I haven’t missed an opening day of quail season, in Missouri, for a lot of years. More than 40 years of them, maybe 50. Some have been really good and some not so good but I still have trouble sleeping the night before. I have been hearing good things about the quail rebound in north west Missouri so that’s where Vince Dye and I went on opening morning. This was on one of Missouri’s Conservation areas.
Tur Bo
Luke
Sally
Vince Dye turned his short haired pointer, Indy and his English cocker spaniel, Maggy loose and I turned Tur Bo and Sally out. As I walked around the place following the dogs, I could remember places where we had found quail, 25 years, or so ago. In my opinion, most of the conservation areas are managed more for deer and turkeys than for quail. I can even understand it. They make more money off deer and turkey hunters than quail hunters.
We walked through some really thick cover for an hour or so without seeing a bird. I did see one old covey roost in one field of tall weeds, so there are some around. We made a large circle coming back toward the truck. We started to the south down the property line. I checked the GPS and it showed Sally on point about 65 yards to the east of us.
By the time we got to her Tur Bo was backing. She was pointing into a small hedge row and as Vince and I tried to figure out if one of us should cross to the other side the quail started flushing in a staggered flush. Vince shot and a quail dropped and I shot one. A late bird flushed and I shot it. Maggie, the cocker spaniel, made short work of two of the dead birds but we never found the third bird. This wasn’t a case of us both shooting the same bird. I saw all three drop.
As we searched for the lost bird Tur Bo and Sally would come through then go hunting. I left Vince and Maggie twice when Sally went on point across a small corn field. Each time she was pointing into a small hedge row and the birds flushed without giving me a shot. Their brain is about the size of a pea and they outsmart me most times.
We made a circle looking for the singles. At the end of a corn field near another hedge row a single quail flushed at my feet. By the time I got into action it was a long shot but it dropped into the corn field. Tur Bo picked up the dead bird and I took it from him.
As we came around an edge we saw Sally on point with Tur Bo and Indy backing. When we got close two quail flushed and Vince shot but both birds put a tree between him and them.
Some of the fields were planted with what looks like partridge peas interspersed with weeds. It makes good but thick cover. As we were going through one of these fields a quail flushed between Vince and me. Shortly behind the first another quail flushed. Vince dropped the second bird into the thick cover. Maggie scooped it up and delivered it to him.
We were going through another fallow field when Vince got a phone call. We slowed while he talked on the phone. Behind me a covey of quail flushed and flew over a thick hedge row. We couldn’t see where they flew just the direction. Sally may have flushed those birds or been on point and we never noticed her but she was close to where the birds came up.
Mann pointing a pigeon.
The hedge they flew over was really an old road with a hedge row on both sides. We made a pass about 50 yards from the hedge row without finding any of the birds then more passes. The dogs worked well and we covered every place we thought they might be. We even worked the dogs back up the old road. We did hear a couple of quail flush from the corn and one got up close to me when I crossed a hedge row. There was no way to clear the gun of all of the brush for a shot.
We went to another area on the same Conservation area. This area had some soy beans with something like cane growing in with the soy beans. As we came along one edge I saw a single quail fly back across the field about 50 yards away from us. I had turned Luke and Sally out and Vince had only turned his six month old short haired pointer, Allie, out. I don’t think any of the dogs were even close to where that quail flushed.
As we continued on down the field, from the same area the single had flushed from, a covey of quail flushed. They flew over the hill but they never got very high and so far most of the quail hadn’t flown very far. I thought we would go over the hill and find them. Wrong.
We went over the hill and made a couple of circles. Nothing. We came back around, just a little way from where we had been when the covey had flushed, when a single flushed from the bean field. Vince had his GPS in his hand and all he could do was say, “get him! get him!!” I shot and the bird dropped into some thick grass along the edge. Luke came by and pointed the dead bird.
Tur Bo after the pigeon has flown.
We continued making circles and never saw another bird. We went on to the east. There were a lot of small soy bean fields and we circled most of them. We got way to the east along the property line. Vince had stopped to make sure his puppy was with him and I was ahead of him. There was a large draw running from the south east corner to the north and as I started up it the GPS showed Luke on point 480 yards to the north west. I thought Vince was on the other side of the big draw as I started to Luke. I thought we would meet at the end. He was really behind me. I never turned to look. He must have thought I was trying to get away.
480 yards is not far early of the morning but in the afternoon it’s a pretty good hike. It was down a short hill then up a long way to get around the big draw. When I got to the end of the draw he was still on the other side of a soy bean field. I couldn’t see Vince so I started on to Luke. When I was about 100 yards from him Sally came in front of me, near an edge of timber that ran back into a forest. As she came down the edge she went on point.
Dolly nearly 13 years old pointing a covey of quail.
I thought she was backing Luke but as I got to her I couldn’t see Luke. I think those birds had run through here or she was getting their scent. As I started by Sally the covey started flushing down in the woods flying away from me. Then I saw Luke. He hadn’t moved until the birds flushed. All of the birds, that I saw, flew back into the forest.
We checked some of the grassy areas, when Vince caught up with me, but we never found anything. We hunted the soy bean fields on the way back and even went through the area where we had seen the other covey without seeing any more quail. When we got back to the truck we loaded dogs and headed home.
Although we had only killed 5 quail it was the most successful quail hunt I have had, on Conservation land, in the last few years. We had seen 4 coveys of quail and had quite a bit of dog work. For us the dog work is the most important.
Sally on point. Luke is on point in the woods 20 yards in front of her.
Sally on point.
Luke pointing a covey of quail.