To see hundreds of thousands of acres of private property managed for bobwhite quail, bring up Thomasville, GA and Tallahassee, FL on the same screen in Google Earth. Note the dearth of pivot irrigation or agricultural fields in a wide zone between the two cities. The appearance of this land from high altitude easily contrasts with the agricultural fields outside of the zone between the two cities. In over 600,000 acres between the two cities, the land looks different. Now zoom into one of the brownish areas that doesn't look like a forest. Get to about 400 feet. Note what appears to be a checkerboarding of the landscape. That's "blocking" wherein lanes are cut through the grasses that allow bird hunters to approach the dogs along clear lanes. The squares are typically 25x25 yards. The birds are in the squares of uncut taller grasses and shrubs. These are wild birds on a grand scale. These wealthy owners are not only stewards of the land, but also of wild quail. A "course" is a route that hunters on foot or horseback can cover in a half day or whatever the landowner desires. The courses are hunted not more than 4 times a season on many places to protect the wild coveys. Gil
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