Place quail in a casserole dish. Spoon soup over the birds. Stir in vegetables.
Bake, tightly covered, at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. The dish will make six servings.
"This dish has been used by my family for as long as I can remember.
"It is still as good today as it was when I was a little boy many, many years ago - too young to hunt quail but certainly not too young to enjoy a great dish.
"It is an easy dish to fix. The complicated part might be getting the 12 quail."
Forrest County Chancery clerk Jimmy Havard has been hunting quail since they were roosting in Mississippi soybean fields. He is still an avid fan of the sport, and he has hunted quail in many parts of the U.S. His next quail hunt was scheduled for this month in Texas. But before he left, he was willing to give Outdoor American readers a basic breakdown of the sport.
Q: First off, what do I need for a quail hunt?
A:The short answer, good dogs.
The long answer is a shotgun, number 7 1/2 or 8 bird shot, waterproof boots, briar-proof pants and a couple of good dogs.
The most important thing about quail hunting is good dogs. Most pointers will do; I prefer short hairs myself.
Q: How do you train, and work, your dogs?
A: Well, you don't make a good bird dog overnight. When they're puppies, you can tie a quail wing to the end of a fishing pole and drag it across the ground. Then you let the dogs get the scent and watch them track it. It doesn't take much to get them to track the scent because it's in their blood to do it. You can also throw dead birds and have the dogs bring them back to you.
When you get the dogs in the field, they work together. When one dog runs across a covey, it will point, hopefully. When the other dogs realize a dog is on to a covey, they'll also stop and point. It's really amazing.
That's what I like most about it now, watching the dogs. I used to love killing the birds, but I've killed so many that I guess it just wore off. But it's great to watch the dogs work.
Q: So, where do I find quail?
A: Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma are good for quail hunting. But they're just not in Mississippi anymore.
Quail are seed eaters when they're full grown. They like soybeans and corn and things like that.
They scratch for food, so they prefer fields where they can scratch on bare ground and then get back into the brush to hide.
They also like briar patches. Quail don't like thick grasses, but they like to roost in something that will give them some cover. At night, when they roost, they all put their rears together in a circle and watch from every direction. That's why when you find quail droppings it's all in one big pile.
Q: So, how do they taste?
A: They're pretty good eating. Quail have white meat and are more tender than dove. I like them grilled, but they're really good fried, too.
