It’s my heart not my stomach that drive me to get up at 4:00 AM. I love eating quail but it’s the excitement of hunting with my dogs with a nice gun that fires me up.
When I open the back door at that time of day the dogs already know we are going hunting. It’s the rhythmic tap of their tails against the side of the dog box letting me know how excited they are to be going hunting.
It’s the whine and pawing at the doors as all 3 or 4 dogs dogs all shake with excitement wanting to be the first on the ground.
It’s the knowledge they have of knowing the tracking collar needs to go on before the hunt and with the strapping it on their excitement knowing the game is about to begin.
It’s the tweet on the whistle and at the sound launching like a horse from the starting gate out into the hills.
It’s the amazement again as I watch them cut into the wind making wide casts across the oak covered hill sides. Watching as they cover 100’s of yards in mear seconds.
Watching as at one moment they are on a dead run the next moment slamming on the brakes to become staunch as a statue.
It’s the walking up to that dog and observing it with its head held high and it’s mouth slightly open pulling the scent through its nose and out its mouth tasting the scent of the birds.
It’s that few seconds when you push ahead flushing the covey. The sound of the birds with their distinct TWURRRRRRRR as they rise up screaming through the opening in the oak trees.
It’s your heart racing and the adrenaline pumping that although you know it’s about to come always makes you jump just a little as you are flooded with excitement.
It’s the memory you will carry of the sight picture you capture as you swing on the bird and the at the report the dropping of a bird and with feathers still in the air. That secondary flush that seems to come many times yet still catches you by surprise and seems to jump start your heart once more.
Finally it’s your special hunting partner racing past you to make the retrieve. With her locating the bird many times out of sight for a moment, then the reappearance with the bird held in her mouth as she brings it to you.
Then as quickly as you put the bird in your vest she launches out back to business and refocused on finding that next bird.