Traveling Pointing Dogs

When I got up yesterday morning the roads were slick with black ice. I was up early but waited until about 8:00 am before leaving. Austin and I have quail hunted Iowa several times and haven’t seen anyone else hunting. This morning the first place I drove by had a truck parked on it. We haven’t hunted the same place twice but this morning, the first place I hunted, we had found two coveys of quail and several pheasants.

I have trouble seeing the dogs when they point on the snow.

Sally, again.

Sally pointing a pheasant.

When I pulled into the first place, there were tire tracks as well as foot prints from men and dogs, but from the days before. The snow had been on for well over a week. I only had Sally and Luke with me so I put the Garmin e-collars and GPS collars on them. When I turned them loose we headed to the north along a fence row. There had been soy beans on the conservation area and across the fence was another harvested soy bean field. There was a wide buffer strip on the conservation side.

When we got to the end of the conservation area, about a half mile in, Sally went on point. When I saw her she was looking back toward me and I walked straight in to her. I always worry about the quail when the snow has been on for a while. Only four quail flushed when I got in front of Sally. I brought the gun up but didn’t shoot. Both of the coveys we had found earlier had been large.

It was warm and the snow was melting. I walked around the area and saw more quail tracks where they had run away. They may have flushed behind me or just run off. I’m okay with that, I would rather have quail to work my dogs on as have a dead bird in my hand.

We circled back to the west and went down the side of the soy bean field. Luke and Sally both pointed but when I got to them they started moving as if the birds had run out. When we got back close to the truck I loaded the dogs.

I drove to the next place and ate lunch before heading out. As I was sitting in the truck 3 guys drove up and asked if I was going to hunt there. That was much nicer than just jumping out and trying to beat me into the cover. We talked a while and they went to another place.

This place has a large food plot that runs down the ridge with weedy cover all the way around it. I walked down the east edge of the food plot and when we came to the end Luke was on point in the weedy cover about 50 yards away. As I looked for him I saw a rooster pheasant flush, cackling as it flew away. I was still 40 yards away.

Earlier, we had found a covey of quail on to the south. We hunted on down a small creek that was covered with brush. I decided to cross the creek. It took forever to get across. The brush was even thicker than it looked. I fought my way to the creek and it looked even thicker on the other side but it was as hard to turn around as to go forward. I finally made it across. I will look for a better place next time.

Sally

We came back around and went back to the north. I had several points but when I got to them the dogs would start trailing then just go on. Sally made a point where a hen pheasant flushed but even if it had been a rooster it was too far ahead of her for a shot.

When we got to the road on the north both dogs were on point. I think one of them pointed and the other backed but the GPS just showed them being on point. Before I got to them a hen pheasant flushed then a rooster and then another hen. Sally came back by me trailing. I saw Luke going along the side of the road. A hen pheasant flushed in front of him far enough he never even knew it flew.

I tried to get the dogs headed back south after we had moved over a quarter mile but Luke was on point back near the road. I turned back to find him. Without the GPS I would never have even got close. He was in some weeds that were higher than my head and when I finally saw him I almost stepped on him. He moved, then went back on point and I heard a pheasant flush but never saw it.

We went on to the south and in some weeds near the base of a pond dam Sally went on point. I got to her and she moved up then started trailing. I could see the pheasant tracks in the snow for a while then we hit some bare trail. We never came up with that pheasant. When we got near the truck I loaded the dogs in their box.

Luke in the little ditch.

I drove several miles to the north to another place. As I drove around it to make sure no one was already hunting it I saw two trucks parked on the next place over. I saw two hunters and there may have been more. But not the place I wanted to hunt.

I had parked on the north side and we hunted to the south. There was a soy bean field with a brush filled creek running through it with a couple of acres of soy beans left unharvested. When I crossed the creek Sally was moving through the standing soy beans real slow and as I watched she honored Luke. He was standing in the edge of the weeds that surrounded the soy beans. I was still 40 yards from him when a rooster pheasant flushed to the north west. That brought it a little closer to me and when I shot it folded. It dropped in some tall weeds and I got both dogs in to hunt dead. After a minute or so, Sally pounced on it and penned it to the ground. She doesn’t try to pick them up she just holds them against the ground.

