This writer feels as though he has died and gone to heaven — an Orvis-endorsed heaven, at that.
Last week was my annual sojourn to Alabama. That trip is part of a “home and home” series that plays out each year. When my niece Kristine got married in Alabama on the Columbus Day long weekend, my having to leave prime time upland hunting in New York and Massachusetts was a huge personal sacrifice. That point was expressed to Dr. Andrew Sawyer, the groom, whom I had been told was a hunter, the first time we met.
What evolved over time has been a friendship built on our common love of hunting. His first trip to Massachusetts to visit, that included a bird hunt and nearly being run over by a huge eight-point buck, got things started. Soon, it was me flying to Alabama in January to hunt deer, quail and ducks and Andrew heading north each fall to upland hunt and also pursue whitetails and ducks. Those hunts were epic as invariably, hunting days with the emergency room doctor were successful and he now has taken many woodcock and grouse and pheasants over my dogs. We have spent a lot of hours conversing while walking uplands in “gentleman’s hunts,” traveling in pickup trucks and sharing a hunting cabin both here and there. What has resulted is a friendship that I treasure and many common interests.
Last week, after he picked me up at the Dothan, Ala., airport, we chatted on the way to camp. He informed me that he had booked a quail hunt for Thursday at a plantation in Georgia. Andrew had heard me speak of my dream of a Southern-style quail hunt that had persisted since my teen-age years when the Weyerhaeuser calendar from Hayden Lumber always had one picture of long-leaf pines and quail. Some personal friends had experienced them and shared the details with me, including mule-drawn wagons, English pointers locating a covey of quail and flushing dogs like springers or labs called in to flush and retrieve. This, for me, was indeed a dream come true!
The first order of business, however, was deer hunting. Andrew’s father-in-law, Dr. John Campbell, owns a couple hundred acres of land and a camp that was to be our Covid-quarantined base of operations. Over the past few years, John has contracted for the completion of considerable habitat work on the land, which is split by a 30-foot-wide creek. There are food plots, trails, and openings on the property plus a number of feeders, legal in Alabama for hunting with the proper permit. Andrew has several trail cameras mounted around the plots and they have provided pictures of a number of different bucks, including a big racker he has named “Big Boy.” That afternoon was spent in a ladder stand but Big Boy and his friends did not show themselves. The next morning, however, three does did feed past me but that was not what I had come for and we quit mid-morning to head to the Rio Piedra Plantation in Camilla, Georgia.
We were joined by my nephew, Mathew Campbell, who was to be an observer/photographer to chronicle the day. After arriving, we were served a great lunch that featured goulash with tasty, tender beef and a chef-quality salad. Our host, Sam Atchison, then greeted us and we watched a safety video to show us what a southern quail hunt was like.
Next, we met our guide, Joey Brown, and the six dogs that would be working the coveys. The traditional mule-drawn wagon has been replaced with a jeep, specially outfitted with an elevated rear seat and stacked dog boxes. Guns were to be unloaded until a covey was pointed and Joey would position us for the flush. The two male pointers were first out of the box and soon they were solid on point, tails high. We then walked in and waited for the English cocker spaniel to flush the quail. As an experienced upland guide myself, the warnings to never shoot below eye level to ensure the dogs’ safety and never swing your gun outside of your designated area made it clear that safety was more important than shooting a bird. That first covey flushed, one by one, and the “whirring” of wings was something to hear as they buzzed up and away. By the time the last bird flushed, we had each downed a quail and also passed on low birds that risked the dogs.
The pointers found covey after covey and we had fabulous shooting. The first three dogs were replaced after a half hour or so as the 65-degree temperature drains energy fast. The next set of dogs included two female pointers and a female cocker and they, and the hunting, were just as good. When we swung back to the jeep, Joey asked if we wanted another hunt and, with 21 quail in the bag, we declined. It had been as good as it possibly could be with an excellent guide, great dog work, and (of course) outstanding shooting by Andrew and myself.
Then it was back to the lodge, a spectacular Southern-style building with ample porches for lounging and a patio complete with fireplace for sitting, chatting, and sipping a post-hunt beverage. And sip we did, before replenishing our glasses and taking a stroll to the riverbank, where we sat on another porch and relived a fantastic day in the outdoors.
The great day, however, was not over. What followed was an elegant dinner with fine wine and a main course of smoked quail (from the property) that was finished with pecan pie from the pecan grove adjacent to the long leaf pines we had hunted. With 5,000 acres to hunt, our guide had stated that covers are usually rested four days between hunts to protect the coveys from depletion. Later, when we chatted with Sam, it was obvious that he and his wife were rightfully proud of the experience Rio Piedra continues to provide. The place was established by his parents, Bill and Anne Atchison and continues to be rated by most as one of, if not the best Georgia quail hunting destinations.
Believe me, Rio Piedra is absolutely one of the finest places to really experience true Southern quail hunting and, when you pair the hunting with world-class cuisine and hospitality, it is no wonder that January and February are busy with northerners looking to get away from winter and enjoy a world-class quail hunt. This writer could not imagine any place being any better and it was indeed a dream come true experience.