The Passing of Three Seasons

[Garry L Gordon]

We are back at home mourning the passing of three bird seasons, having just returned from a brief trip to Kansas. Oklahoma still beckons, and we may succumb to the call, but for now, we are sorting out last days in our home state of Missouri, our adopted home of Iowa, and our "new" home of Kansas. Each state treated us kindly, even though bird numbers were nothing to brag about.

Although I love to savor a last day hunt, it saddens me to know I have more last days behind than ahead. Still, we make plans and hope for the best.

Here are some photos from our last day hunts:

1. Our last day hunt for Missouri almost did not happen. We had snow and bitter cold with high winds for the days preceding our Jan 15 last day. But the red gods smiled and although the snow and cold were an issue, the persistent wind of the prior days calmed, making our hunt bearable. I chose this photo as one that demonstrates a theme in hunting wild quail at times. I read with interest my friend Chris Pope's thread about a quail roost he found and in which he talked about the ruckus caused by the eruption of a covey. If you look closely at this photo, you'll see that there is a "back door" bird exiting the picture on the extreme left. The covey, a large one that we'd been fostering throughout the season, was buried deep in the snow and somewhat separated. I'm shooting at the bulk of the covey that is flushing to the right. It can be very distracting to draw down on a bird in front and have one come up in another direction. I think this is a Bobwhite conspiracy, intended to lower the shooting average of yours truly. I'm sad to say the strategy works more often than not.:crying:

2&3. Well, I did not get a bird from the rise pictured in photo 1. We chased after the singles without luck. As we worked our way back, Rill pointed in the same location again. It was the rest of the covey, having held tight through the first flush and shot. This time I focused hard and took a double from different directions -- a very tough shot for me. Rill found the first bird, but we could not locate the second. I finally spotted the second bird across a small stream. It lay in the snow like a period at the end of the story that was our Missouri quail season. On our way out, Rill pointed another single. I felt good letting that bird fly with my last day limit of two Bobs in my vest.

4&5. We got an invitation to hunt an Iowa farm that had been a great bird farm for us for many years, but had been off limits of late. This would be our last day to hunt in Iowa. Quail numbers were up over last year in the areas we hunt, and we found a very large covey on a piece of this wonderful farm that held some good memories for us and many of our dogs. The birds flushed wild and then re-coveyed in the heavy brush. In photo 4 Aspen finally gets them to stop running after trailing the birds for about 50 yards through some nasty briars. When the birds flushed, I found myself smack in the middle of the spread out covey. Again, notice the back door bird that Elaine managed to catch in her photo (you can see it just at my back, exiting stage right as they say).

6. Aspen found my one bird from this covey that reassembled at least 3 times, but only giving me one chance. Aspen seemed pretty pleased with himself after he found the dead bird buried deep in the canary grass.

7. I have other quail guns, but I can't seem to leave this little DHE 20 at home, especially on the last day of a season.

8. We moved to another piece of this farm with Rill and found no quail, but hit the mother lode of pheasants. Iowa, a great pheasant state, chooses to end its pheasant season three weeks before the quail season closes. The irony is not lost on me that we have more pheasant points, and more chances at roosters, during this three week window. The good news is that the guys who will only travel for the big, gaudy import, are nowhere to be found in the quail only season. In the photo I watch a large rooster that Rill pinned along fence that separated a grass field from a harvested bean field. It would have been an easy shot, even for the little 20.

9. We were able to pass on the last pointed quail of the Iowa season, a purposeful gesture intended to assure the blessings of a good next season. I can't say this works, but then again...

[Garry L Gordon]

We've started going to Kansas at the end of January, mostly to escape our North Missouri weather. I love Kansas. The Flint Hills are one of the most beautiful places on earth to me.

Here are photos from the Kansas leg of our season ending hunts.

1. Part of the charm of our Kansas hunt is that the dogs can stay in the cabin with us. They adapt to this hardship quite well.:rotf:

2. There are lots of things that poke, stick and scratch where we hunt, and it makes shooting tough. Aspen has a single pinned in this tangle. If you're taking bets that I missed, you won yourself some money.

3&4 I still wonder if Mountain Mike has stations like what we encounter while after wild quail. Most shots are in tight quarters (3), but every now and then you get an open shot. But when the covey flushes, it does not matter -- open or tight cover -- you still have to earn your bird.

5. Another back door bird. This one was headed to Oklahoma. They seldom play nice.

6. We found an old homestead in a very birdy looking area. I told Elaine even I could smell birds here. Within a minute, Rill locked up. I'm glad the well in the foreground was fenced off. It would be a bad fall for man or beast. And I'll bet there's something evil lurking in the root cellar.