We moved just a few yards to the north and Sally started pointing then moving up. She must have pointed 8 or 10 times and when I would get close she would move on. We went all the way to the west edge then back down the fence line to the east.

When we got back near where Luke had pointed the rooster I saw quail tracks in the snow. They looked fresh. I called the dogs in and both of them started trailing. I stood in one place and both dogs stayed within about 10 yards or less of me for about 10 minutes. Normally, to get my dogs to stay that close they have to be on point. We never come up with the quail.

Sally in the brush pointing a single.

We went on to the east and below a pond a couple of pheasants flushed too far away for a shot. At the east edge we started back down the creek toward where we had come in. Both dogs were in the heavy cover to the north of me. Along the edge of the standing soy beans, south west of me, a single quail flushed. I was 40 yards from him and both dogs were farther than that from it. If that quail was out of the birds that made the tracks in the snow it was over a quarter of a mile from the tracks.

Hoping there were more I called both dogs in to hunt the soy beans and that edge. We hunted back to the truck. Although the snow was melting it was hard on the dogs feet. I loaded them up, took the e-collars off and stowed the dogs in their boxes.

Austin and I have had this almost to our selves. I don’t know if the warmer weather brought the hunters out or deer season being over (or it should be) brought more hunters out.

I talked to the 3 guys that came by while I was eating lunch and they said most of the food plots have been planted by Pheasants Forever chapters. Probably, the ones on the conservation areas are done by the state. Iowa is the only place I’ve been that had food plots on their walk-in. Those food plots are large enough that they are good for all of the animals. I’ve seen a lot of song birds, rabbits, pheasants and quail in them. There is also a lot of deer tracks. Iowa does a lot for the bird hunters.

Luke

Luke pointing quail.

Luke pointing quail.

After over a week of being inside because of the cold weather gripping most of the nation Austin Farley and I went back to Iowa. Austin had seen some new walk-in places on his phone that we hadn’t been to. The snow was deeper and it’s colder in Iowa than where we live.

Luke pointing quail.

Sally pointing quail.

Luke on point almost sitting down. Sally honoring.

Austin’s uncle, Fred Bennett, owns a farm. in north Missouri, that we were going to hunt on but he had to work until about 1:00 pm so we went on to Iowa.

I had only brought Sally and Luke today and Austin had brought his pointing lab puppy, Ember.

The first place we hunted looked like a harvested soy bean field but after we walked around in the 5 or 6 inches of snow we figured out it was just a mowed weed field. We walked back in a half mile then moved over and hunted back to the truck. Although there were deer tracks, there were no quail or pheasant tracks, that we saw. We loaded the dogs and went looking for another spot.

As we drove around the next walk-in place we saw what we thought might be a food plot. We looked through the binoculars and still couldn’t tell for sure. We turned the dogs out and got close it was standing milo that had been left for the animals. I don’t know who plants the food plots but several of the Iowa walk-in properties have had them. These are good for all of the animals in the area. We saw a lot of song birds, some rabbits, some pheasants and the deer tracks were thick.

On the snow, even with the GPS, I have trouble keeping up with the dogs. White dogs and white snow. We had just entered the food plot when the GPS said Sally was on point at 65 feet. She was closer to Austin and he saw her first. As we got close Ember honored Sally for a moment then went ahead of her. A rooster pheasant flushed right in front of Ember. Austin and I shot all of the shells we had in our guns, Austin had an over and under and I had a side by side, but the pheasant went down. Ember followed the flight of the bird and retrieved it to Austin. When that rooster flushed pheasants were getting up all over the food plot. Somewhere between 15 and 20 pheasants flushed. Most of them flying to the west.

We went on through the food plot then to the west heading back to the truck. As we looked to the west we saw another food plot. We were close to the truck so we loaded Sally and Ember in the truck. Luke was to the west and didn’t want to come in. After calling him we decided to go on to the food plot and he would come to us. He was fairly close to it.

When we parked the truck and turned the dogs loose I checked the GPS and Luke was on point a long way, 500 yards, east of us. In pheasant country I didn’t think the bird would hold until we got to him so we went on to the food plot. About 30 yards into the food plot I checked the GPS and Sally was on point and we had walked past her. When we found her, Ember went on point, right beside Sally. When we walked in both dogs started trailing and running their heads under the snow covered weeds. Sally went left and Ember went right and a rooster pheasant flushed right off Ember’s nose. It’s a good thing Austin and I aren’t hunting with single shots because we, again, emptied our guns but the pheasant went down. Ember made another retrieve.

