Hunting Pheasant is an Uplanders Dream
My favorite time of year is fall, and this year's pheasant opener did not disappoint!
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| Modern Wild Man and Meg on the pheasant opener! |
The Ring Neck Pheasant
The Great Plains of North America is a wonder of nature full of vast expanses and true both in heart and deed. The land of the prairie is honest and wholesome, but rugged and tough at the same time. Fall on the prairie is a magical time. Giant cottonwood trees turn a brilliant yellow, the lush grasses of May and June have come full circle offering golden seed to the autumn winds. The prairie lands produce a bounty of grain; grain to feed countless mouths nurtured by fertile plains, the summer sun and raised by generations of men and women who care for the land. It is this combination of grass and field, feed and cover across the plains of Kansas, Nebraska and the Dakotas that offers the sportsman a chance to pursue the magic of the pheasant hunt.Upland hunting is tradition, right of passage and addictive. Families gather for opening day with the same institution of any family holiday. Cousins learn to play together around family farms, smiles and laughter are shared over stories of season openers passed and meals are set around family kitchens and dining tables on opening weekends all across the heartland. If you are fortunate enough to be invited to such an occasion, count yourself lucky. The fellowship and camaraderie are second to none. If you are extra lucky there will be a bounty of birds to go along with the fellowship.
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| The pheasant is at home on the prairie. |
The ringneck pheasant is a sturdy bird, tough and agile. It is a perfect match for the beauty and the harshness of the plains. Native to Asia and introduced to North America as a game bird, it is so popular that it is the state bird of South Dakota. Pheasants make themselves at home in many types of cover including crop fields and grassy prairies. It's this ability to adapt that makes pursuing the pheasant so addictive. As a sportsman you must know and understand your quarry. Trying to find and approach a wary bird that's adapt in so many environments can be both frustrating and fulfilling. Pheasants become well versed at the game of chase quickly and learn to run and flush early at the sight and sounds of hunters. Both adept on the ground and in the air, hunters must consider the ground cover, wind and escape routes when in pursuit.
Hunting Fellowship and Friendships are My Favorite
Recently I was able to join a long time friend of Modern Wild Man on an opening weekend hunt. The experience was full and bursting at the seams. Through the course of only a day and a half we managed to squeeze in family fellowship and meals, hot cups of coffee in the early morning, nearly 20 miles of walking and game bags heavy with birds. This was Meg's first real pheasant hunt and an amazing way to kick off her second hunting season. |
| Modern Wild Man with Meg, a proud dog happy to work! |
Opening Day Hunt
Opening morning was cool and damp. Low clouds hung across the landscape like a heavy curtain. Hunters rolled out of bed into the early morning darkness with anticipation. Hot cups of coffee cupped between chilled hands rolled steam above the cup rim around eager faces. The steam lingering lazily under cap brims pulled low. The first rays of morning light brought with them a promise and an unforeseen adventure. Men in leather boots and tan vests patched with orange blocks lined up neatly across the stubble of last summer's wheat in hopes of flushing a wild bird within shotgun range. Meg quickly went to work, her nose to the ground, lifting it every so often to check the wind. Step by step our group of hunters worked across the crop field, shotguns gripped at the ready with a bird dog in the lead. Looking down the line a group of men all together to enjoy a bond of hunting and outdoorsmanship; builders and repairmen, fathers and sons, brothers and friends eyes squinted and steps light across the season's first field. It wasn't long until the flash of wings and bright plumage took to the air. The cackle of a rooster in flight. The flush of a rooster pheasant from cover is explosive and tenacious, almost daring the hunter to shoot. The nearest hunter in line to the bird snapped his gun to shoulder and just like it was written in a Hemingway novel a shotgun report rang into the morning. The rooster folded in the air and fell to the ground. Meg sprang into action at the sound of the gun and had the first pheasant retrieve of her career.
The day and the weekend moved on. We covered more fields and found more birds. Meg did not disappoint. As the hunt moved along retrieves varied from singles to doubles. Meg found birds in short stubble, tall standing crops and burrowed under weeds. The confidence she built in the few short hours of that weekend hunt are immeasurable. The joy and enthusiasm of a good bird dog is contagious. I find that as many times that I go hunting for me and my therapy, I also go hunting for Meg and her clear love of bird hunting. Getting to hunt with such a partner is a privilege and a rare opportunity. Knowing that she has the same passion for the hunt that I do bonds us together beyond what words can describe. Riding home after a long weekend that seemed so short, watching her curled up on the floorboard in a well deserved deep sleep I can't help but daydream about hunts to come and retrieves she will make.
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| Meg with a fields take of rooster pheasants. |
I cannot express enough gratitude to my Modern Wild Man friend for the invitation to join his family for their opening weekend tradition. The fellowship, family and willingness to share something of so much value cannot be measured.
If you enjoy Modern Wild Man, be sure and share it with your friends! See you out there!
