I met Don and Linda Hansen in Kansas for a quail hunt. There was a little snow, about an inch, covering the ground. Most times with snow covered ground quail are really nervous and flush before the dogs can get to them. It was above freezing and the snow was melting, leaving some of the ground bare. Most of the time bare ground with areas of snow allows the quails camouflage to work so they are less nervous.
An old house in Kansas.
Abby honoring Sally.
Mann with Boss honoring.
Most of the time we hunt new ground but on this day we decided to hunt a place that we knew had two coveys of quail. Don had brought his pointer, Goofy, and I had Mann, Sally and Abby. We always run the dogs with GPS and e-collars.
What little snow was on the ground still revealed a lot of tracks of the animals and birds using the harvested fields. We had gone about a quarter of a mile when the GPS handheld vibrated. It showed Mann on point but then he was moving. Then it vibrated again and he and Sally both were on point near where Mann had been the first time.
When I got close I saw all 3 of my dogs sniffing the ground in one small place. My first thought was they were eating something. Then all 3 started trailing. Don said, “there are a lot of quail tracks in this field.” So the birds didn’t wait for us. They, probably, ran then flushed.
We went to the north where we had got into some singles the other time we were here but no success, this time. We made a large circle checking all of the available cover with no luck.
As we came back near where the dogs had pointed originally Mann pointed, again. This time I took pictures. I made a big circle out in the grass in front of Mann but when I got to him nothing flushed. The dogs all started trailing. The birds had been there but they beat us, again. We hunted back to the truck and went to another property.
The next property, we haven’t hunted this year. A few years ago I found 3 coveys of quail and the habitat hasn’t changed, that I can tell. It still has long draws next to row crops, corn and soybeans.
We turned all 4 dogs loose and walked most of the edges without seeing a game bird. This property is just about ideal for quail. Even some of the corn field had grass growing instead of the clean farming we see most of the time. There has to be more than just habitat that is affecting the quail. This habitat is about perfect and we haven’t seen the horde of hunters that we have seen in the past. There were some people tracks but it could have been deer hunters.
Don Hansen’s pointer, Goofy.
After this hunt I thought I really needed to do a hunt where I found birds. Usually, I don’t hunt on the weekends but Friday night, late, I decided to go to central Kansas. I got up early and drove over 4 hours to the west, in Kansas. I had been out in this general area before bird season, prairie chicken hunting and had found a few quail.
On the way the temperature dropped to 17 degrees according to my truck’s thermometer. I drove by the areas I had found birds before and there was someone already hunting one of them and another had been grazed down.
I found a spot that was only about 80 acres that had really good CRP, surrounded by row crops. The CRP cover was blue stem and weeds with plenty of open areas that birds could run through. There was a low spot that may have been a pond during real wet years but was only grown up with areas of cattails.
I had Mann, Sally, Abby and Boss with me. I have 3 collars for my Pro 500 but I have several GPS collars. I put the e-collars on Sally, Mann and Boss along with their GPS collar and just a GPS collar on Abby.
Boss and Mann honoring.
We went along the low spot and around the cattails as we headed to the east. From where I parked I couldn’t see what the back side looked like as it was a lot higher than where we started. We started diagonally across the 80 acres when the GPS vibrated. It showed Mann on point about 65 yards away. When I got to him the other dogs were honoring. I could tell that whatever he had had run out on him. I released them and they all started trailing. A hen pheasant flushed along the hedge row on the south side.
When we got to the back I saw Mann go on point then a pheasant flushed just off the place I was on. All of the dogs were excited. As I watched I saw two more pheasants flush. We went from the south east edge to the north east.
As we walked along the GPS vibrated. It showed Sally on point about 125 yards from me. I was afraid that she was off the place but when I got close she was along the fence row on the north side. I was about 40 yards from her when she started moving. Then she pointed again. Then was moving. Then pointed again and this time she came by me as she started moving. I don’t know whether she was mad or just concentrating but her face was serious.
Abby honoring.
A few yards down the fence row Mann pointed and all the dogs backed. This time I remembered to take pictures. When I went in front of him nothing happened. I released them and they all started trailing. We hunted on back to the truck. We went to another place.
The next place was a large milo field near the road but there was a creek along the bottom and a hill side on the back. There was a lot of rag weed, plum thickets and just a lot of weedy growth. Looked perfect for quail. A lot of creeks are dry but there was even some water in the creek.
We went along a fence row toward the creek which we crossed and hunted the hill side. It was even better than it looked from the road. Lots of rag weed and plenty of weed seeds. We went along the south side of the creek and when we got back to the road I had parked on we followed the creek to the back on the other side. I just couldn’t believe we didn’t find any birds.
I didn’t get to this place until about 11:00 am so there could have been several groups that had already hunted this place. If I go back I will certainly try this place again.
Sally honoring.
I saw another place that had two creeks with cover running through a milo field. The milo field stretched farther than the cover did but it also had some CRP along side of the milo. When I pulled in to park I remembered what a friend, Mike Goldsmith, had told me he saw in Kansas. He said on the third day of season one of the parking places had dead grass where so many people had parked to hunt the place. The grass was not only dead but part of it was bare ground. It looked so good I hunted it anyway.
We hunted along the fence row where the CRP was. As we went down the fence row Sally crossed off the place into a pasture that had been grazed down and pointed. She was looking almost straight down. I thought maybe someone had wounded a bird and she had found it but although she tried to dig something out we didn’t come up with anything. I did get some good pictures of her and the other dogs backing.
Abby in Kansas.
We came on around the place and when we got back to the road we were parked on, I saw Sally on point, across the road, off the walk-in. Mann was close honoring and Abby was out in a soybean field. Boss was close to me. I stood in the road trying to get a picture of the 3 dogs that were close to each other. Before I could get the camera adjusted a covey of quail flushed flying farther off the walk-in. The only thing to do was call the dogs and go to another place.
The last place was a low area that rose to some interrupted hedge rows. It had a lot of maybe pig weed along with other weeds growing next to a wheat stubble field that ran into a milo field. Good cover for quail or pheasants.
We went along the wheat stubble in the tall weeds. There was a small draw that ran into the milo that the dogs ran. We worked all the way to the south end then went back along the bottom through the tall weeds. We found nothing. It was getting late and I had a 4 hour drive home. I loaded dogs and we headed home.
Sally
I had hunted 4 really good looking places that should have had birds. I didn’t see a quail but hunting on the weekend when a lot of people were hunting I may have been following other hunters. It’s hard to say but this area has had a lot of pressure. I saw several hunters and a couple of the places I wanted to hunt had hunters on them.
During the early prairie chicken season I had been close but not quite this far west. I may come back yet this year but for sure I will be out during the early prairie chicken hunting season next year, Lord willing.