A Step Back in Time

C.O.B. · 02-02-2018, 11:13 AM

When I turned into the drive of Morrison Pines in Moultrie Georgia time seemed to go backwards. I looked at the Long leaf Pines and thought what a wide open area to shoot and the wire grass ground cover didn't seem so bad either. For a grouse hunter this looked easy.

When we stopped at the entrance to the lodge the staff was there to greet us. "Mr. Rich let me get those bags, Mr. Eric I'll take those sir. Our guns and luggage was ushered to our rooms. "Can I get you all a coffee or cold drink?"
After a first day drive of 15 hours and a short 5 hour drive the next day we had arrived early and I just wanted to lie down and maybe take a nap. Mike Smith had yet to arrive and a short rest before lunch and the afternoon hunt seemed like a good idea.

Morrison Pines uses several guides and there are two hunts per day each with a different guide and a different hunt area. Birds are released early and given time to acclimate to their new surroundings. If they learn to survive the hawks they become a very worthwhile adversary. Dogs are a combination of German Shorthairs, English Pointers, Brittanys and most guides run a flushing dog such as a lab or a Boyken Spaniel or Cockers.

The afternoon hunt was with the owners son Jason as our guide. He has a nice GSP named Ranger that reminds me a lot of Gunner along with a couple of English Pointers and a flushing cocker named Ryker. Mike Smith also brought his two GSP's Sam and Diamond.
I was lamenting the fact that I hadn't picked up a shotgun since October and with 'The Lost Fall of 2017" I mostly just carried one. "You'll probably shoot a double on the first covey rise" came the reply from Mike.

I always bring a bunch of guns to Morrison Pines. We are there for three days so that's 6 hunts which means 6 guns. Sounds logical to me. The guns included Gunner's gun naturally, an upgraded AAHE 28, W.R. Pape 28ga hammer gun, CHE Damascus 20 and a new to me Purdey light game gun. Even though this is a 12 I was using RST 2 inch paper shells with 15/16th's of #8's so it's basically a 28ga load in a 12ga hull.

As always Gunner's Gun is first up. Those birds that I thought would be so easy on the drive in proved me so very wrong on that first rise. They have a habit of exploding in your face and by the time you get your wits about you they're gone. I managed a single on the rise and a late flusher offered the coveted double. Though feathers flew as if from a shattered pillow the bird kept going not to be found again. No double for COB there.

The afternoon was a series of covey rises and shots made and missed by all three of us. There are usually two shooters on the ground at one time. We have been coming here now for five years and some of the guides that know us will allow all three of us to shoot. The wire grass and Gall Berry bushes made walking tricky as the grass will trip you up faster than you can believe and just to add to the difficulty there are holes, lots of holes. Some are from burned out tree stumps but most come from Gopher Tortoises.

The routine progressed for the next three days. We had great weather with the mornings in the low to mid 30's and the afternoon warming up to the mid to high 40's. It might have been cold to the thin blooded southerners but to this Yankee who left wind chills in the negative double digits for several weeks it was a real heat wave.

I wanted to hunt a tight and thick area Mike and I hunted two years ago. I asked about it and Jerry (the manager) said "Mr. Rich you really want to hunt Sasquatch?"." Nobody has been in there all year it's just to thick, the grass is three feet tall and it hasn't been burned in years." "Hell yes that's where we want to go and lets take Jason for the guide". I was thinking of those flushing Cockers of his.

For this hunt I choose the Purdey, it's light and fast and with the open chokes I thought it ideal for the type of shooting we would encounter. Jason took us and as he parked the truck I asked about where we were as it wasn't the same place as before. "This is the upper portion of Sasquatch you hunted the lower portion before". "You want thick and tough you'll get it here". He was right the grass was three feet tall the gall berry bushes formed a thick green screen. These remind me a lot of our Autumn Olive bushes. The wire grass seems to reach up and grab you by the ankles daring you to try to move forward. It didn't take long for the pointers to nail a covey. There had to have been 15 birds in it. I picked a bird and a tree jumped in the way then another and another. The covey flew off without a shot being fired. It was so thick that it was hard to follow the singles because you couldn't see where they went. Quail feathers floating in the air have been called Georgia snow, well we made a bunch of Georgia sawdust as one tree after another took a load of bird shot. At the end of the hunt we had 16 trophy birds to show for our efforts and I personally had about 30 empty shells in my vest. It was the fewest number of bird we shot but they were the finest birds we hunted. Even Jason enjoyed it and said "next year we will do both the upper and lower portions, we will make a day of Sasquatch". I must confess I'm looking forward to it already.

Our last hunt was Saturday morning and we were the only ones there. We had the whole back woods to our disposal. For this hunt we all took hammer guns. Mike and I have 28's while Eric used a 20. Our guide for this hunt was Brad and we have hunted with him before and he would allow all of us to hunt at the same time. He decided this would be a covey only hunt no chasing singles. Needless to say this was a bunch of fun and both Mike and I managed doubles on the rise with our hammer guns.

As with all good things they eventually come to an end and so it was with this trip. Morrison Pines is a great place and as close to old time Quail hunting you can come to in a commercial setting. The Southern hospitality is present everywhere, the food is great and there is no shortage of it. I told Jerry that I eat more here in one day than I do at home in three and that's the truth. The dog work is exemplary and the guides friendly and accommodating. We have rebooked for nest year come join us.
Pictured is Mike Smith with his double using Gunner's Gun, Ryker with a retrieve as a pup and just a glimpse of the dog work and the cover.