Traveling Pointing Dogs

I’m going through withdrawal symptoms since quail season ended. As I think about the season that just ended it seems like a lot more people are hunting than have in the past few years. Quail numbers being lower in Texas and Oklahoma may have put more hunters in Kansas than normal. Maybe I just hunted where a lot of people were.

Sally near and Luke. Divided find.

Luke

Dolly

Austin Farley and I were hunting in Iowa on the last day of the season. We had made a big circle through an area where we had found 2 coveys of quail a few weeks earlier. As we got back close to the truck and as we were going through some horse weeds that were taller than our head, I saw some red ahead of us. I moved over so I could see better and sure enough it was a hunter coming toward us. If we had flushed a covey of quail before I saw him he could have been shot. It worked out for him this time.

We were hunting about 3 or 4,000 acre conservation area and we saw no other hunters that day and this guy parked right beside us. He hunted an area that had already been hunted when he could have gone anywhere else. That really doesn’t make sense to me.

Don and Linda Hansen and I were hunting a 160 acre place in Kansas. The wind was out of the south so we went to the north end and were working back toward the south. We had gone south then east down a fence row then started back south. We were less than a quarter mile from the south edge when someone started shooting. They had dumped out on the same place. Our trucks were in plain sight but they hadn’t even looked. When we got to our truck there were two other hunters ready to hunt this place.

These were bad but the one that takes the cake was in Kansas. I was near Greensburg. I had driven out early to the place I wanted to hunt. It was still before full daylight. When I pulled off the highway a truck had turned off behind me. I pulled over on the place I wanted to hunt and the guys behind me, parked 150 yards behind me, jumped out and were hunting before I could hardly get out of the truck. Most hunters have more common courtesy than these guys.

In late October Dr. Becker reattached Tur Bo’s knee cap. I’m not sure how he tore it loose but he may have jumped onto his house, run his foot through the chain link fence then pulled the knee cap loose as he pulled his foot out of the fence. I don’t know but he hurt it at home. I kept him in a cage in the basement for several weeks just letting him out 4 or 5 times a day on a leash. I had planned to go to some of the western states that I haven’t hunted before but I couldn’t leave him at home. So I didn’t get to go.

But if the whole season had of been bad I wouldn’t be having these withdrawal symptoms. Don, Linda and I had several good hunts in Kansas. One trip we found probably 4 coveys of quail on a 160 acre place with lots of dog work. This was one of the times that the quail were running a lot and Don said, “Sally is too young to know that much about running quail but she knows.”

Austin Farley and I hunted Iowa several times but we didn’t start until late December. We found quail and pheasants most places we hunted. Had we started at the first of the season we would of had less educated birds.

20 gauge AYA No 2 and 4 quail.

Some people think pheasants are bad for a young dog but I disagree. The way quail run now days, dogs must be willing to relocate. I really like the way Sally works. She goes on point then waits for me to get to her before moving. Usually, I can tell when the birds have run off because she loosens up a little. If she points then moves up and points real rigid I know she has them.

Luke does the same thing only he is usually farther out when he goes on point but he waits until I get within about 30 yards of him, then he moves. Sometimes, the birds hold while I walk 400 yards to get to him and sometimes they run. Sometimes, the birds flush before I get to him but most of the quail he points I wouldn’t find if he hadn’t went on point. His casts are big and not only straight ahead but off to the side as well.

Once when Don and I were hunting in Kansas there was an area that was wall to wall black berry vines. We had already decided not to put the dogs through that area when the GPS showed Luke on point along the edge. He was 3 or 400 yards from us. When we got close enough to see him two quail flew across in front of us landing in the thickest part of the black berry vines. Luke was still on point after we saw the quail but then he started moving.

Don and I were spread out a little when we came over the hill looking for the two quail we had seen. Sally was close to Don and as we watched she whipped around and pointed. A quail flushed before we could even start toward her and Don made a good shot on it.

Sally pointing a single quail .

We had four dogs hunting and we never came up with the other quail nor any others that were in that covey. On public hunting areas any quail that live through the first few weeks are well educated.

I went to Oklahoma after the seasons in Iowa and Kansas had closed. It is an eight hour drive so I didn’t turn dogs out until about 1:00 pm. Although, this was the end of the season, it was a week day and there were very few birds, I thought I would have the area to my self. Not to be. I knew where I wanted to hunt and in the little that I drove around I saw 5 or 6 bunches of hunters.

Hunting Black Kettle the first afternoon and an east wind I never saw a quail. I did see some tracks in a sandy road where a covey had run off after Sally and Dolly, pointing then moving up and pointing again, had tried to get them to hold. As the dogs moved through the weeds I could see dust coming off the plants. It was really dry.

