It was incredible. The flights were in and the hunting was nothing short of spectacular. Two of our pointers are very young so the experience for them was priceless. They got a year's worth of bird work in three days.
We hunted each dog individually rather than in a brace (which is how we usually hunt quail) so that each dog could be focused on and we only shot if the bird was handled perfectly. Because of the 3 bird limit, I also carry a blank gun and simply do dog work for much of the time.
According to the biologist for the area, the birds began arriving about 3 weeks ago and many had already continued their migration south. Even though the bulk of the flight had already left, we were treated with an abundance of birds still here.
The Francis Marion Forest comprises approximately 260,000 acres of public hunting land in SC. We concentrated our efforts along creeks, draws and around swamps. The birds typically could be found in head-high cane that surrounds the loamy soil containing worms. They also were frequently found under blow-downs and many were located on slight grades just above the streams.
It was a joy to watch the young dogs learn how to find and handle these little upland birds. They are my favorite bird to hunt and I think my pups would agree.
