Dolly
Luke
Lucky
I met my friend, Don Hansen and his wife Linda, near Ottawa, Kansas to hunt walk-in properties. Don is a gunsmith and has worked on some of my guns. He, also, is more into dog work than how many quail are killed. Linda was not carrying a gun. She was going to take pictures.
The first place we hunted was 160 acres of corn with a couple of draws and a water way running through it. I had turned Dolly and Luke out. Don had only brought his pointer, Annie. He had left some dogs home. We hunted down the east hedge row to the south side then west to the road. We hit the draw and started back to the north east. Don and Linda were on one side and I was on the other. We were about 1/4 mile up the draw when Don yelled, “there they go.” I looked up and 3 quail flew over me headed back toward where we had parked the truck.
The quail had flushed in between Don and me. Don said there wasn’t anything close to them when they flushed. Other than the ones that had flown over me the covey had flown back behind us. We got the dogs in front of us and started back down the draw. Dolly went on point on my side of the draw but before I could get to her 3 quail flushed in front of her. I shot but they were too far. All 3 dogs were hunting close but the birds weren’t cooperating. A quail flushed in front of me and I knocked it down. Luke picked it up and carried it into a plum thicket then dropped it. He never picks a bird up but he did this one. Dolly came by and I tried to get her to pick it up but she just touched it with her nose and went on. She retrieves but I guess because Luke’s smell was on it she wasn’t going to retrieve. I crawled into the plum thicket to get the bird. If Luke had of left it alone it would have been in the open.
We saw several more birds fly but they were all to far away for a shot so we hunted back up the draw. From the draw we hunted across the field in a water way. I couldn’t see where the 3 birds that had flown over me had landed but there was a patch of brush, trees and grass at the end of the water way. I checked the Garmin GPS and it showed Dolly on point. I told Don she was on point and he said, “there they go.” I told Don that a quail had landed right beside me and he said 3 or 4 landed right beside you. This was another covey.
We got the dogs in front of us and the quail started flying. I missed with my first shot then dropped one in the soy bean field. As I started after it I heard Don shoot and a quail dropped in the edge of the brush. I told Don where it dropped then went into the field and picked up my bird. I shouldn’t have taken my eyes off where Don’s bird fell. We got all 3 dogs in to hunt dead and they never came up with it. We decided to go to another farm in the Kansas Hunting Atlas. We had seen 2 coveys in about an hour and a half.
The next farm I turned Blaze and Lucky out and Don put Annie down again. This farm didn’t look like much from the road but as you walk back in about 1/4 mile there is harvested soy bean fields with good grass fields, hedge rows and fence rows that could hold quail. The dogs hunted really hard but we never came up with anything. Don has found quail on this farm in the past and I believe that we missed them somewhere. I would hunt it again.
We ate our lunch on the way to the next farm. The next farm was one that Don had not hunted before but I have. When Don got out of his truck he said, “I marked this one, in the Atlas, as a piece of junk.” Or something like that. It looks, from the road, as just a harvested corn field with no cover. I turned Luke and Dolly out again. We started down the east fence row and when we got over the hill Don could see the draws, CRP and hedge rows. We took the east fence to the end then turned west along the fence line at the end.
About half way across the back side of this farm Annie went on point. Luke and Dolly honored. Again Don said, “there they go.” The covey flushed about 40 yards ahead of the dogs. Without Don, I wouldn’t have known the birds were even there. I never heard nor saw a quail. We hunted on across the back line and Dolly went on point. Luke and Annie honored. I was standing, trying to figure out how to flush the birds so Don could get a shot when 6 or 7 quail flushed. I threw my gun up and touched it off. I centered a bird. It was a really lucky shot or a really unlucky bird. Don didn’t have a shot.
Don started down the fence row to the north and I hunted a patch of CRP that was along a hillside. Don yelled, “I got a point.” Annie was on point and I went across the corn field. When I got there Dolly came in and honored. Then Luke honored. Don walked in kicking the grass and nothing flushed. We released the dogs and they all trailed like a bird had been there but ran off. We checked the west fence line with Luke and Annie working well ahead of us. I hadn’t seen Dolly in a while so I checked the Garmin GPS. She was on point about a 110 yards from us along the draw that splits this farm.
The draw was really thick with plum bushes and we couldn’t see Dolly. We knew we were close. Then the quail flushed. One came close and I made a lucky shot. When the covey flushed they went both ways on the draw and we went to the west edge. As we neared the end of the property we walked a quail up. Don shot and hit the bird hard but it kept flying. We went to the east on the draw hoping to find the quail Don had hit.
We were almost at the end of the draw when Don noticed Annie on point. She was on the edge of the corn field in some grass and we almost walked by her. When the quail flushed it didn’t get very far. Don made a really good shot on it. We went back down the draw to the west with one bird flushing without either of us getting a shot. We started back to the east and Dolly was on point behind us on the other side. By the time we found her Luke was honoring her point. I walked in and a bird flushed but it had trouble getting up. I think it was the bird that Don had hit earlier. I dropped it and thought Dolly would bring it right back but she didn’t. Where it fell it was really thick with brush. As I was trying to get to the bird I saw on the GPS that Luke was on point. I put my hat where I thought the bird had fallen and started to Luke. I was watching the GPS and Luke’s position kept changing. Finally, I caught up with him and he was eating it. I took it from him but I didn’t get much. Usually he doesn’t even pick a quail up. He must have been hungry.
We were crossing to the other side of the draw and Annie came in front of me. She tried to go on point but she was going with the wind and was on top of the quail before she smelled it. It flushed and I shot. I was surprised when it fell. Annie found the dead bird for us.
We started back up the fence row on the east side that we had come down. The dogs were in the CRP off the walk-in place. The CRP was pretty tall so I was checking the GPS pretty often. I checked it and saw Luke was on point. Just as I said, “I have a point.” Don said, “there they go.” The covey flew into a plum thicket about 100 yards off the walk-in property. I called the dogs and went on to the truck. I was still watching the GPS and again it showed Luke on point about 100 yards across the fence. I handed Don my gun and crossed the fence. I got within 40 yards of him and he was moving. I called him and started for the truck. I checked the GPS and Dolly was on point near where he had been on point. I started back to her. I got within about 30 yards of her and she was moving. I called both dogs and started to the truck. Dolly and I made it to the truck.
I checked the GPS and Luke was on point, again. I started to him, again. I walked up the road and I could see him about 20 yards across the fence. I crossed the fence with Dolly beside me. She honored him. I walked in and flushed a single quail. I called the dogs and started to the truck,again. Both dogs went back to hunting. It was like they had no idea what “here” meant. Both dogs pointed quail but the birds didn’t hold. Finally both dogs wound up at the truck and I loaded them up.
We had found 5 coveys of quail just hunting 3 farms. It had been a good day. I will be back.