Luke pointing a single.

As we went on through the food plot I kept watching the GPS and Luke was still on point. After we hunted the food plot out without seeing any more pheasants we loaded the dogs and drove back closer to Luke. He was south of the road about 150 yards. We went toward him and when we got within about 35 yards Austin saw a rooster pheasant flush too far for a shot. Then a hen pheasant flushed about 25 yards from me and another bird went out farther away. Luke wanted to stay in that field and hunt but Austin’s uncle was waiting on us. We loaded Luke up and headed for Missouri.

It was after 2:00 pm when we got to Fred’s house and he was ready to go. He had what every bird hunter would like to have. The ability to go out the back door and go quail hunting. Fred is a serious deer hunter and has food plots for the deer as well as growing the regular row crops. He had left soy beans, had a clover patch as well as a field with turnips. Some of the place was in CRP but he regularly burns it where it doesn’t get too thick. What is good for the deer is good for all of the animals.

Just a short distance from the house we started down a fence row and Sally went on point. When we got close she started trailing. Luke and Ember went into the fence row and acted birdy. Fred said he often saw a covey of quail in that fence row.

We went down the north side of the food plot with the dogs birdy and trailing. We came back up the south side and started away. I checked the GPS and Sally was on point on the south side of the food plot and behind us. We had walked away from her.

Sally pointing a quail.

On the south side of the food plot there was a buffer zone that had some cedar trees growing in it. We were about 15 yards from Sally when Austin saw or heard some quail flushing well out front of Sally. Fred and I were about 10 yards to Austin’s left and we saw 7 quail flush about 25 yards ahead of us. On the snow the quail weren’t holding.

Most of the quail had flown to the east and we followed. Austin was in the buffer strip, I was in the edge of the buffer strip and Fred was in the edge of the food plot. Well out front a single quail flushed ahead of the dogs flying across in front of us. Fred made a really good shot and the bird dropped. None of the dogs paid any attention and Fred had to make his on retrieve. Austin and I have taught the dogs that it takes a lot of shots to down a bird.

As went back through the buffer strip to the west we had several points from Sally and Luke both but when we got to them they would start trailing as if the birds had run off. Fred and Austin heard quail whistling right where the dogs were hunting but we never came up with anything.

As we went on to the north Austin saw Ember point then flush a single quail. Fred and I both shot at it but it flew on. As we walked through some CRP Austin flushed a quail that flew off to the east. Sally and Ember both pointed at a small cedar tree. It must have been where the quail had flushed from.

Luke pointing a quail.

Sally pointed again in a water way in the middle of a corn field and couldn’t believe there wasn’t anything there when I walked in. The other dogs acted birdy when they came through. We crossed to a creek and hunted back to the house.
We had, probably, more points today without a bird right in front of the dog than we’ve had all year.

We had, probably, more points today without a bird right in front of the dog than we’ve had all year. Quail seem to run more on snow.

Sitting here thinking about some things. Is it still a quail hunt if you have 2 pheasants and 1 quail in the bag? Why are quail really spooky on snow but pheasants seem to hunker down and hide? As I think about Lucky and Dolly, in the twilight of their years; why can’t dogs live longer?

Sally is backing Luke.

Luke pointing quail.

Luke pointing a covey of quail.

It dawned on me late Wednesday night that if I was going to quail hunt any more this year I needed to go. Every place I checked was super cold except near Greensburg Kansas. The forecast for Greensburg was for really cold weather over the week end. So I needed to go now. About 4:00 am Thursday morning I loaded the dogs and hit the road.

Sally is backing Luke. He is right in front of her but the brush is too thick to see him.

Tur Bo pointing a single that ran then flushed.

Lucky at almost 14 years old pointing a single.

I decided that I would wear the ear muffs that I shoot skeet with because they, also, keep my ears warm. The muffs amplify sounds but stop really loud noises. There was a strong wind blowing from the south west and at 25 degrees it was cold.

