Owen, I hope you are indeed able to bring Mr. Bob back to your North Carolina hills..... I have several friends my age or near about there , that are north Carolina quail hunters....now forced to seek birds for their dogs in Texas and Kansas mostly......All tell a tale of growing up hunting Bobwhite with parents and grandparents on family holdings.... i wish you luck and success in your worthy endeavor.
I have a little easier time of it out here, still LARGE blocks of rangeland and mixed dryland farming mixed in infrequently. Grazing management, burning, ( which I practice devoutly) and then we are just at the mercy of rainfall in this semi-arid land. I use cattle as a means to an end, a management tool designed to keep the balance between grasses and forbs needed to maximize quail production out here.

Regarding your question about the chosen arms of Texas Quail hunters, I am going to have to think hard. I say this because I am always drawn to a fine gun when I encounter one, but they are not that common in the hands of the hunters I encounter out here.
There are quite a few 28's carried , in the form of Best, or near best SxS, not very often. Few encounters with SxS gunners at all really. Majority of the guys I run across in the store or café have pretty modern, choke tubed O/U's, of Italian or Japanese origin.
One fellow who enjoys seeing his name in print owns a property an hour or so away from me, plays with Fine guns, his choices generally leave me unimpressed. He champions an Italian maker whose products are made more for show than shooting in my experience. (Several qualified BEST gun gunsmiths agree with my analysis.)
The only truly BEST guns I still own are 3 SxS's all by a noted Italian Maker. I enjoy them , and I shoot them some, but I generally find myself carrying a 20 bore Browning O/U. I have several.... They just get it done for me in the quail fields. I came by this thru pretty damn extensive field use.....and at this stage in life, and for quite a few years, I can shoot ANY gun of my choosing. One Browning I most frequently use is pretty non descript basic gun , modified in some manner to suit me , and I guess time proves me right......As Dr. Dale Rollins noted in the podcast he finally got me to do after years of asking, he mentions my fairly detailed record keeping regarding my quail hunts...... those records show that I have killed over 13,000 wild quail with that one gun......