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The main house dining room could comfortably seat forty around two long cherry tables dressed in linen.  The smell of bacon and coffee hung heavy in the air. I noticed a couple of fellow quail hunters from Ohio stayed up with Jack Daniels last night, thus missing the breakfast feast put before us, and who knows what else. We spent some time with Jack, but didn’t accompany him from Friday night into Saturday morning. The bar, once the gentlemen’s card room, was attractive and comfortable, with a huge fireplace, cigars, top shelf bourbon and good conversation. Our unwritten agenda didn’t include sleeping the day away. We hit the rack relatively early, only anticipating what we might find among the pines in the morning.

We chose wisely, as we enjoyed flaky biscuits, white gravy, grits and butter, thick cut bacon, scrambled eggs, and coffee… true southern style and served as if the folks running the dining room and kitchen had known us for years. Like old pals. True southern hospitality found within the walls of an institution. A plantation with a history all its own. What a historical masterpiece. From rice grown behind the dikes of the Combahee River, to the slaves who worked the fields and were buried at the plantation’s cemetery, the plantation had seen visitors from the Revolutionary war and the Civil war. When the Emancipation Proclamation was made into law, it didn’t really matter, because once the slaves were officially “freed,” they stayed. Slave is not really the appropriate term. They worked hard, but were fed, treated with respect, and given the staples they needed. This place had been home to hundreds over its 226 year history. Some living in the “big house” with its parlors and grand rooms filled with elaborate detail. Others lived in the “slave shacks” out by the stables. They all called this place home. The plantation always had an open door policy for its workers, never abusing the very souls that provided the economic means of existence. They were not forced to work, but would not be allowed to take refuge without giving their fair share of sweat equity.

We rode a pair of horses along side the old green wagon. On the wagon was Rufus, the mule driver, Lucy the yellow Labrador retriever and a few spare pointing dogs stationed in kennels below Rufus’ seat. Jester and Freddy, a pair of German shorthair pointers, were working the wire grass in the pine bottoms. Ellis rode his horse along with ours, watching Jester and Freddy. Ellis was born on the plantation and knew quail like he knew his own family. This 68 year old man served as our dog handler, which meant he let us know when he felt his dogs had picked up a scent and were “birdy.” He also managed Lucy in her efforts to bring the birds to hand. Having pointing dogs play the role of retriever was not practiced at this plantation, nor many others. Pointers are for pointing and retrievers are for retrieving.

We had a nice hunt. The frosty morning quickly turned mild as the Carolina sun rose above the 14,000 acre plantation. It went like this for the most part: Jester would find a covey in the tall grasses and brush of the pine forest. Freddy would honor. Ellis would ask us to dismount and take position. He would release Jester. The covey would explode into the air. We would try to pick out a single bird, move on it, mount the shotgun, and pull the trigger. If the fist shot was successful, a second shell was available to try and do it all again. Thing is, the covey has flushed and their wings have launched them into next week. They are long gone, almost immediately. IF we were lucky enough to harvest one or two birds in a rise, Ellis would call for Lucy, who would find the downed birds and retrieve them back to hand.

Many eyes were watching as we hunted. Expectations were high. It was expected that we would take birds on every rise. Everybody else was doing their part. When my partner missed an opportunity at the second covey rise of the morning, I heard Lucy whine from her spot on the wagon. I think it was her way of telling him to get his game on quickly so all the players on the field would feel rewarded for their efforts. It all came down to the hunter. Miss the shot and you have done a disservice to the handlers, drivers, mules, and all those hard working dogs. Basically, you have a responsibility. In true southern fashion, the unsaid and implied was a much more powerful voice than any spoken word.

Our time at the plantation was an unforgettable experience replayed hundreds of times before on those same grounds. Following dogs through the cool morning mist of the pine forest in the Low Country in search of the gentlemen’s game bird. The history of the plantation and the history of southern plantation quail hunting are both remarkable and gave me the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of generations past. Responsible game management and conservation have allowed wild quail to thrive on the property.  The use of mule drawn wagons, horses, and working dogs represent the traditional and  accepted manner in which quail are harvested in the plantation country of the ACE basin, South Carolina.  Come experience the tradition… just don’t miss!

1. Tom Poland says:

   November 17, 2009 at 4:00 am

   Reminds me of an experience I had in the late ’70s at a Westvaco-owned plantation (at the time), Bonneau Ferry Plantation. Southern to the core and opulent. A fleeting glimpse for me of a Southern way of life destined now I suppose for special occasions and not a daily occurrence.

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2. Lee Leslie says:

   November 17, 2009 at 5:25 am

   Randy – I enjoyed the story until I got down to the part about slavery. “Slave” was the appropriate term. Any folklore that the owners were benevolent masters doesn’t change that fact that the human beings who lived in their slave shacks were kidnapped, put in chains, transported thousands of miles from their homes, forced to work and had no freedom to make their own decisions. Rationalizing this “benevolence” with the evidence that once “freed”, they stayed, makes it worse – just what would you have done if you, and generations of your family before you, had never traveled from one place, had no education, no unique skills, no food, no wealth, no knowledge of law, no protector and no place to go?

   For those interested in what it was like post-emancipation along the Combahee River, here’s a link to wikipedia that has Harriet Tubman’s account and a cites from a couple of newspapers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raid_at_Combahee_Ferry.

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3. Melinda Ennis says:

   November 17, 2009 at 8:50 am

   Lee, I could not have said it better myself. So, I won’t

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4. Randy Schiltz says:

   November 17, 2009 at 3:13 pm

   Lee – This is a quail hunting article that mentions the unusual fact that this particular plantation’s owners (starting in 1857) felt slavery was inhumane. Neither they nor I can account for the original slaves brought to the property years earlier under different plantation ownership, who were indeed shackled and forced to work and lived in awful conditions. I felt this was an unusual piece of information and worth mentioning in the article.

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5. Lee Leslie says:

   November 17, 2009 at 3:48 pm

   Randy – I assumed you were well intended. I even give the plantation owners the benefit of the doubt that they felt slavery was inhumane and had nothing to do with the original kidnapping and transportation, but they still owned human beings, forced them to work and deprived them of freedom. If “slave” is not really the appropriate term, please tell me what is.
   You had opportunity to tell this story any way you wished. You chose to “whitewash” slavery and their indentured status after emancipation. The men and women who survived on that plantation might have had better than many other slaves, but being fed and not beaten is not enough paint to make their owners righteous.

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6. Randy Schiltz says:

   November 17, 2009 at 4:12 pm

   Lee – Your opinion is noted. I did not intend to “whitewash” slavery, but write an article on hunting plantation quail in the south. My facts about the history of the hunting grounds and plantation come firsthand from the current owners who where kind enough to share it. I was not there to question the history as it was explained to me. I simply felt it was interesting enough to include in my quail hunting article.

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7. Trevor Irvin says:

   November 18, 2009 at 6:42 pm

   If you don’t questions things, let alone innacurate history what possible use is there to write about it?

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