Traveling Pointing Dogs

On the second day of my trip to Oklahoma I met my cousin, Jim Smith, at Sandy Sanders Wildlife Management Area, to hunt quail. Sandy Sanders covers 19,100 acres. Most of it is on the east side of Oklahoma highway 30 without a major road through it. It has a two track that you can drive on but even with a 4 wheel drive truck I drug a couple of times. Jim had 3 English setters with him. Sue a young pup, Willy a 20 month old male and Dottie a 18 month old female out of my kennel. Dottie was out of Blaze and Rob Downen’s good male, Buddy. I always enjoy hunting with Jim and seeing one of the pups I raised is icing on the cake.

Jim’s dog Willy.

Sally

Luke

After catching up on family and friends Jim turned Dottie and his pup, Sue, loose. I put the GPS collars and e-collars on Dolly and Sally. Sally is 5 days older than Dottie. Dottie was in heat so we were just running females. We had only gone about 200 yard and were watching Dottie as she moved along a hillside across from us. I had just commented on how smooth and effortlessly she ran when she whirled around and slammed into a point with a high head and tail.

Dottie was across a little creek and up a hill from us. I checked the GPS as I crossed the creek and Sally was on point over the top of the hill to the east. We were closer to Dottie so we went to her. When we got close, with Jim on her left and me on the right, a single quail flushed flying my way. It dropped right beside a small bush when I shot. Sue and Dolly both ran to the area. I walked up just as Dolly picked up the quail. She only had to make a couple of steps to give it to me.

I checked the GPS and Sally was still on point. I went back down the hill and crossed the creek. As Jim got close to the creek and as he was sliding down the hill 2 quail flushed right in front of him. He shot but it’s hard to hit a moving bird when you are sliding.

I was a little ahead of Jim and was going up the other hill when he shot. When he shot 2 quail came over the hill from the direction where Sally had been on point. I shot at one and it collapsed. Dolly saw it fall and retrieved. I don’t know what happened; whether Sally flushed her birds or the quail just decided to flush but she came over the hill right behind them.

The quail, that had got away, had flown to the north west so we followed. As dry as it was there was water in most of the deep canyons. We made a big circle that brought us back to the truck. We ate lunch then turned out different dogs. Jim put Willy and Sue out and I used Luke and Sally.

I had hunted Luke and Sally on Black Kettle National Grasslands the day before and the sand burrs had made their feet sore so they weren’t running as hard as usual. As we went south from the trucks Luke made a cast to the south east and the GPS showed him on point about 150 yards from us. When we got close he started moving. All of the dogs started trailing. A covey of quail flushed about 25 yards in front of the dogs.

The quail had flown to the south into a strong wind. I saw where one quail flew, I thought. I got the dogs in along a creek in the very bottom. The bottom was real narrow and the banks on both sides came straight up. We worked through the area where I thought the quail had landed without finding anything.

I checked the GPS and it showed Luke on point about 90 yards to the south east. That was up the hill and along a plateau. When I told Jim where Luke was on point he either didn’t hear or misunderstood what I said. After I climbed the hill and started to Luke I couldn’t see Jim. I thought he was following but he wasn’t.

Lucky at almost 14 years old pointing a single.

I saw Luke on point, standing in some sedge grass. I knew about where Jim was so I walked around in front of Luke to make the quail flush back away from him. I know better than this. Quail and especially quail this late in the year know exactly where they are going no matter how you try to flush them. When I walked in I got almost to Luke before the quail flushed behind me, flying to the south east. When I shot Willy saw the quail drop and picked it up.

I tried to call Willy to me but he didn’t know me. Jim was still 75 yards away. Willy didn’t know what to do so I dropped to my knees and called him. He came to me and dropped the quail right in front of me. I petted Willy and he started away.

As Willy started away a quail about 20 yards from him flushed. I was still on my knees but I shot and the bird came down. That was the first quail I’ve ever shot at from my knees. Willy saw the bird drop and ran to the area. He wasn’t sure about the quail so he pointed. That is the first picture in this post. Luke came up and knew it was a wounded bird but I whoaed him so he backed Willy. Sue also honored.

