Mount Pleasant Magazine Jan/Feb 2019

28 www.MPMcalendar.com | www.BestOfMP.com | www.ILoveMountPleasant.com W e advanced slowly through the longleaf pines, carefully watching our guide’s dogs in front of us as they scoured the brush for our quarry. The morning had been productive, and our game bag was filling. The dogs methodically worked the area from left to right with some occasional encouragement and instruction from their master. The jingling of the bells that were affixed to their collars filled the air. We patiently awaited their silence, as that would announce that the dogs had found a bird – and were frozen on-point. Without warning, the floor of the Carolina bay that we were slipping through came alive. In an explosive rush, a covey of quail sprang up directly in front of us. We were caught completely off-guard, and our inexperience in the sport of quail hunting came to light; not a shot was fired. Our guide smiled and politely explained that we had just experienced our first natural “covey rise.” We regrouped and continued our forward progress with vigor. That moment will forever be etched in my mind, much like another covey of quail I had experienced many years before in an urban setting at the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition (SEWE) in downtown Charleston. I remember walking through one of the venues and coming across a large bronze sculpture of a covey of quail exploding into the air, exactly as we had just experienced in that swampy Carolina bay. I remember standing in awe at the beauty captured by the artist and feeling the desire to see that scene in the wild. The many short stories and works of art that I had enjoyed regarding quail hunting were validated the moment those birds took flight and eluded my barrels. The short stories of Havilah Babcock and Archibald Rutledge that I had read over and over had come to life yet again. The countless paintings and wildlife sketches of dogs on- point and getting “birdy” came to mind. I had experienced an event that had sparked not only my imagination and wonder but the skills of many artists and writers of years passed – and those yet to come. I sat in the dining room of the hunting lodge, having lunch after that morning’s hunt, and looked about the room at all of the artwork and sculptures that had been collected over the years by the outfitter. Each piece told a story. Who made them? Where did they come from? What inspired them? I immediately thought of the upcoming 2019 Southeastern Wildlife Exposition and the fun to be had in searching for quail art for my own BY MICHAEL COCHRAN A Grand Celebration of Nature SoutheasternWildlife Exhibition Photos courtesy of Ashley Smith.