MAGAZINE
FALL: THE GREAT OUTDOORS
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Volume 2 • 3
The Camaraderie of a Covey
18 - FALL 2021 | PORCH + PRAIRIE Magazine
Quail Hunting at its Finest in the Georgia Pines
H
unting is a sensory experience, at least for those who have done it long enough to enjoy it at a deeper level. In the whitetail woods of Autumn, there is a certain smell of the oak leaves as they prepare to fall off their branches. There is that slight chill that creeps in as the sunk sinks low that serves as a reminder that Winter is on its way and that the deer might start to move a bit more before dusk. In the Georgia quail woods, there is a whistle created by the way the breeze blows across the tattered pines, followed by the subtle chirping of a bobwhite up under the sage. In the early Spring, the faint touch of smoke hits your nose as farmers on the nearby plantations begin their Spring burns. The feel of the shotgun pressed against your hand, the whiff of spent gunpowder, the sight of the perfect double falling out of the sky, and that subtle sound of a proud bird dog bringing back its keep.
You could try to put it all into words, but no matter which words you choose, they will always fall short. Majestic, special, perfect…. They are so very appropriate, but they do nothing to convey the feeling when you are actually at Riverview Plantation, an historic quail plantation nestled along the Flint River in Camilla, Georgia. The ride into camp is ripe with anticipation of flushing coveys and from the moment the truck makes the right turn onto a long, sandy corridor lined to the lodge, you know you are on hallowed ground. Many have made that same turn down that same lane--- politicians, athletes, business luminaries—they’ve been coming to Riverview for generations. One minute here and you’ll quickly understand why. Steeped in history and passed down now through generations to Cader Cox IV, Riverview Plantation is one of the country’s finest gems. Riverview Plantation was started in 1957 by CB Cox and his wife, Peggy Cox. Before starting the hunting plantation, the land was purely used for farming while the couple also ran a catfish restaurant down by the Flint River. The current steward, Cader Cox IV, is the sixth generation to live on this land and his son will make seven. The sporting side of the business really didn’t take off until the late 1960s and early 1970s, and since then, it has been a beacon the quail hunting world even in the already esteemed section of South Georgia where upland hunting is so prominent. The thing about Riverview though is that the visits here are rarely about just the birds, to which Cader IV has some of the best flying birds and in great numbers. To say the least, you will not head back to camp unhappy with your shooting opportunities. Great dogs are finding large coveys of birds, and a team of guides do an excellent job of marking off the singles for the follow ups. All told, the shooting is top notch. But again, being here is more than that. “You can’t bird hunt without the birds. We take pride in our system that has been tweaked and perfected going into our 64th year of operating this business,” says Cox as he watches another group of smiling hunters dismount from their Jeeps. The word that comes to mind here is legacy. If you were to look at Riverview and its family legacy, you’ll see that this kind of lineage is rare, something that Cader IV is acutely aware of. “My father told me this quote the first day that I came home. ‘The first generation starts the business, the second generation builds the business, and the third generation destroys it’,” says Cox, who has preserved the heritage of the hunt under his tutelage. “That has been my burning passion to not follow that quote. I want to be the kind of leader and businessman that continues to grow the company to allow us to look after our employees. Making sure our guests are happy and making sure our folks are taken care of is the most important.” The guests are surely happy, and it’s the feeling of excitement as each group rolls out for their hunt that is a pure testament to that. For generations now, the hunters come back. For some of them, it is their first time here and perhaps even their first time wing shooting. But for others, coming to Riverview is an annual tradition that remains etched on the calendar for years to come. It represents a rite of passage or perhaps a way to honor the past and those who are no longer with us. When you walk into the main lodge for supper and peek into the various dining rooms, you will often see a father with their teenage son or daughter and bear witness to the quintessential passing of the torch. The father had been here many times before and now he lays the blueprint for his kids to carry on that same path. It is a place where fond memories of the past create the future stories to come. Like many others, NJ Correnti cut his teeth here at Riverview and keeps coming back--- for the hunting, yes, but also for the people of Riverview and to honor his own past. “I have some of my fondest memories at Riverview. Its where I became a man,” says Correnti, who as the Founder and CEO of NICHOLAS AIR, one of the largest private aviation brands in the country, sees many corners of the US but still returns each year to Camilla with friends and family. “My Father had been going to Riverview since the 80s. I remember my first trip like it was yesterday. He took me with a bunch of his buddies and it is where I learned so many things. Hearing my father and his friends talk about business, the economy, life problems and things that are probably too R rated to put in this publication. I cannot remember exactly how old I was, but my father introduced me into the “real world” very early in life. He taught me how act around successful people, how to not be uptight, how to drink, how to play cards, and how to entertain. I was very fortunate to learn these things early in life which has help me get to where I am today at a young age. Riverview was one of the places I learned many things about life, not just how to wing shoot. It was the best three day trip of the year and I was fortunate to experience it with my father for so many years. I now look forward to passing these experiences on to my sons.”
