Last summer Vince Dye had to get rid of his bird dog. When this season got close I loaned him Bodie and he has gotten him into a lot more birds than I could have. He hunted with another couple of guys for 3 days a few weeks ago and they moved about 20 different coveys. Bodie pointed his share. When Vince asked me to go hunting with him and a friend, I jumped at the chance.
Bodie pointing a single.
Mann and Abby honoring Sally.
Sally
The place we were going to hunt was 550 acres of CRP. They had mowed some strips around it but it was still really thick. Seldom did the dogs find birds where we could walk these mowed strips. The cover was the normal CRP but there was really a lot of wheat interspersed with the normal grasses. The heads on the wheat were long and hanging down. Perfect for all of the animals, especially ground dwelling birds.
We turned the dogs loose in a mowed part and started toward the interior of the field along a wooded draw. We were about half way down the draw when we saw a covey of quail flush at the end of the draw but about 30 yards into the CRP. There may have been some dogs around them but I’m not sure. One quail came back by us and SL killed it with a long shot.
The covey had flown over a hill so we just went in the same direction. We checked most of the area then went on to the west edge then to the north. When we got to the north edge several dogs were on point. They were in the thick CRP and were hard to see. We had a lot of dogs out and several were pointing and some were backing. A big covey was spread out evidently feeding or going to feed. They flushed well out front of us in a couple of waves then I saw 2 that were probably 75 yards down the hill from us, get up. We all 3 shot but I don’t remember a bird falling.
This covey spread all over the area. We started to the east and the GPS vibrated. Mann was on point out in the tall CRP. We were having trouble finding him in the waist high CRP. According to the GPS we were 43 feet from him when two quail flushed. We didn’t even get a shot and still couldn’t see Mann until he moved when the birds flushed. Then another quail flushed and Vince knocked it down. We looked for it for a few minutes and Sally picked it up several feet from where we thought it was and delivered to me.
We continued to the east and some of the dogs crossed the road. Boss pointed, standing in a mowed strip, looking into the tall grass. A couple of dogs, Mann and Sally, honored him but when we walked in nothing flushed. A short distance away Bodie was on point. Vince and SL were blocked by a really large thicket. I saw him and started to him. Sally and Mann honored and I took pictures. I was waiting on Vince to come down but he told me he was blocked and for me to go ahead and flush the bird.
Even a Jag terrier can honor.
I started on toward Bodie and saw a little trash bird fly by close to his head. Then 2 more little birds lit in a bush right close to his head. He didn’t move. When I walked in a single quail flushed and dropped at my shot. Bodie didn’t see it fall. I got Sally in to hunt dead. She found the dead bird and dropped it in my hand.
We went on to the east and dropped south to a pond for the dogs to cool down and get a drink. Vince start around the west side of the pond and SL and I were on the east. Sally went on point south of the pond. When we got close Sally was pointing into some scattered trees below the pond. Boss and Mann were honoring. Sally was looking way into the timber. SL and I saw birds flushing way ahead of us down in the timber. When we got close to where the quail were getting up we could see why. There were leaves on the ground but no other cover for them to hide.
Boss
Most of the birds had flown south which was the way were headed. There was a draw to the east and we were going down a fence line with a lot of cover. About a quarter of a mile from where the last covey had been, Boss pointed. He was down in the thick stuff along the fence line we were following. When we got close the covey flushed flying down the fence line before coming into the open. I shot as did the other guys but we had almost no chance.
Vince was on the west and saw the direction some of these birds had flown. We started around toward them. SL had brought his young Jag terrier with him. He was recovering from a broken leg and it started bothering him. SL decided to take him back to the truck.
Vince and I went on around where he had seen the singles from the last covey fly to. Bodie went on point down along a creek in some really thick cover. Neither of us could get close to him but in a couple of minutes he started trailing and a single quail got up well ahead of him. Too far for a shot from Vince or me.
Boss pointing a covey.
We started on around and wound up back close to the pond where the covey had run away from Sally. The other time we had followed the fence row south, this time we took the draw. Vince was on one side and I was on the other. Bodie pointed on Vince’s side two or three times with the singles from one of the coveys we had moved. Each of them flew down the draw, through the trees, not even giving us a shot.
We crossed a large draw with the intention of going to the west along the draw then turning south back to the truck. We started down the draw and I checked my GPS. Boss was on point about where we had crossed the draw. We went back. We couldn’t see him. He was in chest high weeds. Just before we got to Boss two quail flushed flying through a gap in the timber. An easy shot for both of us but we managed to miss with both barrels. Vince said, “How did we miss. That was an easy shot”. But we both did.
Abby on point.
Vince and I were on the same side as we went to the west along the big draw. Bodie went on point ahead of us. When we got close a quail flushed crossing the draw with no shots. A little farther a single came out on our side and tried to fly back to the east. It was out in the open and dropped when I shot. Sally saw it fall and ran to it. She picked it up but only carried it a few feet and dropped it and laid down. I told her to fetch and she picked it up but only came a couple of steps. Usually, she’s pretty good retriever but she was hot and tired. It was like she was saying, “I’m tired. You can come a few feet”. So I walked over and picked it up.
We worked our way back to the truck. We had moved 5 coveys, killed 5 quail and had a lot of dog work. Vince said we could go to another place but I thought for me and all of the dogs had had enough. It had been a good day.