I always like to start off a new year with a walk in the woods. This year, my friend Chris invited me to a morning quail shoot in Indiantown, where the gallberry bush and palmettos brush against the tall grass throughout a vast hunting preserve. A slap-in-the-face 46 degrees hit me as I exited our car and headed towards the lodge. Dressed in hunting gear but not prepared for Iceland, I hustled a warm coat and a pair of gloves from our guide. There was a bit more traffic than usual on the footpaths from the quail who, having been shaken from their bush habitats by the brisk winds, skittered about nervously as predator hawks circled above.
The open space of the prairie-like environment was refreshing to the soul. As much as I am fond of hunting, I enjoy the experience of simply being outdoors even more. The cold air and sting in my fingers reminded me of my growing up years in western New York, with snow perpetually in the forecast this time of year. Perhaps that is why I found this outing so enjoyable. The fact that I am an imperfect shot and my record of birds down is only slightly better than zero speaks to the real focus of my visit to this expanse of nature only an hour from all the cars and rush of people in Palm Beach. Chris and I chatted along with the hunting guide as we all kept pace behind the dogs – a German Shorthaired Pointer and a Labrador.
When the dogs pointed to a covey of birds, I paused before I armed myself and then concentrated, heart racing a bit with the expectation of a bird or two flying overhead. The sudden action when the quail were flushed out was like the burst of a firecracker and exciting for man and dog alike. A shot off and the flurry of feathers flying and, by chance, a bird was down. The dogs ran to retrieve and gracefully, bird in mouth, returned to their guide-master seeking his approval for a job well done. Kind of what we humans look for in our daily lives.