In Home Covers -- Chasing Mr. Bob

[Garry L Gordon]

After temperatures in the mid-70s, and spending some days watching young bucks chase does from a tree stand, we finally got a little cool-down and were able to get in a couple of hunts in covers close to home. It was still a bit too warm, and the cover still green -- poor scenting conditions -- but it was nice to get out and check on "our" coveys. I'm happy to report we found good numbers of birds in the coveys we located. Aspen made some nice finds, and Alder was spot-on finding birds. My first day shooting was abysmal, and I can't recall having firm footing for any shots I took in the heavy cover that day. The little DHE 20 helped me redeem myself yesterday. We took a bird from each covey we found, and were happy to rest at the truck tailgate in sunshine...in home cover. Taking trips to bird hunt is great, but nothing beats being close to home and finding birds.

Photos:
1. This was the only shot in open cover that I had in two days of pounding the brush. We got up some scattered birds after the covey flushed wild. You can see two birds, one to the left that we got, and another on the right side that made a quick getaway.
2. The first wild Bob of the year in our home covers. I have some other guns that I need to blood, but it's hard not to carry the little DHE 20 when quail are the target.
3. One of the many nice things about hunting the same covers over the years is that you get to know them on a more intimate level. This Linn County farm has an old roadbed that runs through it. We often let the dogs cool off in the creek -- almost dry this year -- near the remains of an old bridge. I can't imagine what kind of bridge there must have been with such small supports, but back country Missouri is rough, poor country, as these remains suggest.

[charlie cleveland]

hunting the same ground year after year sure makes a dog look good when he connects on birds...I still remember the grounds we hunted 50 years ago...in a few places wild quail have made a small come back..i now have 2 coveys on my grandpaws old place..but they are the small Mexican quail very hard to get a shot at those birds...Charlie...

[Reggie Bishop]

As always your hunting adventures are enjoyable to read about and see illustrated so well with your photoG!

[Gerald McPherson]

Whats up with the foot of the bird in the middle picture?

[Richard Flanders]

Looks like a YOY; maybe hasn't grown a full foot yet!

[Garry L Gordon]

Whats up with the foot of the bird in the middle picture?

The bird was "fresh from the mouth" of Aspen who retrieved it. It was a warm day, and Aspen had lots of feathers in his mouth. Those are wet feathers stuck to the bird's foot. Aspen has a very gentle, or soft, mouth retrieving and will bring back wounded birds alive. Alder, however, is a meat tenderizer...unfortunately.

[Garry L Gordon]

hunting the same ground year after year sure makes a dog look good when he connects on birds...I still remember the grounds we hunted 50 years ago...in a few places wild quail have made a small come back..i now have 2 coveys on my grandpaws old place..but they are the small Mexican quail very hard to get a shot at those birds...Charlie...

It is interesting that some dogs seem to remember places where they have found birds. We've had several that demonstrated clearly that they knew birds had been in a certain place before. My best bird dog, Trace, would slow down and ease into coverts where we had found grouse, and he would make certain to check out specific field edges or corners where he'd found birds before. He always hunted to cover, but you could tell he remembered certain spots. He was a wizard at finding birds and presenting them to the gun...and had a better memory than I had then, and certainly have now(!)

Charlie, I'm glad that you've seen quail return to some degree. I am reading that some of the Southern states are working hard to provide suitable habitat. It seems that poor Bob is having a harder and harder time making a living.