Wednesday, October 16, 2013 dawned clear 39 degrees with a north west wind of about 15 miles an hour. Before daylight I turned all of the dogs out for about 5 minutes. I got to the farm I wanted to hunt early enough to have a cup of coffee before releasing the dogs.
Dolly, Blaze and I hunted a CPR field next to a corn field. The wind was still blowing but
Whitey
Not as strong as the day before. We were following a fence row and as we got further back it had more and thicker cover.
The cover was thick enough that I had to rely on the Garmin GPS. When I checked, it showed Blaze on point about 80 yards away. She was hidden by the cover in the fence row. I got within about 40 yards of her and a cock pheasant flushed. The wind was from her to me and when he flushed he flew within about 25 yards of me. They don’t make that mistake during the season.
When we got to the back we moved over about 200 yards and started back to the truck. Several times Dolly or Blaze would point, then move up and point then go on. Evidently some pheasants were running ahead of us. We got back to the truck without seeing any more birds.
At the second farm I turned out Lucky and Whitey. This farm is pasture near a corn field. The walking in this pasture was easy and I could see the dogs really well but Lucky crossed a fence into some real tall CRP and went on point. Whitey honored him. When I walked in front of Lucky a hen pheasant got up. Then about 15 yards from her a hen and a cock pheasant flushed.
Blaze
As we went on through the CRP Lucky pointed again and Whitey backed. Before I got to him a hen pheasant flushed. When she got up a covey of quail also flushed. Most of the quail were real little. A late hatch that didn’t fly very far.
I worked Whitey up close to where I saw the quail go down and she pointed. Lucky backed her and I flushed a single.
Then Lucky pointed with Whitey again backing. When I got in front of him I saw a pheasant roost so I tapped him on the head to send him on. When he and I started to move away a quail flew away. Scott Linden says, “trust the one with the longest nose.”
We worked our way back to the truck with the only bird contact, a cock pheasant that I flushed.
Luke
The next farm I turned Luke and Dolly loose. This was a pasture that had cows on one end so we hunted the other. The dogs went over a slight rise and I checked the GPS before I got to the top of the hill. It showed Luke on point about 165 yards away. As I was checking the direction to Luke the GPS showed Dolly running, then showed her on point near Luke so I knew she was honoring.
When I got close I saw Luke on point in a thick plum thicket with Dolly backing. As I walked up to the thicket Luke moved and a single quail flushed. I whoaed Luke but the plum thicket was too thick to sit him back where he was on point so I just kicked in front of him, walked off, came back and kicked in front of him then sent him on.
Luke and Dolly started working the ground like birds had run off. Then Dolly pointed and Luke backed. I walked in and flushed her bird. Luke doesn’t move on another dogs point but he does on his. Why?
Then Luke pointed and Dolly backed. I started in and he flushed a single quail. I whoaed him, picked him up and put him back where he originally pointed, kicked in front of him then sent him on.
He went about 15 yards and went on point. Dolly backed and I went in to flush. Luke did not move. A single quail flushed.
As we headed back to the truck I saw Dolly heading to a plum thicket. As she got to the edge she pointed. When I got a little closer I saw Luke in the middle of the plum thicket on point and Dolly was honoring him. As I walked in front of Luke he did not move until about 8 or 10 quail flushed. That’s all I want, let me flush the birds. Is he fixed, time will tell. Two in a row is a start.
The next farm was really rough walking. It had not seen a brush mower in a long time. It has briars, saplings, and plum thickets with tall weeds. Whitey and Luke loved it.
As we moved through I saw Whitey on point. Luke could not see her so I whoaed him. As I walked in front of her I saw an immature cock pheasant hunkered down under a little plum tree. He looked like he had flattened out to hide. I kicked the ground and he didn’t move. I kicked closer to him and he didn’t move. I kicked the plum tree and he finally flushed. Whitey at 20 months old stayed on point through all of that. If I could get her to talk to Luke.
When we got back to the truck we headed home. It was a productive 2 days. In some areas there was more cover than normal. Probably more late winter, early spring moisture. At least one place I started to hunt but didn’t because of the sand burrs. I didn’t have boots for the dogs.
I definitely will be back when the season opens. I turkey hunted for 2 days and didn’t see a turkey and I count it a successful hunt.
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