H. Lee Stribling and D. Clay Sisson

“That dog'll hunt” is music to any bird dog owner’s ears, but even the best dogs can miss a covey on occasion. Research conducted through the AAES at Auburn University's Albany Area Quail Management Project in Albany, Georgia, has identified ways in which quail elude hunters and shown that dogs aren't always to blame for an unproductive point.

Researchers began monitoring the efficiency of pointing dogs in locating bobwhite coveys at the Albany center starting in 1992. Prior to each hunting season radio transmitters were attached to several birds in coveys on the study areas. These transmitters allowed researchers to determine the location of coveys, to monitor each covey's behavior as the hunting parties approached, and to determine other information relative to pointing dogs and quail on the study area.

Over the course of five hunting seasons, 169 hunts involving 254 separate radio-tagged coveys were monitored. “Encounters” between radio-tagged coveys and hunters were monitored by field staff on 838 occasions. The objectives of this work were to determine: (1) the percentage of bobwhite coveys located by pointing dogs, (2) reasons for coveys going undetected, and (3) what causes "false" or unproductive pointing.

The monitored hunts were conducted in South Georgia plantation style. For these hunts, a fresh brace of dogs is kept on the ground by a dog handler and a scout on horseback while the owners and guests follow along on horseback or the hunting wagon drawn by a matching pair of mules. Normally, several hundred acres of open pine woods and fields are covered in a morning or afternoon hunt with most of the shooting ocurring at covey rises. On the study hunts, one or two technicians followed the hunting party with radio-telemetry receivers and monitored the behavior and/or reaction of radio-tagged coveys to the approaching hunting party.

Each time a radio-tagged covey was “encountered” during the hunt, a record was made of whether the covey was “seen” or “unseen” by the hunters. Coveys that were seen were then categorized as to whether they were pointed and shot, pointed but wild flushed (flushed out of shooting range), or wild flushed without being pointed. Coveys “not seen” were broken down into the following categories: wild flushes; dogs missed birds because quail ran on the ground; dogs missed birds and quail didn't flush; dogs pointed birds, but quail ran on the ground; or dogs pointed, but birds did not flush. Table 1 provides a breakdown of the 838 encounters with radio-tagged coveys during the 1992-93 through 1996-97 hunting seasons.

Table 1. Encounters With Radio-tagged Coveys,
1992 Through 1997 Hunting Seasons

		Coveys seen			Coveys not seen
Hunting season	No. seen/ no. available	Pointed/ shot	Wild flushes	Wild flushes (pointed/ not pointed)	Passed by (ran/held )	Pointed (ran/held)
1992-93	45/112	24	11/10	4	25/27	9/2
1993-94	142/286	96	20/26	17	18/76	25/8
1994-95	112/194	67	17/28	14	4/49	11/4
1995-96	90/143	49	17/24	11	9/26	6/1
1996-97	57/103	31	12/14	9	5/12	11/0
Total	446/838	267	77/102	55	61/ 99	62/115
Percent	53%	32%	9%/12%	7%	7%/ 24%	7%/2%

The hunting parties averaged “seeing” just over half (53%) of the radio-tagged coveys available to them on any given hunt. “Seeing” (often referred to as “coveys moved”) is defined as coveys that were “pointed and shot into” or “seen getting up wild.” This could vary quite a bit from day to day depending most probably on interactions between scenting conditions for the dogs and feeding behavior of the birds. The reasons why some hunts are better than others covering the same ground is still something of a mystery, and still very much part of the appeal of hunting.

Thirty-two percent of the radio-tagged coveys were “pointed and shot into” on an average hunt. The other 17% of the coveys “seen” were wild flushes and included 12% that flushed ahead of the hunting party before they were pointed and 9% that were pointed and flushed before the hunters arrived.

Forty-seven percent of all encounters resulted in coveys that were never “seen.” Most of these (24%) were simply passed by or missed by the dogs and the hunters. It was quite common for a covey to hold tight and let the party pass, often literally within feet of where the quail were hiding. These were usually coveys that were not actively feeding. When quail are not moving, little scent is left and the birds are more difficult for dogs to detect. Another common occurrence was for the coveys to run out of the way as the hunting party approached, especially after they had been shot at earlier in the hunting season. This happened in 7% of all covey encounters and became more prevalent as the season progressed. “Unseen wild flushes” accounted for another 7% of all encounters and also increased in prevalence later in the season. Several coveys were notorious for this and would simply pick up and fly off, unseen, as soon as they heard the hunting party approaching. The dogs would often get “birdy” (act as though they are about to point a bird) and sometimes point the spot were the birds were located before the covey flew off.

