Traveling Pointing Dogs

Austin Farley and I went back to Iowa to hunt quail. The pheasant season is over. There are lots of conservation places to hunt as well as some walk-in properties. Austin and I have hunted in Iowa several times without hunting the same places. Most of the places we have hunted had quail and pheasants.

Sally pointing a single quail .

Luke honoring Sally.

Sally in a thicket on point.

One of the few times that we have seen hunters in this area I saw 3 guys coming out of the first place we hunted. I had talked to them and they hadn’t seen anything. It looked good and I always think I can find birds on places that should have birds.

Austin had brought Ember, his pointing lab puppy, and I had Luke and Sally with me. This first place was rolling hills, full of weeds, but what wasn’t noticeable from the road was that the conservation department had cut trees and let them lay all over the property. We would get started in one direction and hit an area we couldn’t get through. Hard on the hunters but great for the birds. The private property to the east was a harvested corn field.

We hit the edge near the corn field and hunted to the back of this property. When we got to the north side we had to try to go to the west. We spent a lot of time getting around the piles of downed trees.

The GPS showed Luke on point. When we got near the GPS showed Sally on point, also. I figured she was backing Luke but when we got there Luke was backing her. She must have come in front of him without seeing him, hit the scent cone and pointed. When we got close they both started trailing. We went over the hill with both dogs still trailing.

Over the hill were a line of trees that had been dropped on the ground. Sally went into the tangle and pointed. When I got close she moved up about 5 yards and went back on point. We stayed on the outside but followed along. This time when we got close a rooster pheasant flushed right in front of us. When the season isn’t open they look big and slow.

This would be a good place to tell about what Austin has been doing with Ember. As we hunted every once in a while he would whoa Ember, then walk in front of her kicking the cover. As he walked back and forth he would yell, “good shot, there they go, we’ve got a point, good girl Sally,” and anything else he could think of. Ember would not move until he said, “okay”. I’ve not been around Labs much but that was impressive. Ember is learning to back but when he whoas her she will not move.

We hunted to the west then back to the truck. The dogs had got birdy several times but we never saw any more birds on this place.

We went to another place just down the road from the last one. Although it was below freezing the road was thawing out and was slick. Once before we had hunted on this parcel but on the south end. We hadn’t gone this far.

Just over the hill we found a food plot that wasn’t visible from where we parked. It had a huge ditch on one side and a fallow field on the other. As we came around the edge of the food plot we decided to cross the ditch. It was not easy to get across and I called the dogs to get them ahead of us. Luke crossed and was hunting in the good looking weed field. I was watching Sally come toward us with the GPS. At about 150 yards it showed her go on point.

20 gauge AYA No 2 and 4 quail.

I really didn’t want to cross back over the creek. I thought she might be getting a drink in the creek or eating snow. The GPS will show them on point whenever they stop. We waited a bit but she wasn’t moving so we recrossed the creek. When we got to her she was standing in the fallow field pointing into the brush along the creek. We saw the covey of quail right in front of her and when we got close they started running through the brush then flushed. They put some trees between me and them and I never got a shot. Austin shot once and hit a tree.

It looked like maybe three of the quail had flown into the fallow field but the main bunch had flown through some trees and brush to a hillside of grass. We started through the fallow field and a couple of single quail flushed ahead of the dogs but not close to us.

When we got to the end of the fallow field we started across the draw with the brush and trees. We were just inside the trees when a quail flushed in front of me. I shot and it came down but the way it was hit I knew it wasn’t dead. When I shot a covey flushed, flying to the same hillside that the other had flown to, as well as we could see. I tried to mark the quail I had hit down but the way I crossed the draw kept me from keeping my eye on it. I called Sally to me when I thought I was close. As soon as she came in front of me she wheeled around and grabbed the quail. It was still alive but it hadn’t moved.

Luke pointing a quail.

Austin and I were separated a little when we came out of the woods. Ember was near him and flushed a quail right in front of him. He shot and it went down. He got Ember in to find his bird. As they were looking Luke came within about 10 yards of them and went on point. Austin went to him and the quail was lying in front of him, dead.

We came on through the grass and saw Luke on point, at the head of a little draw, near a small cedar tree. Austin whoaed Ember and circled to Luke’s left and I came in on his right. A quail flushed then about 4 more. I shot once at the first quail but missed. Austin shot and I saw feathers coming back by us. He said he should have shot again. The bird had flown on.

Austin thought his bird may have gone down just over the crest of a little hill. We got the dogs in to hunt dead but didn’t come up with anything. We hunted around the edge of the grass field and Luke went on point again. Sally honored him and Austin whoaed Ember. Luke was pointing into the edge of some woods that was just off the weed field. We almost got to him when about 4 quail flushed. Austin killed one and I hit one that dropped to about a foot of the ground then continued flying away.

