I woke up early, to go to Kansas quail hunting, on the next to the last day of the season. I went out north west of Topeka to an area I had been to one time this season. I was supposed to go to the south central area but a huge snow storm hit down there and I wanted to get out of the snow. I have had snow on the ground for a long time. I’m tired of the snow.
Mann pointing a covey of quail.
That’s Mann in a plum thicket pointing quail.
Another shot of Mann pointing quail.
I had only taken Sally and Mann with me. I put the GPS collars and e-collars on both of them and turned them loose. The other time I had hunted this place I had only seen one quail but last year I found 3 coveys. I didn’t get to this place until the afternoon the last time so someone may have been here before me. Today I drove around it and no one was hunting here.
We went to the north along the east fence row. The wind was from the south east but not very strong. There were a couple of draws that ran from the fence row down to a large draw that split the property. As I got near the end of the fence row Mann was off the property to the north and went on point. By the time I got to the end of the property he was moving. When I saw him next he was wound up. I think a pheasant or some quail flushed in front of him.
If I remember right Mann made his first point, on wild quail, here, last year. I killed a couple of singles that he pointed at the north end of the big draw. Today I sent both dogs to the west along the north fence line. I called them back when they were about 300 yards to the west and started down the big draw.
This walk-in property was a huge corn field. There was some old snow still on the ground and recently there was a light dusting on top. There were thousands of bird tracks in this skiff of snow but I never saw one quail track or one pheasant track.
Both Sally and Mann will come back when I tone them with their e-collars. When we got close to the end of the big draw Mann went across the road. I toned him and started for the truck. He didn’t even pay any attention to the tone. As I started to the truck the GPS handheld vibrated. It showed Mann on point across the road about 500 yards away. I was close to the truck so I loaded Sally in her box and drove closer to Mann.
He was over 400 yards away when I found a good place to park. I left my gun in the truck and took off my hunting vest. I did keep my blaze orange hat on but I might have to pay a fine for trespassing but not for hunting and trespassing. I started to him.
When I got within about 125 yards of him I saw him standing in a little clearing pointing into a plum thicket. As I got closer I started taking pictures. When I got near him he slowly turned his head to look at me then moved up about 10 yards and went back on point. He was inside the plum thicket. I started past him and the quail started flushing out the other side. It was a small covey but some of them may have run out before I got there. Mann was probably on point about 20 minutes.
Sally pointing quail.
I called him and started back to the truck. He followed the quail. I toned him and hit him with some light electricity from the e-collar. He didn’t pay any attention. I toned him again and moved the e-collar up one setting. Finally, he came around to the west of me then came in front. We made it back to the truck and I loaded him.
I drove by some other places that I had hunted the last time I was in this area. Some of the roads were too muddy to drive as the weather warmed. It seems like every cow in Kansas had been moved into this area. Most of the places I had found birds or hunted because they looked good were either full of cows or grazed down.
I, finally, found an area that was pasture next to some row crops. The pasture had been grazed but not totally cleaned off. The wind was getting a little stronger and we went into the south east wind. Sally was still heeding the tone when I wanted her to come in but Mann seemed to come when he wanted. This really isn’t like him. He hates electricity. Usually, a light correction and he comes right in.
As we went around this pasture next to the row crops I saw a neat, to me anyway, area. It was a large cedar grove that covered several acres. The cedar trees were close together and either the deer or cows had trimmed them. Most of the time I could walk with out bending over. The sun couldn’t hit the ground so it was completely covered with ice. I could see a long way because the limbs were off about head high.
Sally pointing quail.
When we got back close to the truck I loaded the dogs. It started snowing really hard as I looked for another place. I have been snowed in, in Kansas before. As I drove it snowed so hard I could hardly see the road. It was only about 2:30 pm but I started home.
I hadn’t taken the e-collars and GPS collars off the dogs, so when I got home I took them off. When Mann came out of his box and I started to take his e-collar off, it was gone. No wonder he didn’t pay any attention to the tone. The e-collar he had on didn’t have a double buckle and I must have missed the small keeper that holds the collar. I think, from the way he acted he lost that e-collar at the first place we hunted. Maybe I will find it next year.
I don’t like to hunt the last day of the season. I always feel sorry for any birds I shoot. If I hadn’t hunted that day and shot them they may have produced a covey or more of quail. If they had only lived one more day. But Don and Linda Hansen and I are going on the last day. I will report on that in a day or two.