When I got close the quail took off running with Sue right behind. She caught the bird and started to Jim. Jim was still 50 yards from us but she took it all the way. He took the quail from her. He wasn’t sure what she would do but when I cleaned the quail one of them was wetter than the others but there were no tooth marks in any of them.

A covey roost I saw on Sandy Sanders.

We crossed back over the creek and were standing on the other bank when I saw Sally on the other side. I beeped her with the tone on the e-collar and called her. She kind of blew me off and kept going toward a little plum thicket. I told Jim if she pointed I wasn’t crossing back over. When she got to the plum thicket she went on point. As we crossed back over the creek I told Jim, “I said I wouldn’t go back across and up that hill”. “I knew you would though”, he said.

Jim went up on the plateau and I came in from the hill side of the plum thicket. Willy and Sue honored. When we got to the plum thicket Sally started trailing. She went about 20 yards to the south and pointed again. When we got to her she started trailing again. Willy was in front and he went on point. When we got close he started trailing. These dogs pointed probably 8 times over 150 yards. Sally was on point looking into some brush and a single quail flushed 25 yards to the south of her, without giving us a shot. The dogs trailed some more but no more points.

That almost had to be another covey that had split up and run away from the dogs. For quail to live this late into the season, with as much pressure as there is on these public hunting areas, the birds have to be smart. The first covey we had found this morning was spread out over a hundred yards, at least. They must have started running when we closed the door of the trucks.

Getting Sally ready to go.

We moved over and started back toward the trucks. As we walked along I, periodically, checked the GPS. The GPS showed Luke on point about 65 yards north west of us. When we saw him he was pointing into a large cedar tree. Jim went on his right and I walked up on Luke’s left. I passed the cedar tree and there was little thicket. I kicked the thicket and nothing happened. The quail had been running all day but these decided to hold. I thought the quail had run off and I said okay to Luke. When I said okay I heard quail flushing. I don’t know whether Luke flushed them but they got up from right in front of him. I never saw them for the cedar and Jim shot once but they had put the cedar between him and them, also.

On Oklahoma state owned lands you must quit quail hunting at 4:30 pm. It was 4:15 when we got close to the truck. I had Tur Bo and Lucky in the truck that hadn’t been out to hunt. I had turned them out for a while early but not to hunt. Lucky is almost 14 years old and I rested him on day 2. Tur Bo had his knee cap reattached in late October and although he’s done real well I wanted to rest him.

Lucky is deaf, I thought, and can’t see very well. As Jim and I talked I looked around and Lucky was gone. He had gone hunting. I had no clue which direction he had gone. I got a whistle out of the truck. Last year when I hunted him he could hear the whistle when he couldn’t hear me. I blew the whistle a couple of times and here he came. He was in his 14 year old run but he came right in. I’m glad to know that he can still hear a little.

It had been a good day. All of the dogs, Dottie, Sue, Willie, Sally and Luke had been a part of the experience. The quail had run, flushed without anything being close and some of them had held for the dogs but at least there are birds here to raise more for next year.

Luke and Sue honoring Willy.

Dolly

Dolly honoring Sally.

Austin Farley and I had hunted the last day of the Iowa quail season but I wasn’t ready for the season to end. On Monday the 12th of February I loaded the dogs and headed for Oklahoma. The quail season closes the 15th of February, in Oklahoma.

Dolly honoring Sally.

Sally

Dolly

It’s about an eight hour drive and after leaving home a little before 4:00 am I arrived, about noon, at the Black Kettle National Grasslands. Last season this whole area was heavily hunted. Although the quail are down this year there were several groups hunting this area, today.

One of the places I wanted to hunt had a group hunting it so I went to another. I turned Dolly and Sally out wearing their Garmin GPS and e-collars. This section (640 acres) has a quarter section (160 acres) of private land but the rest is part of the Grasslands. It’s real dry and one of the reasons I wanted to hunt this parcel was that it had 2 windmills. When I ran the dogs by the windmills they were both not working. No water in the tanks.

The wind was strong and from the east. We went to the south through the shinnery oak patches. As we got close to the south east corner Sally pointed into a plum thicket along the fence row. Dolly honored when she saw her. When I got close Sally and Dolly started trailing down the fence row. About a hundred yards down the fence line Sally went on point again. When I got close they both went to trailing again.

