Missouri gun deer season was finally over the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, so Vince Dye and I hunted in north Missouri. I don’t like to expose my dogs to people that are armed with deer rifles. Shortly after Missouri deer season closes it is open in Kansas. Both states continue to have black powder and several other gun seasons but there isn’t near as many hunters as the regular gun deer season.
Boss pointing wild quail.
Sally pointing a quail.
Vince’s German short haired pointing quail.
Vince has a friend that owns a lot of land in northern Missouri and he helps him mow it each year because they are friends but he also gets permission to hunt the land. And he lets me tag along. Most of the time he hunts it after the gun deer season.
The first place we hunted Vince had seen a large covey of quail when he was mowing. We turned all of our dogs out. Vince had his short hair, Allie and his English cocker spaniel, Maggie. I had brought Sally, Mann and their son Boss.
This place was mostly CRP with a lot of lespedeza, rag weed and other grass with seeds. There was a couple of ponds for water and it looked ideal for quail. We circled the ponds, went along the edge next to a soybean field and back to near the truck without seeing a quail. We loaded the dogs and went to another place.
The next place is one of our favorite places. Most of the time we find several coveys of quail but this year the owner was required to mow, spray and burn the available cover. Because of how dry the fall was it was too dangerous to burn but the grass had been mowed and sprayed. This destroyed most of the quail cover but there was some along the row crops and the fence separating the CRP from the row crops.
The road was real muddy so we drove in, hunted one side then drove around to the other side to hunt the remainder. But on the first side, we crossed a bridge to get to an area where there was a small field with a lot of lespedeza. As we crossed the field the GPS handheld vibrated. It showed Sally on point about 200 yards to the north. We started slogging our way through the mud to get to her.
Vince saw her and I had to cross a really good 5 strand barb wire fence and a deep ditch. When I got close to Vince we started in to flush the birds. Vince said, “There they go”. About 15 doves flushed off the ground in front of her. They had held while we had walked 200 yards.
Mann buried in the thick stuff, on point.
We started on down the fence row separating the CRP from the row crops. Again the handheld vibrated and it showed Sally on point about 200 yards ahead of us. Before we got to her Mann and Boss were honoring. Sally was looking into a small low spot, that had cedars and other brush growing and run into the corn field. Vince was on one side and I was on the other.
When I walked in a covey of quail flushed about 15 yards in front of Sally inside the brush. I heard several birds but only had a glimpse of one bird. It flew above the trees and I saw it for a split second and shot behind. Vince shot at the same bird but it was out too far for him. We weren’t sure which direction the covey had flown but we went back down the fence line.
There was enough brush between Vince and me that we were about 25 yards apart. Vince yelled, “a couple of quail flushed ahead of us”. Just a second or two later I heard him shoot then, “dead bird, dead bird.” He told me later that Sally had pointed and a quail had flushed before he could even say anything.
We went back a ways then back toward where the covey had flushed from. When we got close to where the covey had flushed Boss went on point. I thought it was just the hot spot where the covey had flushed from. I took some pictures then started toward him. Vince said two quail flushed about 15 yards in front of him but deep in the brush. Neither of us were able to get a shot.
Sally on point.
We went back and forth along the fence line trying to find other singles. Mann went on point about 175 yards along another fence row. When we got close to him Sally honored. When we got near, Mann started moving and Sally moved just a few yards and went on point. Then she started trailing. Maggie and Allie went to trailing but we never came up with anything but all of the dogs knew something had been there.
We hunted back through where the covey had flushed from then down a draw that ran into the corn field, back to the river then back to the truck. We drove around to the other side of this place.
I opened the dog boxes to let the dogs out and Boss just sat inside the dog box. I left the door open and set Sally and Mann on the ground and Vince turned both of his dogs loose. I thought Boss would get jealous and follow but he stayed right there. We hit the fence row between the CRP and row crops. We followed each draw down into the corn field. When we got to the end we turned across the end then came back toward the truck along the fence row next to the road.
