RS Members on a Flint Hills Quail Hunt

A week before our season closed here in Kansas we were very pleased to have Scott Gillis of Round River Setters and 3 of his dogs travel here from Iowa to join us for a weekend of quail hunting. Scott normally hunts pheasants back home and in South Dakota so quail hunting here was new to them all. But being rymans, they caught on quickly and gave Scott and us some great moments and memories.

The setter talk was non-stop all weekend and we were reminded of how important it is for breeders and enthusiasts to be able to talk and spend time together. The highlight was being able to see each others dogs in the field. Differences in personal preferences and style were evident but our common bond to the ryman setter was even stronger. We had a shared appreciation of calm, beautiful, well-bred dogs that simply require bird contact to become bird dogs.

Some highlights for me during the weekend included:
– first day, first minute into the first field his female pointed a covey that got a free pass since the humans didn’t have their act together yet to shoot.
– busy singles action with my Sally and Mike’s Belle in a woody draw
– Scott’s polite surprise at how fast and far my and Mike’s dog’s hunt when out in the open.
– Scott’s saving grab that prevented me from sliding downhill into a thorny hedge tree
– on the last morning when all 3 of Scott’s dogs came on point together on a covey that was deep into a draw.
– We started the weekend as acquaintances and ended it as friends.

I look forward to hunting together again next year!

It was not a great weekend for photo ops: points were beneath and behind cedar trees and other obstacles. But I did manage to snap a couple:

Scott had quite a climb to get to this point. His “Remi” had 2 singles pinned. You can see Mike on the other side of the downed trees – his “Belle” had the rest of the covey pinned over there.