Luke pointing a single quail.
Tur Bo pointing a covey in Kansas.
Lucky on point.
Vince Dye and I were at our first choice of the walk-in properties early on opening morning of quail season and were surprised that no one was there before us. Our dogs had been in their dog boxes all night so we let them out to clean out and get a drink. I put Tur Bo and Luke back in their boxes and put the Garmin GPS and Sport Dog e-collars on Lucky and Dolly. Vince turned his pointer Buck and English Cocker Spaniel, Maggie, out. Buck had Garmin GPS and Sport Dog e-collar on.
This farm is a large pasture next to a harvested corn field. The pasture has a lot of plum thickets, yucca plants, cactus and sand burrs. Perfect for quail. To hunt this place we had no choice but to go to the north with the wind at our back. We had only gone about 200 yards when Vince said that Buck was pointing. When we got to him he was pointing into a large plum thicket. He started trailing when we got to him. Vince started around the plum thicket one way and I went the other.
Lucky came in front of me and went on point. He was only about 5 yards in front of me. I told Vince he was pointing and waited. When he got there we had the covey between us. They flushed with some going his way and some flying back past me. I shot both barrels and was behind on both shots. I forgot how fast wild quail are. Vince had shot twice and missed also. Opening morning jitters or slow, old men.
The birds that came by me had flown to some scattered trees. We went toward them. As we came through the trees Vince’s GPS showed Buck on point about 50 yards from us. Vince was on the south side of the line of trees and I was on the north as we went toward him. We were still about 20 yards from Buck when a quail flushed at Vince’s feet. He didn’t shoot. He wanted to shoot over Buck’s point but when we got to him he started trailing. The quail Vince had flushed must have run from Buck.
It was really hot and dry and I hadn’t brought any water with me. We were close to the truck so we watered the dogs and put them up. I got Luke and Tur Bo out. Vince put Buck up and got Jack a brother to Tur Bo out. I loaded down with water and we went back.
We went through the area where the singles from the first covey should have been without finding any. We were working the fence line close to the harvested corn field next door. Luke, Tur Bo and I were working through a hump with a lot of cedars and other brush on it when Vince said a covey had just flushed near him. As I went to where Vince was a rooster pheasant flushed about 30 yards ahead of the dogs.
We started toward the place that Vince had marked some birds down. We got to the top of a little rise and a quail flushed at my feet. It dropped at my shot. When I shot another bird flushed and it fell in a large plum thicket. I had been between Vince and both birds. He took Maggie, the Cocker spaniel, to get the one in the plum thicket. I called Luke and Tur Bo in to find the first bird. After about 5 minutes Maggie found the one in the plum thicket but we never found the first bird. This area is really dry and the warm south wind doesn’t help. I hate losing birds but after about 15 minutes we gave up.
We went a little farther north but the heat and lack of water was hurting the dogs. I had brought 3 bottles of water with me and used them all. We moved to the east and started back to the truck. Tur Bo ran to a small plum thicket and went on point with Luke honoring. I told Vince and we walked in. A quail flushed and flew my way. It dropped and the rest of the covey flushed at my shot. I swung on another and when I shot I knew that Vince and I had doubled on it. Vince shot at another as it went around a cedar tree. He hit it but I saw a quail fly on. Tur Bo retrieved my bird and Maggie got the quail that we had doubled on.
Vince said we needed to check on the bird near the cedar and I agreed. I had seen a quail fly on but when we got close to the cedar Tur Bo picked up a quail and brought it to me. It always pays to check.
We went the way some of the covey had flown. As we came over a small hill I saw Maggie wagging all over and going in circles. I told Vince to watch her and sure enough a quail flushed right in front of her. I shot but missed and the bird flew around Vince and back behind us. Vince threw a couple of shots at it without connecting. At my shot 2 more quail had flushed behind us. We checked the area without finding any others. We hunted back to the truck. We ate lunch then drove to another farm.
(As I was writing this Vince called and reminded me of 2 coveys that I had totally forgotten, that we found on this first farm.)