The next day and a half, hunting on the second day with my cousin, Jim Smith, I moved at least 5 maybe 6 coveys of quail. This on a bad year for quail in Oklahoma. We had a lot of good dog work.

Now I sit here thinking about some of the western states open their quail season in September. That’s not that long and right now all of my dogs are healthy.

Tur Bo pointing a single.

Luke

Sally honoring.

I got the opportunity to work some dogs at a shooting preserve in Kansas. Vince Dye’s son, Justin, asked if I would bring some dogs to Muddy Creek Whitetails shooting preserve near Meriden. I’m always ready to get my dogs into some birds and when someone else pays for the birds it’s a great deal. They were going to turn out 75 chukars and 25 pheasants in the morning and 75 chukars and 25 pheasants in the afternoon. There were 10 hunters. I took Sally and Dolly.

Sally on point.

Sally

Some of the hunters.

Muddy Creek club house is like a museum of natural history. They have a lot of deer mounts but, also, a lot of mounts from all over. They had black bear and grizzly bear full mounts as well as a lot of African game mounts.

We drove to the field we were to hunt. The field was about 320 acres but we didn’t use all of it to hide the birds. It had good cover mostly in prairie grasses. There were a few draws and some thickets. Excellent cover for the birds.

I put the GPS collars and e-collars on Sally and Dolly before we got to the field so they were ready to go. Dolly had been used as a guide dog before so she was used to having a lot of birds but for a little while, Sally was wild. I tried to call her in but she was excited. Nothing I said made an impression on her. I saw a couple of chukars in the air with her right behind them. After a couple of chases she pointed a bird and her training kicked in.

On the morning hunt I left my camera in the truck. Sally and Dolly both honor from where ever they see the other dog on point. There were plenty of photo ops and no camera.

I don’t know how many points were made but a lot. Sally got really good at marking the shot birds down. Dolly retrieves but if another dog tries to take the bird or gets to it first she goes back to hunting. Sally, when she ran to the bird would grab it usually before Dolly got there. Dolly would go back to hunting and Sally would bring the bird part way to me then lay it down. Sometime she would not even pick it up but would stand over the bird. I had to walk to her every time and get the bird. After she has been force broke to retrieve she should be a great retriever.

It was close to 60 degrees when we quit for lunch and at 12 years of age Dolly had had enough. She would have tried but I didn’t get her out. The owner of Muddy Creek sent a handler out with his two German short haired pointers to help. (A good reporter would have got names but this one didn’t and I have trouble remembering when I hear them.) I turned Sally out and a hour break, while we ate lunch, helped her.

We put the second set of 75 chukars and 25 pheasants out, cut the dogs loose and went on the afternoon hunt. The short hairs were used to a lot of bird scent and went about their hunt in a workman like manner. Sally still got her share of the points and was really quick to the dead birds. The short hairs wouldn’t fight her for the bird, either. Almost every time she got to the bird first the short hairs, who would retrieve, let her have the bird. After she got real tired she would lie down next to the bird after the other dogs had left. I had to walk to her and take the bird. She dropped the bird most of the time with no problem but when the bird flew 35 yards behind us before it dropped, I had to walk back, get the bird, then hurry to catch up with the hunters.

One of the hunters was low on shells and went back to his truck to get more and we were taking a break, in the field, waiting on him. I tried to get Sally to take a break and I did give her some water but pretty soon I saw her moving down the field like she knew where she was going. About 75 yards from us she went on point but her tail was wagging. I started to her with a young hunter with me. When we got close she moved a little and dropped her nose in the grass. I went to her and she had a dead chukar.

This wouldn’t work on wild birds but one time I saw her on point ahead of us and one of the short hairs pointed closer. The hunters flushed the closer bird and when they shot the bird Sally ran to get the dead bird. One of the short hairs beat her to it and I called her back. She came right back and went on point where she had been before. When this bird dropped she beat the short hairs to it.

It was a good day. The hunters were all happy to be there and had a good time. There was one young man on his first hunt and when we had a bird running we sent him. When they flew he hit every one that I saw him chasing.

We quit about 4:00 pm and Sally was still going. She was slower but still searching. When I put her in her box in the truck she went right in. I think she was ready. It had been a long day but a really good day for Sally. And for Sally’s owner.

Dolly

Dolly honoring Sally.

Dolly on point.

