Thank goodness the Publisher, at least, was on his game. Of course I could. But would the dogs maintain their point long enough?

Wynfield Plantation was named the 2005 Orvis Wingshooting Lodge of the Year.

"Matt, how long will they hold?" I whispered.

"They'll hold." Matt spoke with the quiet, assured confidence of a man who knows and trusts his bird dogs.

So handing my little gun to Tom, I retrieved the camera from my game pouch, powered it up and quickly began searching for a few images I felt I could afford to dump. By now, a couple of minutes had passed, with Rocky and Gal still as steady as statues, although they must surely have been wondering why these alleged gunners were just standing there, seemingly doing nothing.

The main lodge offers corporate meeting facilities...and wonderful meals.

Two minutes more and I had cleared a dozen or so frames and quietly eased three feet to my left and began photographing. Suddenly I spotted the quail, a shy little cock bird tucked in tightly next to a low-slung pine barely three feet in front of little Gal's point. Moving two feet closer, I shot one more frame. Another minute spent. Angle still not right, I dropped to my knees as easily as possible and shot two more frames as the breeze shifted and the dogs slightly repositioned.

Woodstork Lake, behind the lodge, is home to a variety of gamefish and waterfowl.

"Okay, try to get around to the other side." I backed out, circled the dogs from behind and came in from the far corner. This angle was not nearly as pleasing as what I already had, but I shot two more frames anyway, then circled back around to Tom and Rick, who were standing as transfixed as the dogs. For his part, Matt just stood there with his two feature performers, a quiet, comfortable smile on his face. It had been nearly eight minutes, and the brace of setters still held.

If You Want To Go In addition to quail hunting, Wynfield Plantation offers lodging and corporate meeting facilities, sporting clays and trap, plus "weekend getaway" golf and clays packages. For more information, call the plantation at 229-889-0193 or check out its Web site at: www.wynfieldplantation.com.

Three more frames and my last memory card was full again. I nodded to Matt and eased the camera down onto its strap across my left shoulder as Tom passed the little Hill back to me with an approving nod.

In a perfect world the bird would have now flushed, rising right to left until he was silhouetted against the sunset, and one of us would have swung and dropped him cleanly with a single, well-placed shot in one final cloud of Georgia Snow. In fact, when the bird finally did flush, I eased my gun forward from its ready position and began my swing.

But I had looked too deeply into his eyes while shooting those pictures, and I told my partners that as the bird had darted past, going low through the thick undergrowth in the dimming light, I simply couldn't catch up with him.

But I think that really, we all knew better.