We went to a farm that had a pond close to the road. I turned Lucky and Dolly out and Vince turned Buck loose along with Maggie. We went north about half a mile then moved over and started back to the south. I saw Lucky go on point about 50 yards in front of me. Vince was a little way behind so I waited for him to catch up. Two quail flushed in front of Lucky without him moving or anyone being close. They came by about 35 yards out from me with the wind behind them. I shot both barrels but missed.
Vince came on up and I saw Dolly point and 2 more quail fly to the south without giving us a shot. Several more single birds got up in front of the dogs as we moved into the wind. Buck pointed about 40 yards from us and we started toward him. Before we got to him Lucky pointed about 35 yards to the east of Buck in the edge of a large plum thicket. As wild as these birds were we decided I would go with Lucky and Vince would continue to Buck. I got close to Lucky and two quail flushed. The first one folded at my shot and I shot just as the second went around a cedar tree. I reloaded and took a step and a third bird flushed. It fell at my shot.
Dolly had been honoring Buck and his bird had run. Dolly came over and retrieved the first quail I had shot and Lucky got the last one. I wasn’t sure about the bird that had gone behind the cedar tree. We got all of the dogs in to look for it but never came up with anything.
We decided to go west along a tree line and on the way we could get the dogs in the pond again. Lucky, Dolly and Maggie got a drink and cooled down. Buck was behind us and Vince kept calling him. He said the GPS was showing him on point by the truck. Buck has some problems with his back and Vince thought he was just hanging around the truck. He said he was going back and I told him I would wait at the pond. When he got back he said that Buck was on point and a covey had flushed out the other side of some cedars. He didn’t get a shot or see where they had flown.
We went on to the west. Several hundred yards later the GPS showed Buck on point. We got almost to him and he started moving. He only moved about 20 yards and went back on point. Dolly came by and honored. We walked in front of him but nothing flushed. Dolly, Lucky and Buck all started trailing. After a little while they all went back to hunting. Buck’s back was really bothering him so we started back to the truck. I checked my GPS and Dolly was on point about 125 yards behind us. I started back to her but Vince wanted to get Buck back to the truck. Lucky was smart enough to go with him.
I got close to Dolly and she started moving. I saw the direction that she was going and got in front of her. She trailed on past me and I went ahead of her again. She pointed again then started moving. I caught up with her and she pointed again. This time I circled way out in front of her and started back toward her. A covey flushed behind me about 30 yards. By the time I saw them they were too far to shoot at. Three landed near a large plum thicket.
When Dolly got near the plum thicket she pointed. I walked in front of her and she started trailing through the plum thicket. A quail flushed out the other side without giving me a shot. We worked the area without seeing the other birds.
When we got back to the truck Lucky and Vince were lying on the tail gate of his truck. He had put Lucky on his tail gate and picked some sand burrs out of his feet. He said Lucky laid so still he thought he had died. I carried Lucky to my truck and put him in his box.
We were going to another farm but we decided we had a lot of quail close to the truck. We turned Luke, Tur Bo and Jack out. We went back to the north and came back south through where we thought some singles were. Luke came by about 40 yards ahead of us and pointed into a plum thicket. Tur Bo saw him and honored. I went into the thicket kicking the plum bushes but nothing flushed. I released the dogs and they both moved up and pointed side by side. I stepped in front of them and 2 quail flushed. One went by Vince flying with the wind at about 60 mph. He shot but missed. One flew straight away from me into the wind and dropped into another thicket at my shot. Tur Bo retrieved it.
We hunted back to the truck without finding any more quail but this was the best single day of quail hunting that I have had in several years. We think we saw 10 plus coveys of quail. Neither of us killed a limit but we had a lot of dog work. The birds are here. With less wind and cooler temperatures the birds will hold better for the dogs. I will be back.
I took my camera but it’s hard to take pictures while carrying a gun on wild birds. To put pictures in this post I had to recycle some.
I gave Tur Bo the whoa command.
Blaze
Dolly on point.