Quail Country Readers & Writers Adventure

It was a hard decision to make. Filson hunting boots or my old CCM hockey skates. Well, not quite, but it was a record cold snap for Georgia’s quail country. Instead of the usual highs of 60°F, it seldom got much above freezing.

Of course that mattered not at all. The quail didn’t care. The dogs reveled in it. Our Shooting Sportsman hunters were experienced, had seen it all and took it in stride. Only your humble scribe, spoiled rotten by life in the sybaritic Sunshine State, whined like a lost puppy.

Our group came from California, Texas, New Jersey, Nebraska, Virginia and Mississippi. The majority had been on SSM Readers & Writers Adventures before, but the new guys fit in marvelously. These trips are not only about hunting, but also very much about sharing the camaraderie of like-minded souls.

We hunted two to a guide for three hours in the mornings and another three in the afternoons. For three days. That’s a lot of time afield, but with 20-bird daily limits, we could—and did—get in a lot of shooting. We also got a big bag of cleaned and frozen quail to take home.

For the most part, the birds flew well. The reality of a lot of plantation hunting is that the majority of the birds are pen raised. Can’t get around that. But plantations do differ on how the birds are handled. Birds that are put out early in the season have time to adapt and strengthen. Those put out on the day of the hunt are generally weaker flyers. Our Quail Country birds were strong. Flushes of more than 100 yards were common. The covey rise whirrs and blurs were heart-stopping.

Quail hunting is all about dogs, and Quail Country has one of the best kennels in the country. Mostly pointers and setters were used to find the coveys, but the most fun came when the flushing dogs hit the “Start” button. Over three days I hunted behind a pointing Lab, a springer, a Boykin spaniel (the state dog of South Carolina) and a couple of English cocker spaniels. The use of flushers has revitalized quail hunting. No longer does the guide have to go in ahead of the Guns and then hit the deck. No longer do the hunters have to wade in until the quail rise at their feet. Flushers make it better, safer and so much fun. You can’t believe how great it is to see one of those little cockers tear into a covey. Pen raised or not, those birds absolutely, positively are going to fly.

Though the quail flew like crazy, not all of them escaped. Our readers are not only discerning bibliophiles, but also pretty fair shots. Bob took five birds with three shots. He took a pair out of one covey with a two-fer single shot and a third with his second barrel. On the next covey he took another double with his first barrel. I knew that Mississippians were good, but that was really something.

I was fooling around with a .410 side-by-side and not doing too much good with it. Proving that thing about Indians and arrows, I loaned it to Karl. He proceeded to make two shots on quail at more than 40 yards. He stoned them, too. With a .410! I saw him do it and still shake my head in disbelief.

The next Readers & Writers quail hunt will be at Rio Piedra Plantation, also in Georgia, and you can be sure it will be first rate. Let’s just hope it’s a little warmer, so that I don’t have to resharpen those blades.

That’s it for now. Skates off. Beer open.