Our plan, Jim Smith’s and mine, was to hunt at least two days in central Kansas. To go with 4 dogs and spend the night in a motel takes about everything I own. I spent the day before loading dog food, guns and ammo, charging electronics, clothes and all of the other things it takes. I left my house at 4:00 am so I could meet Jim about 9:00 am in Kansas.
Sally pointing a covey of quail with Dottie honoring.
Jim’s dog Dottie on point.
Abby honoring Dottie.
I drove a little faster than the law allows but I was still a few minutes late. Jim was waiting at a prearranged spot. With the Kansas Hunting Atlas most of the roads have names so it’s easy to find your way. When he saw me turn off the highway he went on to the spot we wanted to hunt.
Earlier in the season Jim had found a couple of coveys of quail and a few pheasants on this place. It was 160 acres. Part of it was pasture that hadn’t been grazed down too much surrounded by harvested row crops. The pasture had a pond in the center. Ideal cover for quail and pheasants.
Jim had 3 dogs with him, Bay Lee, Babe and Dottie. I had left Luke at home so I had Sally, Mann, Abby and Boss. The dogs had been in the truck for a long time so we turned them all loose with e-collars and GPS collars. Actually Jim has the Alpha where he only uses one collar. I have the Astro and a 550 Pro. I use two collars on each dog with the exception of Abby. She just has a GPS collar because the 550 Pro only controls 3 collars.
As the dogs ran the pasture, it was fun to stand on a hill and watch them go. The pasture was open and flat enough we could see them well. With 7 dogs down we didn’t miss much. We had a couple of points with a lot of dogs honoring but when we got to them, all of the dogs trailed a short distance then went back to hunting.
The dogs hit the pond but when we got back to the truck they still were happy to drink from our water buckets before we put them in the truck to go to another place. The next place was a half section. A mile by a half mile. Most of the east side was wheat stubble and the other was pasture. The pasture had a lot of rag weed along with other weeds. Jim and I had found 5 or 6 coveys in an afternoon hunt here a few weeks ago.
We, again, turned all 7 dogs loose. They had all hunted together really well. All of the dogs were hunting independently. No following or jealousy issues.
Babe honoring Dottie.
We went along the edge of the wheat until the dogs led us to the pasture. There was a small creek running through the pasture with some cover along the edge. Earlier we had found some quail along the creek and that’s where the dogs headed. We started to the north along the creek that had very little water in it. What we saw was just thick with mud. We saw a wind mill to the north of us and thought we might find some water there.
I thought we had all of the dogs with us when we got to the windmill. There was a tank with water but we had to put the dogs in it to get them a drink. I watered my dogs except for Sally. She wasn’t with us. I checked the GPS and she was on point 868 yards behind us. She probably had been on point when we headed to the windmill.
We started to her. When we got close we had to cross the creek and a low spot and she was up on a flat spot on the other side. We were starting up the hill to the flat area when I saw a single quail fly along the edge and go down. I checked the GPS and she was moving. I don’t know what happened but the birds had held for a long time. I don’t know how long she had been on point before I saw her but it took a long time for us to walk nearly a half mile.
Another picture of Sally pointing the covey.
When we got on top all of the dogs were trailing, expecting to find some birds any second. I worked Abby and Boss in to the area I saw the single bird light but we never came up with anything. I did see Boss wheel around and point for just a second then he went on. May have been where the bird had lit then flew when we weren’t looking.
The temperature was in the sixties and it was really dry. We thought we knew where there was some bigger pools of water in the creek and started toward them.
As we went along the GPS vibrated and it showed Mann and Sally on point. At about the same time Jim said that Dottie was on point. I saw that Mann was only a few yards ahead of me. He wasn’t on point he was trailing something, slowly. I looked and Sally was on point but she was the way Jim was going. I followed him.
Mann honoring Dottie.
In just a short distance we saw that Sally was pointing and Dottie was honoring. Sally’s tail was up good and another dog came close without seeing her and she thought the birds would flush. She didn’t move but her tail came down some. This tree had a limb thick with branches hanging down. I didn’t think I would get a shot but I thought I could run them out where Jim could.
I went in to Sally’s face and a covey of quail flushed. I saw one for a split second and took a shot. I heard Jim shoot then shoot again. The quail I shot at went down and I saw another drop when Jim fired his second shot. Jim said he had shot the same bird I had but it was already falling when he shot. Dottie took my bird to Jim and Sally brought Jim’s bird to me. Actually, Sally started to me with the bird and laid down in the shade and let me come to her. She was the only dog that hadn’t been watered.
Jim’s Dotty and Mann’s mother.
About 50 yards from where Sally pointed the birds we found a nice pool and cooled all of the dogs down. The covey had flown off of this place so we couldn’t chase them. We worked the dogs along the creek where they could get water.
We started back to the trucks. We had a couple of points on the way but never came up with anything. One of them was kind of remarkable. I had worked Sally and Mann through a corner of the pasture that had some plum thickets along a little draw. Mann went on the outside but Sally came through the middle, slowly. As I started to cross the fence between the pasture and wheat stubble Jim said that Dottie was on point. She was pointing into the plum thicket.
She was sure there was a bird in the thicket. By the time we got to her some of the other dogs were honoring. Nothing flushed but I think when some of the dogs went into the wheat stubble and after Sally and Mann had run the thicket a pheasant had hid there for a few seconds, then ran off. Dottie was sure something was there. Got me excited.
Sally honoring Mann.
It was about 2:30 when we got back to the trucks. As Jim and I talked he said he thought he would just head home. We had hunted hard most of the day and found one covey of quail. We weren’t sure where we would hunt the next day and at 65 degrees it was too hot to turn the dogs loose again that afternoon. I said that worked for me.
It’s little closer for Jim but I had driven over 5 hours and according to my app on my phone we had walked over 7 miles and another five plus hours home. About 8:00 pm I was home and was able to sleep in my own bed. That was my last hunt of 2020/2021 season and I’m having withdrawal symptoms. There are a few states that still have a few days of quail hunting and I’m wanting to go. Maybe I will.