Ember retrieved Austin’s bird and we started toward where my bird had flown. It was hit hard and I didn’t think it was going far. We started into the woods and Sally went on point. Austin said, “there is a dead quail lying right in front of her”. I went to her and she pounced on the quail. I petted her for a while then took the quail.

Luke on a quail.

We went back through the grass field but didn’t find any more quail. I got to thinking later that the dead quail that Sally had pointed was in line with where the bird that Austin had hit had flown. That was probably Austin’s bird and mine was still out there.

We went back across the big creek that we had crossed earlier then back to the north. We started down the north fence line to the south and got in a thicket that I thought we would never get out of. We came back through some weed fields and a single quail flushed in front of us. We never got a shot but it showed that we had really mixed those two coveys up.

We were going to hunt one more place. We loaded the dogs and turned the truck to the south. We only went about 200 yards when I knew if we didn’t turn around and find some gravel quick we might be there until spring. My truck temperature gauge was showing 27 degrees and that road was thawing. Without 4 wheel drive we wouldn’t have been able to drive out. Just north of where we had hunted we hit some gravel then went to the black top.

We checked the quail and they were in good health. With the cover, food and water that they have in these areas and with a good rest of the winter and spring should be lots of birds next year.

Sally is backing Luke. He is right in front of her.

Luke pointing quail.

Luke pointing a covey of quail.

Don and Linda Hansen were going to meet me near Emporia Kansas, for a quail hunt, but couldn’t be there until about 10:00 am. I woke up real early and decided I would go hunt one place before they got there. When I started loading my truck I remembered that I hadn’t charged my GPS collars since I had been on the last hunt. Good thing I woke up early. Instead of going early I charged collars.

Sally pointing a single quail .

Luke honoring Sally.

Sally in another thicket.

I had Sally and Luke with me and Don turned his pointer Annie out. The first place we hunted was some harvested corn and soy bean fields with hedge rows around them. Where the land rose out of the bottom was in CRP.

We had not gone very far when we heard Annie barking. When birds flush in front of her she barks. She doesn’t bark if we are close enough to shoot but only when they flush before we get there. There was a hedge row between us and Annie so we had no idea where they went.

Later, as we went around a corn field we saw some quail tracks in the snow but although the dogs got birdy we never found the birds. We circled some more fields then back to the trucks through some CRP. We loaded the dogs and went to another place.

The next place was a harvested soy bean field surrounded by CRP. Luke’s feet were sore from hunting on the snow in Iowa so I left him in the truck and turned Sally out. Don turned Annie and another pointer, Goofy, loose. Goofy is a large, good looking, pup about a year old.

As we went around the edge of the soy bean field we saw quail tracks in the snow. We went to the east along the CRP then turned north along the soy bean field. We went to the east in the CRP then moved over and started back to the west. As we got near the west side the GPS showed Sally on point about 100 yards in front of us.

When we got close we saw her pointing into a hedge row beside the soy bean field. As we got close she moved up about 10 yards and went back on point. We moved to her and she started trailing. Annie and Goofy had backed her and all 3 dogs started trailing.

We saw Annie on point in the CRP. When we walked in a single quail flushed. Don and I both shot and the bird dropped. As Don started toward the downed quail another single flushed in front of him. It crumpled at his shot. He went on to the last bird and I got Sally in to look for the first bird.

The CRP was really thick but after a few minutes I saw Sally mouthing something. When I went ot look she had found the quail. I petted her for a few seconds then said, “give.” She dropped it in my hand.

Luke in the little ditch.

Sally and I went over to help Don find the other bird. As the dogs went back and forth Annie went on point for just a second then grabbed the bird. She gave it to Don.

We made a big circle through the CRP and came back through the area where the two quail were but never saw another. We went around the soy bean field through the CRP. We were almost back to the trucks when a covey of quail flushed behind me. I shot but didn’t really have a shot. I still haven’t mastered the 50 yard, from left to right, shot at flying quail yet.

There were some small trees between us and where the quail flew so we couldn’t see where they landed. We both had seen the direction of the quail I had shot at, went, so we started in that direction.

We hunted to the edge of the soy bean field then turned south. We were almost to the south edge when we started to turn back toward the trucks. I checked the GPS and Sally was on point along the edge to the south, looking into a thicket. Don came in on her left and I was on the right. A single quail flushed on the other side of the thicket. I shot and the bird was hit but kept flying. Don said, “I hit that quail.” I said, “I didn’t know you shot.” He said, “I didn’t know you shot.” I watched the quail fly to the south about a hundred yards and drop.

Sally pointing a single.

We crossed to where the quail had fallen. When we got close I checked the GPS and Sally was on point about 50 yards past where I thought the dead quail would be. When we got close a meadow lark flushed in front of her. We turned back to where I thought the quail had fallen. When we got close Annie went on point then moved down wind and picked up the dead quail. She took it to Don.

We crossed back to where the quail had been and as I watched Sally she went on point. Before I could say anything a quail flushed about 5 yards in front of her. It flew away without a shot being fired.

