I’ve been quail hunting for a lot of years in Missouri and haven’t missed an opening day in a lot of years. Probably over 40 years. Maybe more than 50 years. I wish I had kept track but I don’t remember when I started making sure I was hunting on opening day. I do know that I quit rabbit hunting in the mid to late 1960’s and started quail hunting. I became a Firefighter in 1968 and had no trouble getting the opening day of quail season off, so I was always hunting on opening day. I still get excited the night before the season opens.
Abby
Boss running the country.
Maggie, Vince’s English cocker spaniel.
I was supposed to pick Vince Dye and his dogs up at 6:00 am but we were a long way up the road by 6:oo. I’m always in a hurry on opening morning. We did stop and have a good breakfast on the way but we were ready to turn dogs out shortly after sunrise.
Vince’s short haired pointer, Ally, was in heat so we just turned our girls out first. Vince had Ally and Maggie, his English cocker spaniel and I turned Sally and Abby loose. This farm is in CRP now but just a couple of years ago it had row crops. Some areas are really thick and others are just getting the grass cover going. There are several draws that run through the open fields.
Near a pond close to a weedy fence row Vince saw a covey of quail flying into the cover ahead of us. He thought his short hair had flushed them. With the tall thick cover and the dry weather it may not have been her fault.
We moved into the area where he thought the covey had flown. The dogs got birdy but found nothing until we got back closer to the weedy fence row. A single quail flushed from right behind me and by the time I raised my gun was right in the sun. I missed the one shot I took. When I shot another bird flushed near Vince. Shortly after he shot I heard him telling Maggie to hunt dead. He had the first quail of the season.
We put the dogs in some brush close to the fence row. A couple of quail flushed across the fence without giving us a shot. There was a deep draw on our side of the fence with a small area across the ditch still on our side. Allie pointed in this area. Vince crossed the ditch and I moved up on the other side. Before Vince got close Allie moved and the quail flushed. Neither of us shot.
Maybe Allie being in heat is making her not hold on point. Or maybe the scent went away. I have no idea what a dog smells or doesn’t smell. She, usually, holds her birds real well. Maybe her hormones, with her being in heat, are causing her to be different.
Boss honoring Mann.
We worked on through a CRP field to the property line then down a draw. I saw a single quail fly from the north and land about 30 yards in front of me. I tried to get the dogs in the area but before they entered the patch of brush 4 or 5 quail flushed. I shot and missed but a quail dropped on the second shot. When that bird fell 2 more lit just a little past where the dead bird fell. Sally brought my bird to me.
When we got the dogs in where I had seen the other 2 birds light they found nothing. Either they flushed without me seeing them or ran off.
We worked back through the CRP field where Vince flushed another quail but didn’t get a shot. After making the pass through the CRP we went down a draw toward the truck. As we crossed toward the draw I saw Sally go on point then the covey was in the air. Vince thought that Allie had pointed first then flushed the covey. I didn’t see that. Vince was upset with Allie so we took her back to the truck and I put Abby in the truck.
Bodie pointing a pigeon.
After a few minute rest I turned Boss and Mann out with Sally. Vince still had Maggie, the English cocker spaniel out. We started in the direction that the last covey had flown. I was along the draw and Vince was out in the CRP. A quail flushed from the CRP, 25 yards in front of Vince. By the time he shot the quail was in the brush of the draw.
The dogs came in and after a few seconds Sally pointed right in front of me. When I walked in a quail flushed and when I shot another flushed. I hit the bird drawing feathers but it didn’t go down. I shot the second barrel and missed. We moved on down the draw and Mann pointed. When we got close Sally and Boss honored. I kicked in front of Mann and he was surprised that nothing flushed. All of the dogs covered the area really well. Evidently, the bird had run off.
We went on down the draw until we got near a house that had some free range chickens. I called the dogs in and we went back up the draw on the other side.
Boss pointing a chukar.
When we got close to where we had found some singles on the other side Vince said, “look at Maggie”. When I looked, his English cocker spaniel Maggie, was on point. Not just stopped. Her head and tail were up and she had one foot off the ground. She was frozen in a point as good as any bird dog ever pointed. I wish I had of taken a picture but neither of us thought of it. I just stood there watching until Vince said, “Come on. Let’s kill this bird”. That moved me out of my trance. When Vince started in front a quail flushed and fell when he shot. Maggie didn’t see it fall but she was in the area. The bird made a last flop and fell off the bank into the deep draw.
Sally saw the bird and went over the bank. When she didn’t come right back I walked to where I could see her. The weather had warmed up into 70’s and she was lying in the bottom of the ditch with the quail beside her. There was no water in the ditch but it must have been cooler. When I called her she brought the quail to me. I gave her the head.
As Vince and I went on up the draw we were talking about Maggie’s point when Vince said, “look at her. She thinks there will be a bird in any cover.” About that time a quail flushed right in front of her and got into the brush before we could do anything. Need to start listening to Maggie.
Abby concentrating on a pigeon.
By the time we got back to the truck it was in the mid seventies and too hot for the dogs. We loaded them in the truck and I took the aluminum covers off the doors of the dog boxes. I laid them on top of the dog box. I had driven about 20 miles down the road as we looked at some other places to hunt when I thought about the covers. Sure enough they weren’t in the truck. I had drove off with them on top of the box. Where they were was anyone’s guess. We started back to look for them.
I had parked in the field and figured the covers were probably in the ditch where I pulled back onto the road. Vince thought either there or where we hit the highway from the gravel road. As we drove down the road we saw them, right in a sharp curve. Two of them had been run over and bent a little but not bad. A few minutes with a hammer fixed them but I hope that makes me remember to put them up properly from now on. Maybe. Maybe not.