for the young dogs owners. We had five dogs out and I think each one pointed a single. Mann had pointed lots of pigeons but this was his first wild quail. He held and let me walk in front of him to flush the bird. I took some pictures but there was too much going on for me to keep my mind on taking pictures.

When we were almost back to the truck Austin and I were standing, talking and Drifter pointed about 6 feet from us. As we started to him he left. The wind was out of the south and Tur Bo came to us with the wind and a quail flushed. As he whirled around another flushed from almost the same spot. We got the dogs in to check that area then loaded dogs to go to another property.

We drove by several places then saw a small walk-in, about 80 acres, with a draw running into a harvested soy bean field. Austin turned Joker, his English setter and Drifter his short haired pointer out and I turned Sally and Babe loose. The wind had really started blowing out of the south and we were going to the north. We were almost to the back with the dogs down in the draw, hunting when a single quail flew by us. When I looked to see where it came from Babe was really excited. We don’t know what happened or where the other quail went.

On to the back we went, then down the east fence line. We started along the road to the west where the truck was parked. I looked through some brush and saw Sally on point, standing in the road looking south just as Babe went past her. A covey of quail came right back over the top of us, fat, slow and easy to hit.

The east edge was close but there was some good cover between us and the fence line. I was trying to get the dogs to hunt this cover but they all wanted to hunt just off the property. I walked one quail up that crossed the fence and flew, slowly, away. I, finally, got Sally and Babe in to hunt this but Sally made one pass and went across the fence. I waited for them to get through on the other side then called her back. She hunted it thoroughly without finding anything. We hunted back to the truck.



We drove by some more walk-in properties but it was getting warmer so we didn’t turn any dogs loose. A little after noon we started the drive home. It had been a fun three days of working dogs.

Neat formations caused by erosion.

Another formation.

Luke pointing with Drifter backing.



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Nebraska Prairie Chicken Hunt, Day 2

Posted on October 25, 2018 by windypointsj1s@aol.com

Austin Farley and I spent the night in Alma Nebraska, had a leisurely breakfast and then drove around checking the walk-in properties. We still do not want to shoot a prairie chicken but to be on walk-in properties you must be hunting something. Prairie chicken is the only thing open right now.

Mann on pigeons.

Mann on wild quail.

Austin in the milo.

We saw several deer as we were driving. We were looking at a walk-in area and saw a doe running through a milo field. Pheasants started flushing from the milo and flew farther into the field. We found a place to park the truck and turned some dogs loose. I turned Sally, Babe and Mann out and Austin turned Bray and Drifter, his short haired pointers, loose.

The milo field was long and narrow with CRP along the edge. The milo was almost 5 feet tall and the CRP was tall and thick. We went through the CRP to the east to the boundary then to the south then back toward the truck. Sally was on the top of a ridge that ran through the CRP and we saw a pheasant flush way out in front of her. We went to the ridge with the rest of the dogs except for Bray. When Austin turned her loose she went straight away and was several hundred yards from us.

As we worked along the ridge it ran back into the milo. We had several points in the CRP but I only remember one pheasant hen holding for a point. That was for Sally. This was the first pheasants the puppies had ever been near.

When we got within about a hundred yards of the truck we heard a dog whining. When we looked it was Bray and she was standing on the hood of my truck. Bray is really small, less than 25 pounds, I imagine. How she was able to get on my hood is beyond me. Austin called her and she came right to us.
When we got to the truck we loaded the dogs.




It was pretty warm so we drove checking properties. Most of the states, I have hunted, marked their walk-in properties real well. Nebraska doesn’t. If you find 3 signs on a property you are lucky. Most only have a couple of signs. One property, Austin called the Conservation Department and got his voice mail. We couldn’t find a single sign on it. Later, when the Conservation Department returned the call he said it was walk-in.

When it cooled down a little we turned some dogs out on a walk-in property that was a harvested corn field with a draw running through it. I turned Tur Bo and Luke out and Austin used Joker and Drifter. As we started down the draw we saw some pheasants getting up, well out in front of the dogs. Austin took his pups toward where the pheasants were flushing from and I stayed along the west edge of the draw. For some reason Tur Bo’s GPS quit tracking him. Luke and I continued down the draw.

When we got almost to the road on the south end Luke went on point. I got within about 20 yards of him and a covey of quail flushed. Some of them went across the road but most of them went to the east and stayed on the walk-in property. I tried to call Austin on my cell phone but we had no service.

Luke on the wrong side of the fence.

