I’m not sure where I could go quail hunting and get out of this snow. Last night I thought about going to south west Kansas but the weather people were talking about heavy fog with zero visibility. Also, the fog was supposed to freeze on the highways. The season is winding down but with the snow on the ground here, southern Iowa and northern Kansas this is a good day to stay home.
Sally on wild quail.
Tur Bo onpoint. Mann honoring.
Tur Bo on point.
The day before this storm, that dropped about 8 or 9 inches of snow on us, I went to Kansas quail hunting. I have been driving quite a ways into Kansas to quail hunt and then hunt back to the east so I would be closer to home when it came time to quit. This time I decided to hunt to the west. New area.
I drove by several walk-in areas before finding one I wanted to turn the dogs out on. It’s late in the year and the farmers need their grass for the cows. Seems like more cows than grass.
The place I chose appeared to be a large pasture, 500 acres or so, along a harvested corn field that was in a small bottom. There was a creek that ran along the corn field with a bluff between the pasture and corn field.
I crossed the corn field then found a way across the creek. The creek was wider and deeper than I thought but I found a rocky riffle to cross. Then it was up the bluff that was covered with a lot of brush but when I came to the pasture it looked really good. The farm had used it for pasture but it wasn’t grazed down as a lot of them are this time of year.
I had turned Sally, Tur Bo and Mann loose with their e-collars and GPS collars. The wind was really strong from the south west, bringing in the storm for the next day. This pasture had a lot of plum thickets scattered over it. Perfect quail cover.
We had come in along the southern border of this property. About a half mile in Sally went on point along the south fence row. Tur Bo and Mann honored before I got to her. When I walked by her they all started moving. They trailed a ways then went back to hunting.
We went a little farther west then turned to the north. Over a hill, about a hundred yards from me Tur Bo went on point with Sally and Mann honoring before I got there. They were looking into a strung out plum thicket that went up the hill for 75 yards. When I got to them they started moving. Sally and Mann both trailed for a ways then pointed. Both started trailing again when I got to them. Something had run out on them.
The dogs pointed 4 or 5 times on this pasture and I never saw a bird. I think with the strong wind rattling every thing and the storm coming in the birds were just running off, then flushing.
Tur Bo on point.
We made a big circle and worked our way back to the truck. The only place I found to cross the creek was at the riffle I had found earlier. I loaded the dogs and started driving again.
The next farm I turned dogs out on looked better from the road than it really was. That’s part of hunting new areas. I turned Luke and Babe out with their e-collars and GPS collars.
This farm was grass beside harvested soy bean fields. There was some fence rows but when I got to them I found that there was very little cover. We never even had anything to get my hopes up. The best part of this farm was it had some meadow larks and Babe really liked them. Some of the meadow larks spent their next night in different county than they had the night before. Babe can really run.
Babe with a sleeping pigeon in front of her.
When I put the dogs in their boxes I thought of a farm that was on the way home, that I haven’t been to this year. I have hunted it for a lot of years and usually find a covey or two of birds. When I got to it there was a cow for every blade of grass. It had been grazed down to nothing. I didn’t even turn a dog loose. Maybe next year. I headed home.
In a strong wind and especially right before a big storm quail, are really skittish. The strong wind is rattling everything and one of quail’s defenses is their hearing. With all of the noise they can’t tell whether it’s danger or not and they don’t take any chances. It’s not a game, it’s life or death with them.
That big pasture is under a bunch of snow right now but I will try to remember it and go back. Probably not this year unless it really warms up but, hopefully, next year. Quail do not need the stress of this snow storm and the stress of hunters in their life, too.
Sally honoring Tur Bo.
Mann honoring.
Luke pointing two quail.