Dolly crossed the road, trailing. The road was real sandy and I walked along the edge watching for tracks. Sure enough I saw where 3 quail had run across the road then a little farther down the road 2 more had crossed. Dolly was still trailing on the land across the road but it was private land and I called her back.

Evidently, there was plenty of rain early in the spring. There is a lot of cover but it’s been a while since a good rain. As the dogs ran through the cover I could see dust flying off the weeds. That has to be hard on the dogs.

After the second windmill had no water, I worked the dogs back to the truck. When I know there is no water I carry some, for the dogs, in my hunting vest. I also have a water cooler, with water, for the dogs. In dry country I, usually, leave the water cooler open, next to the truck, in case a dog comes back, looking for water.

I loaded the dogs and drove to another parcel. At the next place I turned Lucky, Tur Bo and Luke out. Lucky will be 14 years old in May and I don’t hunt him very much. He’s almost deaf and he can’t see very well but he still wants to go. When I turn him loose he runs for a short time almost like he did when he was young.

Tur Bo tore his knee cap loose, some how, and I had to have his knee cap surgically repaired. He spent most of November in my basement, in a small cage. I had to be close to take him out, on a leash, several times a day so this kept me from traveling very much. I haven’t hunted him very long at any time this year and not very many times. I want to build the strength back up gradually, without him re-damaging his knee.

Tur Bo honoring.

This parcel was a mile long by a half mile deep. I took the dogs to the north side then went toward the east. For some reason I never do very well during an east wind. All 3 dogs were in front of me but off to my left. There was a big thicket that they were checking as well as the fence row had a lot of cover. I was walking through the shinnery oak about 30 yards from the fence when a single quail flushed about 30 yards off to my right. No dogs or people even close. I don’t know if a covey had run from us and that was the only one I saw or if someone had hunted here and that was one of their singles but if it hadn’t flushed I wouldn’t have known it was there.

I got all 3 dogs in to hunt the area where the bird had flushed from. The dogs got birdy but we never found any others. We continued to the south and east then turned back toward the truck. It was after 5:00 pm when we got back to the truck so I loaded the dogs. It had been a long day and still needed to feed the dogs and find a motel.

The quail in this area and almost all quail, that have lived this late into the year, are really smart. I hunted two areas that last year I saw a lot of quail on and this year I had seen exactly one quail and hadn’t fired a shot. Tomorrow will be a better day, I hope.

Sally near and Luke. Divided find.

Sally

Luke

With the season winding down Don Hansen and I decided to quail hunt the Emporia Kansas area one more time. I met Don and Linda near Emporia and we drove to the first farm we would hunt. I had run dogs on this farm before the season opened. (I used my dogs to turkey hunt. You must be hunting to be on walk-in property so I turkey hunted this farm before the season opened.) I didn’t find any quail before the season opened but it was worth another try.

Sally on point.

Dolly on point.

Getting Sally ready to go.

There was a north wind blowing so we pulled around to the south side and worked the dogs into the wind. I turned Sally and Dolly out and Don turned his pointer Annie loose. We worked up the edge of a harvested soy bean field to the north. We crossed to the west then through some CRP and along a small dry creek back to the south edge. When we got back to the truck we loaded the dogs to go to another place.

The next farm we hunted was harvested corn and soy bean fields with draws running into the fields. I turned Luke and Sally out and Don used Annie and Goofy. We started o the south west along a draw and before we got to the end Luke was on point, according to the GPS. He was in some really rough brush and weeds that have been left in the edge of this property. Before we got to him he started moving. When we saw him he was trailing. All of the dogs started trailing but we never came up with anything.

We followed along the west side then started back to the north. We started toward a hedge row and I checked the GPS. Luke was on point about 200 yards from us in an area we were going to bypass. It was really rough with lots of black berry vines as well as tall blue stem.

We got close, about 50 yards, of Luke and I saw 3 quail fly across in front of me. Luke was still on point. I started to him and when I got close he went to trailing. The other part of this covey had run out on him, I think. We had seen about where the 3 quail had flown and started in that direction.

The black berry vines were so thick that it really slowed the dogs down. As we came over a small hill Sally went on point. She was close to Don and about the time she went on point a single quail flushed. Don made a good shot and Sally scooped it up. She started toward me then stopped to play with her prize. I went to her and petted her until she dropped the quail.

