Seeking out a covey of truly bobwhite quail can be a challenging and exciting adventure
It was late on the last day of our hunt, and overcast with a cold northwest wind and the feel of snow in the air. My shooting partner, Brian Mudd, was the winner of Sporting Classic’s “Fun ‘N Gun” Reader’s Sweepstakes, and we were at Willow Oaks Plantation in Eden, North Carolina. Willow Oaks was providing the “fun” part of the prize and Weatherby had provided the “gun” part with a brand new, Weatherby SA-08 in 28 gauge. The little wand of a gun was the perfect tool for southern bobwhites.
Our guide, Matt Behe had lured the two of us to “Turkey Ridge” on the backside of the plantation with the promise of a wild covey he’d located. It turned out to be a helluva place, choked with head-high blackberry briars and honeysuckle vines woven so tightly the dogs could barely wedge their way into it. It was just the kind of place to find a wild covey.
Sweepstakes winner Bryan Mudd totes his Weatherby SA-08 in the quail woods at Willow Oaks Plantation.
Very few clients saw this part of the plantation, and those who did usually wished they hadn’t. So tough was the shooting that Matt coyly admitted that of those who’d taken the challenge, none had ever succeeded in bringing down one of the covey’s 15 or so birds. Of course, that was all that Brian and I had to hear. We had to give it a try!
We parked the jeep at the top of the rise and followed the muddy track that penetrated the maze, trying our best to keep up with Matt’s dogs. The narrow road serpentined around the left flank of a tall hill with oaks along the top and on the side a deer stand overlooking a quarter-mile sea of briars. The shorthairs, Deuces and Hellion, were out front, quartering back and forth as best they could, losing themselves periodically in the morass, then magically reappearing as they swung back across the road, only to disappear again.
Both dogs were mottled brown, which made them nearly invisible unless they were directly in front of us. Both were quite young, but Deuces was gorgeous, tall and lanky, and seemed to glide on ballerina’s legs. Hellion, on the other hand, was more compact, not as tall or long, more like a lady business executive with somewhere to go. And go she did!
Living up to her name, Hellion never stopped moving unless there were quail underfoot. Possessed of speed, stamina and a “nose” to match, the product of Matt’s Rocky River Gun Dogs kennels was already a field-trial champ at 16 months.
About 200 yards into the tangle we could see Deuces quartering ahead, but Hellion had disappeared. Matt surmised that she must be pointing somewhere up in the tangle, but after 30 minutes of looking we still couldn’t find her. Finally, we backtracked to the little road and found her on point in a tiny dip where we’d passed her unseen from about 50 yards away.
Our fears that the birds had run out from under her were well founded, and when Matt sent in Amber, his auburn-haired Boykin spaniel that owns a championship of her own, there was nothing there.
After another 30 minutes of searching, we were scratching our heads as to the whereabouts of the covey. We finally decided they could only have flown or scurried up the hill into the tangle. Since it was much too thick to swing a shotgun in there, we decided to circle far above to the edge of the woods along the ridge. There, we would “push” the briars in the hope they would run ahead of us and stop on the edge. And that’s exactly what the covey did.
When Hellion pinned them again, we circled to the only spot we could find that might allow a shot, and when Amber put them up, Bryan and I both shot. Neither of us was sure, but after five minutes of rustling around in the thicket, Amber bounded out with a fine, fat cock-bird.
Although dark was closing in fast, we decided that we had time for one last cast, and the dogs disappeared into the thicket in the general direction that the singles had gone. Of course, Hellion was lost again in no time. After another 15 minutes of searching, Matt whistled-in his little wonder, but instead of coming all the way in, she came out of the tangle just far enough for us to see her, reversed course and sprinted back from where she’d come. We followed and found her locked up in the briars.
To our surprise, the single was still there, and when Amber put it up, Brian and I again collaborated to bring it down. When Amber delivered the hen to hand, we had a perfect pair of wild birds and a perfect reminder of the inextricable and timeless union of fine guns, birds and dogs. When you combine those elements with wild places, good times and good friends to share them with, life gets pretty damned good!
Gamefield Classics features beautiful photography by William Headrick with text by Michael McIntosh on more than 35 different shotguns and more than 25 rifles. A big 9 by 12-inch book, Gamefield Classics features more than 70 beautiful photographs and McIntosh’s insightful text on more than 35 different shotguns and 25 different rifles.
McIntosh is the world’s most highly respected firearms writer; Headrick stands alone at the pinnacle of firearms photography. Out of this unique collaboration comes a unique collection of stories and photos, all from the pages of Sporting Classics magazine. Here you’ll find a wide range of sporting shotguns and rifles built by an equally wide range of makers. All are classics in their own way. Some are pristine examples, others show the signs of much loving use and care. Here you’ll find history—of the makers and in some cases of the guns themselves. All have a story to tell. Buy Now
