Luke pointing
Lucky pointing
I had not been quail hunting since the 17th of December, until today. Vince Dye and I hunted near Polo, Missouri on private land. Vince has an English Cocker spaniel, named Maggie, that I wanted to see work. Maggie is only about 6 months old and has been quail hunting 3 times.
I have been guiding with my dogs a lot the last 2 weeks and I needed to give Dolly a rest so I took Luke and Lucky on this hunt. Our plan was when a dog pointed Vince would heel Maggie in close then let her flush the quail. I figured it wouldn’t bother Luke or Lucky to have a dog run by them and flush the birds. I turned Lucky out first with Luke in the truck until later. I left Tur Bo and Blaze at home. I figured a flushing dog would make confirmed flushers out of them.
Vince had hunted here once this year and had seen some quail roosts in a CRP field across the road from a soy bean field. We hunted through the CRP field to the west, close to the road. When we came to a draw running through the soy bean field we crossed the road. Lucky went south on the draw about 200 yards and went on point. Vince put Maggie on heel and we went to Lucky.
I walked up to Lucky’s right and Vince and Maggie went to his left. Vince told Maggie to find the birds and she started wiggling all over. She went back and forth until the quail flushed. The covey was in the draw and flew through the trees. I had one shot and dropped a quail. Vince shot but he didn’t have a very good shot because the quail flew through and around the trees. Maggie hadn’t seen my bird fall but when she found it she retrieved it to Vince.
We went in the direction the quail had flown. We followed the draw on to the south and about 200 yards down the draw Lucky pointed. This time I walked in on Lucky’s left and Vince was on the right. He sent Maggie in to flush and a single quail went up and through the trees. Vince and I both shot and the quail dropped. We got Maggie in to retrieve but she couldn’t find the bird. I got Lucky in to help. Lucky kept trying to leave but I called him back but he would leave again. After about 10 minutes I checked the Garmin GPS and Lucky was on point about 50 feet away.
We couldn’t see him from where we were in the draw so we walked out to the edge of the soy bean field. Vince was on Lucky’s right and I was on his left. Maggie went in to flush and the quail went twisting through the trees. Vince and I both shot but we didn’t come close. Lucky went down the draw another 20 yards and pointed again. This bird flushed before we could get Maggie in. Vince threw a shot at it but he really didn’t have a chance.
We went on down the draw to the end then back on the other side to the road without finding any other birds. We went back through the CRP to another soy bean field. We went around the edge of the soy bean field then through some woods to a small soy bean field where Vince had found a covey of quail on his last trip. Vince took one side while I took the other. We met at the end and as we were crossing into a small patch of CRP I thought I heard some quail flush.
We crossed a creek into a large field of switch grass that was about chest high. A single quail flushed catching both of by surprise. Neither of us shot. I got Lucky into the switch grass and Vince and Maggie were going around the edge near some woods. I heard Vince shoot. Maggie had flushed a spread out covey in the woods. Vince had not connected because of the trees.
We went in the direction the covey had flown. We didn’t find any so we continued on down a hedge row with the switch grass on one side and a soy bean field on the other. I checked the Garmin GPS and Lucky was on point about 75 yards ahead of us. Vince was on the soy bean side of the hedge row and I was on the other. Lucky was on my side of the hedge row but before I got to him the covey flushed about 20 yards on the other side of him. I shot and a bird dropped then I shot again and missed. Not a bird came out Vince’s side.
Vince came over to my side with Maggie to find my downed bird. I called Lucky in and we looked for a long time without finding it. We were still trying to get the dogs to search when I saw the quail sitting in the grass. It was still alive. Vince wanted Maggie to find it so he called her to him. Maggie smelled the quail and ran toward it and it flew like it was unhurt. Vince shot twice and it dropped. He hit it both times but the second shot dropped it. Maggie retrieved it. My shot must have just stunned it but had Vince not shot it would have got away. I was so surprised that I didn’t even raise my gun.