Luke and I followed the singles. Some of them had only flown about 40 yards and went back down. As I went up a hill 6 quail got up almost at my feet and slowly flew across the road, off the place. When you can’t shoot they look fat, slow and easy to hit.

When I got to the top of the hill the only cover was along the road. The field was real short winter wheat. As I got near Luke went on point, standing in the wheat, looking into the grass along the road. I took a couple of pictures then walked in front of him. Two quail flushed flying across the road, slowly.

I went over to find Austin. Tur Bo’s GPS still wasn’t working. When I got to Austin we circled around to the truck. Austin had seen some more pheasants but no quail. We loaded the dogs and drove to the south looking for Tur Bo. When we got to the end of the property we saw Tur Bo hunting along the edge. When I called he came in and I loaded him.

We knew where another property was that had some draws running through a corn field. So we drove to it.
I turned Sally, Babe and Mann loose. Austin turned Joker and Drifter out. Now for some reason, the GPS collar that wasn’t working for Tur Bo, was now working. This draw had some plum thickets along with the other brush and tall weeds. When we got to the end of the draw Austin saw a covey of quail flush for whatever reason.

Sally on point.

Some of the covey flew to the end of the draw and some just across the draw. We went on to the end of the draw without finding those birds. As we got to the other side I was inside the draw and saw Sally running in front of me. As she went away from me a quail flushed right in front of her. She didn’t seem to smell the bird. We heard some more quail flushing but didn’t get any points. We went back to the truck and drove to another draw.

This draw was like the other with a harvested corn field around it. We turned the same dogs loose and went up the east side. We saw some pheasants go out in front of the dogs but none held. We got to the end of the draw and started back toward the truck. Sally went on point in a large, thick plum thicket. Austin and I tried to get to her but couldn’t penetrate the thicket from the north side nor from the west side. When we got within about 20 yards of her on the south side we heard the quail flushing. This thicket has to be 2 or 3 acres and is too thick to walk in. A perfect home for the quail.



Our plan was to hunt Kansas the next day. The early prairie chicken season is closed in Kansas but they allow hunting for turkeys in the fall with dogs. We must be hunting something to be on walk-in properties so tomorrow we are turkey hunters.

Luke pointing two quail.

Tur Bo pointing a single.

Luke on point, Tur Bo and Bray honoring. Mann behind Luke.



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Nebraska Prairie Chicken Hunt, Day One

Posted on October 19, 2018 by windypointsj1s@aol.com

Let me start this off right. I do not want to shoot a prairie chicken but to be on walk-in properties you must be hunting something. Austin Farley and I left my house at 5:00 am on Tuesday, 10/16/18, to go to Nebraska with a load of dogs. We had six English setters and two German short haired pointers.

My truck with enough boxes for 8 dogs.

Luke pointing a covey of quail.

Sunrise in Kansas.

When we got into Nebraska we stopped to buy a hunting license. The first place told us we would have to buy them on line so we went to another place. He told us the same thing. Austin got on his cell phone and started trying to buy a license on line. He said, “okay, I have mine”. I told him my phone wouldn’t do that. He took my phone and got my license for me. My phone will do that with another operator.

We started on the walk-in properties west of Beatrice. Most of the walk-in properties were CRP that were really thick and tall. As we drove along we would say, “this one isn’t as thick as the others. Let’s try it”. We would turn some dogs loose and find out when we started walking that it was just too thick for quail or even prairie chickens. We saw a few pheasants but they got up way in front of the dogs.

Once the temperature got up close to 60 degrees we started just driving west and looking at the walk-in properties. A lot of the walk-in is in CRP that is too thick for even pheasants to be in, in my opinion.

We drove until we were in the Alma, Nebraska area. It cooled down some and we needed to get the dogs out so we picked a huge place to run them on. We turned all 8 dogs out at one time. We had dogs that started with us but soon we had dogs everywhere. Both of the short hairs were really small and one of them had a GPS collar slip off. We thought we could just track it when we finished running dogs so it was no big deal.

As we were trying to figure out where all of the dogs were Tur Bo came by us and went into a point near a milo field. He was going with the wind and as he entered the brush along the point a big covey of quail flushed. There were probably 12 or 15 birds in the covey. We could just see them flying through the brush but not where they lit. Just as we said, “that’s a big covey” another bunch flushed into the standing milo field.



Tur Bo came out of the brush looking like he knew he had screwed up. I’ve never seen him look so apologetic. I don’t think he had a chance with the wind blowing. He was into the covey before he got any scent but I said, “what did you do”. He kept apologizing.

