Among the pine trees of Quail Country Plantation, Anna Van Nostrand, CZ over/under broken open across her shoulder, kneels next to her five-year-old daughter Hallie Jo “Bird Dog Tater,” talking to her about the bobwhite quail she holds that was recently downed by her mother.

On an Indian summer afternoon, the mule-drawn wagon swayed in a slow lullaby here in the cradle of the South as we followed guides on horseback in pursuit of the next quail covey to hunt.