Austin Farley and I went back to Iowa, hoping the wind wouldn’t be blowing as hard as the last time we were there, hunting quail. Along with Sally and Luke I had also brought Dolly and Tur Bo. Austin had his pointing lab Ember. Tur Bo just had his knee cap reattached and Dolly will be 13 years old in February so neither will get to hunt very long.
Luke
Sally honoring.
Tur Bo honoring.
We are both new to hunting in Iowa so we drove by some of the other Conservation areas as well as some of the walk-in properties. Iowa doesn’t have a book on their walk-in properties so it makes it a little harder to find them. You can down load them from your smart phone but the directions leave a lot to be desired.
We turned out on a couple of areas on two different Conservation areas without any luck, so we went back near where we had hunted the last time we were here. We were on the same Conservation area but about a mile farther south. The area was so large that I turned Luke, Sally and Tur Bo out and Austin turned Ember out. There was a harvested corn field to the west and as we got back into the area a harvested soy bean field.
We were going along the edge of the soy beans when Austin saw a covey of quail fly into a small grassy area with a little draw. The quail had flown from the edge of the field with no dogs or people close to them. We called the dogs in to hunt the area.
All of the dogs came in and started trailing almost immediately. After a few minutes Sally went on point. Tur Bo honored. When we walked in a single quail flushed and we both shot. I think we both hit it. At least it didn’t get away. It had fallen in a berry patch and Sally was holding it but with Ember close she wasn’t coming out. Austin pulled Ember away and I sidled into the berry vines and took the quail from Sally.
We got the dogs back into the area where the single had come from. Luke and Tur Bo kept trying to go back to hunting and I kept calling them back. After a few minutes I didn’t see Tur Bo or Luke. I checked the GPS and Tur Bo was on point about 60 yards away. He was at the other end of the little draw. I asked Austin if he could see him and he said, “yeah, he’s on point down here.”
We started down to him. Sally saw him and honored. Thinking this was the rest of the quail Austin and I walked in and a rooster pheasant flushed about 10 yards from us. I wish I could say he never made it very far but I pulled both triggers and was never even close to him. Austin also shot twice without turning a feather on that bird. It flew off laughing at us.
We crossed the soy bean field. The dogs had acted birdy along the fence row on the north side. They worked down the fence row then we started into the tall weeds on the north. Ember was in front of Austin, in the tall weeds and went on point. Just as she pointed the bird flushed without giving us a shot.
We called the dogs to hunt this area. Sally came back but before the others got back about 6 quail flushed off to my right. I missed with the first barrel but knocked one down with the second. Austin was in the wrong place to even get a shot. Tur Bo found the dead bird, picked it up but dropped it about half way back to me. We’re going to work on that.
Sally pointing quail.
We made a circle and worked back toward the truck. I didn’t want Tur Bo to over do it so I put him up. We ate our lunch and drove to another area.
The next area we turned dogs out on looked perfect. It had some Quail Forever signs so they may have worked on the cover. It was close to the road and, probably, every bird hunter that came by turned dogs out. The dogs were birdy all the way but we only saw one pheasant and didn’t get a shot at it. We drove to another area.
The next area was a food plot that ran along the top of a ridge with weed fields on the sides. I turned Dolly and Sally out. We walked along the food plots and Sally was working the edge of the weeds. I saw her on point and hollered at Austin. In the food plot he had trouble hearing me but saw Sally on point. I was waiting on him and as he started toward us a rooster pheasant flushed. It didn’t get very high and dropped at my shot. Sally followed the bird and was on it when it hit the ground. She just held it to the ground. She didn’t try to pick it up but she wasn’t letting it get away. I raised her head and tried to get her to drop the bird but she wasn’t going to let go. I picked her up by the flank but she didn’t release the bird so I blew in her ear. That worked. She let go.
We went to the end of the food plot then into the weeds. I was trying to watch Sally but the weeds were too tall. When the weeds quit moving I asked Austin if he could see her and he said, “yeah she’s on point.” We started toward her and a rooster pheasant flushed. Austin hit it but I went ahead and shot it too. Pheasants are tough and the more shot the better is my philosophy. Sally grabbed it just as soon as it hit the ground. Again, she wasn’t trying to pick it up, just holding it to the ground so it couldn’t run off. I raised her head and blew in her ear. She released the pheasant.
Luke on point Sally honoring.
We continued through the weeds. We started around a short draw and I saw Dolly on point. She was looking into a thicket inside the draw. Austin and I were about even with her when a single quail flushed behind us about 10 yards. I wheeled around and missed, cleanly. Austin shot and missed, also. Dang birds are supposed to get up in front not behind.
That single hadn’t gone very far and we went to the area where it had landed. All 3 dogs worked the area but we never saw the quail again.
We worked our way back to the truck. We saw one more rooster but it was too far for a shot. Iowa’s shooting hours are from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm and it was about 4:00 pm when we got to the truck. Not enough time to hunt another area.
On state owned lands, in Oklahoma, the shooting hours ends at 4:30. I wish more states would do this. Especially, during cold weather if the quail don’t get back together before dark they are really vulnerable to the cold as well as to predators.
It appears that Iowa Conservation Department does a very good job on their areas. They have burned areas and had several food plots as well as plenty of cover for birds. They have dropped tree limbs along some of the areas. Most of the weedy area have plenty of weed seeds for birds. You can tell that a lot of work goes into these areas.
On the way home Austin and I talked about going back to Iowa to hunt quail. We didn’t set a day but we will be back. It had been a great day.
Luke
Sally honoring. Makes me think of Christmas.
Dolly on point.