My son's first pheasants!

[lenny7]

I sure had a great day last Friday. I took my son, my dog, and met my buddy at Pheasant View Hunt Farms near Goodhue. I wanted to give my dog a spring tune up after coming out of force fetching and collar conditioning, and I wanted to give my son a chance to bag his first bird.

As it turns out, he got 3! He's 11 years old and has only put 50 rounds through the gun prior to yesterday. His second bird involved a heck of a long shot and he dusted it. His third bird got up in front of him and flew to his left and behind him. He swung around and stayed with it and pulled feathers.

I thought the bird was coyote food but my dog was not about to disappoint his boy. He tore off after it and I saw it fly strong up and over the hill. My buddy thought he had a good mark on it so he walked to where he saw it land and kept trying to call the dog over. Kody would go over to him, check in, and leave right away, frustrating my buddy...turns out he was on the scent but we didn't know it since we couldn't see him in the tall grass.

Finally we humans gave up but Kody would not give so easily. He cut back and forth and back and forth as he went farther and farther away until we no longer knew where he was. After a minute or two with no dog in sight I blew the whistle for him to come back and soon after that, here he comes with the rooster in his mouth, still very much alive. My son, who was bummed when we gave up, perked up like it was Christmas!

Dang, what a great day, even if it was tame birds. I don't care if I ever shoot another bird again, as long as I can watch my son (and later my younger son) shoot 'em and my dog retrieve 'em.

I cooked up the three birds a couple nights later. I deboned, diced, and fried them in some oil, then sprayed them with lemon juice and added liberal amounts of greek seasoning. Man, that was good! The boy was rather proud of himself for being the provider for the night's meal, but not in an arrogant way. He, his little brother and I ate most of it. His mom had some and while she admitted it was rather tasty, she has a hard time eating wild game. My daughter ate one small piece under huge protest. She would have won an Oscar for the all the drama that came out of her.

Now my older son is asking when we can go again, and my younger son is asking me to cook up more pheasant for Easter dinner.

[Jordyn Kaufer]

nice photos! and pheasants

[mrklean]

good looking birds

[setterguy]

Great picture. I'm sure you will both remember that forever.

[Musky Buck]

Very cool and a good way out of season to get some quality stress free hunting time with your son and hound. He's 11 eh, well in 4-5 years it'll be dad, can I borrow the truck and go take on some pheasant's. Doing that hunt is giving the gift that will keep on giving.

[jigging-matt]

Great Pic. Thanks for sharing. Sure looks like fun.

[R. Miller]

Great story and great pics.

[rattlereel]

That is AWESOME!!! That smile says it all!

[Wanderer]

Lenny,

That's great! Way to get your son hooked up on some birds. And it sounds like your dog was on its game too. Great day for sure.

I didn't get to take one of our kids out Wednesday when we went but my dog got to burn off some cabin fever too. We put out 14 birds for two of us and came back with 14 and my pooch retrieved, oh, 14 of em.

That's what made the day worth it right there. She had the time of her winter.

Great story for this time of year. Thanks for posting it.

[GotOne]

Pat, photo says it all! Looks like you had a great day. The cover still looks pretty good. How long are they open? My, son was about the same age when he downed his first pheasant. Now at 15 year old, he gets out more than I do. That's going to change now with the addition of Molly. Get that picture enlarged, frame it and hang it in your sons bedroom, the memory will last forever! I'll talk to ya.

[kennelup]

Great story! I became a father 6 months ago. and I know I cant with for the chance to share my love of the outdoors with my little one.

[CAJ]

I can still remember my sons first time bird hunting. Now I have 3 Grandsons that I hope I will be able to take out. They have been Gopher hunting with me, and realy are getting a charge out of that. Start them young and they will be good hunters.

[lenny7]

Pat, photo says it all! Looks like you had a great day. The cover still looks pretty good. How long are they open? My, son was about the same age when he downed his first pheasant. Now at 15 year old, he gets out more than I do. That's going to change now with the addition of Molly. Get that picture enlarged, frame it and hang it in your sons bedroom, the memory will last forever! I'll talk to ya.

He says he'll be open until mid-May. He also farms and I think he's going to school for something too.

I got that picture enlarged for him the very next day, though I don't have a frame for it yet.

[harvey lee]

That brings back many memories for me when I first started with my Father.

great photo.

[NWBuck]

Yep...we all enjoy hunting, but being able to share the hunts with a son (or daughter) takes the enjoyment to a new level. Congrats.

[tybo]

I don't have kids but last Christmas I was out with niece and nephew back in PA where I'm from and my nicee got her first pheasant. She shot it over a point from my setter using my 20 ga shotgun. The look on her face was amazing. She was so proud of herself. She couldn't stop talking about it for days. We got some great photos, cleaned the birds, etc. They were served as a side dish at Christmans dinner and she was so happy to be providing some of the meal.

It was really cool and I was just so very happy to be a part of it. As great as it felt for me I can only imagine how great my brother and sister-in-law must have felt. It's amazing to see how it impacts them. You can just tell they'll be hooked on it for life once you see that look on their face.

[muc33]

The photo is priceless!!! I imagine that will hit the office wall or on the desk and carve a permanent spot in the memory bank!!!!!

[reddog]

That right there, my friends is what it's all about! Good job.

[Tom7227]

I got that picture enlarged for him the very next day, though I don't have a frame for it yet.

You may want to do a cut and paste of your post and tape it to the back of the picture and in 20 years you'll get to enjoy it again.

You also might think about starting a journal of your hunts/fishing trips with the kids. Sounds sort of dorky with the 'journal' thing, but again, years from now both you and they will really enjoy reading it. One of those hard bound notebooks that looks like a cow works well and only costs a buck or two.

[lenny7]

You may want to do a cut and past of your post and tape it to the back of the picture and in 20 years you'll get to enjoy it again.

You also might think about starting a journal of your hunts/fishing trips with the kids.

Excellent ideas, thanks!