I turned Luke and Sally out with their e-collars and GPS collars. This is the place where 2 guys followed me here, parked about 150 yards behind me, jumped out and were hunting before I could turn my dogs loose. I went to another property that time. Before I turned the dogs out I drove around it to see if anyone was hunting it. This morning, I have it to my self.

We were about 300 yards from the truck when the GPS said Luke was on point. When I got within about 30 yards of him he started trailing. Both dogs were trailing and I saw a quail flush about 40 yards ahead of them. Then two more.

The dogs trailed into an overgrown weed field. Sally went on point and when I got to her she started trailing. After about 15 yards she went on point again. I got to her and she started trailing again. After her fifth point a quail flushed about 30 yards ahead of her. I shot but didn’t come close.

Wearing these ear muffs I can see why the quail run and flush. I make a lot of noise coming through the brush. I make a lot of noise just walking through grass. There is a highway on the south side of this property and trucks on it really make a lot of noise.

As we got to the south side of this property Luke went on point. Again, when I got close he started trailing. I was walking along a fence row next to some heavy brush when I saw Sally go on point. When I got closer I saw she was backing Luke. He was buried in the brush. I couldn’t get to him so I took a picture of Sally. Luke was in the brush where I couldn’t even get a picture of him. I got beside Sally and at least two quail flushed. I didn’t see them, although they were close, but I heard them.

My game plan was to hunt to the south edge then go to the east. When I got to the south side I remembered finding a covey, before the season opened, to the west just a short distance. So we turned to the west.

As we went to the west I saw a wind mill. It was really dry, no water in the creek, so we went to the wind mill. What water was there was frozen. I hadn’t carried any water with me, usually the creek has water. We started to the truck.

We were just west of the truck when Sally went on point in the edge of a little thicket. Luke honored. I circled around to get on the opposite side of the thicket but when I kicked Sally started trailing through the thicket. We crossed a fence then she trailed into the wind. We went over a hundred yards.

Sally honoring Dolly.

Luke knew there was water at the truck and he kept trying to get me to go to the truck. I kept following Sally. Finally, Luke came back near us and went on point right at the edge of a winter wheat field. When I walked in front of him a covey erupted. I shot once and a quail dropped in the wheat field. I watched the singles to the ground.

We went where the singles had flown but just made a short pass through. I took these two dogs back, watered them and turned Tur Bo and Dolly out. Just as soon as they got to the area they started trailing. Tur Bo pointed and a single quail flushed way out front of him. We went on both sides of a small, dry creek. Then we went way south and came back through without finding any more quail.

I loaded the dogs and we went to another property. Lucky will be 14 years old in May. I brought him along but I didn’t intend to hunt him. When I let him out to get a drink he wanted to go really bad. He thought that was what he was out of the truck to do. I put an e-collar and a GPS collar on him and turned Sally and Luke out with him. Before turning Luke loose I put duct tape on his tail.

On the way in, I had talked to a couple of guys who may have hunted this property. We went to the east side of the property then turned to the south, into the wind. Shortly after we turned south Sally went on point in a thicket. When I got to her she trailed through the thicket into some short grass and went on point. When I got to her a single quail flushed and dropped at my shot. Another quail flushed from behind me then two more. Sally saw the bird drop and grabbed it. I went to her and she dropped it in my hand when I told her to give.

Dolly honoring Sally.

I knew where a pond was on this property and tried to get the dogs to it. Lucky and Sally went with me but Luke went on to the south. About the time I beeped his e-collar he went on point. About 300 yards from us. I got close and he was moving. As I watched him a single quail flushed then two more. There wasn’t a dog or person close to them.

I got all 3 dogs in where the 3 birds had flushed from without finding anything. We went on to the south west. Luke went into a thicket on top of a small hill and went on point. When I went in a covey of quail flushed to the south. They just barely cleared the top of the bushes. I got off one shot but I couldn’t tell if I hit one or not. Sally went on point about 20 yards away and I thought I may have killed one of the quail. I fought my way through the thicket and when I got close about 5 quail flushed. They had not flown very far.

I tried to get the dogs in where I had shot thinking I may have hit one. Sally and Lucky came in then went to the south. I looked and saw Sally on point. When I got out of the thicket I saw that she was honoring Luke who was on point on the side of a small hill. Luke was in a ball instead of standing regally. I knew the quail was right under his nose. When it flushed I just caught it with the corner of the pattern but Sally was on it immediately. I petted her until she dropped the bird in my hand.

