QUAIL SHOOTING IN GEORGIA. 



W. P. Brown. 



The light frost lay thick on the wire 

 grass and the old fields, well sifted 

 with broom sedge, were smoking under 

 the influence of the rising sun, when 

 Jared and I, accompanied by Whizz and 

 Buzz, two exceptionally meek and long- 

 nosed buff setters, started across the 

 creek bottom that lay between us and 

 the stamping grounds of several bevies 

 of quail, which had been tantalizing us 

 at odd times when dog and gun did not 

 happen to be handy. 



As we mounted the opposite rise, up 

 jumped a "cotton tail/' whereat Whizz, 

 unmindful of previous scoldings, tore 

 away after, both dog and rabbit disap- 

 pearing in a briar patch, heedless of 

 Jared's repeated calls. I picked up a 

 switch and stationed myself at the oppo- 

 site mouth of the gully. Presently Whizz 

 jumped out and looked about for" Brer 

 Cotton Tail " with a "where am I at " 

 sort of expression. I lifted her by the 

 collar to a convenient angle and applied 

 a hickory corrective, sadly but with ef- 

 fect. Whizz departed in such a chas- 

 tened frame of mind, that when Buzz 

 presently came to a stand on the brink 

 of the slope, Whizz sat down dejected 

 and indifferent. 



Jared and I cautiously approached a 

 tall clump of sedge, while Buzz, with 

 tail quivering like a leaf in the wind, 

 moved forward at a signal. The grass 

 tops waved, the setter charged round 

 and round, but no Bob White rose 

 variously ; no drum roll of wings saluted 

 our ears. 



I let down the hammers of my Parker 

 to half cock, while Jared investigated the 

 sedge clump. 



" Don't see nothing," said he. "Looks 

 like Buzz ought to take a whipping too." 



Buzz also seemed to non-plussed that 

 the dejection of Whizz turned into 

 curiosity. Both dogs ranged to and fro 

 through the tall grass, while Jared and 

 I explored more slowly. Suddenly a 

 general whirr sounded about our feet, 

 and a dozen birds rose at our very 

 noses, scattering in every direction. 



One might as well have fired at the 



sun as far as any chance of hitting went 

 When distant enough for a shot they 

 were radiating like the spokes of a wheel 

 Where had they been all the while? 



Just then Jared uttered an exclamation 

 and partially disappeared. When his 

 head rose over the sedge again, I found 

 him extracting one leg from an immense 

 gopher hole that ran slantingly under a 

 semi-flat rock. Under there was as cosy 

 a roosting place as ever a lucky quail 

 happened on for a cold night. There 

 were the impressions of their fat little 

 bodies in the sand, where they had 

 nestled in a bunch. 



We passed on, feeling somewhat dis- 

 couraged, yet unsubdued. Taking 

 Whizz, Jared followed the slope of the 

 field that hovered along the creek for a 

 mile, preparatory to sweeping over the 

 ridgy upland, towards which I now took 

 my way with the other dog. 



I soon heard a couple of shots and 

 concluded that Jared was beginning to 

 feel encouraged. Then Whizz demanded 

 all my attention. She was advancing 

 towards a low fringe of chink-a-pin 

 bushes, and stepping slowly yet daintily, 

 her long, keen nose well elevated and 

 her black nostrils quivering. 



Suddenly she stiffened herself into an 

 attitude of motionless attention and 

 stood half crouching, like a statue, ex- 

 cept that the tip of her tail jerked ner- 

 vously. Good dog ! Perhaps she was 

 not so much to blame for that rabbit 

 episode after all- 



I stationed myself, made ready and 

 gave Whizz the signal. She moved for- 

 ward and up rose seven quails. 



Bang ! Bang ! 



As I took three birds from Whizz's 

 mouth, one after another, and stuffed 

 them into my bag, we both felt better. 

 I ceased to envy Jared and Whizz buried 

 the past in oblivion. After that we had 

 good sport for an hour, during which I 

 secured five more birds with six shots, 

 two of them clean misses, I am sorry to 

 say. 



When I met Jared at the far foot log 

 over the creek, he reported eleven quails 