We waited until we got the puppies close to us and then went into the milo. We just wanted the puppies to smell the birds. We didn’t care whether they pointed or not. As we went along a single quail flushed but went right back down. As we got close to where the first one went down 8 quail flushed then 3 more. The puppies were going crazy in the milo. As we went on 2 more flushed. Then 2 more flushed from a little way apart. Then a single quail flew off. That was 17 quail from just part of that covey. One of these birds was probably the first quail that only flew a few yards and went back down but that’s still would make 16 birds. All of these birds flew to the south and landed in this milo field.

The puppies were really fired up but Bray that lost the GPS collar wasn’t with us. We weren’t sure where she was. We were standing about 50 yards from where the covey had flushed from when Austin heard quail whistling near where they had got up.

Luke pointing with Drifter backing.

We called all of the dogs in and went into the brush. Luke and Sally don’t think I know very much about where birds are so they made a pass through and went on. Tur Bo wasn’t sure whether he was in trouble or not so he stayed with me. Mann and Babe were close, too. When we got within just a few feet from where the covey had originally flushed Tur Bo went on point.

We tried to get the puppies in close. Babe came in behind Tur Bo and I said, “whoa” to her but she didn’t stop. She knows whoa at home but not in the field, yet. As she went in front of Tur Bo another 12 quail flushed. With the birds from the milo field that made at least 28 birds in the covey. Or was this two coveys real close together. I don’t know but it was a lot of birds and was really good for the puppies.

We worked the dogs back along the milo field and loaded up the dogs that were with us. Austin left a jacket close to where we had parked the truck. We drove all over looking for Bray. Finally, as we drove back close to where we had turned them loose Bray was there. We loaded her and went to look for the lost GPS collar.

Austin getting ready to flush Tur Bo’s single.

The closest we could drive to the area of the GPS collar was 183 yards. Austin went to get it. After a few minutes I went to help. Not ever having lost a GPS collar I thought it would be easy to find. Not so. When you get close it will change readings. As you get close it will say 0 feet. Then as you look the hand held will say 17 feet or something. This happened to be a Sport Dog but my Garmin works the same way. I can lay 3 collars down, together and my hand held will say one is 12 feet, one 9 feet and the other is 17 feet or something close to that. We were in CRP grass over my head. We never found the collar.

We saw some pheasants on the first day but not a lot. And for me, even if they are pointed it’s not as memorable as when the dogs point quail. I don’t know why but for me it’s all about quail.



We went into Alma Nebraska for supper and a motel. We had driven over 400 miles and walked over 6 miles. So after a good meal and a shower a good nights sleep was in order.

Sally on point.

Tur Bo on point.

Luke on point, Mann beside him, Tur Bo and Bray backing.



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Working Puppies And A Kansas Turkey Hunt

Posted on October 12, 2018 by windypointsj1s@aol.com

I wanted to train puppies early yesterday, 10/10/18, but it was raining then I had some stuff to do so it was about 11:30 when I got the puppies out. I put the e-collars on Babe’s neck and flanks and heeled her out with the piggin’ string. This was the first time that I had turned both of the e-collars on.

Mann pointing a pigeon.

Babe pointing a pigeon.

Tur Bo pointing a pigeon.

I heeled her toward the front of my yard, whoaing her every few feet. After I had whoaed her a few times I started holding the button on the transmitter down, on medium 1, on the e-collar on her flanks then saying, “whoa”. After 10 or 12 times she was stopping before I could say, “whoa”.

I’ve been walking way in front of her after whoaing her. I make some circles around her, throw sticks and grass, and walk way behind her. She has been really good about staying where I whoaed her. When we got back behind my house I whoaed her and walked about 20 yards in front of her. When I turned around she was moving toward the fence row on the north side. I yelled, “whoa” and she never slowed down. She went through the fence. The fence is grown up where I couldn’t see her. I just stood there trying to figure out what to do when I noticed her peaking through the cover at me. It was like she was thinking, “I screwed up. I wonder if he’s mad.” I called her and she came to me. I whoaed her and walked around her.

We continued on to the air line kennel I have set up for her. I held the button on the transmitter down on medium 1 and said, “kennel”. She ran into the kennel. I kenneled her about 4 times then put her on the retrieving bench. I took the e-collars off then petted her for a while then put her on the chain gang.

I put the e-collars on Mann and heeled him out. He too, after I whoaed him with the e-collar 10 or 12 times, started stopping as soon as I pushed the button on the e-collar and before I could say, “whoa”. I worked him on the kennel command then had him jump onto the retrieving bench. I took the e-collars off and petted him for a while before putting him on the chain gang.

