By Don Grogan

This story begins at our DWWC January meeting with a membership contest drawing. I won a quail hunt for two at Upland Bird Country near Corsicana, Texas. My thoughts immediately went to: ?Maybe my 87 year old father, Barney Grogan, would like to go on this hunt with me.? My Dad’s last hunt was at Upland Bird Country on his 80th Birthday. After harvesting 15 birds with 16 shots, my Dad retired from hunting.

Least year Dad almost went on a quail hunt to Upland with our family friend, Len Phipps, but backed out at the last minute. Dad has hinted for the past year that he might want to try a quail hunt again, so when I told him that I had won a hunt for two, he jumped on it.

Dad’s love for quail hunting goes back to his farm -boy growing-up years near Edwards, Mississippi. He told me about watching his father, Kenneth Grogan, shoot five quail with five shots from a Browning A-5 shotgun on a staggered covey rise when he was a boy.

When I was born, Dad had a Pointer bird dog named Sue and when I was about 3, he got another Pointer named Frisco. A lot of our family photographs show the Grogan children with these two dogs. I remember Dad returning from his hunts and letting me pull out the quail from his hunting coat.

I then would pull the empty shotgun shell hulls from his coat and smell the freshly fired gun powder aroma.

Years later, after moving to Texas, Dad and I hunted quail on leases in west Texas for over 40 years.

Dad’s bird dog trainer was Pappy Rhodes in Desoto, Texas. Dad always had good Pointers and Setters and fed and cared for his hunting dogs 365 days a year.

I called the manager of Upland Bird Country, Terry Warren, to book the hunt for me and Dad for February 17th, Dad would then have a few weeks to practice shouldering his shotgun. The day of the hunt arrived and I picked up Dad at his home in Midlothian at 10:00 am. We had lunch at Bill’s Fried Chicken Restaurant in Corsicana at 11:00 and were at the gate of Upland Bird Country at noon. At the lodge, we met Terry Warren and our
hunting guide, Jerry Pickens.

Dad had decided to use his 12 gauge and not his 20 gauge. Dad’s favorite 12 gauge shotgun is a Browning 2000 with an improved cylinder choke. He also brought along his favorite loads to shoot. Although they have a pretty stout recoil, Dad insisted on using the usual 3 ¼ - 1 ¼ #8 heavy field loads. After Terry
recorded our hunting license numbers and all the paper work was completed, it was time to head out for the field.

The pasture they had selected for us to hunt was the lower Garvin Pasture. This was the same pasture Dad had hunted almost 8 years earlier on his 80th birthday. Dad pointed out some of the spots where he was 15 for 16 on the quail hunt that day.

In my business, I work with a lot of clients in their 70’s, 80’s and 90’s and am amazed at what they still can do. I asked one of my clients one day, ?What is your secret to a long life?? He replied, ?Keep moving every day.? I asked another client in his 80’s about how he managed to keep so trim and fit. His answer was: ?If it tastes good, spit it out!? You know there might be some truth in that last statement.

My first 20 pounds above my Dr.’s recommended weight chart was not spitting out my first bite of Blue Bell ice cream. The next 20 pounds was because I did not spit out my first bite of a Dairy Queen Blizzard.

I knew that Dad had taken a long layoff from quail hunting.  Dad’s determination to succeed is still there. After a few practice shots, it became obvious that they were really ?warning shots?. Dad finished this afternoon hunt by going 4 for 4 on his last shots of the day.

This afternoon’s quail hunt could not have been better. Jerry Pickens’ dogs were some of the best Dad and I have hunted behind.

Jerry Pickens and Terry Warren gave us a top quality hunt and made sure it would be a memorable experience for my Dad. We went home with 12 quail and 4 chukar and some great photos to share with friends and family.

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