Chinquapin
Where quail prevail
And pointers seek and point them
For men and women to swing guns to shoot them
Save in the second week of January
When the world's best dogs come to seek and point them
Their handlers stomp to flush them
And they fly away to safety
And when the gallery has passed
The quail regroup
And wander through the wire grass seeking corn to eat
Wary still of predators avian and pedestrian
On the Heaven that is Chinquapin
By Tom Word
About the Author : Tom Word
Visit authors website | View more articlesTom Word is a lawyer who represents individuals about managing their assets and for amusement writes fiction and non-fiction about bird dogs and humans obsessed with them.
About the Artist : Leah Brigham
Visit artist websiteAfter graduating from Millersville University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelors of Science in Art Education, Leah began teaching Art to inner city Middle School students in Houston and later Dallas, TX. Leah has shared with her students her passion for art and nature. This passion has sustained her and continued throughout her life in the form of painting and drawing.
Leah was introduced to American Field Horseback Field Trails and has been able to experience the excitement of seeing her own dog, competing for the National Championship at Ames Plantation in Grand Junction, TN ...standing on point, head and tail held high. This has inspired her to create works of art depicting dogs and the wildlife associated with the sport and hunting.
Related Aritlces
Whatever you do, dont panic if you accidentally shoot the dog
My liver and white pointer Gep stood staunchly on point on a covey of scaled quail on the Colorado prairie. I hadn't seen my 6 month old coverdog-setter Gretchen for almost an hour since I turned her loose on the shortgrass prairie. My last check on the GPS showed her 700-plus yards out to the west. As I approached Gep, a large covey of scalies erupted in a whirr from the cholla as I raised my Parker GH 16 bore to pick an escaping bird. The first bird folded and I swung to pick another bird out of the covey. I pulled the back trigger just as I detected motion from the corner of my right eye...Gretchen appeared out of nowhere and it was too late. I had already fired the second barrel on a late riser just as she arrived on the scene. I was pretty sure she got peppered by the tail end of my pattern.
Girls, Guns, and Gun Dogs!
Growing up in the south one gains an appreciation for late fall/early springtime bobwhite quail hunting behind a brace of pointers about as much as anything can be appreciated. The landscape here is dotted with private plantations, public shooting preserves, and small family farms that hold the elusive Gentleman-Bob...opportunities abound. In fact, I cut my gun dog teeth, as it were, training pointing breeds and stumbling around bottom lands I could access hunting quail. It would be some years before I switched my focus over to retrieving breeds entering the world of professional training and trial competition.
Rainy Day Dove Shoot
I woke up this morning to pouring rain here in Gainesville, FL. My spirits were also a bit damp as I had plans to go to Watermelon Pond Plantation in Archer, FL to work my German Shorthaired Pointer, Hank, with bird dog trainer extraordinaire, Kate Boulos. A dove shoot was planned for the afternoon. When the rain stopped around 12:00 pm, I was happy. My fiancee and I loaded up Hank and headed out with a cooler full of cold drinks and a mullet dip for the cookout. I prepared it last night after a great day of red fishing out of Cedar Key. It turned out great and everyone seemed to enjoy it. We arrived in plenty of time to grab a quick snack of delicious bar b qued pork, chili cheese dip and baked beans and then headed out to the quail woods.