We started back to the pond but when we got to it it was dry. Not just dried mud but grass was growing in the bottom. We cut straight back toward the truck. The dogs didn’t slow down although Luke stayed in closer.

Sally in another thicket.

Before we got back I saw Luke on point in a small thicket. I started to him and Lucky came in front and honored. Then Sally saw Lucky and honored him. I got close and Luke moved up a few feet and went back on point. Lucky saw him move and he moved a couple of feet ahead of Luke and went on point. I should have taken some pictures but I didn’t. When I stepped up where Lucky was a covey of quail flushed about 25 yards in front of him. They never got 3 feet off the ground. I shot once but missed.

That covey had flown to the west and we followed but never came up with them. As we turned back toward the truck I saw a couple of quail flush from the fence row ahead of the dogs. When I got the dogs in there they got birdy but we never found anything. When we got back to the truck it was after 4:00 pm. I watered the dogs and loaded them up.

I knew where a walk-in property had a gate that I could hook the dogs to and feed them. I carry enough tree lead leashes to tie each dog out while they eat. When I got out of the truck a covey of quail flushed from the walk-in property and flew across the road.

I fed the dogs and called it a day. I know when I see dogs on point and I spend a few minutes taking pictures that it gives the birds a chance to run or flush. I know that and I’m okay with it. I would rather have a picture of my dogs than a dead bird. I wish there was some way to do catch and release quail hunting.

3 quail

Luke’s duct tape tail.

Sally in a thicket on point.

Austin Farley and I went back to Iowa to hunt quail and pheasants. This will be the fourth time we have hunted Iowa and we haven’t hunted the same place twice. Most of the places we have hunted held birds. I have an app on my phone that tells me how far I have walked and how many floors I have climbed. At the end of this day I had walked 8.9 miles and climbed 80 floors.

8.9 miles and 80 floors.

Sally pointing a pheasant.

Tur Bo pointing Sally honoring.

I took Tur Bo, Sally, Dolly and Luke and Austin had Ember. At the first place I turned Tur Bo and Sally out and we went through a grass field next to a harvested soy bean field. Austin took Ember. We went down the fence line then back toward the truck along a little draw below a pond. As we got above the pond Tur Bo went on point looking into a small thicket. Sally honored. When we went in front nothing flushed. I released the dogs and they started trailing. They trailed almost to the road then went on hunting. Something had run out on us.

Tur Bo is recuperating from knee surgery and I don’t run him very long in the tough CRP type cover that they have on these Conservation areas. Dolly will be 13 years old in February and I don’t hunt her very long either. We saw a small soy bean field with a buffer strip on one side and a good hedge row on the other. I turned Dolly and Sally out and along with Ember we went around the field. This was one of the few times that we never found anything.

As we drove to another area we saw a harvested soy bean field that was next to the Conservation area. The Conservation area had the normal, for this area, tough, tall weeds. We decided to hunt the fence row between the two.

We turned Luke, Sally and Ember out. Before we got to the fence row I saw Sally on point. Actually, she was honoring Luke but I couldn’t see him. Before we got close a rooster pheasant flushed, cackling as he flew away. It sounds like laughter to me.

As we got close to the fence row Sally was on point at about a hundred yards. We were within about 35 yards of her when Austin saw quail flying down the fence row, to the south. We worked the fence row to the south then turned and went back north.

About 75 yards from where she had pointed originally, Sally was on point again. I thought it was probably a single from the first covey but when we walked in another covey flushed well out front of us. One of the quail flew real high to the north and turned back to the south. I was on him and he collapsed at my shot. Austin took a shot but he had been in the wrong place. Ember found my dead bird right away and delivered it to Austin.

The singles had flown to the north and we followed but the Conservation area stopped just beyond where the covey had flushed from. We worked along the north fence then moved over and went back through the weeds.

Dolly on point.

We saw a harvested corn field to the west and went along the edge of it. Sally went on point after trailing for a little way. We got close and a hen pheasant flushed. We followed the corn field to the edge then turned back toward the truck. When we got close to the truck Luke was on point past the truck on the east fence row. Close to where the first coveys singles were.

