Photo By Elmore DeMott

Passions are running high as American wingshooting seasons open and we begin our annual endeavors afield with bird dogs, shotguns, and friends. The triggers of memories are often such stimuli as the smells of the Midwestern and Western prairies, the shady canopy of Northeastern wooded coverts, or the wiry grasses of Southeastern quail fields. This year, we’ll return again to make new memories in our favorite upland locations, reliving our time afield in after-hunt appreciations (see “Toasting the Hunt” and “One Cigar at a Time” in this issue for the proper accompaniments) and revisited in our imaginations in future seasons.

You can begin your exploration now in our October-November issue. First, journey through the quail fields of George Hi Plantation in North Carolina, where the habitat and quail hunting have undergone transformation in recent years. Go there and you can survey the sights from the back of a horse-drawn wagon, until the dogs go on point and it’s your turn to shoulder the shotgun you brought with you.

Or maybe this is the year to buy a new shotgun. May we suggest a bespoke best London gun?

Writer Chris Batha contributes a fascinating and entertaining introduction to best guns, the evolution of their handmade manufacture, and why you should consider one. See “London Best” on page 52. Now for that other element of a prized upland hunt: the bird dog. This time, we visit Pine Shadows in north-central Minnesota to learn more about their Haglin English springer spaniels. Spaniels appear in literature going back to the 14th Century, and to maintain the integrity of this classic sporting breed to this day, Mark and Sophie Haglin, owners of Pine Shadows, adopted a policy of customer care, respect, integrity, and honesty. Their Haglin spaniels are arguably the top springers working today.

The upland lifestyle is international, of course, and the journey continues in this issue to Argentina and New Zealand. Back in the US, we harmonize uniquely American bluegrass music with South Dakota prairie grass and the pheasant that hide there. These and other stories capture the upland journey in this issue, and we hope you enjoy them all.

If you haven’t already, subscribe today. Want to try Covey Rise out first? Order the October-November 2016 issue in our online shop.