In the vast annals of the quail hunting experience, possibly no story carries greater power and poignancy than Robert Ruark’s “But Not on Opening Day.” Originally published as one of a long-running series of columns for Field & Stream, the compelling tale forms the final chapter of “The Old Man and the Boy,” possibly the finest book on the outdoors ever written by an American.

Along with its companion volume, “The Old Man’s Boy Grows Older,” the work captures the essence of a magical boyhood. Much of Ruark’s youth was spent with the “Old Man” -his maternal grandfather- along with “all the honorary uncles, black and white, who took me to raise.” While those halcyon days of adolescence were filled with outdoor adventures of all sorts, quail hunting always took pride of place…