I have never hunted in GA either. All my quail have been shot a little north of there in TN. I have successfully used both #8 & #7 shot. Though I was never one to keep actual records the gun I feel I had probably the highest ratio of birds to shots fired was a pre 1900 British 12ga J P Clabrough sidelock with 28" bbls choked about .010" ( choke) in both barrels & a weight of about 6lb 14oz. It was fired with loads pushing 1oz shot to about 1150 fps @ a pressre of around 8-8.5K psi. It just seemed to fit me like a glove & had a very good feel "To Me". In my mind at least the only thing I could have done to improve this gun would have been to knock the weight down about 6oz to an even 6lbs & opened the right bbl to about .003"-.005" choke. I still prefer that very mild I/C to a straight cyl bore.
I am not in a major flight zone for woodcock but we do get a few along, same load was very effective on them as well. Also at the time I was using this gun rather heavyily my dad kept Beagles & was into rabbit hunting. I went quite a lot with him & just switced the same mild 1oz load to #6 shot & it was the best rabbit getter I ever hunted with as well.
