Three Day South Carolina Quail Hunt

[Mike of the Mountain]

So my buddy David deFernelmont and I headed to South Carolina with our brides to get away from lousy PA winter weather and enjoy some good old Southern quail hunting. We had this hunt planned since last Summer and we looked forward to the 'whir of wings" with much anticipation. We hunted three days, January 13-15. Dave had his two GSPs and I had two of our English Setters. To say that the dogs didn't embarrass us was an understatement!! The dog work was stellar! We would hunt my Setters in the AM and Dave's GSPs in the PM. A perfect set up. Dave used his CZ guns in 28 and .410 while I had my Parker VH 20 and Lefever DS 20. I'd hunt with the Parker in the AM and the Lefever in the PM. All total over the three days we bagged 201 quail! The action was intense. We were both able to score on doubles on Wednesday AM, about 20 minutes apart. Both doubles were very similar as the first bird was a quartering low bird and the second was a climbing bird. That was my first addition to the "Parker Doubles Club". The only negative of the three days was on Thursday AM, we arrived at our pine savanna field to see a large lab mix dog running all around and chasing birds. That definitely cut into what we found in the field. Let's just say that dog ran off in a hurry.

The temps were perfect for our hunting and running the dogs. Each day started in the high 40s. Tuesday wound up pushing 70, Wednesday was low 60s and Thursday was in the high 50s.

Along with the hunting, the food was outstanding! Nothing like Southern cooking to warm and comfort tired bodies. Even the last night's meal included quail in gravy!! deeeeeelicious!

The first photo is fried pork chops with gravy, black eyed peas and collard greens!