Quail Hunting Wynfield Plantation

Quail season in Georgia is getting underway and having grown up there, I was feeling a little homesick,particularly this time of year. I called Todd Rogers at Wynfield Plantation just to get a little southern accent fix and talk about quail hunting.

“We’re just getting underway. I’ve got some European guests here just getting ready to go out and the hunting is looking great for this year. What’s really encouraging is the number of wild coveys we’re encountering everyday out here. In talking to the surrounding plantations, it looks like we’ve had a really good hatch year. You can’t put a dog out right now without running into wild birds.”

Wynfield is located in the heart of quail country about 12 miles west off Albany, Georgia. It is surrounded by other well known plantations include, Gillionville, Pine Knoll, Nilo, Tarva, Magnolia, Cane Mill and the state of Georgia’s 19,700 acre Chickasawhatchee Wildlife Management area. The cumulative effect of this is the overall focus on quail habitat in the area, which makes for strong populations of wild birds over the entire region.

Walking the pines at Wynfield

With nearly 2,000 acres of quail habitat, Wynfield was the 2005 Orvis Wingshooting Lodge of the Year and attention to detail is paramount here. One great innovation recently implemented is Wynfield is now using flushing dogs to improve their hunts.

“We’re using springers, cockers, and labs to flush the birds and it’s really improved the quality of our hunts not to mention the safety factor,” said Rogers. “Once the pointers have locked up we can position our hunters before sending in the flushing dogs, giving them a better position for the shot and protecting our guides. We’ve even found with real experienced shooters that we can position them for longer and more difficult shots if they desire.

The best thing is the birds fly harder and faster when flushed by the dogs than when flushed by walking them up. These dogs are impeccably trained and sit on the flush. After the shot it gives the shooter a chance to reload, we send them in again and possibly get a follow-up on birds that haven’t flushed.”

Hunting is done in custom-built jeeps with big comfortable seats on the front and high seats up on the box. Custom gun racks keep the guns accessible right in front of the windshield.

Wynfield offers great hunting and excellent guides, shooting instructors, and gun fitters offering a full-service shooting operation. Combined with southern country cooking, excellent and private accommodations, and an Orvis-endorsed training kennel that houses 75 of the best bird dogs around, this is one of the most complete quail hunting and shooting operations in the south.

Lodging at Wynfield

The quail season runs from October to the end of March and according to Todd there is plenty of space available. As I stated in Great Hunting Lodges of North America, “It’s not fancy here, it doesn’t need to be. The lodge offers everything one needs to be comfortable, service and expertise that is second to none, and quail hunting that is pure pleasure on land that God designed just for that purpose. It’s hard to ask for more.”