We stood watching all 3 dogs working the area. As we watched Sally came in front of me and went on point. She was about 15 yards in front of us. As we walked in a single quail flushed and I shot but missed. Don shot and didn’t. In this CRP we tried to keep our eye on where the birds fall so we can find them. Don hurried over to where he thought the quail had fallen. He was calling his dogs in when Sally ran right next to him, stopped and picked up the dead quail, next to his foot. She started toward me with it and I started moving away, calling her. She came about half way then put the quail on the ground. I went to her and took the bird.

Luke pointing a quail.

We continued to search the area then decided to check the very south edge. There was a ditch, with some rough cover next to it, right in front of me. I called Sally to cross in front of me. She came and went on point about 10 feet in front of me. I took a step and a single quail went almost straight up, then turned to the east. I shot and the bird dropped through a tall tree, landing in some real thick brush across the ditch. I was thinking how hard it was going to be to cross the ditch, in that cover, when Sally bounced out of the ditch with the quail in her mouth. She brought it about half way to me and put it on the ground. When I went to her she picked it up. I told her to give and she released it.

We continued to work the area without finding any more quail. Don and I had decided this late in the year, 3 were enough birds to be taken from a covey. Although they have good food, water and cover on this farm, we need to leave some for seed. I would much rather have quail to work the dogs on than a bird in my hand.

Sally pointing quail.

Luke pointing quail.

Luke on point almost sitting down. Sally honoring.

A friend, Larry Gann, called and wanted to quail hunt on some land that he owns, in Missouri. He has almost 160 acres of CRP that is surrounded by corn and soy bean fields that have been harvested. The wind was blowing 15 miles an hour or more and a big storm was coming in the next day. Not the best day for a quail hunt but better than staying home.

Luke honoring Sally.

Sally honoring Luke.

Sally in a thicket on point.

Larry and I hunted together when there were a lot of quail but we haven’t hunted together for years. Larry no longer has a bird dog but now he’s talking about getting one.

I put the Garmin GPS collars and e-collars on Sally and Luke and we started down a fence row to the east. My Garmin Astro GPS hand held has replaceable batteries. I use lithium batteries and they say fully charged until they are dead, almost. We were almost a half mile from the truck when they died. I do not hunt without a GPS on the dogs. Most times I have extra batteries in my hunting jacket. I didn’t this time so we moved over to the south and returned to the truck to get batteries.

We went from the truck to the south west corner then followed the property line, hedge row, fence line to the east. When we were on the way back for the batteries Luke had pointed but when we got there he moved up and both dogs had trailed but not come up with anything. On the way back to the east they got real birdy in the same area but didn’t point.

Larry has done a real good job with the CRP on this farm. It’s not too thick for quail to run through and the deer have trails through it that looks like it’s been grazed by cattle. With all of the grain around it, it should be perfect for quail. On days that are windy and especially when a storm is on the way quail are really spooky. I think we had picked the wrong day.

Down in the bottom on this place were a couple of small corn fields where the dogs hunted the edges. We went around the south edge then turned north and hit the north edge that we hadn’t hunted first thing. The only thing left was to go through the middle.

We saw several deer and where turkeys had been scratching in the leaves. We had several points that when we got to the dogs, they moved on trailing, and it could have been turkeys. As we came back through the middle Sally pointed inside a little thicket. Before we got to her Luke honored. I took some pictures then went to the dogs.

I circled the thicket intending to run the birds out for Larry to shoot. This almost never works on wild birds. They know where they are going to fly before you ever get close. When I kicked the thicket nothing flushed and Sally moved about 15 yards and went back on point. Luke had trailed to the south east and I followed him. Larry was close to Sally and saw a hen pheasant run back to the north after a hen pheasant flushed well out in front of her.

I followed Luke and he pointed then moved about 20 yards and pointed again. A rooster pheasant flushed about 40 yards in front of him, too far for a shot.

We hunted on back through the middle of the CRP, then back to the truck. We hadn’t seen any quail but with the strong winds and the storm moving in we weren’t surprised. We were going to try again on the last day of the season but the weather was too cold. I never used to think of this but on really cold days the quail don’t need more stress in their lives.

Larry and I may go back later and just run dogs. I believe there are quail on this place that just didn’t stick around for us to see them.

This morning I read a study on quail put out by Auburn University that said as soon as your dogs go on point you need to get to them. A large percentage of the quail start running immediately. It also said that when you have what is thought of as false points there is often quail there. I knew this but I will still take pictures because I enjoy the pictures more than shooting the quail.

On these cold days I have plenty of time to think and I was thinking about what a great time to be alive. I’m just a few years away from my kids taking my truck keys away from me and by that time they may have self driving cars and trucks. How can you beat it.

Lucky at almost 14 years old pointing a single.

Tur Bo pointing a single that ran then flushed.

Dolly on point.