Luke pointing Dolly honoring.
Tur Bo on a pigeon.
Blaze pointing a pigeon.
On day 2 I hunted near Marysville, Kansas. It’s hard to remember to take pictures when I’m hunting wild quail so I’m using pictures that I’ve used before. That’s the reason some of the grass is so green. The first of these pictures was taken when Luke and Dolly went off the walk-in property and Luke pointed.
The first place I hunted was an 80 acre farm on a hillside that fell off into a creek. It was near 60 degrees with a strong south wind to start the day. There were several wide draws that ran out into the harvested soy bean field. I turned Luke and Dolly out with Garmin GPS and Sport Dog e-collars on. I also, turned Rocky the 5 month old English Cocker Spaniel out with them. We went along the bluff that dropped into the creek and ran up one side then back down the other of each of the draws. We were almost back to the truck when the GPS said that Dolly was on point about 125 yards ahead of me.
When I saw her she was pointing at the head of one of the draws. When I got to her Rocky ran up, licked her in the face and ran circles around her. She gave me a disgusted look but didn’t move. He smelled the birds and went toward them. They flushed from the very bottom of the draw in the thickest cover and went out the other side. I shot one time and missed. I have shot around Rocky but I didn’t want to over do it. He was chasing and didn’t act like he even heard it.
I got both dogs to hunt toward the bluff where most of the covey had flown but I couldn’t tell even close to where they had flown. Only the direction. We hunted most of the cover on the walk-in side of the property without finding them and started back to the truck. As I got close to the truck, I checked the GPS. Luke was on point across the road off the walk-in property. I could see him standing on the edge of a draw according to the GPS he was 158 yards away.
In the strong south wind sometimes the birds don’t hold so I stood watching for a little while. Just a few seconds, really. I put my shot gun in the truck and started toward Luke. Dolly came in front of me, saw Luke and honored. Without a gun in my hands I could take pictures. Rocky was still with me and went in front of Luke but the quail didn’t flush until I was in front of Luke too. When the bird flushed I whoaed Luke and he didn’t move. I petted him telling him what a good boy he is then tapped him on the head for the release.
We started back to the truck and again I checked the GPS and Luke was on point. He was behind me about 35 yards. Rocky and I went back. He was on point in some giant horse weeds in the bottom of the draw. Rocky was still hyper from the other quail and went the wrong way. He was behind me when I got to Luke. As I got to Luke’s side after fighting my way through the horse weeds the quail flushed. Luke took a step but stopped when I whoaed him. I stroked his sides and told him he was a good boy. I tapped his head to release him.
I loaded the dogs when we got back to the truck. Neither of those birds would have offered a shot if I had of had my gun with me but I felt really good about getting to work the dogs on them.
I went to a larger farm next that I had seen a lone hunter on earlier. He was gone so I turned Blaze, Rocky and Lucky out. This is a larger farm with CRP on the north with a harvested soy bean field in the bottom and it rises up from a creek to a hillside to the south. We went along the soy bean field, in the edge of the CRP to the road on the west then south and turned back to the east side along the hill side. Along the road there is a long draw that goes all the way to the south road. As I started east I checked the GPS and it showed Blaze on point 258 yards to the south. I waited to see if she might move. Sometimes the GPS shows them on point when they are getting a drink or pooping. She wasn’t moving.
I walked to her. When I got close I could see her standing pointing into the draw like Dolly had been on the farm before this one. Rocky and I went in front after he ran a few laps around her. Nothing flushed. I released her and she started trailing down into the bottom of the draw. Lucky came up and pointed near where she had been standing then started trailing down into the bottom of the draw. Rocky even got some scent from birds and started trailing. We were close to the edge of the property and never came up with anything. I believe a covey ran out and flushed.
We continued on east. We were almost to the road on the east when I saw 2 quail flush far enough ahead of Blaze that she never saw or heard them. They landed about 50 yards in front of me. I called Lucky and Blaze in and we went toward them. We got close to where I had seen the birds light. Rocky came right in front of me, almost at my feet, and flushed a quail. I didn’t shoot because he was too close. Lucky pointed and 2 quail flushed before I could get close but they flew back within 25 yards of me. I shot at the last one and it dropped but wasn’t hit very hard. I got all 3 dogs in where it went down hoping that it would run from Rocky so he could get fired up about chasing them. But Lucky chased it down about 15 yards away and brought it to me.
I waited until Blaze and Lucky went back to hunting and threw the dead quail for Rocky. It was like, “alright a tasty morsel. I haven’t been fed for a month”. He stood where he was and started chewing. I went to him and petted him saying give. “Give”, on a retrieving dummy means something but “give” on dinner doesn’t mean anything. I pushed the quail back into his mouth and took it from him.
We hunted on to the road to the east and crossed the creek. There was a small draw that ran from the draw most of the way across the soy bean field. We started up it and I saw Lucky on point. It looked like his front feet had stopped and his rear end had slid around. He was almost lying on the ground. I wanted a picture but had left my camera in the truck. We got close and I started in front of him with Rocky in front of me. Down in the bottom of the draw 5 or 6 quail went out the other side through the trees. I shot but missed. Finally a quail flew out my side and dropped at my shot. Lucky scooped it up and dropped it in my hand.
Again, I waited for Blaze and Lucky to go back to hunting and threw the quail for Rocky. It was a repeat of the first time. I got the bird from him and we hunted around for any more singles in the area. It was getting real warm so we headed for the truck. I put Blaze and Lucky in the truck and threw the quail for Rocky again. On the retrieving dummies he is real soft mouthed but he chewed the quail again. When I said give he was reluctant but he did give it up this time.
I started home but remembered a small place that was south and east of here that I wanted to check out. Last year I had found 2 coveys and several pheasants on the 80 acres. When I pulled up it looked just like it did last year. I turned Tur Bo, Dolly and Rocky out. We had only gone about a hundred yards down the draw that ran from east to west along the front when Tur Bo pointed. I had heard him drawing air through his nostrils real loud trying to pin point the birds. Almost sounded like a hog grunting. The quail had run over the hill into the creek and flushed about 25 yards in front of him. I didn’t have a shot but that didn’t keep me from shooting one time.
As we went on to the west I saw a pheasant flush and fly to the north but land in the hedge row that ran most of the way down the west side. There was a wide buffer zone along side of the hedge row. If anything, the wind was stronger here than where I was hunting earlier. Both dogs were in the buffer strip and Rocky was going in from time to time. A rooster pheasant flushed behind me but in the strong wind I turned the wrong way. By the time I saw him a shot was marginal so I didn’t take it. Dolly was trailing around in the area and pointed a couple of times. When I got to her she would go back to trailing. I think there were more pheasants in the buffer strip but they ran away from us. We hunted back to the truck without finding any other birds. I loaded dogs and headed home.
I was saving quail for Thanksgiving or I wouldn’t have been as concerned about Rocky’s chewing. When I cleaned the 2 quail I had tossed for him they weren’t chewed up at all. It certainly looked like he was munching them but there wasn’t a tooth mark on them. If I have to I will force break him and that will take care of the chewing but I really think he will quit on his own.
Rocky the English Cocker Spaniel.
Lucky pointing a pigeon..
Dolly pointing a pigeon.