We had a couple of points that may have been pheasants that ran out on the dogs. When one of them would point the honoring dogs would trail like something had run along with the dog that pointed. We made it back to the truck without seeing any more quail. Boss was lying in his box. He didn’t try to get out.
Sally honoring.
The next place we hunted was one we have hunted several times before. Vince and I have hunted together for a lot of years and we talked about some of the dogs we had hunted on this place that are no longer alive. Too bad dogs can’t hunt for 25 years or more.
Boss still didn’t want to get out of his house but I drug him out. He acted like he was happy to be out. I have a dog box that is right behind the cab and this is the first time he has ridden in it. For some reason he’s not sure about getting out of it. When we got home this evening I had to drag him out. He’s never had this problem with riding in the box near the tail gate.
Vince and I started off to the north down an abandoned road with a draw right beside it. He on one side me on the other. We got together to cross a bridge over a creek. As we started to the west along a draw Vince’s Allie pointed to the north east of us. By the time we got to her Sally was honoring. When we got close Allie and Sally started trailing. We never came up with anything.
Another shot of Boss’s point.
We went on to the west and I saw Sally running like she was chasing something. I called her back and she came in front of me and went on point where there was a gap in a draw. I told Vince she was on point and it was hard for him to get to us. He told me to go ahead.
Before I got to her Mann honored. When I got to her she started trailing. Mann moved over a little way and pointed. I went to him and he started trailing. Allie came by and pointed. Then Sally was on point. With all of this we never saw a bird. Vince took one side of the draw and I took the other.
As we went down the draw there was a draw that came off the main draw on Vince’s side. I waited for him to go around. Boss had gone with Vince, Sally and Mann were with me. The draw off to the side was a lot larger than I thought. I decided I needed to go on down the main draw.
Abby pointing a pigeon.
I hadn’t gone far when I heard Vince shoot. A little later he called on his cell. Allie had pointed a covey and he had killed one and they had spread out up some short grass. He wanted me to come over there.
I started to him and the GPS handheld vibrated. Sally was on point to the west about 150 yards. I turned and went to her. By the time I got close Mann was honoring. Sally was right on the very end of the draw on point. When I got close to her a rooster pheasant came out about 25 yards in front of her and I missed with both barrels. Before I could reload another rooster flushed near me. When your gun is empty or you don’t have a gun all game birds flush really close and fly really slow.
I started toward Vince who was about a quarter of a mile from me. Before I got to him he shot another couple of times. When I caught up with him he told me that his short hair, Allie, had pointed the covey then pointed a single. The neatest thing was his English cocker spaniel had also pointed one. She has learned to honor the pointing dogs but she has evidently learned to point from them.
Boss pointing a pigeon.
A lot of years ago a friend that I hunted with had a lab that he made heel while the pointing dogs worked. When we shot quail he would send the lab to retrieve. One day when he wasn’t paying attention to the lab it went a few yards away and when he noticed him he was on point. That was a long time before I knew anything about pointing labs but he had watched the pointing dogs and learned to point. Maggie must have done the same thing.
We made several passes through where Vince thought the singles would be without finding any others. We went back toward the truck, along the draws. We were about to hit a draw to the south that would lead us back to the truck when the GPS handheld vibrated. Mann was on point about 150 yards north of us.
When I got close he was across a creek on the other bank. Sally was honoring then Boss honored. I crossed the creek and when I got in front of him I saw a single quail flush about 40 yards from him. I released him and they all started trailing. Allie had, probably, been honoring too. When I released the dogs she was right there.
Boss.
When I got back across to where Vince was we decided that this had to be a bird out of a covey that we never saw. It was real near where all of the dogs had tried to point but we had never come up with anything. We hunted on back to the truck.
It was a little after 4:00 pm and that is my self imposed quitting time. On Oklahoma state hunting land you must quit by 4:30 and I decided that if I quit by 4:00 it would give the coveys plenty of time to get back together before dark.
We had seen 2 coveys for sure and maybe 3 and only killed 4 birds. We can come back and hunt these birds again without hurting them. When I was younger it was really important for me to kill a limit and most of the time we did. Now I think quail are too valuable to kill. We need these birds to work our dogs.