I hid a pigeon at the very back on my side and another in a blow down that the last storm had deposited for me. I put the e-collars back on Babe, hooked a short check cord to her collar and heeled her out with the piggin’ string. I turned her loose to hunt.

I followed her on foot. She is really fast and was close to the pigeon at the back on my side when I got to a point I could see her. Babe pointed and almost immediately moved. I was 75 yards away but I flushed the pigeon. She chased a short way then went back to hunting.

Babe checked my side then crossed to the neighbor’s side. When she got close to the pigeon hidden on that side she knew one was close but couldn’t get enough scent to pen it down. She circled the clump the pigeon was in until she hit the scent cone and pointed. After a few seconds she wanted to move. I set her back and stroked her up. As long as I stroked her she stood, looking good. I walked in front of her and flushed the pigeon. It was a young bird and didn’t get very far off the ground. She chased a long way.

I put her back on the chain gang, reloaded the release traps and turned Mann loose with the e-collars on his neck and flanks, dragging a check cord. I followed on the 4-wheeler.

It’s closer to my time of the year.

Mann went to the very back on my side and went on point. I was right behind him and took some pictures before getting off the 4-wheeler. I walked near him and kicked the tall brush. On the second kick he took a step and I flushed the pigeon. He chased a short distance then went back to hunting.

He checked out my side then crossed over. He went to the back on the neighbor’s side and checked each clump until he got close to where I had hidden the pigeon. He went on point but before I could get off the 4-wheeler he took a step and I flushed the pigeon. The bird flew to a limb right above where it was hidden. He circled the tree watching the pigeon. It flew and he chased a short distance.

I turned Babe loose and let them play for a while before putting them back in the kennel.

I’ve had a friend’s female setter here for a while, breeding her with Tur Bo. We’re hoping the deed is done and I met him yesterday, 10/11/18, at Emporia for him to pick up his female, Quill. Since I was going to be out there I went early with 5 of my dogs.

Mann pointing a pigeon.

Kansas allows the use of dogs for hunting fall turkeys. To be on walk-in you have to be hunting. You can’t just run dogs on walk-in. I can run dogs, turkey hunt and find out if some of the walk-in properties have quail on them. This is one of the first hunts for the puppies.

I went to a large farm with some row crops, mainly corn, and some over grown pasture. I put e-collars and GPS collars on Sally, Tur Bo and Luke and a GPS collar on Mann. I only had 4 GPS collars so Babe didn’t get one. I thought she would run less and check back more often from the way she hunts at home.

We had gone in about a quarter of a mile when I heard a flock of turkeys, putting. When I checked the GPS Luke and Tur Bo were close to where the turkeys were yelping. I waited thinking maybe a turkey would fly my way but I never saw one.

The turkeys had to have flown to the north so we went around a corn field that was north and east of where I heard them. We ran into a couple of farm dogs that stayed just out of sight but barked at us, continually. We were close to the north edge of this place and never came up with any of the turkeys. We circled the corn field and got away from the farm dogs by going to the south.

Mann pointing a pigeon.

Tur Bo must have chased the turkeys. He was off the GPS. I called over and over as we went to the south. I was going along a ridge when the GPS said Sally was on point about 45 yards from me. I found her in a thicket. When I got close she started trailing and pointed again then went back to hunting.

About a 150 yards from the first point Sally pointed again. When I got close she moved a few yards and went on point again. I just stood watching her. She moved a few more yards and pointed again. These quail must have ran then circled back because they got up right at my feet. Five big, slow quail flushed then tail end Charlie got up. When you can’t shoot they look big and slow. I would bet that at her first point there was a larger covey that ran away then flushed and this was just a part of the original covey.

Luke runs much bigger and the GPS said he was on point a couple of times but before I could get to him he was moving. We had an east or north east wind and I believe during an east wind it’s harder for the dogs.

It was getting close to the time to meet my friend in Emporia so we went to the truck. Tur Bo still wasn’t on the GPS. I loaded the dogs up and we drove with me holding the GPS in my hand. I drove to the other side of the property and saw Tur Bo. He was running but when he saw me he was happy. He came to me and you would think we hadn’t seen each other for a month. I was happy to see him too.

I had hunted this place last year without seeing any turkeys. There were some quail on it. I saw deer, quail and heard some turkeys. The puppies got a little taste of what hunting is all about. It was a good morning.

Babe pointing a pigeon.

Mann pointing a pigeon.

Babe pointing a pigeon.

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