I had endured 2 days of driving with a strong west wind and 2 days of hunting with a strong west wind. I thought surely it would lay a bit for day 3 but no such luck. To get ahead of myself a little it was still strong out of the west when I started back home. On the way out there was a warning for high profile, light weight vehicles. On the way home the light weight, high profile vehicles were banned from the road.
Sally pointing a pheasant.
An old rock foundation of a house.
May have been part of a smoke house.
I left in plenty of time to get to the area, I wanted to hunt, early. I drove to the very back to make sure no one else was hunting this place. Then drove back to the east side. I turned Mann, Abby and Boss loose with their GPS and e-collars on.
Abby and Boss had not forgotten that there were lots of birds here. They hit the ground hunting. My game plan was to hunt about half way to the back and circle around, back to the truck, then move and turn the other dogs out. That didn’t work out.
We only went a little way before Boss and Abby found some pheasants. In the strong wind the birds didn’t hold but it was good for the young dogs. Not far from the truck I saw Boss point with Abby beside him, either pointing or backing. Just about the time I saw them a rooster pheasant flushed, cackling all the way. The pups must have been close when he lit or another flushed because I heard another rooster cackling.
We were close to the river but as we went along, the trail I was walking went on the north side of a small pond. Mann went on point on the south side of this pond. I found a game trail leading around the end of the pond toward where Mann was and followed. The grass, because of the moisture from the pond, was really tall. As I walked through the tall grass I stepped into a small canal, hidden in the grass, that was about 2 feet wide and 3 or 4 feet deep. I think I hit the side to stop my fall. I don’t think I hit the bottom of the canal. It was deep enough that I got my under shorts wet. Lucky for me it wasn’t real cold.
By the time I got out of the canal and got close to Mann he was moving. We continued to the west. We mainly stayed along the river but when we came close to a draw or hedge row we would hunt both sides. The dogs were enjoying going into the wind and kept reaching out. Before I knew it we were almost to the back. I had been going along the south side of a canal and found a log to cross over. Mann and Boss crossed but Abby couldn’t or at least wouldn’t.
Sally on point.
She kept going to the south when I called her. I stayed along the edge of the canal and kept calling her. She would get within a hundred yards or so then go to the south, away from me. The only place I knew of with a road across the canal was at the very back so we went to the crossing. While I was waiting Mann and Boss went off to the south and Abby finally got with them and came back. We crossed to the bluff and started back to the truck.
Mann went on point just a little way, 125 yards, up the hill from me. When I got close he was moving. Pretty soon all 3 dogs were trailing and pointing. The points only lasted a few seconds but there was scent over a large area. I saw quail tracks in a sandy area. All 3 dogs were working hard but nothing held for them.
When we got back close to the truck I dropped down and walked along the road. All 3 dogs hunted both sides of the road as we went down it. Mann went about a hundred yards south then would turn and go about a hundred yards to the north. The younger two didn’t hunt as far but neither wanted to run the road. They have figured out that the birds are in the cover. When we got to the truck I watered the dogs and put them up.
The Snake river.
We had hunted everything that I was going to hunt the whole day. I checked the app on my phone and I had walked 7.5 miles of the morning and went up a bunch of stairs. As I ate lunch I drove and found some more area that I hadn’t tried, farther east.
I turned Sally and Josie out with their GPS and e-collars on. There was a wide canal running to the west and we started down it. Just a short distance down the canal I found a log that had been dropped across the canal for a cross walk. Sally was already on the other side so I crossed over. Josie wouldn’t cross.
A couple of hundred yards down the canal Sally went on point. There were a lot of trees and brush growing along the canal. When I got close she was pointing into a large, thick clump of brush. I was on one side and she was on the other. As I got close to the clump I heard some quail flushing out the other side. I tried to get around the end and a single quail flushed out about 25 yards in front of me. I heard it and in the strong wind it was out of range before I could react.
I think this is Abby running in Iowa.
Sally and I followed the quail around an area that was being irrigated. In the strong wind, even the water that was directed away from us blew back on us. It wasn’t heavy but it covered my glasses. We never found the bird.
Sally and I came around the field and when we got back close to the truck, Josie crossed over with us. We went on to the east and then down along the river. When we got back to the truck I loaded the dogs.
It was still early but I wanted to get the truck ready to return home.
Mileage and stairs on the third day.
I can see why the pros go to the prairies every summer. All 3 of these young dogs really started reaching out and hunting hard. Even Boss at only 7 months old was reaching out. At one time the GPS showed him on point at 353 yards. It didn’t last long, either he flushed the bird or birds or they flushed on their on. But that’s okay. All 3 young dogs figured out there are birds in the cover. That’s what I went for, mainly.