I ate lunch on the way to the next farm that was about 10 miles from the last farm of the morning hunts. The wind was still blowing real hard but I had seen quail. The fall has been wetter than it has been the last few years and I don’t have to carry water for the dogs. Even most of the wet weather creeks still have water in them.
I turned Tur Bo and Lucky out with their e-collars and GPS collars on. We walked down a lane for about 200 yards to get to an area that had a wide draw running north and south. We hit the draw in the middle and started south. I had crossed to the far side to get the wind right for the dogs. It doesn’t matter to Lucky, at 10 years of age, which side I’m on he knows how to hunt the draw but I wanted Tur Bo to learn to use the wind.
We had only gone south for about 50 yards when I saw a quail flush ahead of Tur Bo. It was far enough in front of him, he didn’t even know it had flushed. I went into the draw with Tur Bo to make sure he was hunting the cover. I use, look close, when I want them to check an area real well. As we were checking the area Lucky came into the draw with us. I had both dogs, looking close, and a quail came from up the draw. I saw it coming and was able to get a shot as it went by. At the shot, it started going straight up then dropped. I knew it was head shot from the way it flew. I got both dogs in to hunt dead and Tur Bo knew it was close but he couldn’t pin it down for a little while. I saw it sitting there but I waited on him to find it. He finally scooped it up and ran to me. He brings them to me but he doesn’t want to give them up. I petted him until he dropped it.
We went on down the draw to the south end and came back through the area where we had seen the 2 birds. We got about 20 yards north of where we had entered the draw and Tur Bo got real birdy. He was trailing and about 10 quail flushed ahead of him. They were far enough ahead that he didn’t notice them. As we got close to where they had flushed from another bird got up. He saw this one and it really fired him up. It didn’t matter how thick the cover was or how tall he was hitting it all.
We continued on north up the draw. A quail flushed in front of me with no dog around. I shot and it came right down. I called the dogs in to hunt dead. Lucky got to the area the bird came down in and went on point. I went to him and told him it was dead. I tapped his head and he went to hunting dead but we never came up with the bird. I was still trying to find the bird but Lucky was gone. Tur Bo was trying to find it but wasn’t having any luck. I checked the GPS and Lucky was on point about 20 yards away.
I thought maybe the quail I had knocked down had run that far and Lucky had found it. I started to him and stepped over a large log and my leading foot slid as I stepped over the log and I sat down on the log. As I was sliding down 4 quail flushed at my feet. They flew away without me being able to fire a shot. Had I been able to keep my feet it would have been the best shots of the day. Tur Bo rushed in and another quail got up right in front of him. He hunted the area and all the way back to the truck without letup. We drove to another farm not far down the road.
Last year there was a covey that as soon as I got close they would flush in ones and twos. Sometime, I would only hear them not even see them. I decided to see if they were still there. I turned Luke and Dolly out with e-collars and GPS collars on. I walked across some real thick CRP to get close and have the wind right for the dogs.
Dolly started trailing as soon as we got close to the brush that separated the CRP from a harvested soy bean field. Luke was also birdy and was trying to point, then move up. As I watched the dogs I heard quail flushing. They were far enough ahead that the dogs didn’t pay any attention. The wind was still blowing real hard and as we worked through the CRP a quail flushed behind me but by the time I figured out where it was it was out of range.
We continued on in the direction that I thought the quail had flushed. The dogs were working hard but the birds kept flushing before they got close. We started around the bean field by going through a wide weedy patch that ran the length of the soy bean field. The dogs were out front hunting and I walked up a quail. It flew in the open, one of the few that day that had been in the open. I dropped it across the fence off the property. I called the dogs in to hunt dead and Dolly went into the milo field across the fence and came back with the bird.
We worked on down the soy bean field then across the end and back down the other side. When we got back to the brush between the soy bean field and the CRP I heard quail flushing. If this covey passes this behavior on to the rest of the quail in this area I may never get another shot at a quail. We hunted back to the truck and headed home.
I had hunted 4 farms and found 4 coveys. With the wind blowing so hard there may have been birds flushing ahead of me that I didn’t see or hear. Kansas Department of Conservation said there was more birds this year than there had been last year and I believe that, also. When the weather cools down and the wind quits blowing so hard we will know for sure.