The 21/22 quail season has come to a close in Missouri and Kansas. Just writing that statement is kind of depressing. But everything comes to an end, I guess. Missouri and Kansas both were going through drought conditions this year. The scenting conditions were tough for the dogs. Toward the end of the season there was dirt lying in the grass that boiled up as we walked through.
Abby on point.
Boss pointing Abby honoring.
Boss honoring.
I like to take a trip to a new place each year before the season opens. This year I had a litter of puppies at the end of June. They didn’t go to their new homes until September. Then the weather, almost everywhere, stayed really warm. Occasionally, there would be a couple of cool days but not long enough for a hunting trip. So I didn’t take a trip.
I was still wanting to take a trip as the season went along but all of the reports were dismal. The birds in western Oklahoma were non existent. There were a few but not enough for a trip. We checked out south western Kansas and it wasn’t good either. A friend had some friends hunting in New Mexico. After two days they hadn’t seen a quail. So I never made a trip other than one over night hunt in central Kansas.
Then I was working my puppy, Bodie, on some pigeons. When I flushed one pigeon from the release trap it only flew to a low limb in a close tree. Bodie leaped into the air to catch the pigeon and when he came down there was a snap like breaking a large limb. He yelped but didn’t try to move.
I started carrying him out of the field but had to sit him down and go get the 4-wheeler. I took him to the vet and they found his leg broken. They put him in a cast and I kept him in a cage in the basement, letting him out on a leash several times a day. With him in a cast there was no way I could make a trip. He wore the first cast 21 days then the vet put another cast on for 10 days. After that cast come off I couldn’t run him for two weeks.
Vince Dye and I had some decent hunts in northern Missouri on some private land. Vince has a couple of friends that are big farmers. They own a lot of land and allow him to quail hunt. Since the season has closed Vince has walked some of the places, coyote hunting, and found several more places that we should have hunted with the bird dogs.
Don Hansen and I had a really good hunt on some walk-in property in mid January. These birds were flushing far enough ahead of us that we never hurt them. We found 4 or 5 coveys and each covey was large. Close to twenty birds in each one. I just knew we could go back a couple of times.
Abby really concentrating on this honor.
Then tragedy struck. My sisters husband, Lenval Woodruff, passed away. They had been married almost 65 years. Lenval had been an important part of our family for most of my life. I went to Oklahoma for his funeral and came home with Covid 19. I not only got Covid but I also gave it to my wife, June. So that took care of the last part of the 21/22 quail season for me.
Now I’m sitting home waiting on a big snow storm to hit thinking about the season past and looking forward to next year. If the Lord’s willing I will be going somewhere and hopefully more than one place. I really enjoy hunting new places and would like to hunt some new kinds of quail.
Enough of the doom and gloom. Boss, Abby and Bodie need lots of work before next season. I’m looking forward to doing the trained retrieve with them as well as working them on pigeons. Boss and Abby, both, hold their birds well and let me walk in front of them. Normally, they don’t move until the bird does. We will continue to work on that along with the trained retrieve.
Mann on point with Sally honoring.
Bodie needs a lot of work. Usually by the time they are 6 months old I have them heeling and whoaing on a lead. And holding their birds, allowing me to flush. With his broken leg I wasn’t able to work with him. When my Covid clears I will take him back to the vet to make sure he’s ready to run and be trained. Then we will start in earnest.
For me, being able to work the dogs in the back yard and get several points, on the pigeons, is about as much fun as a successful bird hunt. So the open season is the top but the off season isn’t far behind.