I went to a new area in Kansas. Only one of the places I hunted was a place I had been before. Then I had problems matching the map with the walk-in properties. Part of the reason was that the area I was in had no names for the roads that run north and south. Only some of the east west roads had names. I stopped a farmer to see if he could tell me where on the map I was and he couldn’t find the roads we were on, either. And he lived there. I found birds but I may never be able to find my way back.
Mann on point.
Dolly used to point with her tail up. Too old now.
Sally pointingsome pheasants.
The first place I hunted was an 80 acre place. I hunted it for the first time a few years ago and found 2 coveys of quail and some pheasants. It is on a mud road that is hard to maneuver. When I drove in this morning the road was still frozen.
I turned Dolly, Sally and Mann out with the GPS collars and e-collars. Dolly is almost 13 years old and I haven’t taken her for a while. She usually stands still for me to put the e-collars and GPS collars on but this morning she was really excited. She was whining and twisting as I put the collars on. I’m glad I brought her.
I had parked on the south east corner and we followed a creek to the west along a harvested corn field. There is some good cover between the corn fields along the creek near the west side. Sally pointed in this area but was moving when I got close. Probably pheasants ran out or flushed before I got there.
I crossed the creek where the beavers had cut some big trees and went back to the east on the other side then to the north along the east fence line. We crossed the north side and came back down the west side. Along the west side is a buffer strip and a good hedge row. We went back through the corn field back to the truck. I loaded the dogs.
I started to another walk-in property and saw signs for walk-in that wasn’t on my maps. The first place I saw had someone hunting on it but as I drove around it to see what it looked like I saw another property. I turned Luke, Tur Bo and Mann out. This property was a large pasture with a draw through it. The next farm to the west was a harvested corn field.
We worked up the draw toward the fence between the pasture and corn. As I crossed a large ditch I heard a covey of quail flush. They picked the perfect time. If the quail had flushed 15 seconds before or after I would have been able to see them. None of the dogs acted like they heard or saw the quail, either. We went on toward the fence line.
Luke was about 50 yards in front of me when I saw him on point. He was looking across the fence and wagging his tail, slowly. When he wags, which isn’t often, he’s saying, “hurry Boss. They are running”. I got within about 10 yards of him and a single quail flushed from across the fence but it flew back onto the walk-in. It was a long shot but dropped when I shot. Another quail flushed when I shot but was too far away by the time I saw it.
My quail was lying in the short grass and I picked it up. We continued on to the back then came back down the other side of the draw. When we got back to the truck I loaded the dogs and we started driving.
My maps weren’t matching the properties and there were no names, on the map, of the roads in this county. I saw another property that was pasture on one side of a small creek and the other side was a small harvested corn field. Luke and Tur Bo hadn’t been out very long so I turned them back out with Mann.
Mann honoring the backing dog.
I had parked by an iron gate. The gate was wired closed so I started climbing over. A covey of quail flushed off to my left. All of the dogs were to my right and the quail were probably 50 yards from us when they flushed. The birds flew back in on the property I was hunting. I tried to mark them down but they flew over a small hill.
The dogs and I started after them. This was a pasture that hadn’t been grazed down to nothing. It had some tall blue stem growing. As I walked back I kept thinking that they surely hadn’t flown any farther. This property was a half mile by a half mile. The quail had flushed from the fence line on the south. The first single I came up with was within a hundred yards of the north fence line. Almost a half mile.
As we went through the cover Mann pointed. I was watching him as he moved in front of me and just as he pointed a single quail flushed. For some reason I pulled the back trigger on my side by side. The barrel with choke. The bird was close. I didn’t need to pull the back trigger but I did. When Tur Bo found the dead bird he thought it was food. I took what was left from him.
We moved on through the area and about 6 more quail flushed wild out of the area without me getting a shot. We went back and forth through the area then went to the east side and went down the creek. We passed the truck and went back through where the covey had flushed from and all the way to the back again. We worked back to the truck without seeing any more quail. I loaded the dogs and we started driving.
Tur Bo on point.
I drove by another property that I couldn’t match up with the map. I wanted to drive down the west side of it to look it over but I saw another place that looked better. The other place was pasture with a harvested soy bean field on the north side and another across the road. It was about 2:00 pm. I thought some quail might be loafing in the pasture or getting ready to feed.
Dolly and Sally hadn’t been out for a while so I turned them out with Mann. We started along the north fence line next to the soy beans but about a hundred yards along the fence a draw started. The draw was real wide, 75 yards or so. We started into the wind down the draw to the south.
As we went down the draw all of the dogs were in the draw then Dolly came out about 30 yards in front of me. She went around a little ditch in front of me and went on point. She was looking into the draw. I thought that the quail would flush into the draw. When I got to her a big covey flushed flying down the draw on my side. I centered one with the first shot and knocked another down with the second. Dolly ran to the second bird that I knew wasn’t hit real hard. I saw her head go down right where that quail had landed.
I started to her and picked up the first bird on the way. Dolly came toward me but she didn’t have the bird. I got Sally and Mann in to hunt dead. All three dogs kept getting real birdy where the quail had hit the ground but we never came up with it.
We went on down the draw. Near the end of the draw Mann came out of the draw and went into the pasture. He went a few yards and went on point. I went to him and kicked in front of him. Nothing happened but he didn’t move. I decided that the way the wind was blowing he was looking the wrong way. I walked around to the other side of him and a quail flushed from where he was looking. I shot and he saw the quail fall. He ran to it, picked it up and I petted him for a few seconds. He dropped it when I said, “give”.
Sally pointing Mann backing.
We got to the end of the draw and went to the other side. We hunted it back to the north fence line then to the west a short distance. I wanted to go back through where I had lost the quail so I turned back to the draw. Dolly and Mann were with me. I checked the GPS and Sally was on point 220 yards to the west. We went to her.
When we got close Dolly and Mann honored her point. I took some pictures then went on to her. About 7 or 8 pheasants flushed. All of the close ones were hens. I didn’t see any roosters. Since we were close we went on to the west side and along the fence to the south.
I started back toward the draw. Sally went on point about a hundred yards from the fence on the west. Dolly and Mann honored. When I got close she moved about 20 yards and went back on point. The others honored. Every time I got close they all moved up. When we got close to the fence, where there was no cover on the other side, a hen pheasant flushed.
We turned and started back to the draw. We made it this time and I got the dogs to look for the dead bird again. No luck. We went back through the grass to the end of the draw then went east to near that fence. Across the road was another harvested soy bean field. We worked back to the truck without seeing another bird. I loaded the dogs.
It was a little after 3:00 pm but I started home. Although it had been a good day I will never be able to find those places again. Dolly, at almost 13 years old, had pointed a covey of quail and Mann, 8 months old, had pointed two singles. Sally and Luke had also pointed. That’s why I go. To get the dogs into birds.
Mann is really intense.
Tur Bo on point with Mann honoring.
Sally pointing some quail.