7. Yet another back door bird streaks out after the bulk of the covey flushed. But this time, instead of distracting me, I had already gotten a double -- with one shot(!) On purpose, you ask? Well, why not?! That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.:)

8. The subtle beauty of the bobwhite always makes me stop to look. I don't think I'll ever tire of holding one in hand.

9. If you've never walked under a brooding Kansas prairie sky, you've not lived. On a late winter day when the Southerly breeze is warm on your face, there is nothing quite like it.

10. The dogs are the stars of the show...as are the birds...and the land that holds them. What a privilege to hunt wild birds in places such as this!

[Dean Romig]

Thanks Garry - Great pictures.





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[Daniel Carter]

I can not put into mere words how much i enjoy reading of your trips and the photos. Please continue. You and Elaine make my day. Thank you both.

[CraigThompson]

I’m partial to all setters ! I think it would be intresting to have a trio on the ground an Irish a Gordon and an English all on point simultaneously . And if I had that circus going I also want a Boykin spaniel at heal to do the retrieving .

[Andrew Sacco]

Very nice Garry!

[Garry L Gordon]

I can not put into mere words how much i enjoy reading of your trips and the photos. Please continue. You and Elaine make my day. Thank you both.

Daniel, I hope you are optimistic for next year. I think of you often at the end of our hunts, hoping you’ll be posting of your outings in the future.

Any chance you’ll make it to our annual meeting? I’d enjoy catching up with you.

[Garry L Gordon]

I’m partial to all setters ! I think it would be intresting to have a trio on the ground an Irish a Gordon and an English all on point simultaneously . And if I had that circus going I also want a Boykin spaniel at heal to do the retrieving .

Craig, interestingly enough we ran into a guy in Kansas who had an English and Red Setter. I thought about suggesting a hunt with three setter types.

Ken Hill if you read this, his dog was gorgeous. I thought of you and your pups.

[Daniel Carter]

Daniel, I hope you are optimistic for next year. I think of you often at the end of our hunts, hoping you’ll be posting of your outings in the future.

Any chance you’ll make it to our annual meeting? I’d enjoy catching up with you.

I will be sending a PM later.

[Chris Pope]

Wonderful display of photos. And I have to say as beautiful as the birds and country side are it is the brace of bird dogs that steal the show!

[Brett Farley]

Great report and fantastic pics! I’ve not hunted Iowa or Kansas but now you’ve got me thinking about both states! Appreciate that you take the time to photograph and write such good reports!

[Reggie Bishop]

Photo #7 is home page worthy.:)

[Harold Lee Pickens]

Season is over for me now also, but I am going to take the dogs out to the local wildlife area just to see how many coveys I can still find--only about a half hour drive from home

[Garry L Gordon]

Season is over for me now also, but I am going to take the dogs out to the local wildlife area just to see how many coveys I can still find--only about a half hour drive from home

A good opportunity to get photos when you’re not wielding a gun. We look forward to your report, Harold.

[Kevin McCormack]

Garry, you should have an artist do a rendition of the picture of you looking over that barbwire fence and title it as you did your post. The combinations of visual mood and verbage are simply poetic. Having hunted much of the same ground 40 plus years ago, Elaine's photos and your narratives of this milieu really put the lid on it for me. Thanks so much for sharing and taking me back!

[Stan Hillis]

Just beautiful, Garry. And very much appreciated.

I cannot imagine the work involved in digging and lining that open well by hand. Occasionally I see something that makes me appreciate the work ethic of our early farmers/ranchers who did almost everything for themselves. That is pretty much lost today, I'm afraid. We hire crews to put up new fences, dig wells, work on equipment (these newer JD tractors are totally computer controlled), etc.

Thanks for the great pics and narratives.

[Garry L Gordon]

Garry, you should have an artist do a rendition of the picture of you looking over that barbwire fence and title it as you did your post. The combinations of visual mood and verbage are simply poetic. Having hunted much of the same ground 40 plus years ago, Elaine's photos and your narratives of this milieu really put the lid on it for me. Thanks so much for sharing and taking me back!

Thanks, Kevin, I might see if I can recreate that photo you cite in a watercolor. I remember your accounts of hunting Southern Iowa from past posts. It just dawned on me (duh!), that we’ve been hunting Iowa for over 40 years and that our paths may have crossed “back then” — what a small world.

[Garry L Gordon]

Just beautiful, Garry. And very much appreciated.

I cannot imagine the work involved in digging and lining that open well by hand. Occasionally I see something that makes me appreciate the work ethic of our early farmers/ranchers who did almost everything for themselves. That is pretty much lost today, I'm afraid. We hire crews to put up new fences, dig wells, work on equipment (these newer JD tractors are totally computer controlled), etc.

Thanks for the great pics and narratives.

Thanks, Stan. I learned to respect the work and skill of our forebears from my father. He always would stop and admire old homesteads, and Elaine and I always pause to do the same. I guess we have a strong nostalgic streak in us that seems much more pronounced as time goes by.

