Luke
Tur Bo
Luke pointing a single quail.
Wednesday I went hunting on Corp of Engineers land near Truman Lake. I got started late and it was already warm when I got to the first place. This area gets a lot of pressure. Most of the time I see other quail hunters in the area and this was no exception. There are a lot of water fowl hunters in this area, also. I hunted for about 3 hours before it got too hot for the dogs without seeing a quail.
Friday, although gun deer season is in full swing in Kansas, I met Don and Linda Hansen near Emporia in Kansas. We have hunted this area several times and knew where some places were that might not draw deer hunters. The weather forecast was for warm but winds about 10 miles an hour. Either they really missed or it was a nice day in the Kansas City area. Where we were was a hang on to your hat day.
Don turned Tigger out with the Garmin Alpha and I used Lucky and Tur Bo with their Garmin Astro and Sport Dog e-collars. We have hunted this place before and found birds near where we park the trucks. We start through a CRP field that runs beside a harvested soy bean field. All 3 dogs were birdy and were trailing as we got near the soy bean field. A covey of quail started flushing in front of the dogs. They got up in front of the dogs, in 3 or 4 bunches, too far for us to even get a shot.
The covey had flown back into the CRP toward a creek that ran through it. We started in that direction with the dogs working in front of us. We were going with the wind but the 3 or 4 quail that we saw didn’t wait for the dogs to get close anyway. Don took a frustration shot but didn’t slow anything down. We made several passes through where the few singles had flushed from with no luck.
We worked down the creek that ran through the middle of the CRP. As we got near the end of the property we both were on the same side when Don saw on his GPS that Tigger was on point. Before we took a step we heard a covey flush. We went on the other side to find all 3 dogs really hyper but the covey was already gone. Don had seen two fly in the direction we wanted to go. After checking to the south down a hedge row we turned and started to the north. We never saw a another bird out of this covey.
We worked on around the edge of this property to a draw that ran into the CRP. We started up the draw and Don heard a quail flush but again he didn’t get a shot. Tur Bo was about 100 yards in front of me and Lucky was checking a small thicket out in the CRP when I heard a quail flush near me. It had to be in the draw. It was close but I never saw it. Lucky pointed near a small thicket in the CRP but as I waited on Don to come to my side of the draw he started moving. I went out where he had been pointing and got both dogs to working the area. They trailed like some birds had run through the area but we never came up with anything.
We were on the way back to the truck. Don, Linda and I were walking in the edge of the harvested soy bean field when I saw Lucky in the CRP on point. We started toward him and he moved about 10 yards and went on point again. Don was on my left and we were well out in front of Lucky. A single quail flushed about 20 yards in front of Lucky to my right. It fell at my shot. Lucky saw it drop but didn’t mark it down well. He ran by it and I got Tur Bo in to hunt dead. Tur Bo likes to hunt dead but Lucky would just as soon go find another quail.
Don had thrown his hat where he thought the quail had dropped. Tur Bo came in and smelled the quail immediately. It was in the tall CRP but he made a couple of moves and picked up the quail. I petted him for a few seconds then said, “give” and he dropped it in my hand. It was within 5 feet of where Don had thrown his hat. We hunted back to the truck without any other action.
It was already 60 degrees but we both still had dogs that hadn’t been out of the truck. We checked the Kansas walk-in atlas and came up with a 160 acre place that neither of us had ever hunted. It was all in CRP but was surrounded on all 4 sides with harvested row crops. It had a creek running through the middle that had a lot of brush growing along it.
Don had brought his young pointer Trouble and I had Dolly and Blaze that hadn’t been out. We turned them out and started to the north, through the CRP, down the fence row. We made it to the back, went to the east, then back south down the creek. The dogs worked hard but in the heat and strong wind we never saw a quail. I will try this place again on a cooler and less windy day. It should have birds on it.
We quit for the day. In the middle of the deer season I never saw a deer hunter. We had waited until after 9:00 am before going out hoping the deer hunters were out of the field and it seemed to work.
I think we had moved 3 coveys on the first place we hunted and only killed one quail. In the wind and heat the birds are real spooky but it’s good for the dogs. When dogs are moving on their birds I hide pigeons and when they move I flush the bird. After a few times the dogs quit moving. When the quail are spooky and flush before the dogs can point the dogs get more cautious. And, any day you can get out with your dogs is a good day.
Blaze
Lucky on point.
Dolly