Coveys also were missed when birds were pointed but refused to get up. Even a good attempt at flushing was not successful in some cases. These coveys would flush only when they were about to be stepped on. This occurred in 2% of all covey encounters.

The percentage of coveys “seen” was highly variable from day to day (averaged 53%, ranged 0-100%) but fairly consistent among years (averaged 53%, ranged 40-63%). Many variables affect the efficiency of pointing dogs in locating bobwhite coveys. Weather can affect feeding patterns and scenting conditions. The condition of the ground cover and hunting pressure affect covey behavior and, in turn, dog performance. There is also a great deal of variability between an individual dog’s ability and/or desire to hunt. All these variables apparently average out over the course of a hunting season as evidenced by the fairly consistent detection rate among years.

Table 2 provides some insights into the causes of “false” points. In 107 of the 392 encounters with radio-tagged birds no covey was seen after a dog pointed. Most (16%) of these were a result of birds running away from a pointed dog and by the time a flushing attempt was made the birds were no longer there. This table actually underestimates the frequency of this occurrence since many coveys were recorded as having been “seen” after two or three unproductive points of running birds. A covey running 100 yards or more was common, and in at least one incidence a entire covey ran 500 yards before eventually flushing wild. Eight percent of unproductive points were a result of wild flushes not seen by any of the hunting party. The remaining 4% were coveys that were pointed but the birds present would not flush. In all, almost 13% of all encounters with radio-tagged coveys involved what dog handlers classified as a “false” point.

Table 2. Encounters With Radio-tagged Coveys Classified as “Unseen,”
1992 Through 1997 Hunting Seasons

Dog passed by/ birds held	Dog passed by/ birds ran	Dog pointed/ birds ran	Birds flushed wild /pointed	Birds flushed wild/not pointed	Dog pointed/ birds would not flush
199	61	62*	30*	25	15*
(51 %)	(15 %)	(16 %)	(8%)	(6%)	(4%)
* Indicates incidences of perceived "false pointing."

Occurrences of “unseen wild flushes,” birds running away from pointing dogs before they are spotted by the hunting party or dog, and quail refusing to flush often are responsible for many an innocent bird dog being chastised for false pointing when the dog was responding to what his nose told him. This study shows that it is very likely that there are birds present or strong bird scent lingering when a good bird dog points. Based on this, “false points” are more accurately defined as “unproductive points.”

Overall, bobwhite coveys showed a remarkable ability to evade hunting parties and some coveys seemed to be better at it than others. Individual coveys appear to develop their own personalities over the course of a season and results of the AAES study suggest that quail hunters who pay close attention to these behaviors usually put more birds in the bag. Something as simple as changing normal hunting patterns or directions of approach may be enough to interfere with a covey's escape plan. The study also indicated that some coveys run a great deal, suggesting that if dogs get “birdy,” hunters may benefit from staying close behind the dogs and arriving at all points as quickly as possible.

Finally and most importantly, the study suggests that hunters should trust their dogs! When good bird dogs point there is usually legitimate cause for their actions. Hunters should make an earnest attempt at flushing; some coveys are simply difficult to rouse. When birds don't flush, hunters should relocate their dogs. In this study, many coveys eventually were overtaken by the hunting party and flushed at the second, third, or fourth locations.

Successful hunters think like a quail. If previous experience with a particular covey has not shown where and how they prefer to escape, take an inventory of the surrounding habitat. If they are suspected of running or flying off, they will probably be in nearby heavy cover.

The study also showed that single birds can be even more elusive than a covey. In many cases after the covey scatters single birds “hit the ground running.” When hunters arrive at the location where the birds went down, often they are already gone. Another common behavior single birds use to avoid hunters is to “sit tight” or “screw in.” These birds can be incredibly hard to find and to flush. Undoubtedly, a single bird is harder for a dog to smell than a dozen birds, and many hunters believe that the flush and flight of a bird has a “wing washing” effect that leaves little scent for the dogs to detect. Many times only the threat of actually being stepped on will cause single birds to take flight.

Survival instincts are strong in all animals and behaviors are constantly being modified to ensure perpetuation of the species. Wild bobwhites’ survival instincts are extremely sharp, undoubtedly due to the intense year-round pressure put on them by all types of predators. Studies such as this one give hunters and dog trainers a better understanding of quail behavior, the efficiency of pointing dogs, and what causes unproductive points.