[Gary Kephart]

Great pics and story. Thanks for sharing

[Ken Hill]

Garry,

I didn’t look at this thread until now. Looks like a nice end to the year for you. It would have been great to see a picture of the English, Irish, and Gordon setters hunting together.

I always have this cross-stitch in my mind when people talk about hunting with the 3 types of setters.

https://i.imgur.com/phykx9C.jpg

Ken

[Harold Lee Pickens]

I can supply the English, you and Garry , the Gordon's, maybe get my Fox friend Tom Tutwiler to supply the Irish.
That would be a memorable hunt..

[Garry L Gordon]

I can supply the English, you and Garry , the Gordon's, maybe get my Fox friend Tom Tutwiler to supply the Irish.
That would be a memorable hunt..

Harold, Ken has both the Black & Tan (Gordon) Setter AND the Red Version.

[Garry L Gordon]

Garry,

I didn’t look at this thread until now. Looks like a nice end to the year for you. It would have been great to see a picture of the English, Irish, and Gordon setters hunting together.

I always have this cross-stitch in my mind when people talk about hunting with the 3 types of setters.

https://i.imgur.com/phykx9C.jpg

Ken

Great art piece, Ken. We have a small collection of prints that include Gordons, but generally only with English Setters and Pointers.

[Garry L Gordon]

We made a last desperate dash to Oklahoma to try to find good weather and a few birds. We had trouble finding either. Still, it beats sitting at home in dismal weather with no bird season.

Our hunt was characterized by missed forecasts by the weather folks, resulting in heavy mist and fog, instead of sun and warmth, but was punctuated by a few clear afternoons. Oklahoma has jumped their out-of-state fees, and limited the land that non-residents can hunt February quail on, but we were glad to have places to go, even if the Conservation Dept. had plowed under bean stubble and grazed heavily their public land prairies.

Here a few photos from our last gasp hunt:

1. We hunted for good weather and did not find it. Heavy mist and cold was uncharacteristic of late season Oklahoma. Aspen made a gallant effort on a large river bottom bean field, one of the few un-disked fields left on the Conservation Areas we hunted. The result was caked mud and cockleburs -- and a good hour's worth of clean-up.

2.-6. But on a couple of days the fog cleared late and gave us nice weather, if not birds. We found the remnants of old homesteads and a private graveyard. (See Chris Pope's great post on a similar find of his in SC). When coveys are few and far between, "tourist attractions" are even more welcome. It's hard not to wonder about the families that toiled on these grounds and left their marks for us to find so many years later.

7.&8. Our last hunt started late after the fog dissipated. Just being out in the sun on a late afternoon was a pleasure -- even if windy and cold -- especially after enduring cold drizzle. After finally finding a covey nearby, we moved to a place that "smelled" like birds to me. We found none...but I felt vindicated, discovering an old roost, and it was a sign to me of birds remaining at the tail end of this season. What more could a hunter ask?

[Ken Hill]

Looks like very tough OK hunting. I hunted the panhandle area in the early-mid nineties. Usually found quail and pheasant on private land. The public areas back then were tough going.

Ken

[Ken Hill]

Harold, Ken has both the Black & Tan (Gordon) Setter AND the Red Version.

Harold,

This is the Black/tan and red duo from a KS trip 2 years ago. The Gordon is starting too get old for long hunts and trips. She hunted 5 days in SD this year and it was too much as she was limping after the first day

https://i.imgur.com/lamCxIW.jpg

Ken

[Chris Pope]

The second batch of photos as great as the first (that photographer has a terrific eye) except for the first one of those muddy fur-tangled setter feet/legs! Can you say Horse Mane and Tail Shampoo and Conditioner?! Phew! We deserved both a before AND after picture of that...of course, better than a porcupine or skunk clean up.
Down here we specialize in red Georgia/So.Carolina clay and Beggar Ticks.

[Garry L Gordon]

Harold,

This is the Black/tan and red duo from a KS trip 2 years ago. The Gordon is starting too get old for long hunts and trips. She hunted 5 days in SD this year and it was too much as she was limping after the first day

https://i.imgur.com/lamCxIW.jpg

Ken

Ken, it’s hard not to love the graying face of an old friend, and our younger dogs have learned much from our “semi-retired” dogs. Elaine and I send you and your pups our best.

We hunted western OK for several years. The bird numbers were better, but the sand burrs (and porcupines) were not to our liking. Now non-resident hunters are banned from public lands in the west in February. The “passport” required for non-hunters to enter OK lands went from $26 to over $200. Still, if we can find a reprieve from our harsh winter weather and the chance to walk in little bluestem after a few birds, we’ll take it.

And, Chris, it took us an hour at the tailgate to clean and de-burr poor Aspen. If you’ve never encountered mud encrusted cockleburs, count yourself lucky.

I hope we all have the optimism of a “next year” to get us there — and all in good health.