There are hunts and then there are hunts.
I've been to a number of invitational "social" pheasant hunts where you're assigned a loader for your best gun pair (you brought yours with you, didn't you?) and you get a spot on a field where there's a table and your just poured glass of champagne waiting for you. Beaters and dogs flush the birds towards you and you just shoot whatever you like. You're expected to dress accordingly, including a suitable tie and hat, of course. Probably the most OTT hunt I've been invited to so far was a wild boar hunt where they had waiters serving you refreshments, walking quietly from stand to stand so you have a variety to choose from. It's a different world altogether. For some people it defines hunting, for the rest of us it's a social event loosely related to hunting. Nevertheless, there's an amazing number of people who are really enthusiastic about it and I don't complain - at least they're not playing golf or getting brainwashed how guns and hunting are pure evil.
Myself? I prefer to pack light, head to the woods with my dog(s), hunt whatever I have license and tags for and return after a couple of weeks, in a dire need of bath, shave and a shoulder massage from my beloved wife. That's when I really feel alive.
I've been to a number of invitational "social" pheasant hunts where you're assigned a loader for your best gun pair (you brought yours with you, didn't you?) and you get a spot on a field where there's a table and your just poured glass of champagne waiting for you. Beaters and dogs flush the birds towards you and you just shoot whatever you like. You're expected to dress accordingly, including a suitable tie and hat, of course. Probably the most OTT hunt I've been invited to so far was a wild boar hunt where they had waiters serving you refreshments, walking quietly from stand to stand so you have a variety to choose from. It's a different world altogether. For some people it defines hunting, for the rest of us it's a social event loosely related to hunting. Nevertheless, there's an amazing number of people who are really enthusiastic about it and I don't complain - at least they're not playing golf or getting brainwashed how guns and hunting are pure evil.
Myself? I prefer to pack light, head to the woods with my dog(s), hunt whatever I have license and tags for and return after a couple of weeks, in a dire need of bath, shave and a shoulder massage from my beloved wife. That's when I really feel alive.