Quail Hunting in Maryland, a look back

[Robert Brooks]

Beautiful setter! Bobby

[Double Lab]

It was 1970 and I was sitting in a deer stand in Dorchester Co., MD waiting for that record breaking whitetail to amble by. But instead a covey of quail walked by in single file.

That was enough to shift my focus to to Mr. Bob White.

Back then I had access to numerous farms in Dorchester Co. to hunt deer and waterfowl but these farms had a bonus of Colinus Virginianus.

It's a really long story but a WWll bomber pilot had an English pointer who had heartworm disease and was going to put him down. I took him, treated him for the disease, then hunted him for 12 years. The veterinerian who treated him and cured him, became a lifelong friend and hunting partner.

We hunted quail for years until they dissapeared never taking more than 4 birds from a covey.

Seems like so long ago but so many great memories.

Thanks for the thread Tom.

[Joe D.]

In the 80s we hunted a lot of farms east of Rte.50 along Rte.16 east and points south. Secretary, Hurlock, Eldorado and the entire area. Wonderful memories of Brittanies with the intense points which only a covey of wild quail can trigger!! Little did I fully realize how good I had it back then!
Tom, Stoney was quite a beautiful dog!

[mobirdhunter]

Sometimes it's hard to believe how quickly quail hunting bottomed out in the Mid-Atlantic and South. "My" quail in peninsular Virginia were showing signs of decline even back in the 1970s, but we still found birds on paper company lands in the Piedmont into the late 1980s. It's nice to remember how it was.

Progress giveth, and Progress taketh away.

[Tom Flanigan]

Originally Posted by Joe Dreisch

In the 80s we hunted a lot of farms east of Rte.50 along Rte.16 east and points south. Secretary, Hurlock, Eldorado and the entire area. Wonderful memories of Brittanies with the intense points which only a covey of wild quail can trigger!! Little did I fully realize how good I had it back then!
Tom, Stoney was quite a beautiful dog!

Thanks Joe. I have always had "small" setters because I believed that they lived longer. My current setter is the smallest I have ever seen. I believe the large setters such as the Ryman and others are the prettiest of dogs. I would have loved to own one, but right or wrong, I always felt the small setters lived longer. I hunted Stoney when he was fifteen years old. He died when he was sixteen.