Larry Smith had been asking me to come to Attapulgu, Georgia to look at his brother “Big’s” Quail hunting plantation for several years and I always came up with an excuse of why I couldn’t go, like “they’re putting a stint in my heart today” or something trivial like that!  Finally I got my ducks in a row and made the flight from Dallas to Tallahassee, Florida, a direct flight on American Airlines by the way, the 2nd week of December.  Upon my arrival in Tallahassee, Larry & Southwind manager Ron Stafford picked me up at the airport as they do all clients and transported me 45 minutes north to the plantation.

  The plantation owner, Jim Smith’s nickname is “Big,” because he always does things in a big way and believe me, Southwind Plantation is no exception.  The plantation sits on 4,000 acres of private land and is what you would expect in an Orvis endorsed hunting lodge.  There is the main lodge that includes 4 beautiful bedrooms, a kitchen & dining room plus two large gathering rooms appointed with leather furniture and a myriad of taxidermy including game birds of all varieties, as well as big game from Africa, New Zealand, Alaska and the US.  The back of the lodge has a 2,000 square foot open air deck over an 8 acre lake loaded with 5 – 8 lb largemouth bass.  There are 3 additional out buildings each housing 4 bedrooms allowing the lodge to accommodate up to 40 guests at a time.  The lodge complex is exactly what I expected to see for a classic South Georgia Quail hunting plantation.

  The next morning we were up at 6:30 for breakfast and were equipped and paired off for the morning’s quail hunt.  I was paired up with old friend, Ron Stafford.  I had worked with Ron in Brazil’s Amazon fishing for Peacock Bass and at Trek Safaris where Ron had worked interfacing with South America’s bird hunting operations for the last 5 years.  We were transported to the manicured hunting areas in the plantation’s Excursions where we met our guides.  Dargan Long, a well known outdoor artist, was waiting to guide us with his jeep & hunting trailer complete with open swivel seats sitting atop the dog boxes containing half a dozen German Shorthairs and one little English Cocker Spaniel.  We loaded up and ran for about 5 minutes when Dragan pulled over and put out 2 Shorthairs and the Cocker.  I found this mix of dogs interesting and watched as the shorthairs ranged out for about 50 yards where they went on point.  We worked our way up behind the dogs on point and when we were in position, Dragan sent the cocker in to flush the birds and we had 3 birds on the ground in short order.  The hunting fields of Southland Plantation are beautiful, widely spaced long leaf pines overhead with knee high open grasslands interspersed with planted strips of Millet & Maize, what I would consider the perfect Quail cover.  Ron and I had taken 38 Quail by the time we headed back to the lodge for a great lunch. 

  In 3 half day quail hunts with Southwind Plantation my hunting partners and I took 118 excellent flying birds.  There are native birds augmented with released birds on the grounds that fly exceptionally well.  The Plantation keeps the population of birds in the field high at all times and does not rely upon spun birds planted the day of the hunt.  Sunday morning “Big” had a special treat for the clients at the lodge.  The lodge has low swampy areas where they can control water levels in the flooded timber which produces great Wood Duck hunting.  By the time the sun was a few degrees above the horizon, the boys were limited out and having breakfast back at the lodge, looking forward to the mornings Quail hunt.  Southland Plantation also offers good hunting for Whitetail Deer and Eastern Turkeys.  For additional information check out the Emu Outfitting website.  Quail hunts are available from late October thru March, Ducks during December and January, Whitetail from late November thru December and Eastern Turkey hunting in April.