The covey had flown out into the switch grass so we followed. We found a pond in the switch grass and broke the ice to water the dogs but we never found any of the quail. We came back to the hedge row and Lucky pointed again. This time the birds came up on Vince’s side and then came out about 40 yards ahead of me. Vince got a shot and the feathers came floating through to my side. Maggie made a good retrieve. Some of the birds had flown across the road but I saw where about 5 had flown into the switch grass so we started after them.
As we went through the switch grass a quail flushed from behind me. It dropped on my second shot. I thought we would have a hard time finding it in the tall switch grass but by the time I took a couple of steps Maggie was bringing it back to Vince. That was really impressive. We circled around through the switch grass and I heard Vince shoot. He had dropped another in the switch grass and when he went after it another flushed and flew right in front of me. Maggie retrieved his bird and Lucky retrieved mine.
Lucky is almost 11 years old and I don’t like to hunt him very long. He still loves his job and does it real well but it was time to get Luke out. Luke is kind of a wild child but when he goes on point he’s there until I find him. Without the GPS collars that would be a real problem.
We had missed part of the edge of a big soy bean field so we took Luke back around the edge. When we got close to the switch grass field where we had lost one of the coveys we went into it. We made a big circle without finding anything so we started out. I checked the GPS and it showed Luke on point 190 yards across the switch grass field. So back we went.
Luke was pointing into a draw that ran into the switch grass. Vince was on Luke’s side of the draw and I was on the other. Vince sent Maggie in to flush. When the single quail flew it went right down the center of the draw without either of us getting a shot.
There was small brush filled creek near where the single had flown so we went that way. Vince and I were walking along, talking, when he said, “Luke’s on point.” He was standing in the bottom of the creek pointing. Vince was going to cross to the other side but the birds flushed before he got close. They had run ahead of Luke to flush and he wasn’t aware that they had flown. I released him and we started after the quail.
Vince got within about 50 yards of where the covey had flown when they flew the third time without us getting a shot. We were close to the road and the birds had flown to the west along the road but we went on south across the road down a draw. About 200 yards down the draw Luke pointed. Maggie started in and a covey flushed down in the trees in the draw. Vince and I both shot and a bird fell. We both had shot the same bird. Vince sent Maggie to fetch. I thought I could go around and get in where the bird had fallen. We looked with both dogs but didn’t come up with this bird. Vince thought that Luke had picked the bird up. He doesn’t retrieve so if he carried the bird he dropped it somewhere where we couldn’t find it.
We hunted the draw back to the road where there was a grass patch. Two coveys had flown toward this patch. We started into the wind through the weed patch. A quail flushed from behind me and I turned and shot. Maggie made a good retrieve. We hunted into the wind through the grass patch and turned around and hunted back with the wind. I was walking along the edge of a small draw that ran between the weed patch and a soy bean field. A quail flushed right beside me and flew through the draw. I shot but missed.
We continued through the grass patch and a quail flushed behind us. I made a lucky shot and Maggie retrieved. Vince decided to cross the draw and we would hunt back to the truck. I decided to check a little patch of grass we hadn’t been to while I waited for him to cross. When I got close a single quail erupted from the patch. I dropped it in a thick tangle. Maggie was across the draw so I called Luke and he saw the quail. He ran in and held it until I got there. He doesn’t retrieve but if they aren’t dead he holds them until I get there. If they are dead he usually touches them with his nose and goes on.
We hunted on back to the truck without finding anymore birds but it had been a good day. We had only got 9 birds out of 6 or 7 coveys but that was the most quail I have seen this year on one hunt.
This was the first time me and my dogs have hunted with a flushing dog. On Lucky’s first point I saw him give Maggie a mean look when she went by him but after that he was okay with it. Luke held his points okay but without more training I think he would learn to flush. I can see a definite advantage to having a flushing dog hunt with pointing dogs. I could have a dog do the flushing when I guide. Maggie is only about 6 months old. When she gets some experience Vince won’t lose many birds.