16 Gauge Shells

[Southpaw]

Rio Piedra is an excellent place and had a very memorable experience there. I hunted there many years ago. Have been to many plantation hunts in South Georgia and they are all pretty good with some better than others and Rio Piedra is top notch and is a pretty place to hunt along the Flint River bottoms. A lot of times terrain on most of these places in South Georgia can be fairly flat and RP has some of that in their quiver of locations they maintain. Getting to hunt close to the river was special with its undulating terrain, dry oxbo draws and ancient river banks left over as the Flint has changed course over thousands of years. Topo was not particularly tough to navigate but it added to challenge of the hunt and not because we were out of shape, physically limited or hungover. It was because they had enough birds that had survived a season or two along with predation that they had figured out safe terrain and thick cover.

When we hunted they had already had established operations in several places but they were trying to get some new locations up to speed. Plenty of challenging birds that can be found in very easily accessible areas to get your bird limit in beautiful hunting areas endemic of what a managed landscape South Georgia quail hunt is supposed to look like.

The grounds and game management system they employ is top notch. I grew up hunting wild quail and as far as a commercial operation the birds at Rio Piedra flew and behaved about as close to wild game as you can get. We hunted there in early December so that can make a difference. All our covey rises behaved like wild birds and there were no stragglers, and if dogs got on point there was no time for a leisure stroll to get into position or birds may break on you even with some experienced well trained quality dog work. We actually had to hunt pretty hard to find covey's which I thoroughly enjoyed because of the excellent dog work that was required. It was hunting and not just shooting since you had to work to get your limit and that was part of the reward and value add part of experience.

It is not that there aren't a lot of birds but the areas we hunted were so big there were so many places for them to be. We averaged about 10 coveys per hunt over three days and 4 hunts. We covered a lot of ground but not all they controlled. Some places steer you away from chasing singles after a covey rise but we chased them and we really had to work together to mark birds to follow up on and I found out later why. Second flushes were challenging as well and that is when the solid dog work is really fun to watch.

After that first day we told guide that we wanted to hunt some areas less traveled. He got a gleam in his eye and said perfect since it would take some pressure off some areas. He took us to an area that they had just started managing near the river. The fields were in place but edge cover was thick and needed thinning. They put out a good many birds to get base population going but after being hunted a few times seems a batch of them had figured out the area and there were a couple of river coveys. That was reason after covey rises we hunted singles hard because if they got away they would merge into the river coveys that were mobs. Still remember the guide chuckling in a dead run as soon as dog got on point along the river bank. We had to sprint almost 75 yards and luckily the first covey held. There might of been 50 birds in that first one along the river and they would flush wild and then fly across the river. Now I have experienced plenty of large covey flushes but nothing like these. It was a sight to behold. We saw three coveys and only got a shot at first covey rise, the other two broke as soon as a dog got within 20 yards of them.

The food was great and what you would expect at a high end restaurant and I appreciated it even though I have a less demanding palate. The accommodations were top notch as well. Hanging out on the covered porches, then by the river and then later by the outdoor fireplace with a roaring fire and more than a few adult beverages really was satisfying. BTW we also saw some incredible deer and story at the time was that the chef was only one allowed to hunt the deer as part of the condition of his employment.

Sorry Joe got carried away remembering my time there. BTW not a paid advertisement. I don't think it will disappoint at all. Your 16 gauge will work serve you well there. Also when we hunted there they were about to get property on both sides of Flint for those river coveys that traded back and forth.