Quail Hunting

Saturday morning marked our first quail hunt of this season. Usually we would have gone already this season, but it hasn't been cold enough. I was very excited to get to go on this hunt because I don't get to go very often. Normally, there are too many of the boys who want to go so I don't get invited. For this hunt, it was just Jared, Judy (Christian) and I. We brought Lola along for her very first quail hunt, even though she didn't actually hunt, she just watched Sadie in action.



Our morning began bright and early. Our hunt was at 8:30 and we had a pretty far drive from our house. We hunt at SSJ Quail Preserve in Hilliard which is North of Jacksonville, not too far from the GA/FL border. Sadie, our German Shorthair Pointer, was getting excited before we even left the house. When she sees us packing up her hunting collar and the guns in the morning, she starts going crazy. She is bred purely for bird hunting and she loves it.

It was nice and chilly when we took off into the field which is perfect quail hunting weather. Jared and Judy were going to shoot first. You are only allowed to have two shooters at a time on the preserve, for safety purposes. Sadie was ready to go and itching to find some birds the moment we got out of the truck. She got right to work and found her first bird in no time. 

I really like quail hunting more than any other type (not that I really have a lot of experience with other types of hunting) because the dog plays such an integral role in your hunt. Without a dog (or without a good dog), you would never be able to find the birds. The quail don't just get up an fly on their own, they hide in the underbrush of the field. It is not like other types of hunting where you just sit and wait for the animal to show up, you have to go out and find the quail. But it would be impossible for people to find the quail on their own, we can't see them or smell them. Only bird dogs can find them. 

Our role is to lead the dog over to an area where we think the quail might be and then let the dog do the rest. It is so interesting to watch the dogs work because they will be running full speed through the trees and brush and then all of a sudden they will stop and point, frozen solid, and will not move unless you command them to. 

Then you as the shooter have to move in on the bird and flush it so that it will get up and fly, giving you the opportunity to shoot. Once the bird gets up and flys, the dog will sit and wait for the sound of your shot and watch where the bird falls. If you kill the bird, the dog will go find your dead bird and retrieve it, bringing it back to you. If you don't kill the bird, then the dog goes to find it and point it for you again. 

  

Around 10:00, we took a break so Sadie could have an energy boosting snack (peanut butter on white bread) and rest a little before the second half of our hunt. We decided to bring Lola with us for this part of the hunt, as she had been in the truck for the first part. Jared walked her on her leash so she didn't mess up Sadie while she was trying to work or accidently spook the birds. As a Lab, Lola doesn't understand the concept of pointing, so if she found a bird she would probably accidently flush it. Judy and I shot for the second half of the hunt. Although I wouldn't say that Judy got to shoot a lot since he was shooting with me. My dad calls me "quick draw" when I hunt because I don't wait around for other people to shoot, I take my shot as soon as the bird gets up. 

   

I killed a couple birds and then let Jared take back over shooting since he has a field trail coming up in two weeks and he needs to practice. We left the field around noon (it was getting warm and there was another hunt coming after us) and headed back to the house on the preserve to clean our birds. Jared and Judy smoked a cigar while they cleaned the birds we killed, and then we grabbed some lunch and headed back home. 

We got home in the afternoon and had to get our house ready for everyone to come over and watch the ACC Championship. Jared was going to prepare the quail we had killed that morning as a little appetizer for everyone coming over. I'll post the recipe in my next blog :) Hopefully, I'll get to go hunting again soon. I will be walking with Jared on his field trial in two weeks. Happy Hunting!