The third day of my Oklahoma quail hunt was supposed to be above 70 degrees, so I was only going to hunt until noon, then drive home. Lucky and Tur Bo had rested on the second day due to Lucky’s age, almost 14 years old, and Tur Bo’s knee cap re-attachment. We were hunting the Sandy Sanders Wildlife Management Area. A 19,100 acre state owned Conservation area that is two parcels. One parcel lies on the west of Oklahoma highway 30 but the largest part is on the west of highway 30. It has no major roads through. Just some two tracks that my 4 wheel drive truck drug on a couple of times.

Sally near and Luke. Divided find.

Luke

Sally

For the first part of this hunt I turned Dolly, Lucky and Tur Bo out with their e-collars and GPS collars. The wind was pretty strong from the south and we were heading to the north, with the wind. About 200 yards into our hunt I saw Dolly go on point. She had been trailing for a little way and I had followed close to her. I had taken only a couple of steps toward her when a covey of quail flushed about 10 yards in front. I shot through some brush and a quail dropped and another tried to get real high and go behind me. I pulled the second trigger and it came down by a small tree.

I went to the second quail first because I didn’t think it was hit very hard. When I got close I saw a streak of feathers where the quail had fallen through the little tree. Dolly retrieved the quail to me. We went to the area the first quail had fallen. I got all three dogs in to search but we never came up with anything. I broke a branch off a tree and placed it in the area where I thought the quail had fallen. I would check again on the way back to the truck.

On the way to the north I ran the dogs past a small pond. We went all the way to the edge of the place on the north then moved over and started back. With the dogs on my left a single quail flushed on my right. I shot and the quail fell near the fence along the edge of the WMA. Tur Bo saw it fall and went after it but it started running. It went under the fence and out to the edge of the highway with Tur Bo right behind. Right at the edge of the highway he caught the quail, grabbed it and carried it to the middle of the highway and dropped it right on the center line.

I laid my shot gun down beside the fence, then as an after thought threw my blaze orange hat down beside it, crossed the fence, went to the center of the highway and retrieved the quail. We went back to find the quail that we had lost. I spent another 10 minutes looking but no luck.

When we got back close to the truck Lucky was going the wrong way. I had the whistle with me and I blew it a couple of times. He came right in. Before this hunt I thought he was totally deaf but he can hear a whistle.

Two of the dogs, a long way off, on point.

Luke and Sally had hunted in the sand burrs at Black Kettle National Grasslands and their feet were sore. When I turned them out they stayed right in front for about a hundred yards then started hunting. We went into the strong south wind. I had GPS and e-collars on both dogs but I had also left the third GPS collar on, at the truck. I know you can mark the truck with the hand held unit but leaving a GPS collar on at the truck works, too. At Sandy Sanders it’s a good idea to mark the truck someway. There are big canyons that twist and turn so that it’s hard to know your directions.

With one dog to the east and one to the west of me we went to the south. The GPS showed Luke on point about 125 yards to the east. When I got close he moved a few feet and went back on point. I started to him and a single quail flushed from behind me and put a cedar tree between us before I could raise my gun. When I got to him he started trailing. Sally came in and started trailing, too.

Tur Bo pointing Sally honoring.

I checked the GPS and we were 502 yards from the truck and at least a half of a mile from the other covey. This, almost, had to be another covey. The dogs trailed then just went on. We went on to the south.

When we got a little over a half mile from the truck we moved over to the east and started back. As we went along I stood on a small hill watching the dogs on the hill side across from me. I like to see how the dogs move through the area and watch to see if they hit all of the objectives. More than that, I just like to watch the dogs run.

Both dogs went around a small cedar tree and then I didn’t see them. I thought they were on point and a few seconds later it was confirmed by the GPS. They were only about 75 yards from me and when I got close I saw they were both on point. They were about 5 yards apart but they were both pointing straight ahead, into the tall grass. A divided find.

I walked in front of Sally because she was closer and they both started trailing. Sally pointed then moved about 10 yards and pointed again. She just knew there was a quail there. When I kicked in front of her she ran her nose into the tall grass and started trailing again. Both dogs trailed for a long way then went back to hunting. I’m sure that these quail have had a lot of pressure and to live this long they aren’t dumb. The ones that flew died and some learned to run. They lived.

Luke pointing quail.

We hunted on back to the truck. Both dogs were tired and had sore feet. It was time to go home. This was the last hunt of the 2017/2018 season. It had been a good season. Most of the places I had hunted have held quail and some of them have had pheasants.

I didn’t shoot a lot of quail or pheasants but I took lots of pictures. Early in the season it probably doesn’t hurt anything to take pictures. The quail will hold but later in the season the quail run or flush quicker and the time I spend taking pictures hurt my chances for shots. That’s okay, I would rather have the pictures.

Dolly honoring Sally.

Dolly on point.

Tur Bo pointing a single.