January’s second week
Brings them South to Chinquapin
In dually trucks pulling gooseneck trailers
Loaded with horses and bird dogs determined
Determined to win
On this hallowed ground
Where quail aplenty are to be found
Unless they decide they will not be found
That is the mystery
They all seek to solve
How some days or hours
They’re everywhere
And others they vanish
Into thin air or some say the ground
Two by two they come to the line
Led by their scouts with handlers behind
Released to streak through the wire grass devine
Under gnarled pines
Over the ridges and into the swales
Forty minutes each gets
In the qualifying brace
Then an hour If found worthy
For a finals race
Two judges ride to watch every move
Shadowed by Ted in his dusty black Tahoe
Followed by Cowboy in his white Chevy truck
Rigged like a stagecoach with seats on top
Surrounded by gallery on horses decked out
In Canadian saddles and martingales
Ugly cusses and pretty gals ride
Then from a distant hill rings out
“POINT” from the mouth of a scout
And to him all gallop to see close up
If quail will fly before the point
Or will it be a barren stand
Or perhaps a thrilling relocation
Or if not feathers perhaps a hare
Or more likely nothing’s there
So handler gives up and takes him on
Or if it’s a second a harness goes on
Or the dog gets loaded
Onto Cowboy’s truck
And if the birds fly before the dog
Will he be steady to wing and shot
Or chase or wilt or flag
So many ways to mess up
And even if he’s perfect on game
Will he run and hunt to the front enough
That is the question the judges will answer
After all run once and the called back twice
We know from the start
Only one will win
Though another will come runner up
And a third top qualifier for share of the pot
But all will know when they drive out the gate
Beneath the sign engraved Chinquapin Farm
That they had a fair shot
At a title and share of a generous pot
And more than that a place to train
Loncala by name and loaded with game
And no mud to slog through and not much rain
What more can we ask in this bird dog game?