With the season winding down Don Hansen and I decided to quail hunt the Emporia Kansas area one more time. I met Don and Linda near Emporia and we drove to the first farm we would hunt. I had run dogs on this farm before the season opened. (I used my dogs to turkey hunt. You must be hunting to be on walk-in property so I turkey hunted this farm before the season opened.) I didn’t find any quail before the season opened but it was worth another try.
Sally on point.
Dolly on point.
Getting Sally ready to go.
There was a north wind blowing so we pulled around to the south side and worked the dogs into the wind. I turned Sally and Dolly out and Don turned his pointer Annie loose. We worked up the edge of a harvested soy bean field to the north. We crossed to the west then through some CRP and along a small dry creek back to the south edge. When we got back to the truck we loaded the dogs to go to another place.
The next farm we hunted was harvested corn and soy bean fields with draws running into the fields. I turned Luke and Sally out and Don used Annie and Goofy. We started o the south west along a draw and before we got to the end Luke was on point, according to the GPS. He was in some really rough brush and weeds that have been left in the edge of this property. Before we got to him he started moving. When we saw him he was trailing. All of the dogs started trailing but we never came up with anything.
We followed along the west side then started back to the north. We started toward a hedge row and I checked the GPS. Luke was on point about 200 yards from us in an area we were going to bypass. It was really rough with lots of black berry vines as well as tall blue stem.
We got close, about 50 yards, of Luke and I saw 3 quail fly across in front of me. Luke was still on point. I started to him and when I got close he went to trailing. The other part of this covey had run out on him, I think. We had seen about where the 3 quail had flown and started in that direction.
The black berry vines were so thick that it really slowed the dogs down. As we came over a small hill Sally went on point. She was close to Don and about the time she went on point a single quail flushed. Don made a good shot and Sally scooped it up. She started toward me then stopped to play with her prize. I went to her and petted her until she dropped the quail.
We went through the black berry vines until we came to the end then circled back around to come through again. The dogs weren’t real happy about that but went through them again. We didn’t find the other 2 quail we had seen fly into this area but these farms are close to a lot of hunters and have had a lot of pressure on them.
We hunted on to the north along another draw then down a hedge row to the north edge. We crossed back to the east then back to the truck. When we got back to the truck we loaded the dogs and went to another farm.
On the next farm I had hunted it once this season and had seen a large covey roost but hadn’t found the birds. Tur Bo has been recuperating from knee surgery all year and I only hunt him for short periods. This looked like a good place for him. I turned him and Sally out and Don turned Goofy out.
Lucky at almost 14 years old pointing a single.
We made a circle along a fence row toward a pond and a soy bean field. We hunted along the edge of the harvested soy bean field and came back through the CRP to the truck. There was a harvested soy bean field with CRP on one side and a good hedge row on the other, just down the road, on this same farm. We loaded our dogs and drove about a half mile.
We turned Sally, Tur Bo and Goofy out and circled the field. We went down the CRP side with the wind but when we crossed over to the hedge row we had the wind in our face. We hunted back to the truck without finding any quail.
We loaded the dogs and decided that would be it for this season. Don was busy the rest of the season and the next day was to be really windy. We talked for a while then started home. I got to thinking I was only about 3 miles from an 80 acre place that I had found 2 coveys on, earlier in the season. I started to call Don but only one time in the past 4 years has he been with me when we found birds on this eighty. And we had hunted it a few weeks ago without seeing a quail.
When I got to it I drove around but no one was there. When I was here, at the first of the season, a guy had come walking in with his bird dog, right to me. I turned Sally and Dolly out. There is a draw that comes almost to where I had parked the truck. The wind was out of the north so I walked down the draw to the south because the quail are usually in the fence row on the east or the fence row on the south. By going down the draw we could use the wind to our advantage on the way back.
Tur Bo pointing a single.
We made it all the way to the south and started to the east. I was still 150 yards from the corner when the GPS said Dolly was on point. Right at the corner is a small plum thicket and she was inside this on point. I couldn’t see her but when Sally got close she honored. I could see Sally standing and it was a good photo op but before I got to them I saw the quail covey run out and flush. They were at least 40 yards in front of Dolly and they flew to the east off the place. The dogs didn’t see or hear the quail flush.
Dolly stayed on point until I got close then started trailing. Sally came around and went on point about where the covey had flushed from. She didn’t stay on point but just a second. She knew they were gone.
That covey had flown into some knee high grass that would have been perfect if it had been on walk-in property. We could only go back toward the truck down the fence line. We were almost to the truck when both dogs started getting really birdy. As I watched them a quail flushed out of the fence row. It was a long way from me or the dogs. I went along the fence row and the dogs kept working in a little patch of weeds.
Luke on point almost sitting down. Sally honoring.
As I watched another quail flushed about 50 yards from me. No dogs were close. Soon one flushed that was close enough to shoot at but not close enough for me to hit. I kept watching the dogs and another quail flushed flying within about 30 yards of me. It dropped when I shot. The dogs were still in the patch of cover so I retrieved my on quail. The dogs spent about 15 minutes in that small patch, trailing. I really think there were quail in the patch that just ran around the dogs instead of flying. I loaded the dogs and headed home.
None of the quail we had seen this day had acted like quail are supposed to but this area, as well as most of Kansas, has had a lot of pressure. Quail are down in Texas and Oklahoma so a lot more people hunted Kansas. I don’t know how many people came in on the same property that I was already hunting but a bunch. That hasn’t happened many times in the past.
Even with all of the crazy quail and all of the hunters that were in Kansas I still had a good year. I’m not ready for it to be over. I would go back with a blank pistol but to be on walk-in you have to be hunting something. I think it would be hard for me to convince a game warden that I’m rabbit hunting, with my dogs. Oh well, I need to do some work with my dogs anyway, so I guess that’s the end of the season in Kansas.
Sally
Luke’s duct tape tail.
Luke pointing quail.