We were still 30 yards from him when a quail flushed, right in front of Austin, as we went around a brush pile. He shot and the quail dropped. Ember ran right to where it fell. I thought she had it but she came back without the bird. I started on down to Luke but he was moving so I called the dogs to help find Austin’s bird.

There was a little clump of weeds next to the brush pile that I had marked the quail down in. I got Sally and Luke in to help Ember but after 10 minutes or more we gave up. But I told Austin that we would come back later and try again.

Several years ago a friend, Mike Goldsmith, was hunting with me in Kansas. We knocked a quail down but didn’t find it. He tied a piece of paper to a branch near where we thought the bird was and we came back a couple of hours later. We were searching near the paper and I saw Lucky, who was young then, on point about 50 yards from us. When we got close he moved in and picked up the bird. It may have run that far but we may have been that far off on our mark.

Tur Bo pointing quail.

We ate our lunch and drove to another area. The next area was a harvested soy bean field with tall weeds all the way around. As we got close to the field we crossed a deep creek. There was water in the creek and it couldn’t be crossed except at certain points.

We crossed and started around the soy bean field. Ember was in front of Austin and hit the scent cone of some quail and flushed a large covey. The whole covey flew to the west along the creek. Austin shot once and his gun jammed. I shot once but the quail were too far.

We headed to the west on the south side of the creek. About a quarter mile to the west the GPS showed Luke on point about 60 yards from us in some real tall and thick weeds. Austin and I were fighting our way through the cover with me checking the GPS every few yards. I was about 30 feet from Luke when a hen pheasant flushed. Then another hen flew out. I started to take another step and a rooster flushed from right in front of me. The rooster folded when I shot and Austin hit him, also. It was so thick I was afraid we would have trouble finding it but Ember went right to him.

We went along the creek to the west edge along the south side then crossed over to the north side. We were heading to the east along the creek when I noticed on the GPS that Sally was on point. When I read the GPS I thought she was across the creek to the south. We crossed the creek and I noticed we were getting farther away from her instead of closer. Austin looked across the creek, from where we had just came from, and saw her on point. I had been reading the GPS arrow for Luke instead of for her. We went back across the creek and when we got close to Sally she gave me a dirty look then started trailing whatever she had been pointing. I felt bad because I had screwed her point up. We never came up with anything but all 3 dogs were trailing. Something had run out on her.

Dolly pointing a single.

A little while later as Austin and I walked through the area about 50 yards east of where she was on point we walked a single quail up. I’m sure that was what Sally was pointing when I walked away from her. I’m not going to expect my dogs to be perfect until I get to be perfect. And I’m a long way from perfect.

We hunted on around the soy bean field then back to the truck. We drove back to where we had lost Austin’s quail. I turned Sally and Dolly out hoping to find the dead bird. Ember, Sally and Dolly looked but we never came up with that bird.

We had time for one more place and we had seen a food plot that ran down a ridge for 400 yards. The wind had been out of the north so I parked on the south end and we turned the dogs, Sally, Dolly and Ember loose. The wind had changed in just the few minutes it had taken us to drive over. Now the wind was out of the south. We walked on past the food plot and went on to the north and came back through the food plot into the wind.

I came out onto a farm road just before the milo food plot and saw Sally on point. When we walked in nothing flushed and she trailed toward the food plot. We were into the food plot about 25 yards when Austin said, “Sally is on point in front of me.” Before we could get very close a rooster pheasant flushed, ahead of us, too far for a shot.

When we got through the food plot Ember wasn’t with us. We didn’t have a GPS on her so we weren’t sure where she was. We were looking ahead of us and she finally came from behind us in the food plot. We didn’t see her but I would bet she was on point.

We were close to the truck and it was close to the end of shooting time in Iowa so we loaded the dogs and headed home.

It had been a good day. We had found 3 coveys of quail and several pheasants. The big thing is we saw new country and most of the places we have hunted in Iowa has had quail and pheasants on them. We’ll be back.

Thank you for reading my blog. I enjoy writing but without readers I would have quit. So, again, thank you for reading. I want to wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and I hope you have a blessed New Year.

Luke

Luke pointing quail.

Sally pointing a single.