I hunt a lot with Vince Dye and he also coyote hunts. He stopped to ask a man if he could coyote hunt on his property and he said, “sure. And if you want to hunt quail, you can do that too. And bring your buddy.” That almost sounds like a dream. But it happened to Vince.
Mann on point.
Sally, tired but honoring.
Mann on point.
When we got there Vince turned his German shorthair, Ally and his English cocker spaniel, Maggie loose. I had only brought Sally and Mann so I turned both of them loose. We weren’t 50 yards from the truck when we saw quail flying back over us. The dogs hadn’t smelled them or at least gave no indication of them that we noticed. Vince knocked one down and Maggie retrieved it for him.
We thought the birds had flown across the road but in just a few minutes Mann was on point on our side of the road, looking into a plum thicket. Ally honored. One quail flushed and Vince knocked it down. When the bird flushed Mann went left and Ally went right. Ally went on point on the west side of the plum thicket.
A covey flushed and Vince knocked two birds down. I came over to help him find his birds. Maggie had retrieved the first for him but he was looking for the second. Just before I got to him I walked a quail up and shot it. Sally made a good retrieve. We looked for a long time for Vince’s other bird without finding it.
We went on down the hedge row to the west. Vince had hunted this place for a couple of hours a few days before but we weren’t sure of the boundaries. We came to a gap in the fence. It was a gate that didn’t look like it had been closed in years. We weren’t sure whether both sides belonged to Vince’s friend or not. We turned to the south down the fence line.
As we went down the fence line the GPS vibrated. Mann was on point about 150 yards in front of us. Mann was looking into the grass away from a line of brush. Vince was well over to my right as we walked in. A single quail flushed from under my feet flying toward Vince. It was in the brush without drawing a shot. Mann hadn’t moved so I knew there were still birds in front of him.
About that time a large covey flushed. I got on a bird and pulled the trigger and the gun snapped. I went to the back trigger and the bird floated down. It was hit but not very hard. When I opened my side by side I noticed that I had taken the empty from before out but hadn’t put another live shell in. Old men do strange things.
Vince hadn’t scored on this partly because the birds that went his way were in the trees, quickly. We went to where my bird had floated down and got the dogs to hunt dead. In just a few seconds Maggie was in hot pursuit of a wounded bird. She ran it down and was a happy girl when she brought it to Vince.
Vince and his short hair, Ally.
We knew the singles from the last covey had to be to the south of us and we went that way. We were following along a draw with a small creek in the bottom. I was out a few steps in the grass field and Vince was along the edge of the timber. He saw Maggie get real birdy and she flushed a single. He shot and as soon as it dropped Maggie pounced on it and brought it to him.
We got to a fence on the south and went all the way back north along a harvested milo field. Then we went along the edge of it to the south a ways. The other side of the road was part of this place to but from where we were we didn’t see a lot of cover. We started along the road back to the truck.
As we walked along I checked the GPS. Mann was on point 361 yards to the south east. When we had turned toward the road he hadn’t turned. We started back. I told Vince about the time we got there he would be moving. But he wasn’t. I walked in front of him and nothing flushed. I tapped his head and he trailed a little way and went back on point. We walked in front of him and nothing flushed. I tapped his head to release him.
Vince’s German short haired pointing quail.
He went a little way and went back on point. Ally and Sally were across the road. Vince said I’m going to see what they are doing. I told him that Sally had been on point twice while we were following Mann. He left and Mann pointed, let me in front and when nothing flushed I quit going back and tapping him on the head. I started saying, “okay” and he would move.
He pointed 8 times and then moved. We had covered probably 350 or 400 yards. Finally, from the top of the hill down to the edge of the creek I went in front of him and a single quail flushed. It dropped when I shot and Mann was on it. Both of us were really happy when he brought the bird to me. Mann won’t be 3 years old until April. He hunts like a much older dog. But I think him not getting excited and staying with this bird until it flushed was really good for him. This showed him the whole game. Point, flush and retrieve.
Mann and I went back to the road and I didn’t realize it but Vince was trying to get us to come over on the other side of the road. When I got to the road I was a little over half a mile from the truck. I went to get the truck.
Sally pointing a quail.
We went by the guys house that had let Vince hunt to thank him and offer him the birds. He didn’t want the birds but after talking to him a few minutes he said, “I have another 500 and some acres pretty close to that one you might want to hunt”. Well, yeah. He gave us directions to the other place.
It’s late in the season and we weren’t able to hunt this but one more time this season but next season we will be back.