Carl - seasoned unguided quail hunter
Not many dogs can hold a bird is stubble.
A value point of the dog on point pictures from many hunters shows a great variance in dog power. Comparing point pictures to habitat to one's own dogs will quickly show that some dogs have more or less capability within any one specific upland habitat type and bird.
Mixed bag hunts are certainly attractive making for a more enjoyable day. Carl is a high risk traveling bird hunter having but one dog.
The dog on point is the dark spot in the lower left of the picture. Even in what many consider open terrain birds will be found. This appears to be a grassed waterway cutting through a crop field.
John: Here's a quick summary:
Iowa was a disappointment mostly because much of the corn was still standing in the areas we wanted to hunt. Got only a couple of pheasants and had much better luck on quail.
Kansas was pretty good. Found lots of pheasants but Greg's dog was a little too aggressive and pushed most birds too hard - ended up flushing beyond shooting range. In many cases we were putting up 15-20 birds at a time in various covers. My dog (after some initial wildness) was too cautious on pheasants and we had lots of pointing that resulted in birds moving way out in front. We did get a few roosters but unfortunately most shootable birds were hens. My dog was exceptionally good on a number of quail finds and I wish I had focused more on quail. Greg really wanted pheasants.
We scrubbed the hunting in Missouri because of the lousy weather at end of trip.
Overall we still had a pretty good trip and are already discussing next year. I'm planning to head back to KS/MO sometime after New Years weekend depending on weather conditions. I can be very flexible and have a window from beginning of Jan. through the 18th. Greg probably can't make it because his father is terminally ill and not likely to survive the next few months.
Here are a few pictures. More to follow.
Carl
Listen to the hunters with lots of gray hair and years of bird dogs over multiple states.
1. More birds (both quail and pheasant) than I've seen since joining MAHA.
2. More nice cover available than one can hunt.
3. [4 county locations deleted] had cover much to my liking.
4. I moved around too much - this was the biggest mistake of my trip [a twice a season hunter traveling many miles].
5. I was seduced by the large number of pheasants and spent far too much time working on far flushing birds.
6. Should have stayed in [multiple county locations deleted] much longer, the cover is better suited to my dogs and there were lots of quail opportunities.
7. I didn't take any good photographs of dogs working.
8. Met a number of very nice MAHA members - a credit to your MAHA member selection process. They were the kind of people with whom one would like to hunt. (Chad/Minn, Aaron & Sue/UP Mich, Ted/Arkansas, Tad (deer hunter)/Minn, Josh & John/West VA, and two men from Missouri).
9. I'll be back!!!
Thanks Carl, should add to the traveling hunters' hunt planning. Thank you for recognizing by name the good members. Good news should be spread.