Quail "Hunting"

We took the pups on their first two quail "hunting" trips this weekend. I say "hunting" because neither of us have a permit or a shotgun! We did bring a blank gun just in case Riley pointed any wild quail & I wore my new, fashionable day-glo orange vest. Saturday was a total bust. We parked in the wrong area & had to hike for about an hour before we even got to good quail habitat. Today we started out in the right area, but too late in the morning. All the quail had been scared off already by other hunters. We heard a lone quail calling out, but it was from across the freeway in the (protected) state park. Riley had a great point on one of the bushes, but we quickly discovered it was a scent point with no bird. The pups had so much fun! Riley was in full-on hunting mode most of the time & it was an amazing thing to watch her work the hillsides. Cooper is learning to follow in the footsteps of his big sister & always honors her points! We gave up looking for quail after about 2 hours & headed back to the car. It was then, of course, that Riley's little cheeks started puffing and she took off full-speed for the base of a tree in some long grasses. Next thing we knew, a quail came running full speed out from under the tree and flew off! It was nice to find at least one. Next time we'll go much earlier! :)