All of the weather forecasters were saying that on the first day of the new year, there would be freezing rain followed by heavy snows. Don Hansen and I wanted to get in a hunt before the bad weather. Sometimes weather fronts, like this one, has the birds moving more than normal.
Sally honoring Mann.
Mann pointing a single quail.
Don’s pointer Goofy honoring Mann.
The first place we stopped was three small harvested soybean fields separated by hedge rows, weedy fence rows and draws. Across the road was more walk-in with CRP. Ideal cover for quail.
Don had two of his pointers, Goofy and Tigger. I had only brought Sally and Mann. We turned our dogs loose and started to the north around a soybean field. I checked the GPS handheld to see where my dogs were and it showed Mann on point about 50 yards south of where we had parked the trucks. We had almost walked away from him on point.
As we started back to him the handheld vibrated and showed Sally was honoring. When I got to the fence on the edge of the property I saw Mann standing in the edge of the harvested soybeans just off the place but he was pointing into some cover that was on the next walk-in place. There is a funny property line right here. At the road there is 3 properties that come together. The property in the center is private.
We went to the road then down to the cover on the walk-in. Don’s two dogs honored Mann’s point. Before we got to the area where Mann was pointing the covey flushed. Four quail come my way but they were too far out for a shot and flew into the CRP across the road.
We started around the field to the south. As we got toward the back Don walked 3 quail up and farther down 4 more flushed at the same time and flew toward the CRP. Don has only been shooting at pointed birds. The dog has to do everything right before he shoots so there was no shooting on these birds.
We went on around the field and started into the CRP. The handheld vibrated and Mann was on point 200 yards south. He was off the walk-in again. I went back to the road and started down it. Don and Linda were walking through the CRP. As I went down the road the farmer that owned the soybean fields drove down the road. When I told him we had a dog on point he said he would stop and wait. I told him that the dog was off the walk-in and we wouldn’t shoot. He could drive on down and watch.
We talked about the bird hunting in the area as I walked down the road. I was about 50 yards from Mann when the handheld showed him moving. The farmer went on and I got with Don and Linda. Don said all of the dogs had indicated that there had been birds there. We were about 75 yards from some CRP that was part of the walk-in so we went to it.
My 16 gauge and the one quail we got.
The CRP was pretty thick and tall. We hadn’t gone far when Don saw Goofy on point. He was standing in the tall CRP with a high head and tail. Goofy always has lots of class when he points. Goofy was facing toward me and I thought if I would walk toward him I could make the quail fly where Don would get a shot. I know better than that. Quail are going to go where they want. You can’t make them go where they don’t want to go.
Anyway, when I flushed the bird it flew to my right putting me between Don and the quail. I shot and the bird fell into the tall, thick CRP. Goofy and Sally started searching. Both dogs had seen the bird fall and were looking. After a few seconds Sally picked the bird up and dropped it in my hand.
We kept the dogs in the CRP and went back around to where we thought the first covey had flown. We worked almost back to the trucks without finding anything. We checked the area where the first covey had flushed from originally. Then back through the CRP but a little farther to the east. Don walked another bird up. If only I could get him to point. We made it back to the trucks and watered dogs.
Don’s pointer Tigger.
Don was going to load his dogs and go to another place and I told him we pulled in to hunt the field to the north. We had not hunted it. He agreed and got his dogs out. I had seen Mann go down the edge to the north so I started to check the handheld but saw him on the north hedge row. He had already gone 400 yards north along the cover and had turned west along the hedge row. We stood and watched.
He ran the hedge row and started to the south down a wide brushy fence row. We had hunted this area before and knew the fence row cover got pretty wide. As Mann ran to the south he went into the cover where we couldn’t see him but I followed on the GPS. He ran to the south edge then along to the trucks along the south fence row. This was, probably, a 40 or 50 acre field. When he got to the truck I loaded the dogs and we went to another area. He saved us a lot of steps and it was a beautiful thing to watch. I know this sounds like bragging on my dog. Only because it is. I’m really proud of both of these dogs.
We drove about 7 or 8 miles to another walk-in. This one was about like the first. Harvested soybean fields with some pasture and some CRP. We went about a hundred yards when we saw a covey of quail flying. We got the dogs into the area where we thought the covey had flown. The dogs were really excited but we didn’t come up with anything.
Goofy backing Sally.
We crossed a dry creek into some CRP. As we started north I checked the handheld and Sally was on point 80 feet behind me. If I hadn’t had the GPS we would have walked off and left her. As I went to her a quail flushed, probably, her bird. Another step and one flushed in front of me but put a tree between us. I shot but missed. There were a couple more that flushed from the area without drawing a shot from either of us.
We went on to the north. This farm had several small fields along a creek with some cover where the land rose above the bottom ground. The ground rose sharply along the west side and had some cover. A couple of fields to the north Don saw a couple of quail come out of a plum thicket and fly to the north along the edge. I checked the GPS and Mann and Sally both were on point in that plum thicket.
As we got closer they were both trailing through the plum thicket. They weren’t excited as they would have been had they heard or seen the birds flush. They trailed to the edge of the plum thicket then went on. Had Don not seen those birds we wouldn’t have even known there was really a covey there.
Don started through some cover where he thought the two birds he had seen had flown with his dog, Goofy. A single quail flushed well out in front of him then two more. They didn’t even let them get close. We went on to the north.
Mann pointing into a huge cedar tree.
The GPS handheld vibrated and showed Mann on point about 75 yards north of us. He was across a creek in some heavy cover. Our side of the creek was a gentle slope but the other side was a steep bank. Sally honored and as Goofy came up the bank and saw her he honored. Tigger could see Goofy from the creek and she honored him. This trip I had brought the camera so I took some pictures.
I clambered up the bank and waited on Don but he said to go ahead. I walked in and a single quail flushed. I swung on it and when I pulled the trigger a big hackberry tree took the full load. the quail flew on but the tree did show how big the pattern was at that distance. I should have taken a picture. It was a good even pattern.
We were almost to the north side so we went back toward the trucks through some heavy cover. We were almost to the truck when I checked the GPS and it showed Sally and Mann both on point. They were just east of where we had just been.
Abby in Kansas.
We got to a harvested soybean field and we could see Sally just inside a hedge row on point. As we got closer I could see Mann behind her honoring. When we got closer Goofy saw Sally and honored. Don said that a couple of years before he had fund a covey exactly where Sally was.
This hedge row was wider than normal and Don decided to go to the other side. I waited on him to get where he wanted to be then walked in. I got a little way past Sally and saw a hole in the ground with a young ‘possum right in the opening hissing or growling, whatever they do, at Sally. I said, “no”, loudly but she didn’t move. She did turn her head and look at me but didn’t move her feet. I grabbed her collar and led her away.
When I turned her loose she started back. Mann had went on when I told him no. I bumped Sally with the e-collar on a medium 2. She went back to hunting.
When we got back to the truck it was only about 1:30 but we decided to quit. The forecasters were talking about a serious winter storm coming in and we didn’t want to stress the birds. They had plenty of time to feed and find a warm place to sit this storm out, hopefully.