A fantastic winter of training on wild bobwhite quail

A quintessential sight on a wild bobwhite quail plantation. Northwoods Minerva (RU-CH Erin’s Prometheus x Northwoods Carly Simon, 2017) points into a chopper block under towering longleaf pines.

It’s hard for us to believe but this is the eighth winter Betsy and I have lived and worked in southwestern Georgia. The adage is correct. Time flies.

The reason we’re here is simple—bobwhite quail. This Red Hills region is unique. There are about 300,000 mostly contiguous acres managed by about 100 private plantations devoted to bobwhite quail.

We’re fortunate to train on one of the finest of these plantations near Monticello, Fla. The manager and his crew work year-round to maintain high quality habitat that consistently produces an abundance of wild quail.

Each morning, I load up the day’s dogs and my horse (this Tennessee Walker is named Snort) into the trailer and head out onto the plantation. I park in a central spot and work several braces from there. Northwoods Valencia (Northwoods Grits x Northwoods Carbon, 2018), on left, and Northwoods Minerva (RU-CH Erin’s Prometheus x Northwoods Carly Simon, 2017) are whoa-ed at the breakaway and awaiting my whistle to be released.

I spend the majority of my days out on the plantation, working from horseback and training dogs in braces. When a dog points and a covey of 12, 16, or more flushes within a few feet of the dog and me, the rush is intense and incredible. And I never, ever tire of it.

I also condition derbies and adult dogs. This involves attaching heavy-duty iron bars to my four-wheeler and hooking up the dogs in pairs to each bar. The dogs love it.

Northwoods Vixen (CH Westfall’s Black Ice x Northwoods Prancer, 2011) and her daughter Northwoods Audi (CH Elhew G Force x Northwoods Vixen, 2013) are cool, calm and ready for roading.

In addition, I use homing pigeons brought from our coop in Minnesota to teach steadiness to young dogs.

Steadiness training is started when young dogs show an inclination to not move when pointing. I use an ecollar on the belly so the stimulation is different from other training. Houston’s Audrey is a quick learner.