Vince Dye and I ran the dogs in north central Missouri, a few days ago. With Vince and me it’s hard to know whether it’s more about the dogs or more about the good breakfast on the way. It’s hard to tell but they both are important. We stopped in down town Lawson Missouri for breakfast. I don’t remember the name of the cafe but Lawson isn’t very big. Should only be one down town and it was good.
Bodie pointing a covey.
Boss and Mann with a divided find.
Abby pointing a covey.
Vince has several places in this area to hunt but the place we were going to he had hunted twice during the season. One time he found 11 coveys and the other he found 10. Just running dogs we probably wouldn’t hunt it as close as we would hunting but it is a great place to run dogs.
Another reason we are checking this place, we have had two big storms. Once about a foot of snow and the other almost as much with super cold weather. One night it got down to minus 8 at my house and this is 50 miles farther north. So the weather could have devastated the birds.
We stopped by the owners house to make sure it was okay then drove to the farm. This friend of Vince’s has several places. After putting GPS and e-collars on the dogs, Sally, Boss, Mann, Abby and Bodie, we turned them loose. They didn’t go a hundred yards until Mann and Boss were on point, side by side. As we got closer Bodie pointed, looking into a plum thicket.
I could see Bodie real well but Mann and Boss were buried in the tall grass, side by side. Sharing a find. When I got closer I saw Abby on the other side of Mann and Boss. She was not honoring she was pointing into the plum thicket, too. When I looked back, I think, only Sally was honoring.
I took pictures then we walked in without flushing a bird. But I think they either ran from the dogs or flushed while we were putting the collars on the dogs. There was too much scent for there not being any birds. I think 4 of the dogs were pointing the same scent in different spots.
Sally honoring.
We went on around. It was a warm day and the dogs hadn’t been out of their pens since the middle of January. The were out of shape. I saw a pond and we went toward it. Before we got there Abby pointed, standing on the dam with Mann right behind her, honoring. By the time we got close the other dogs were backing.
Since we weren’t hunting Vince didn’t come on up. I tried to kick the cover in front of Abby on the down side of the dam and there was some brush hidden in the tall grass. I got my feet tangled in it and down I went. The dogs went through the cover pointing and moving. All 5 made points but we never saw a bird.
I got all of the dogs to water in the pond and we went on around. Just a little farther Sally went on point. Then Boss was close either honoring or on point, according to the GPS. Vince started around a clump of brush about 40 yards from me and walked into a big covey of quail. Neither of us had seen the dogs but they were close.
Mann honoring Abby. Abby isn’t black. She rolled in a muddy pond.
I kept watching the GPS. Neither of the dogs had moved. They were just about 40 feet from me but in the brush and tall weeds. I still couldn’t see them. I went through some brush and about 35 yards away I saw 7 or 8 quail flush. There were probably more on the other side. A few seconds later Sally came by, trailing.
I think both of these coveys were close together and when they detected either us or the dogs they started running. Had Vince stayed with me we wouldn’t have seen the first covey. If I had been back just a little farther I wouldn’t have seen the birds I saw. We were close to the property line and both coveys flew off the farm we were hunting.
We went on around an edge. The GPS showed Sally on point ahead of us. When we got close she was pointing into a thicket, then moved into the woods and pointed again. We started in and saw one quail flush about 40 yards down in the timber and heard some others. As I was standing, watching, Bodie came in front of me and pointed into a small brush pile. He only stood for about 15 seconds then started trailing.
Boss and Mann honoring Abby.
It was a warm day and with the dogs being out of shape we headed back to the truck. Actually, Vince and I aren’t in top shape either but like to blame it on the dogs being out of shape. We did see 3 coveys or we think we did and I believe 2 more ran away from the dogs that we didn’t see. A friend was hunting some pen reared birds 75 miles or so away and said they were all runners, too. Would pen reared birds and wild birds have the same traits. I don’t know but if wild birds last until late February they are smart. Maybe survivor is a better word.