Usually, I start these prairie chicken posts with the disclaimer; I wouldn’t shoot one if I got the chance. I don’t like to eat them and I’ve shot several so I won’t shoot anymore, maybe. Sometimes reflexes kick in and the shot is made or if a young dog needs a bird shot for it’s point, it might happen. But for the most part prairie chicken hunting for me is a scouting trip and getting the dogs in better shape.
Boss
Mann
Boss
I got up really early, I left the house at 5:00 am, and drove about 2 hours west, into Kansas. I was hunting a big ranch where you can see the dogs for a long way. I’ve hunted this ranch before but I’ve never found much. Out of the 5 or 6 times I’ve run here I have found exactly 1 covey of quail. And that was before quail season opened but it’s a really pretty place to run dogs.
We haven’t had any rain or very little the whole month of September. I took a 20 ounce bottle of water for each dog, my big camera strapped to my chest, wore the hunting vest to hold all of the stuff I carry and carried my 20 gauge Webley and Scott that weighs under 6 pounds. Because I wasn’t going to shoot, but have to be hunting to be on walk-in property, I only carried 5 shells.
I had turned all 4 dogs loose. Abby, Boss, Mann and Sally were all enjoying the open fields. They all had e-collars and GPS collars. It was so open I didn’t have to even check the GPS until I was about a half a mile in. All of the dogs were in front of me at various distances except Sally. Her GPS had not mated with the handheld.
I started calling her and in just a few minutes she showed up and I had to turn her collar off and back on a couple of times to get it to working. I did have an extra in the truck but if I hadn’t got it working the hunt would have been over.
Sally was all wet when she came in and I discovered that there was plenty of water in all of the low spots in these pastures. I should have dumped the water in the bottles but I didn’t. When I crossed a low spot then went up the hill on the other side I was really huffing and puffing. When I got home I donned all of the equipment. The vest, camera and holding the gun I weighed. Then I pulled it all off and checked the weight. All of that was over 22 pounds. No wonder I was breathing so hard.
Some of the yearlings that came to visit.
We went on around and occasionally I would try to get a picture of the dogs as they ran. When they are from 200 to 500 yards away and moving fast it’s hard to get them in the view finder. Finally, when I saw Boss stop to poop I put the view finder on him and waited for him to go back to running. I was able to take several pictures and some of them were pretty good.
The morning was cool and the dogs were really enjoying themselves. There were cows in this pasture and Abby made herself smell really good by rolling in some cow manure. Either she or Sally do this almost every time. Sometimes her e-collar and GPS collar are covered but she just got some on her shoulder and back this time. Thank God for all favors.
We started up out of a low spot and there were about 15, looked like yearling calves, came running toward us. They got about 10 yards from us before they stopped. They were just curious. Probably don’t see a lot of people on foot. I took their picture.
Abby
A lot of years ago I was putting plywood on a roof and slipped on a piece of plywood that wasn’t nailed down. I hit the ground and turned an ankle. That ankle has bothered me over the years. As I walked along the edge of a hill with that foot on the downhill side I rolled my ankle. It didn’t turn but it must have stretched some ligaments or something because it kept trying to roll to the side.
I was about 3/4 of a mile from the truck and knew I should head back. So I got the dogs going in the right direction and headed for the truck. When I had driven in I saw a truck I thought was Don Hansen’s. When I got close to the road I saw it coming down the road. I have traded trucks since last year so Don doesn’t know my new one but he told Linda he bet that was mine. I waved my hat at him and he stopped.
When I got to the fence we talked for a little while. He wanted to make another circle into the pasture but I was afraid my ankle might get really bad. So I went on to my truck which was a little over a quarter of a mile away. As I walked along the fence, in a flat cow trail, my ankle didn’t give me any trouble at all.
Boss
I drove around to check some more walk-in properties out before returning home. I was only able to run the dogs about an hour and a half but that’s better than nothing.
I’ve decided that I just need to walk more on level ground. I have started an early morning walk on a track that is close to the house. Even the GPS on my watch tells me I’m not walking as much this year as last. Maybe with enough walking, on flat surfaces, for a while will build that ankle up. If not I may have to wear a brace. What ever it takes to keep going.
I’m still working the dogs most days at home on retrieving. Abby’s tennis ball is about the same color as the grass and a few mornings ago I threw the ball and she was near where it hit the ground. She lunged for the ball and it hit her on the chest and bounced another 10 feet without her seeing it. Retrievers will stay after whatever they are to retrieve until they find it. In my experience English setters don’t. But Abby kept making short circles until she smelled the ball. She scooped it up and brought it to me.
Another shot of Boss.
The very next throw was almost the same. She hit it with her nose and it went down the hill a short distance. She made several circles until she caught the scent of the tennis ball. She grabbed it and came to me. I don’t know which of us was the most excited. As much as she loves birds a few hard to find ones to find may make her the retriever I’ve been needing.
Between the ankle and getting the new truck ready for the hunting season, I haven’t been scouting as often as I should have but hopefully next week things will change. Instead of walking a track I need to be scouting and getting the dogs in shape.