First off, I'm not very good at this so forgive me if it's not that interesting to read.  I tried to take some photos but they didn't come out very well at all so none are being included.  That said... My company just paid for several of us to spend a day at Pine Hill Plantation in Donalsonville, GA, for a quail hunt.  There were ten of us in all, including my boss.  It's a damn long drive down there from the ATL area.  I'm glad a buddy and I decided to carpool.  Here's how the trip went.

You check in around 3:00 - 4:00 PM the afternoon before you're scheduled to hunt.  As soon as everyone in your party checks in, they walk you over to the five-stand area to bust some clays.  I was (or still am, I guess) a total newcomer to the sport of wingshooting.  You can bring your own gun if you have a 20 or 28 gauge.  No 12 gauges allowed.  The only shotguns I own are both 12 gauges, so I was "forced" to use one of Pine Hill's loaners - a nicely cared for Beretta Silver Pigeon in 28 ga.  Really roughing it there... The owner of Pine HIll, Doug Coe, was there with one of his range masters to give tips to those of us that hadn't had the pleasure before.  The little 28 ga shot like a dream, and even though you'd be hard pressed to call me a good shot, I was soon breaking more than I missed.  My boss, BTW, powdered his first eight or ten in a row and racked his gun, knowing that we all needed the practice more than he did.  

We shot until sundown, whereupon we carried our loaners back to the lodge and racked them in the "ATF" room.  You can easily guess what the "ATF" room is for.  Cigars were available, and the guns were stored in a nice rack directly between the fire[lace and a fully-stocked bar.  There were four different kinds of bourbon, three Scotches, a few vodkas, gins, and rums.  The lodge is fully staffed with a master chef and his helpers - a nice lady came in with a full ice bucket and said, "Have at it, fellas".  We did.  Dinner was served in the main dining room - fried quail was the entrée.  It was delicious.  Much merriment was enjoyed that night.  

Breakfast was served by the same staff as the night before at 8 the following morning.  After breakfast, we watched a short video about the upcoming hunt, and the safety rules that would be enforced.  I was very impressed by the attitude the staff showed toward safety.  We were broken up into two teams and taken out to the range.  I was told that Pine Hill owns some six thousand acres, and all hunting is strictly limited to prevent over-hunting of any one area of it.  The fields are well taken care of so they don't get too overgrown with crap --  they offer an ideal habitat for quail.  Each team had a wagon with several sets of dogs.  Each team also had two guides to make sure the hunt was both safe and productive.  The guides and some of the hunting party were on horseback - the dogs and the rest of the party rode on a very comfortable wagon.  The dogs would range out sniffing out the birds, and each time they came to a point, two hunters would be called out to flush the covey.  Shooting was fast and exciting.  Again, I missed many more than I dropped, but as Pine Hill was paying the ammo bill, I didn't mind too much.  I have to confess that I had never before saw the allure of bird hunting.  It always just seemed to me to be a good way to be cold, wet, and miserable.  My day at Pine Hill changed that opinion completely.

We hunted until noon, had a leisurely lunch back at the lodge, and resumed hunting around two o'clock.  As the day warmed up, the birds were flying incredibly fast.  It seemed like you only had a split-second to pick one out of a covey, shoulder your gun, and fire.  I can't over-state it - the little Berettas handled incredibly well.  That said, those little 28 ga shells don't hold a whole lot of shot - you had to do your part to hit your bird.  I downed several, but failed every attempt at a double that I tried.  I understand that several of our group did score a double though.  In the end, we were all presented with a small cooler loaded down with frozen quail to take home, as a memento of the trip.  I would have rather been allowed to take home one of the shotguns, but what can you do?    

All in all, it was a fantastic day spent with great friends.  The Pine Hill guides were great people to spend the day with, always offering suggestions, and keeping everything safe and flowing well without being bossy. Always ready with a funny story, too.  The weather was great.  Watching the dogs work was like watching an incredibly intricate ballet that had not a single step choreographed.The amenities were beautiful -- especially the ATF room.  I highly recommend Pine Hill as a great way to get away for the day.  

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Nice write up. Definitely sounds like a fun time. How'd you get plugged in?

Plugged in?

Did you see a little Mexican dude named Juan??????

No.  Doug, Clayton, Todd, Vance, and a couple other guys, but no Juan else...

Sorry, I meant how'd you end up there. I re-read and saw your company paid. Don't think that will ever happen where I work....

Always been a waterfowler but I'd like to do some upland hunting one day. Sounds like you guys had a blast.

I have a great boss.  That can not be overstated.

Sounds awesome.  My ex wife's family down in Vidalia runs a similar setup named Swift Creek Wings.  Pretty awesome adventure with similar amenities.  The only thing I hated about divorcing my ex wife was losing the free quail hunts.

Sounds like an awesome trip!  Would love to do something like that someday, just haven't make it a priority in the budget.  That's a sweet company trip though!

Any reason why 12 ga is not allowed?  I know sometimes quail hunters encourage smaller shot size to make it more difficult, but am not that familiar with the specifics.  ATF room sounds nice.

Quail are tiny. I found myself taking the majority of my shots inside ten yards. Even with the little 28, one of my hits, all you saw was a puff of white feathers.  The guide was like, "That's what we call South Georgia snow..."  Plus, the 28 recoils so little that you can shoot all day and not get tired. I've got a bad right shoulder - I really appreciate that.

This sounds like an awesome trip. Have you cooked the meat you brought home yet?

Looks like a lot of fun, be nice if my boss was into hunting. May have to check them out if I ever feel the need to get out and get spoiled.

I found a nice and easy recipe for quail online - had to add my own touches to it.

1.  Make sure all birds are thawed through.
2.  Melt some butter in a deep frying pan, add some olive oil.
3.  Brown birds about 3 to 4 minutes on each side - just long enough to get each breast browned.
     -- I don't know if all quail are like this, but mine were sort of flattish - you would brown them on one breast side, then flip them over to get the other breast side.
4.  Pull the birds out of the frying pan and try to spread them open so they'll lay on their backs.
5.  Lay them out, breast side up, on a shallow baking pan.
6.  Season with salt, pepper, a little garlic, and rosemary. Maybe a little thyme or basil if you're feeling froggy.
7.  Slide them into a preheated oven (around 400 degrees)

All the websites told me that most people prefer their quail very rare, so you'd only want them in the oven for ten to twelve minutes or so.  I know my clan wouldn't even look at them if they were rare, so I ended up leaving them in there for about 15 to 18 minutes -- enough to cook them through.  They were delicious.

The best way to cook quail is to deep fry them whole or breast them out and fry them like chicken.

Upland bird (Quail, Dove, and Pheasant) hunting is one of the most enjoyable hunting sports imagined. The day I discovered that type of hunting, I quit deer hunting forever! No comparison.....

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I had them breaded and fried for dinner that night at the lodge.  I wasn't too thrilled by all the breading on them. I knew the clan wouldn't be either. I thought about just breading them lightly and deep frying them that way, but roasting them seemed more foolproof.  (And when it comes to cooking, I can be a pretty damn big fool.)

I've cooked them like I do my doves, wrapped with bacon and a pat of butter in foil and grilled.

Bacon wrapped anything with this method won't be regretted. And any recomendations from this guy when it comes to grilling should be taken seriously...seriously.

We should start a GaHTF recipe book, it's as good a reference guide as any weapon manual I can think of.