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It is a common theme amongst those generational visitors, the looking forward to passing the baton and keeping alive the lineage of Riverview trips. Each come for their different reasons, but all leave knowing that Riverview is stitched into their bank of fondest memories. To do that, it takes more than great land and great birds and at the very forefront of the entire experience is the 20 - FALL 2021 | PORCH + PRAIRIE Magazine
people. Cader is a hospitality guru, and the lessons of customer service are ingrained in each person that comes to work there. He knows first hand that those friendly faces, be it the guides or the wait staff or anywhere in between, are what make or break the entire experience. He speaks passionately about the relationship aspect and what it means for his guides to remember their guests,
where they are from, and even remembering a few of the inside jokes from years gone by. It’s one of the most charming things about the place, something that is not lost on Cader and is an integral part of his plan for the business. “That’s the reason I like to keep full time employees. Dad used to run the operation with 8 full time and 8 part time during hunting season. In my 20
years, I have seen how much our guest enjoy seeing “their” guide each year. And although it cost me a lot more money with salary and insurance, I think having that continuity and building that relationship each year is more important that the bottom line and it is a better experience for our guests.” PORCH + PRAIRIE magazine | FALL 2021 - 21
As the dinner table fills, so does the room with the familiar faces of the Riverview family and the silence of a quiet dining room quickly fills with laughter and a wide variety of Southern staples on the table. Like any Southern table, food is the rallying point and simply stated, you’d have to look far and wide to find table fare that can hold a candle to the Riverview menu. Says Cox, “I love our food as much as the guests do. I can’t wait for the season to start each year because of the food. We try to give everyone a taste of Riverview without too much pretentiousness. Just good food served with a smile. The first and last impression of the day for our guests is the food. You always want to start and end the day happy and that only happens with good food. It is and has and always be a focus for me to make sure the kitchen is running smoothly and sending out only top-quality food.” Of course, like any business, some things are bound to change in order to keep the experience new and exciting, but over the span of those 65 or so years, the Cox family has perfected the balance between keeping things “the way they were” and modernizing the experience to change with the clientele and keep sustainability in mind. “Our woods are much more manicured now than they were when I was growing up. Our conservation plan, along with burning and spraying chemicals that target the undesirable briars and hardwoods, make the woods much easier to navigate and pretty. Our safety program has increased exponentially as well with the safety video and safety talk and guide training. Our cottages are better, bigger, and there are more of them. We also see most people hunting with over/under or side by sides versus automatics and pumps. In the past, it was the opposite. I also think our guide training and dog training are miles ahead of 30 years ago. That makes the hunt more enjoyable and the dog work is outstanding,” says Cox, who watches teams of guides, pointing dogs, and flushing cockers put up birds for hours on end. So what about Riverview Plantation’s own legacy? Someday Cader will pass the business off to his own son and watch it continue under new leadership. As with each generation before, he’ll have the ability to make it “his own” and perhaps change those one or two things he desires, but Cader IV already knows the instruction book that he’ll leave behind. “The biggest thing for him to learn if he wants to follow in our footsteps would be SELFLESSNESS! You can’t run this business without a servant’s heart. You can’t make your guests the priority if you are trying to outshine everyone. You have to be humble and realize that your job is to take care of them and whatever needs they have at whatever time. Leadership and financial skills can be molded over time, but you must start day one with the understanding that you are here to serve your guests. I also would want him to know character and discipline and trusting in God will help get you through the hard times. You can plan and do as much as you want, but sometimes God has a different path and even though you won’t understand it, you have to trust in God. And third, would be the ability to have a schedule and timing on things, but also the ability to change at a moment’s notice due to whatever a guest needs, and to do it without showing it has messed up your plan.” P+P
