Vince Dye and I took our young dogs to Harding Gamebirds, at Ridgeway, Missouri, Sunday morning. I took my English setter, Sally Joe and Vince brought his pointer, Roxie. In February we had both of these pups here. The pups knew there were birds here.
Sally pointing, Roxie backing.
Sally pointing a covey of quail.
It’shard to see but both dogs are on point.
We put e-collars and Garmin GPS collars on both pups and released them. We saw a couple of chukars in the air before we hardly got started then Sally pointed. When we walked in a chukar flushed and dropped at my shot. Sally picked it up and carried it closer to me but not to me. I went to her and petted her until she dropped the bird.
As we went on around Sally pointed again and Vince got Roxie to back by whoaing her. She doesn’t back yet but she hasn’t been hunted other than by herself. When we went in to flush Vince wanted to make sure that Roxie didn’t move so I flushed and shot the chukar. Again, Sally picked it up and came close but not back to me. I went to her and petted her until she dropped the bird.
After a few minutes both dogs settled down and started pointing the birds. Roxie would retrieve and didn’t care which of us she brought the bird. After the first pass through the field we went to the north where there were some food plots, just to wear the pups down a little. We saw a pheasant get up way in front of the dogs.
As we got close to the end of one of the food plots Sally went on point in some short grass. I took pictures then we tried to get Roxie in to honor but she was out a ways. When I walked in a covey of quail flushed. I have been running dogs in Kansas and when I find quail I can’t shoot. Vince and I both watched them fly away without a shot. We were close to some private ground and some of these quail were young birds so we think this was a wild covey.
We went back through the food plots where the birds had been hidden. We got some more points and then went along some draws that ran along side the field we were hunting in. We saw some more quail, a woodcock, a pheasant and more chukars.
Sally went on point along side a draw and Roxie came in front of her without seeing her. Roxie pointed. She was a good ten yards in front of Sally. I walked in and a rooster pheasant flushed. I shot and dropped my gun but the pheasant didn’t drop. I hit it hard but it kept flying. Vince thought it dropped on the other side of a draw. I took Sally to look for it.
As we were looking Vince said that Roxie was on point near me. As I started toward her she came to me with a live chukar in her mouth. She dropped it in my hand. We never found the pheasant but we came up with an extra bird.
On the way back to the truck Roxie went on point about 150 yards ahead of us. Before we got to her Sally honored her. Roxie held the bird real well and when we walked in a chukar flushed and we both shot. At least it didn’t get away.
The birds at Harding Gamebirds flew well, the cover was good and the people that run this place are first class. They have a nice clean place to clean the birds and we took advantage of it before we left.
Sally pointing quail.
Vince was telling me that he had heard about a field trial that was held in south east Kansas on wild birds. There were enough birds that they didn’t release any pen reared birds. I haven’t hunted in south east Kansas for a long time but since Monday was the coolest of the next seven days, I decided to try.
I left my house about 6:00 am and by the time I found a place to turn dogs out it was about 10:30. This area has lots of walk-in properties. It is mostly pastures with cattle in a lot of them. My dogs don’t chase cattle but a lot of times the cows will run when the dogs get close, so I try not to hunt where they are.
I had Lucky, Dolly and Luke with me and I turned them all 3 out with e-collars and Garmin GPS collars. There was a low spot with a small ditch running through the pasture. We went to the south east along this ditch. There was intermittent water in the ditch. This pasture had plenty of cover and a lot of weed seeds for birds. We went to the east edge of the property then south before turning back to the west.
I had walked about a hundred yards from the east edge when the GPS vibrated. Luke was on point about 250 yards east of me. That put him about 150 yards off the place I was hunting. I went to the fence, laid my shotgun on the ground, crossed the fence and decided, to find my shotgun, I had better put my blaze orange hat with it.
Tur Bo pointing a covey of quail.
As I went toward Luke with Dolly and Lucky with me a nice buck deer jumped up from being bedded down in a plum thicket. He had let Dolly and Lucky get close but when I got close, he couldn’t stand it, he had to leave.
I got within about 15 yards of where Luke was and he came out of a large plum thicket, gave me a hateful look and went back into the thicket. I have never seen that look before but he must have wanted me to get there quicker. I never saw a bird but the way the other dogs trailed around they had been there.
I went back to the property I was supposed to be on, found my gun and hat and went on to the west. Lucky is over 13 years old and is deaf. When we went to the west he kept hunting in the area we had just left. I got back to the truck, watered Luke and Dolly, put them in their box and drove down the road looking for Lucky.
I saw a truck drive into the field where the GPS showed Lucky was. I pulled through the gate that was open, parked and walked to the south to find Lucky. The man and his two children saw me walking through his field and came to see what I was doing. After I told him about Lucky being old and deaf he was okay with me walking back in to get him.
When you are trying to find a dog it’s hard not to call them. He couldn’t hear me but I called a few times. When I got back where he was he was within a 100 yards of where Luke had been on point. We were happy to see each other.
It’s kind of a pain to take a deaf dog with you, and I won’t always take him, but I will continue to do it because if the roles were reversed he would take me. He has always given me 100%, I won’t do less.
Dolly pointing a single.
Sally honoring Tur Bo.
Luke pointing a covey of quail.