My brothers and I were hastily woken up early in the morning. We swiftly dressed and ate a quick breakfast of doughnuts. The dogs leaped into the back of the truck, and Dad locked them in the kennels. Then we all bustled up into the truck, and we were on our way.

The truck rattled noisily along the dark road. The dogs shuffled around in their kennels excitedly as if knowing our destination. The road was covered by a thin layer of fog that dimmed our view. After a hour of driving we pulled over to the side of a dirt road. We stepped out of the truck quietly so we would not scare the birds. The dogs came out of their kennels eagerly, ready for the hunt. I felt nervous, but excited. After we had unpacked and loaded the guns my brothers, dad and I walked slowly into the field.

There was slight cool breeze that pushed the grass back and forth. The ground was moist and wet from the morning’s dew. The field was filled with tall grass that reached to my waist. As we trudged along through the mud I noticed an abandoned quail roost. Our dogs, Jennie and Jackie, noticed it too. They ran around sniffing here and there, and suddenly both of them froze. Their tails pointed straight up, and their rigid bodies were as still as stone. We crept slowly behind them and lifted our guns. After just moments of waiting a blur of birds flew up from the ground. As they turned to the north I aimed and then pulled the trigger. I heard a click, a bang and then saw a flutter of wings.

The dogs looked around wildly. Jackie sprinted out of our view and proudly returned with a bird clutched in her mouth. We continued through the field, pausing momentarily while the dogs investigated around bushes and logs.

Although we did not find many other quail my brothers, father, and I had fun trying to find birds on fine autumn morning. We enjoyed just being together and watching the dogs work the fields. As we walked back to the truck we reflected about our day, and then exhausted dogs and boys clambered into the truck to head home.