Quail Feathers Fly at FeatherHorn Farm

Ethan Wimberly, Jimmy Lee and Rip Lambert with quail

Duke on point for Jimmy Lee

Somewhere north of Summerton, but in the shadow of Rimini is FeatherHorn Farm. This 1400-acre property is a hunting club that helps outdoorsmen with access to great hunting. Founded on the traditions of hunting with family and friends the name FeatherHorn speaks to the primary species of gamebirds and whitetail deer. Mr. Jimmy Lee is the owner of FeatherHorn Farm and he is a wildlife biologist. "First and foremost we are stewards of this land and know that hard work will increase the opportunities to pursue and harvest the game that we love and cherish," said Lee. A weekday afternoon invitation to come for a quail hunt had my hunting party on the property by 2 p.m. on an sunny afternoon that was sandwiched by two nights of freezing temperatures - giving us ideal upland hunt conditions. A trio of bird dogs patrolled the dove field and did find a covey of quail for us, but not before the birds escaped into a thick cover. Two dogs and Lee all but disappeared from view and my gun safety stayed on since there would be little chance for any quail to leave that stronghold. Quail 1 and Hunters 0. We loaded up the THING II jeep and headed to another field of broomstraw that is bordered by young pines and light briar thickets. This time the bird dogs had the quail hemmed up and Lee directed me to walk ahead of the pointed dogs in order to shoot the flush. Late in the day the sun had begun to hang low on the horizon and sure enough two quail rose and flew in a line that had me swing my gun looking into the sun. My first shot was errant, but I regained my vision enough that the second shot dropped the trailing bird. BINGO. Lee followed up by making another connection on the subsequent flush, and the guides bag was soon bulging with game birds. We hit more than we missed, and under a time constraint, we came away with a feeling of accomplishment - not to mention we had supper in hand. Thanks to Duke the English Setter for showing the way that afternoon. FeatherHorn Farm has their own kennel and keeps finished dogs, started dogs and is always on the lookout for the young dogs that will be on point in future season. If you like quail hunting and appreciate bird dogs and the labor of love associated with them, you will enjoy the company of Mr. Jimmy Lee and his passion for the heritage of sporting dogs.

Jimmy Lee and I in the late afternoon sun

To view past blog entries about quail hunting click here.

Deer and Ducks on the FeatherHorn Logo