We went through the black berry vines until we came to the end then circled back around to come through again. The dogs weren’t real happy about that but went through them again. We didn’t find the other 2 quail we had seen fly into this area but these farms are close to a lot of hunters and have had a lot of pressure on them.

We hunted on to the north along another draw then down a hedge row to the north edge. We crossed back to the east then back to the truck. When we got back to the truck we loaded the dogs and went to another farm.

On the next farm I had hunted it once this season and had seen a large covey roost but hadn’t found the birds. Tur Bo has been recuperating from knee surgery all year and I only hunt him for short periods. This looked like a good place for him. I turned him and Sally out and Don turned Goofy out.

Lucky at almost 14 years old pointing a single.

We made a circle along a fence row toward a pond and a soy bean field. We hunted along the edge of the harvested soy bean field and came back through the CRP to the truck. There was a harvested soy bean field with CRP on one side and a good hedge row on the other, just down the road, on this same farm. We loaded our dogs and drove about a half mile.

We turned Sally, Tur Bo and Goofy out and circled the field. We went down the CRP side with the wind but when we crossed over to the hedge row we had the wind in our face. We hunted back to the truck without finding any quail.

We loaded the dogs and decided that would be it for this season. Don was busy the rest of the season and the next day was to be really windy. We talked for a while then started home. I got to thinking I was only about 3 miles from an 80 acre place that I had found 2 coveys on, earlier in the season. I started to call Don but only one time in the past 4 years has he been with me when we found birds on this eighty. And we had hunted it a few weeks ago without seeing a quail.

When I got to it I drove around but no one was there. When I was here, at the first of the season, a guy had come walking in with his bird dog, right to me. I turned Sally and Dolly out. There is a draw that comes almost to where I had parked the truck. The wind was out of the north so I walked down the draw to the south because the quail are usually in the fence row on the east or the fence row on the south. By going down the draw we could use the wind to our advantage on the way back.

Tur Bo pointing a single.

We made it all the way to the south and started to the east. I was still 150 yards from the corner when the GPS said Dolly was on point. Right at the corner is a small plum thicket and she was inside this on point. I couldn’t see her but when Sally got close she honored. I could see Sally standing and it was a good photo op but before I got to them I saw the quail covey run out and flush. They were at least 40 yards in front of Dolly and they flew to the east off the place. The dogs didn’t see or hear the quail flush.

Dolly stayed on point until I got close then started trailing. Sally came around and went on point about where the covey had flushed from. She didn’t stay on point but just a second. She knew they were gone.

That covey had flown into some knee high grass that would have been perfect if it had been on walk-in property. We could only go back toward the truck down the fence line. We were almost to the truck when both dogs started getting really birdy. As I watched them a quail flushed out of the fence row. It was a long way from me or the dogs. I went along the fence row and the dogs kept working in a little patch of weeds.

Luke on point almost sitting down. Sally honoring.

As I watched another quail flushed about 50 yards from me. No dogs were close. Soon one flushed that was close enough to shoot at but not close enough for me to hit. I kept watching the dogs and another quail flushed flying within about 30 yards of me. It dropped when I shot. The dogs were still in the patch of cover so I retrieved my on quail. The dogs spent about 15 minutes in that small patch, trailing. I really think there were quail in the patch that just ran around the dogs instead of flying. I loaded the dogs and headed home.

None of the quail we had seen this day had acted like quail are supposed to but this area, as well as most of Kansas, has had a lot of pressure. Quail are down in Texas and Oklahoma so a lot more people hunted Kansas. I don’t know how many people came in on the same property that I was already hunting but a bunch. That hasn’t happened many times in the past.

Even with all of the crazy quail and all of the hunters that were in Kansas I still had a good year. I’m not ready for it to be over. I would go back with a blank pistol but to be on walk-in you have to be hunting something. I think it would be hard for me to convince a game warden that I’m rabbit hunting, with my dogs. Oh well, I need to do some work with my dogs anyway, so I guess that’s the end of the season in Kansas.

Sally

Luke’s duct tape tail.

Luke pointing quail.

I normally don’t quail hunt on the weekends, because I can go through the week and leave the weekends for working people, but as I watched the news Friday night the weather guy said there would be no wind on Saturday. I’ve never hunted Kansas when there was no wind. I had to go weekend or not.

