Late season plans

bauerline

bauerline

Well-known member
Does anybody have big plans for the late season? Those of you who live in the northern part of the state have some late season options. Since there is no late season where I live for pheasant and grouse are in short supply (if there is a supply) I'll be doing some preserve hunts. One of last year's Veteran hunters and his wife wanted to hunt some chukars so that is the plan for Saturday. Then I'm going to the western part of the state next week for two days of hunting quail and pheasant at Onpoint Outfitters. After I get back it will be time for what has become an annual hunt between Christmas and New Year's with a few friends at Mason Dixon Hunting Farm. Good luck to all you late season bird chasers!
 
I've used up most of my vacation time so it will have to be week-ends from here on out, unless I call in sick! LOL We hunt the northern zones for pheasant and grouse. We also start to do some habitat work. I always look forward to the flushing surveys.

Good luck, and make sure you take a lot of pictures!
 
Had a chance to run the dogs again and I was able to get some video on my phone. I never tried posting a video before so I thought this would be a good time to try it. The dogs pointed a covey of 5 quail and watched them run into the woods. The dogs went over to the woods and stopped at the edge. This is where I got my phone out. I don't think you can see the birds flush but it happens around the 38 second mark.

 
That's pretty neat! How long ago were the quail released?
 
These quail were released on Saturday. I have 25 quail in a johnny house and I left 12 out on Saturday. The rest have returned to the JH but these 5 stayed out. As of today one more went into the jh and 4 quail are still out. I started out with 30 quail in July. After 2 weeks in the jh I started to let some out and they would return shortly. I did about 2 releases per week until mid October. Then I would just release on Sundays (didn't want them out when people were pheasant hunting). Now I'm doing about one release per week. So far I had 5 quail die in the pen. I think they broke their necks when a mower went by and they got all excited. I have seen hawks, owls, cats and fox in the area but the quail have managed to avoid them. It is a nice sight to see when 12 quail flush at the same time. There is no quail season where I live so hunting them is not an option.
 
That's some real good stuff! What are your long term plans for the quail? Is there enough cover in the area to release them in the spring in hopes of nesting? That is really a great way to keep your dogs sharp, way to go!
 
My plans for the quail? Well, in the summer I like to hear them call when I'm fishing with my boys at a nearby pond. It's nice to have them around in the late summer/early fall to work the dogs a little. Same goes for the winter when there is no birds in season around here. There is cover in the area to hold them. There is some switch grass, swamp area and woods along with crop land. But there are also plenty of predators to get them. Last year I lost the quail I had when a mink or something got in to the pen through the recall funnel. I have been better this year with closing the pen up before evening gets here. I think I will release them in the spring and hope they try to pair up. But I won't be betting any money on it. I am in the works of building a 2nd recall pen out of scrap wood. I'll put that in a different area next year and see how two pens work out.
 
Did a hunt today (Saturday) out at Mason Dixon. I was joined by one of last year's hunters from our Vet Hunt and his wife. My wife also did some hunting today as well. We started off hunting chukars in the morning. The dogs did fine but our group shooting could have been better. We got 3 out of the first 6 chukars the dogs found. I then put the gun away for a little to concentrate on the dogs more and getting good shooting chances for everybody else. Things improved and we got 5 out of 6 chukars. We ended the day hunting for some pheasants. The dogs did well on those but one of the birds got flushed when Blitz was coming back on a retrieve. But it was a good day and everybody was happy. No pictures for today but I plan on getting some pictures on Wed. and Thursday next week when I make my first trip to Onpoint Outfitters.
 
Sounds like a great hunt! We are getting spoiled...we want pictures! LOL. Good luck at On Point, Vince runs a great place, tell him I said hi and I am waiting for the next report on his WILD quail!
 
Does anybody have big plans for the late season?
Click to expand...
Mine include getting the pup out at every opportunity until Jan 16, then a couple canned preserve hunts, and thinning coyotes after that. Chasing Chukars this morning as soon as my partner arrives.
 
Brian..Looks like your keeping yourself busy! I may get out to go on hunt up north by our camp! While deer hunting I saw a couple of roosters..to and from the stand I flushed a couple as well!
 
Grouse season is over for me will hunt Central Penn and a 1 or 2 other preserves til the end of March weather permitting. Anybody want to hook up for a hunt let me know.
 
Looks like some heavy rain is being called for Wed. so I'll be pushing my trip back a day and hunt on Thursday and Friday of this week. I'll try and get as many pictures as I can and report how things went.
 
Good luck Brian! John if I am ever out your way and the timing is right, I would love to hunt with those Springers!
 
Today (Thursday) was day one of my hunt at Onpoint Outfitters. It was a great day and the dogs any myself had a great time. We hunted one of the farms starting around 10:30. I just hunted scratch birds for the day and didn't have any birds put out for me. Within the first 20 minutes the dogs pointed a rooster I was able to knock down. When I shot at the pheasant, a covey of quail flushed from the same area. The dogs had a couple of points on some singles but I was not able to take any of them. A little later I was able to connect on another pheasant the dogs pointed. After that I worked toward some food plot areas. The dogs pointed and tracked a running bird that I didn't take a shot at (the safety works on my gun!) After that the dogs pointed again on the top edge of a corn field. We worked the whole way around the corn and the dogs ended up pointing it right where we started. The bird flushed and I wasn't able to connect with my shot. A short time later the dogs pointed a rooster in some edge cover that I was able to take. We then walked up behind the corn field where I missed a nice rooster the dogs pointed. The bird flew hard and fast when flushed but I still should have taken it. The next point in this area produced some quail and I was able to take two males. Nittany and Blitz were able to find and point another pair of quail and I took one. That was enough quail from that particular area to take so I went back to the truck for a short break. After the break the dogs and I headed to an area of the farm we didn't cover yet. The dogs were able to point two hens and two roosters in this area and I took one bird. I let a few of the others fly off. I didn't want to shoot up all these birds that are surviving on their own. The day finished with a point on a single quail that I took on the edge of the woods. It was a great day and the dogs worked hard. They had around 20 points on the day and we found a good number of quail and pheasant. It was a pleasure to meet and talk to Vince at Onpoint about dogs and birds. The hunting and cover was great. I will hunt again tomorrow and then go home. Here are a couple of pics I was able to take:

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These pics are from a point that produced two quail.

I'll try to add some more pics.
 
Wow! That's a lot of action for just scratch birds, can you imagine being able to train your dogs there more often. The cover really looks good.
 
Vince said there are about 4 or 5 coveys of quail on the farm. He thought some of the pheasants I shot may have been born there. It was great to run the dogs there and get that much action.
 
That sounds awesome. Is that the first time your pups have been away overnight? What kind of accommodations is set up for the dogs? Good luck tomorrow and keep the pictures coming.
 
The dogs have been in a kennel once for a week when we went away. I'm staing in a motel in Friendsvill, Md that allows dogs. It is not far from the farms I am hunting on and they allow dogs. It is about 15 minutes from the farm I was at today and there is a little diner close by. Since I can't go to the mid-west this is my "vacation hunt".
 
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