Tur Bo pointing a single.
Blaze honoring Tur Bo.
Rocky just being Rocky.
I hunted in Kansas on the way to Oklahoma. The wind was really blowing and we didn’t do very well. I may have seen more pheasants than quail although I didn’t see very many of either. The quail and pheasants weren’t holding for the dogs in that kind of wind so I decided to save the dogs for Oklahoma.
The Black Kettle National Grasslands is 30,710 acres in Oklahoma. There are 114 different parcels so there is room for a lot of hunters. Only one of the parcels I hunted I didn’t find birds on and on it I crossed the road to another on the way back to the truck and found a covey.
The first place I hunted was 320 acres that is one of my favorite places. I put the Garmin GPS and Sport Dog e-collars on Lucky and Tur Bo. Rocky the English cocker spaniel goes almost every time but he doesn’t have any electronics, yet. We went south with the wind along the west fence line for about 500 yards then moved over to the east and started back into the wind. Both dogs were in front of me and I saw a covey of quail fly into some tall grass and short plum thickets between the dogs and me. I called the dogs back but they made a couple of circles but not where the quail had landed and went on.
Rocky and I were moving in the direction of the quail and I was still trying to get the dogs in when a quail flushed. I think Rocky flushed it. It dropped into a plum thicket at my shot. When I shot another quail flushed and I dropped it on the edge of the thicket. Rocky saw it fall and retrieved it. I checked the GPS and both dogs were on point so we went to them. They must have been pointing where the covey had flushed from because when I got there they started trailing without finding anything. I took all 3 dogs back to the plum thicket to find my bird. Rocky went into the thicket, picked up the quail and brought it to me.
As I was shooting at the first two quail other birds were flushing. We went in the direction that the birds had flown. I checked the GPS and Lucky was on point about 140 yards to the east. I hadn’t seen any birds fly that way so I was expecting another covey. Tur Bo saw Lucky and honored. Rocky and I went in front of Lucky and I could tell Rocky could smell the bird. His tail and actually his whole butt was going wild. A single quail flushed and flew straight away. Rocky saw it drop and retrieved. We hunted back to the truck without finding any other quail.
The next place I turned Dolly and Blaze loose on was 160 acres with a dry creek running through the middle with a lot of trees and brush along side. We hunted to the north edge then east to the dry creek, south along the creek and were almost back to the truck when I saw a quail fly to the fence row on the south. Both dogs were excited but they hadn’t seen the quail. As I watched the dogs more quail were getting up way out in front of them. We worked back to the fence row on the south and Rocky flushed a quail right in front me that flew through some small trees. I shot and there is a tree that will never be the same but I didn’t turn a feather on the bird. I decided that these birds had been pressured too much. We went to another parcel.
This place was more open with plum thickets and tall grass. It also, had a windmill to water the dogs at. We started to the east. The wind hadn’t been blowing very hard on the first place but it had started and was getting stronger. I turned to the north when we got almost to the east fence line. Blaze had been off to my right and when I turned left that put her behind me. After a few minutes I checked the GPS and she was 220 yards behind me on point. I started back to her thinking the birds would flush before I got there but she was still on point. She was pointing into a small plum thicket. Dolly saw her and honored. I walked in and the covey flushed. I knocked a bird down with the first barrel but missed with the second. We looked and looked but never found that bird.
We followed the covey but never came up with any singles so we continued on to the north. There is a small food plot on the back of this one with a fence around it. The food plot is in winter wheat so I went around it. Blaze was off to my left when I turned right around the food plot. That put her behind me again. After a few minutes I checked the GPS and she was 125 yards behind me on point. I got close and couldn’t see her but I knew she had to be pointing into a plum thicket in front of me. Dolly came around the thicket and I expected her to see Blaze and honor. She always honors but this time she couldn’t see Blaze and she was going with the wind. She ran through the covey. I never got a shot. We hunted back to the truck without finding any of the singles.
The next place I went to had a creek with a lot of trees and brush growing along it. Both sides of the road I parked on was part of the grass lands. I left Lucky in the truck but turned Dolly, Blaze, Tur Bo and Rocky out. Blaze only had a GPS collar on, no e-collar. We went north along one side without finding anything then crossed the road to hunt up a big draw. We hadn’t gone very far when Tur Bo came to me with porcupine quills in his nose. I carry some big side cutters in my bird vest but they wouldn’t close on the quills. They are made for cutting. So we headed for the truck.
As we crossed a grass field I saw Tur Bo on a hill on point. When I got closer I saw he was backing Blaze. She was pointing into a small plum thicket. When I walked in two quail flushed and at my shot one dropped over the hill. One shot was all I had. We were searching for the dead bird when I noticed Dolly wasn’t with us. I checked the GPS and she was on point back close to where the 2 birds had flushed from. I put a empty shell on a yucca plant and went to Dolly.
I could just barely see Dolly, she was in a larger plum thicket near where Blaze had originally pointed. As I got close a covey flushed. I picked out a bird flying straight away and it dropped when I shot. A late riser flushed and it also went down. Tur Bo ran to one of the birds and picked it up. When he gave it to me I didn’t know which bird it was. Finally, I got them to looking in the right spot and Dolly found the first bird I shot.
We went back over the hill where I had left the shell on the yucca plant to look for that bird. After several minutes Blaze found it. Blaze doesn’t retrieve but she hunts dead pretty good. She finds the bird and picks it up then drops it. You have to be watching her.
We got back to the truck and I got some needle nose pliers out. Tur Bo jumped onto the tail gate thinking I was going to put him in the box, probably. I grabbed his muzzle and started pulling quills. He weighs almost 50 pounds and he didn’t want me to pull those quills. One 50 pound dog can almost whip one guy. Almost. We had quite a rodeo on the tail gate but I got them all out. He was happy when I put him in the box.
We had time for one more place. There was a place that I hunted last year that had 2 coveys on it and they beat me each time I tried them. I went to it to see if they were still there. Last year I think they flushed any time I got with in 50 yards of them. I turned all 5 dogs out. We started to the north then crossed to a large thicket with trees and brush. As Rocky and I started around it a single quail flushed about 20 yards in front of us and started through the thicket. I shot through some limbs and it came down. I knew it wasn’t hit very hard and when Rocky and I got close it tried to fly. Rocky saw it and ran after it. The bird was pretty fast but not fast enough. Rocky was pretty proud of his catch.
I checked the GPS and Blaze was on point about 75 yards from me. I was still about 25 yards from her when about 6 birds flushed and flew toward me. I shot and one fell. Some more flushed behind me and I turned and shot. I hit a bird but it didn’t fall. Rocky and I went to look for the dead bird. Rocky found it and brought it to me. We started in the direction the covey had flown.
I was watching Tur Bo when he went on point. Rocky and went in front of him and a single quail flushed. I missed with the first barrel but he dropped at the second shot. Rocky saw it fall and retrieved. I just needed one more bird for a limit.
We were getting close to the truck when the GPS said Blaze was on point. When I got close she was rolling a dead quail around on the ground. The quail I had hit earlier had died and she found him to finish out my limit.
It’s always good to get your dogs into lots of birds. You can really see them learn. Blaze has always been a pretty good dog and her first year she was really good for her age but on this day she really stood out. She found more birds than all of the other dogs combined.
Limit of quail and my 20 gauge.
Lucky on point.
Dolly