Dolly on point.

Luke pointing quail.

Sally pointing quail.

The first place I hunted was a large property that was really rough on the east side. I hoped most people hunted the west side and I could find some quail that hadn’t seen a lot of pressure. I’m starting to suspect that Santa Claus and the Easter bunny aren’t real, either.

Dolly is getting older and I haven’t hunted her very much this year but I brought her today. I turned her and Sally loose with their Garmin GPS and e-collars. This property is heavy CRP with rolling hills. We went along the east side to the north.

Along the north east side is an area that has grown up in thickets with a small creek running through. Each year the thickets get larger and there are more trees. The owner of this property would have a lot of trouble getting equipment in to take care of this corner. It will probably be unhuntable in a few years but this was my destination. This corner is surrounded by private land with harvested soy bean fields with this being the only cover for quail.

We were working our way from thicket to thicket when we got close to the north east corner. The GPS showed Sally on point. She was on the other side of a large thicket. When I got to the thicket she was still 30 feet from me on the other side. Quail started flushing but staying low, just above the thicket. First a couple flushed, then 3 or 4 and finally one flushed fairly close and got a little altitude. I shot and it dropped into another thicket.

I marked it down and got both dogs into the thicket to hunt dead. Dolly went through the thicket and went back to hunting. I tried to call her back but she kept hunting. I checked the GPS and Sally was on point 27 feet from me. I couldn’t see her because the thicket was too thick. I pushed myself into the thicket and saw her. She had the dead quail but she was playing with it. I pushed on in and took the quail from her. (When I cleaned the quail she had not put a tooth mark in the bird.)

The quail had flushed to the south west so we went in that direction. With all of the thickets and rolling hills, in this area, it’s hard to see exactly where the singles had flown. We had moved about 200 yards when I saw Dolly trailing through a thicket. I stopped just to see what she would do, when she went on point.

She was almost through this thicket and I went around the end right in front of her. I saw a hen quail running on the ground. I had quail run away all year and thought I needed to run to get them up. Actually I really thought this would be a single from the covey we had already flushed. About the second step in my lumbering run my right foot hung on a vine and down I went, right on my belly. I stated scrambling to get back on my feet. Dolly hadn’t moved and the quail hadn’t flushed. I got back on my feet and took a step or two and a huge covey of quail flushed. Most of them came out the other side of the thicket but one came out my side. I shot and it came down.

Dolly had seen the quail drop and headed in that direction. About the time she got to the dead quail Sally came in and they both grabbed for the quail. As soon as Dolly realized that Sally had a hold on the quail she turned loose and went back to hunting. No jealousy on her part. I petted Sally until she dropped the bird. Dolly, evidently knew that Sally had the first bird in the thicket and that was the reason she didn’t come back. Usually, she’s really good about hunting dead.

Luke honoring Sally.

These quail flew to the south west as the first covey had done. We went about a quarter of a mile to the south west moved over fifty yards and worked back to where they had flushed from. We moved to the other side and went back through the area. Although the dogs got birdy a few times we never found any of the singles.

We hunted on to the south then back to the truck. I loaded the dogs in the truck and drove to another farm.

Tur Bo hasn’t got to hunt much this year but I have put him out a few times for short periods. He somehow tore his knee cap loose and Dr. Becker of Independence Animal Hospital reattached it. I don’t run him for very long but he needs to get out. I turned him, Luke and Sally out on the next farm.

The next farm had some CRP around a harvested soy bean field. We went to the east then turned to the north around the soy bean field. It was getting warm and this farm was really dry. There was a small creek but it held no water.

When we got to the north edge the GPS showed Luke on point about 240 yards to the south west. When I got close to him Sally and Tur Bo honored Luke, when they saw him. He was standing in some tall blue stem. When I got close a rabbit flushed from right in front of him. I guess if they aren’t finding birds they will point whatever will hold for them.

We were close to the truck and it was pretty hot for the dogs so I watered the dogs, loaded them and we headed home. The weather guy was right the wind didn’t blow until afternoon.

Getting Sally ready to go.

Sally honoring Luke.

Tur Bo pointing a single that ran then flushed.