Luke
Tur Bo honoring Dolly
Tur Bo
The weather forecast was for strong winds and I’ve hunted a lot this season in strong winds. I said I wasn’t going. About 9:30 am I called Don Hansen and told him I was tired of sitting. I’m going wind or no wind. He said he and Linda would meet me near Emporia, Kansas.
The first farm we hunted had a huge CRP field surrounding a harvested soy bean field. The spring rains made the CRP grow really tall and thick. A few days before we hunted this farm we had freezing rain that beat some of the cover down but it was still tough hunting.
Don had his pointer Annie with him and I turned Lucky and Tur Bo out. Don uses the Garmin Alpha and I have the Garmin Astro backed up by Sport Dog e-collars. During a normal year we would go through the CRP and make a circle around the edges of the farm. Today we went up the side of the soy bean field and crossed a hedge row that runs east to west on the north side of the soy bean field. There was just a narrow lane to cross the hedge row and we were single file with me in front. A single quail flew right over the top of us. Neither of us got a shot.
Don and I spread out about 5 yards apart watching the dogs work. None of them acted like they heard or saw the quail flush. As we were watching the dogs a turkey flushed right in front of Don and he shot it. It dropped and Tur Bo and Annie held it until Don could get to it. (Kansas allows hunting turkeys in the fall with dogs.) It was a large gobbler and it was a long way to the truck.
We went on down the hedge row but were out in the CRP. A quail flushed beside Don in the CRP and flew straight ahead. It dropped at his shot. It was a long shot and it fell in the CRP. We got the dogs in to hunt dead where we thought the bird had fallen. They worked it back and forth for a while then I noticed Lucky wasn’t with us. I checked the GPS and it showed him on point 74 feet from us. There was a dead quail about 10 feet in front of him. In the strong wind he was real cautious. He pointed instead of getting close enough to tell that the bird was dead. We hunted back to the truck without finding anything else.
The next farm was about 80 acres with a hedge row on the north and wide fence rows on the west and south. Don turned Annie out and I put the collars on Dolly and Luke. As we started to the west along the hedge row the south wind was trying to push us into the next county. We started to the south down the wide fence row and we thought we heard a covey of quail flush. Neither of us saw a single bird. We continued to the south corner then turned east. I saw Dolly on point and told Don. Before we got to her the quail flushed. It dropped in a plum thicket at my shot. I got Dolly in to look for it. I went into the thicket where I thought the dead bird was and a bird flushed in front of me. It must have hit some limbs or something and made me think it was a wounded bird. By the time I figured out that it was a healthy bird it was too far to shoot at. Dolly found my dead bird.
Annie pointed and before we got to her a quail flew away then Dolly pointed and a quail flushed before we could get close. A total of 6 or 7 quail flushed without us getting another shot. We continued on to the east and right at the corner a quail flushed in front of Don and he made a good shot on it. It dropped in some tall weeds but the dogs had no problem finding it.
We started back to the truck and Don checked his GPS. Annie was on point on the other side of a plum thicket. I was in front when we went around the thicket so I stopped waiting on Don to get close. The quail didn’t wait. It flushed and dropped at my shot. Dolly had been honoring Annie and made the retrieve. We hunted in the area trying to find more of the singles without any luck.
We drove several miles to the next farm. It was about 80 acres of milo with a wide fence row on the west side. The north and south sides went into wood lots. The north side had been a home place and was especially thick. Blaze was the only one of my dogs that hadn’t been out yet. I turned her and Lucky out. We went around this farm and into the woods on the south and didn’t see a quail. Last year I had seen 2 coveys on it and I think we just missed them in the strong wind. I will check it again before the season is over.
We only saw 2 coveys but it was still better than sitting at home. This whole year has been windy and if I stay home on windy days I won’t get to go hunting. The dogs don’t care how strong the winds are and the quail being spooky should make them more cautious.
Again, I’m having to use older pictures. With spooky birds it’s hard to remember to take pictures or even have time.
Luke pointing Dolly honoring.
Dolly
Luke pointing Lucky honoring