Dolly
Lucky
Luke honoring Lucky
I went back to the Emporia, Kansas area for a quail hunt. The weather was perfect for a change. The temperature was about 30 degrees with just a slight breeze. I started at a farm I had hunted before but in an area I hadn’t been to this year.
I turned Blaze and Dolly loose with the Sport Dog e-collars and Garmin GPS collars on. We circled a harvested soy bean field that was only about 200 yards wide but was 1/2 mile deep. The field had CRP on one side and a good hedge row on the other. We circled this field then checked out the CRP. On the other side of the CRP was another soy bean field that had been harvested. As we circled this soy bean field I checked the GPS and it showed Dolly on point.
I located her in a plum thicket. She was inside the thicket almost all the way through, pointing as if the birds had ran into the grass out of the thicket. I went around the thicket to flush and Blaze honored Dolly’s point. I kicked the grass then went to the thicket and nothing flushed. I tapped Dolly’s head to release her and she moved up. When Dolly moved Blaze started trailing, too. Both dogs crossed the road off the walk-in property. Blaze pointed and I started to her and thought I heard birds get up in front of her. I didn’t see any. I tapped Blaze’s head to release her. Both dogs were getting farther onto the farm I couldn’t hunt so I called them back. We hunted back to the truck without finding anything. This was the first time this season that I’ve turned out dog’s and didn’t find quail.
We were close to a farm that I had hunted earlier. We had found quail, so I turned Luke and Lucky out with the e-collars and GPS collars on. We had about 200 yards of an unused road then there was a good draw running between a harvested soy bean field and a harvested corn field. We went south down this to the property line then west on the fence row. We went back north on a smaller draw that angled back to the larger draw. We were almost to where the two draws merged when I saw a quail fly into the draw ahead of me. I’m not sure where he came from.
I called Luke in to hunt where I thought the bird had landed. He kept wanting to hunt a plum thicket instead of where I wanted him to hunt. I stood there thinking I’m going to make him hunt where I want. I called him in close to me 2 or 3 times and he kept wanting to hunt somewhere else. I thought maybe the quail had hit and run. I took a step and the bird flushed right beside me. I made a lucky shot on it and Luke picked it up. He doesn’t retrieve yet. He just picks them up and spits them out.
We went back to hunting. I checked the GPS and Lucky was on point about 35 yards from us. I stepped up on a little rise and saw him on point in some heavy brush about 20 yards away. Four quail got up right in front of me and flew through the brush. I didn’t have a shot although I shot once anyway. From where we were the draw ran on north and we had already hunted to the south. I stood on the draw watching Luke and Lucky hunt the immediate area. I saw a quail coming across the corn field and I thought at first that it was flying real low but it was running. Really fast. I called Lucky and went into the corn field to get the bird to fly. We checked the corn field and everything around without seeing that quail. We even went to the grassy area 300 yards west to see if we could find it. Nothing.
We worked the draw to the north boundary then turned back to the abandoned road. As we turned toward the truck I walked a quail up. I knocked it down but I knew it wasn’t hit hard. I got Luke and Lucky in to hunt for it. Lucky likes to retrieve but neither of these dogs will hunt dead very long. After a little while I decided that I would get Blaze and Dolly to find the bird so I walked the 200 yards back to the truck. Before I left the area of the downed bird I left my blaze orange hat to mark the spot.
When I got back to the area with Blaze and Dolly I picked up my hat before I called them in to hunt dead. Dogs that retrieve will usually retrieve your hat if you leave it where they can get it. I don’t like drool on my hat. I called both dogs in and they started hunting. They were making circles but not as close as I wanted. Finally they came in real close and Blaze went on point right beside me. I tapped her head and told her it was dead so fetch. She dove in and the quail started running with her chasing. She lost it. I got her and Dolly in the area I saw it last but Dolly didn’t stay. Blaze was looking and went on point again. This time I called Dolly in close before I had Blaze move. Dolly was close to Blaze when she honored. I tapped Blaze and said, “it’s dead, fetch”. They both saw the bird but it got away again. We never saw the bird again.
I was still letting them look for the quail but we were 100 yards west of where the bird had been. I was watching the dogs trailing and walked a quail up. I shot and it came down in a thick weed patch. The weeds were taller than my head. I got both dogs in to hunt for it. Blaze pointed and I tapped her head. She pounced on it and brought it to me. We checked the area out without finding anything else. We checked the area where the wounded bird had been, on the way back to the truck, without finding it.
We had time for another hunt so after eating a couple of service station corn dogs we drove about 10 miles to another farm I had hunted earlier. I turned Luke and Lucky out. We hadn’t gone very far when I saw Luke chasing some quail. He was going with the wind and it was blowing harder now. I didn’t see it but he’s pretty steady now. I got them in to hunt where I thought some of the singles landed. Lucky pointed and Luke honored in some grass about knee high. There wasn’t a tree or any brush anywhere close. I walked in and a single quail flushed. It flew straight away from me and I missed. Twice.
We hunted on to the back of the place and moved over and came back through where the one single had held for the dogs. I saw Luke go on point about 50 yards ahead of me. I had only gone about 10 yards toward him when the quail flushed. I was watching, Luke didn’t move. We followed the quail that flushed toward the truck. Lucky came in front of me and whirled around but didn’t point. About 15 yards from him a quail flushed. He didn’t even know that it had flown. I had started up with my gun when the bird flushed but it put a cedar tree between us. Before I lowered the gun another quail flushed and I shot. It was behind the tree so I couldn’t see whether I connected or not.
I got both dogs in to hunt ahead of us. We went around the cedar tree and the dogs were checking everything. Lucky went on point and Luke honored. I went in front of Lucky kicking the grass. Nothing flushed. I tapped his head and he moved ahead. Luke started moving, too. Luke pointed near where Lucky had been on point. I tapped his head and said, “dead bird.” He didn’t want to move so I tapped him again and he grabbed the wounded bird. We hunted back to the truck without finding anything else. That was good way to end a hunt.
I have hunted 8 different places and found quail on 7 of them. That’s much better than last year. I still have places in this area that I’ve hunted before but I’m going to check out some new areas in the days ahead. I was going to try to hunt all 6 different kinds of quail this year but it looks like it won’t happen. It seems like, even though I’m retired, I can’t put enough days together, in a row, to make that long of a road trip. I will still try to get some hunting in, in other states than just Missouri and Kansas.