Outdoor Adventures
Phil Taunton
Friday, October 31, 2008
The 2008 pheasant season opens this weekend and an estimated orange army of 100,000 hunters are expected to be in hunting fields and filling the motels of Kansas come Saturday to participate in this much-anticipated and time-honored affair.
Wifeus and I were volunteers at the class 1-3A girls’ state golf tournament here a couple of weeks ago and parents who traveled from Lakin and Goodland to watch their kids compete confirmed the forecast by Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks that birds were just everywhere.
My love affair with pheasants and pheasant hunting began many years ago when Teresa and I were caught unaware by an explosive flush and cackle of a rooster pheasant as we explored weeds and the sunflower-laden right-of-way of the Union Pacific Railroad. Let me back up a bit...
Teresa wasn’t my favorite girl at the time, but my first hunting dog. Her namesake was my favorite girl until she beat me hands down in the 50-yard dash at the fourth grade school picnic. Since my athletic prowess was put to shame, I decided a relationship with someone faster than me would never work, so I ended my crush on Teresa. I still had an affection for her so I gave her name to my dog after finding the pup was a she instead of a he. At the time I was really too young to know the difference.
Teresa, a.k.a. Killer, was the black and tan coonhound of my dreams until she started growing long hair and stayed small of stature. I had been tricked into thinking she was a coon dog — she was black and tan. I may have lost my first love to a foot race, but I did have one consolation: I beat Teresa by mere inches in the softball throw and won a blue ribbon to boot!
When the pheasant took flight from the tall weedy patch along the railroad tracks that day, it scared the “bejeebies” out of us and instilled the thrill of pheasant hunting I cherish to this very day. I have fond memories of the first pheasant I harvested. It was a wily old rooster that would always slip out of the field by a rustic old weathered barn near the edge of a weed field which now lies under Milford Lake. On about the third hunt through this area, I asked Pop to let me out of the old station wagon (we called it Teddy Roosevelt because it was a rough rider) and I would slip down to the edge of the barn and block the bird’s escape route.
Odds were a thousand to one we would be successful but the plan worked. Grandpa’s old hand-me-down, single shot, break open 12 gauge barked true that morning and I had by first rooster pheasant. With sure elation, the hunt was over for me. As Dad and a sergeant from the Post continued to hunt, I went back to the vehicle, marveled at the beauty of such a magnificent bird as I stroked its feathers and fell into a satisfied slumber. I don’t think a master plan (every hunting party has one) or a blocking strategy concerning pheasant hunting has worked for me since!
The pursuit of pheasants can get into you blood, I gar-on-tee you! Safety concerns and
ethical hunting behavior
Many grain fields have not been harvested this year so, as a courtesy to landowners, please avoid walking in standing crops. These fields shouldn’t be disturbed until after the crops have been harvested to maintain a good relationship with the farmer. Take it to heart that permission to hunt anyone’s land must be obtained from the owner or tenant whether it is posted or not. It is illegal to hunt otherwise. Railroad right-of-ways belong to the railroad and only they can give you permission to hunt this property. Their tracks lead to danger!
Hunting is safe and getting safer due to hunter education and various novice hunter shooting sports oriented programs that are now offered across the state. Swinging on game accounted for 10 of 19 accidents last year and remains the number one cause of hunting injury incidents in Kansas.
As you take to the fields this weekend, or on any hunt for that matter, always be aware of where your fellow hunters are and where your safe zone of fire lies. Be sure to properly identify your target and what lies beyond it before you take any shot. A firearm isn’t like a pencil with an eraser, once you pull the trigger, the shot can never be taken back.
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