When I can get some cool weather this time of year I like to get the dogs out. This helps get them in shape as well as shows me where I may be able to find quail. The temperature was in the low to mid twenties when I left the house. Perfect weather for during the season. There are more birds in season now than earlier. I have to be hunting to be on the walk-in properties. Now, turkey, prairie chicken and woodcock, seasons are open. I can pretend to be hunting 3 species now as I run dogs on the walk-in properties. And I have all of the appropriate licenses for each of these species.
Mann running an edge with a smile on his face.
Mann running into the wind.
Bodie working on the backing dog.
Tuesday, October 18, I drove about an hour and a half into Kansas to some places I’ve hunted in the past. The temperature was in the low to mid twenties when I left home about 6 am. The first place I went by had been worked on with a bull dozer. The nice weedy fence row was gone and the cover along side the creek that went through it had been pushed out. Not enough cover left to hold birds. A few years ago I had found 2 coveys regularly and once I found 4 in this little bit of cover surrounded by row crops. Now all gone.
I drove on down the road a short distance and saw an area that was pretty much unchanged. Several years ago they had pushed some of the cover here but they left most of it. There is a creek that runs all the way through this property and if they remove too much cover it will really start to erode. Years ago on this huge property there was some really nice cover with several coveys of birds near the center. That cover was pushed out a few years ago.
The wind was pretty strong out of the north when I turned the dogs, Sally, Abby, Bodie, Boss and Mann, out. In the past I’ve seen several coveys of quail plus some pheasants in this corn field along the creek. This morning there was no one home although Sally went a couple hundred yards into the property across the road and went on point. That wasn’t walk-in property so I waited for several minutes and when she started moving I called her to me.
I crossed the creek and went back down until I got near the truck and crossed back. I loaded the dogs and went exploring. We are way behind, 6 to 10 inches behind on rain, in this area. The grass is really crunchy to walk on. In some area when the dogs ran there was dust clouds, small dust clouds, but dust clouds behind them.
I drove by an area that I haven’t been able to hunt in several years because the farmer usually has it full of cattle. The gate was open and it didn’t look like they have had cows on it for a while. I pulled in off the black top and turned the dogs out. I had some good hunts on this place years ago. It was pretty much as I remembered it with a little less row crops than before. The front half that used to have row crops with big buffer zones was now all pasture or CRP. They had cut some hay in this area. The back half was in corn that was still standing and soy beans that had been harvested.
Mann in full stride.
We went toward the back through some good weedy cover. When I hit the fence line on the south we followed it to the east then to the north along a corn field. Then back down the north fence line, back to the truck, without seeing a thing. This habitat looks as it did several years ago when there were a lot of quail on this place. I loaded the dogs and we headed to another place.
I drove by several places before getting to a small bit of cover on a small place. This was an old pond that had filled in over the years but still held a little water. The farmer had let it grow up in weeds and trees and whatever seed got caught in the area. There was a bunch of cattails growing where the pond was. As we went up the edge the GPS vibrated and showed Boss on point. He was only 42 feet from me but I couldn’t see him. I tried to get into the cattails and a covey of quail flushed. I only saw 2 quail but a heard some more.
The field around this clump of cover was harvested soy beans. As I went on down the edge a quail came out about 30 yards ahead of me and flew back down the soy bean field past me. Would have been an easy shot if the season had been open. Then the GPS vibrated again and Boss was on point. When I got close a quail flushed from in front of him. As I went on down the edge more quail flushed.
Bodie pointing a chukar.
I got to the end of the cover and Sally was on point just inside. This place hasn’t had anything done to it over the years and it is thick. I started through some really thick weeds and young saplings. When I got close to her she was trailing. Sally made 3 or 4 points and each time when I got close she was moving. That was enough work on that covey and I loaded the dogs. It was warming up and the dogs aren’t in shape yet so it was a good place to quit.
The next morning was little colder, by a couple of degrees. I drove to another part of Kansas. This farm had two small, harvested, soy bean fields on one side and a larger field of thick CRP. I parked between the two soy bean fields and turned the dogs loose. The north fence line is a really good hedge row. Through the soybean field runs a grown up water way. As we started toward the hedge row I saw Mann well out in front, cross the water way. I saw 2 quail flush between the hedge row and water way.
I think there was a covey feeding in the soybeans and when Mann crossed the water way they saw him and flushed. I only saw the two birds. Boss was all over the soybean field in that area then moved into the hedge row and didn’t want to leave. He just knew there were quail close. We went on around the field.
Abby pointing a chukar.
There was a farm road that led to the next field. As I walked down the farm road I saw Sally running then she started looking off to the west and jumping as she ran. Then she started running as fast as she could run. I think a covey flushed off to her side out of the next field. I never saw a quail. We went on around this field.
I crossed into the CRP and all of the dogs went ahead of me. I was going to walk about a hundred yards into the CRP then circle back to the truck. As we went through the GPS vibrated and Mann was on point about another 150 yards into the CRP. When I got close there was a huge plum thicket and he was on the other side. I started around the thicket and heard a quail flush. Then, according to the GPS Mann was moving.
Sally pointed just a few yards from me but before I could see her she was moving. Then in this huge plum thicket, Boss pointed. Again, I got close and heard a quail flush. I still hadn’t seen, nor did I ever see, a quail out of this bunch. As the dogs worked their way through the plum thicket and went back to searching for quail we headed back to the truck.
Boss running the country.
It’s really dry in this area and the dogs drank a lot of water when we got back. Bodie was still going when we got back. I had to call him in. He was 200 yards out and going away from me but he turned and came right in. He, too, was happy to find a pan of water. I drove past a few places before deciding to make one more run.
That CRP had tired Bodie out so I left him in the truck. This was the second day in a row and all of the dogs were tired but we made a circle around an 80 acre harvested soybean field. I had brought my bigger camera and as Mann ran the edge of the soybean field along a draw I took several pictures. The bigger camera cycles fast so if I can stay on him I can take a bunch of pictures and hope a few turn out.
Boss pointing a pigeon.
The dogs ran the edges well and were out of sight in the draw part of the time but we didn’t see anything. When we got back to the truck I loaded dogs and headed home. Two days in a row with dogs that aren’t in great shape was enough. Their owner isn’t in great shape either. But we still had a good time. I will check some different areas next week.