Texas Hunting

Smith: Sold on winter quail hunting

SALE CITY - Near this settlement, population 319, is a place called Covey Pointe Plantation, whose name suggests what the principal activity might be when you enter the gates off Jerusalem Church Road.

Quail hunting in winter is like eating watermelon in summer - you never tire of the experience.What naturally brings people outdoors is to enjoy the hunting experience, and when the hunt is good you are duly rewarded. Not only that, your experience can be enhanced by the guides and the dogs. You're in for a good day when you are with hospitable and knowledgeable guides like Gene Bell and Wade Spires, who work from horseback. They follow the dogs until there is a point.They raise their caps skyward, a signal that action awaits an eager hunter.

A raised heartbeat is an indicator of the treasured anticipation that accompanies you to a scene you will retain in your mind's eye indefinitely - whether you are in the solitude of a long drive or on a jetliner surrounded by people but bereft of contact in your own cocoon. In those quiet, personal times, you reflect back to Gene and Wade and dogs named Faith and Scarlett, Hawk and Lane.(We almost didn't get to meet Lane, a vignette to be recalled later.)

There was a Brittany named Betsy Sue, a smart-nosed dog with beauty on the hoof, and an indefatigable commitment to the hunt. Plus a retriever's adroitness. A Brittany reminds you of its heritage, its French lineage that inspired the great artists to often include a Brittany in various outdoor scenes when they brought life to canvas.

After lunch - which included an assortment of vegetables, fried chicken, and pecan pie, prepared by Gene's mother, Annie McClendon -t here was the urge to find a napping place.A good morning in the fields followed by a plate enhanced by Annie's touch - this is indeed the good life.

Gene smiled as the afternoon hunt got under way, asking rhetorically, "Ready for some more action?"Every



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