Kingcreek
Member
I had the greatest pheasant hunt this weekend. 2 middle-age guys walked about 6 miles and shot 1 rooster but lets back up a little and please bear with me.
I grew up with my good friend Matt. about 30+ years ago we used to hunt before and after school in the fall, fished and camped in the summer, and terrorized the neighborhood the rest of the time. We went to college, stood at each others weddings, went on to have careers and families, and all that normal stuff. We called each other 2 or 3 times a year, sent Christmas cards, and saw each other infrequently.
I called Matt in November and we talked about hunting. In the Christmas card he sent he wrote a short note: "Let's REALLY go hunting together this year." We had talked about it many times but never got it together. So I called him up and we set the date.
I hunt other game regularly and have a good lab retriever but the pheasant population around here the past couple years has been almost zero. Matt tells me he hasn't shot a gun in 10 years and hasn't hunted in close to 20. Atleast he still has his old 20g 870 wingmaster. With about 15 shotguns to choose from I chose my old 20g Ithica model 37. We never had a bird dog as kids but game and habitat was more plentiful. I was really hoping the dog and I could find some birds.
The dog worked hard and found 3 hens before finally putting a nice rooster up in front of our guest. He wasn't as fast as I remember him but he shouldered smoothly and folded the rooster up with one faily long shot. The dog was right on the bird as he went down in a wild plum thicket and delivered the bird to Matt.
We talked about our youth and some of the hunts and antics we remember. We talked about his boys age 10 and 13, who have yet to be introduced to guns or hunting.
We only bagged one pheasant but we both agrred it was a great hunt. As we cleaned the bird Matt and I shifted our talk to the future. We live a few hours apart but he is going to find a hunter ed course for his oldest boy and bring him down next year. His youngest likes to fish and I told him to bring him in the summer and we'll take my boat. If the bird numbers don't improve around here we are going to make a trip to the Dakotas or Nebraska next year. We realized that alot of time has passed and this is something we have to do now, before we are too old. and we have to make time for these things. Because if you just wait until its convenient, 30 years slips past and you don't even know how it happened.
When we came into the house, we were greeted by my wife and a pot of lamb stew and some fresh baked bread. Before he left we vowed to stay in closer contact and keep our commitment to ourselves and to his kids. Even tho it was only one bird, Matt swears this was the best hunt we ever had.
I grew up with my good friend Matt. about 30+ years ago we used to hunt before and after school in the fall, fished and camped in the summer, and terrorized the neighborhood the rest of the time. We went to college, stood at each others weddings, went on to have careers and families, and all that normal stuff. We called each other 2 or 3 times a year, sent Christmas cards, and saw each other infrequently.
I called Matt in November and we talked about hunting. In the Christmas card he sent he wrote a short note: "Let's REALLY go hunting together this year." We had talked about it many times but never got it together. So I called him up and we set the date.
I hunt other game regularly and have a good lab retriever but the pheasant population around here the past couple years has been almost zero. Matt tells me he hasn't shot a gun in 10 years and hasn't hunted in close to 20. Atleast he still has his old 20g 870 wingmaster. With about 15 shotguns to choose from I chose my old 20g Ithica model 37. We never had a bird dog as kids but game and habitat was more plentiful. I was really hoping the dog and I could find some birds.
The dog worked hard and found 3 hens before finally putting a nice rooster up in front of our guest. He wasn't as fast as I remember him but he shouldered smoothly and folded the rooster up with one faily long shot. The dog was right on the bird as he went down in a wild plum thicket and delivered the bird to Matt.
We talked about our youth and some of the hunts and antics we remember. We talked about his boys age 10 and 13, who have yet to be introduced to guns or hunting.
We only bagged one pheasant but we both agrred it was a great hunt. As we cleaned the bird Matt and I shifted our talk to the future. We live a few hours apart but he is going to find a hunter ed course for his oldest boy and bring him down next year. His youngest likes to fish and I told him to bring him in the summer and we'll take my boat. If the bird numbers don't improve around here we are going to make a trip to the Dakotas or Nebraska next year. We realized that alot of time has passed and this is something we have to do now, before we are too old. and we have to make time for these things. Because if you just wait until its convenient, 30 years slips past and you don't even know how it happened.
When we came into the house, we were greeted by my wife and a pot of lamb stew and some fresh baked bread. Before he left we vowed to stay in closer contact and keep our commitment to ourselves and to his kids. Even tho it was only one bird, Matt swears this was the best hunt we ever had.