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THE MEN OF RIVERVIEW The Men of Riverview are a revered group. Professional, kind, and always eager to make sure that the hunt gets the top marks for bird quality, storytelling, and above all, safety. There is much that goes into being a hunting guide and being a real ambassador for the craft. In the world of wing shooting, reputations like Riverview’s are not easily earned. To get those reputations, it takes the right people who are able to appreciate the past and understand the vision of the future. The past at Riverview is represented by Marvin Hurst, a man born and raised in Camilla and who came to Riverview four decades ago as he transitioned jobs away from construction. “This job was supposed to be a way of getting out of the construction job but at the end of the season, Cader III asked me if I wanted to stay on. Well, he never fired me and I never left. He said I had a job as long as I wanted it.” Being in the field with Marvin means the hunter is best served to just let the pines, the gun, and Marvin do the talking if they really want to appreciate the best of Riverview. The stories he can tell from across the years are still fresh on his mind. After 40 years, Marvin knows every crevice of the place. To his recollection, he’s never been lost, but even he recalls that after Hurricane Michael, “the landscape has changed a bit. The loss of a tree, the old pine that blew over--- it gets you turned around a bit.” But even the changes of the landscape aren’t enough to pull him away from his beloved post at Riverview. ““There’s people now that I know I’ve hunted with for almost 20 years. I love being here. It’s being outside and meeting all the different people. You talk with them, hear the different things the hunters have done in their life. But then there’s like what happened to me before- I hunted the third generation of a family, all together. It means you’ve done something right to see that and
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that Riverview has done everything right.” For over 40 years, Marvin has done it right, and with each season that passes, the guests of Riverview look for that same friendly face, that same knowledge of the land, and the welcoming handshake of their friend. The new guard at Riverview brings forth not only a changing of the guard in the future, but perhaps the future of hunting at Riverview Plantation as well. For Casey Domingue, that future, is turkeys. Luckily for anyone who comes to Camilla looking to chase those gobblers through the plantation, Casey’s first language is just that…. turkey. Guiding here was his first job upon leaving Moultrie Tech and eight years later, he is a trusted voice in the guide house at Riverview and a trusted favorite of many of its guests. Turkey hunting at Riverview is entirely new, having only been a public offering for a couple of seasons now, but the quality of birds will become known all throughout the South, effectively adding another level to Riverview’s already sterling reputation. “Turkey hunting here is some of the prettiest hunting in the country,” says Domingue, “we’ve got the river bottoms, the plantation pines, the tops, the bottoms… it’s gorgeous. With all of the different landscapes here, you can come here and look at a variety of scenery and realize a bird could be strutting anywhere.” It’s a welcome add-on to the end of quail season for Domingue, who spends his Summers running equipment around the farm and tending to the dog training for the birds n property. In the end, his rules for being a great guide reflect why he is so well-regarded. “Be good with your people, be a great worker of your dogs, and show your hunters a great time even on a bad day.” With the likes of Casey and Marvin, there simply just aren’t any bad days.
“A trip to Riverview Plantation feels a lot like a trip back to an old home place. Year after year, the Coxes and their team greet you by name and welcome you as if you are walking into a family reunion. The initial hugs, inside jokes, condolences for lost ones that were once a part of your party, and genuine appreciation of your attendance is soul-warming. The food quality (especially the cathead biscuits and preserves), prep, and presentation make you feel like you are eating a family supper at your grandmother’s house. The reverence and respect that the guides and managers have for, not only the Cox family, but for Riverview as a whole, is something special and all-toooften missed this day and time.” - Cody Brown
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