What the O!
This week's edition of "What the O!" will highlight the time I spent last week celebrating Thanksgiving in Iowa with the Freemyers.
Being from Texas, I know my way around a shotgun, and I have spent a decent amount of time out killing my food for sustenance. Deer hunting is big in Texas, but I am much more a fan of shooting the birds, primarily dove. You don't have to worry about making noise, being too still, or deciding to shoot something else when it comes along in fear that you might ruin the hunt. Bird hunting is where it is at for me. So naturally, when an invitation made its way to me to go pheasant hunting with the Freemyers while feasting like a king for two days, I jumped all over it.
I discovered that there are a few differences between hunting dove and pheasant. For starters, much to my delight, pheasant are much bigger. This makes them far easier to shoot but also provides a greater sense of accomplishment--yielding such a fine trophy. Another difference is that dove are primarily flying through the air or temporarily resting in a tree when one attempts to shoot them. Contrastingly, pheasant are hiding out in thick brush by a creek somewhere (I sometimes felt like joining them due to the Pluto-like temperatures) and they must be kicked up from their resting place. The last difference I discovered rather quickly into the hunt, and then rediscovered later on, is that you actually are only "allowed" to shoot the males (roosters) and it is mildly illegal to shoot the females (hens).
Here is the problem: they look exactly alike. Sure there are a few minor color differences, but for all intensive purposes they are mirror images of each other. So, if you are not born in Middle America and pheasant recognition is not naturally ingrained in your DNA, then this task becomes somewhat arduous. On top of that, people shouting out "Hen!!" sounds a lot like "Ken-dal!!"
All of this to say that I am an excellent shot! ... And I shall forever be known as The Lady Killer.
Being from Texas, I know my way around a shotgun, and I have spent a decent amount of time out killing my food for sustenance. Deer hunting is big in Texas, but I am much more a fan of shooting the birds, primarily dove. You don't have to worry about making noise, being too still, or deciding to shoot something else when it comes along in fear that you might ruin the hunt. Bird hunting is where it is at for me. So naturally, when an invitation made its way to me to go pheasant hunting with the Freemyers while feasting like a king for two days, I jumped all over it.
I discovered that there are a few differences between hunting dove and pheasant. For starters, much to my delight, pheasant are much bigger. This makes them far easier to shoot but also provides a greater sense of accomplishment--yielding such a fine trophy. Another difference is that dove are primarily flying through the air or temporarily resting in a tree when one attempts to shoot them. Contrastingly, pheasant are hiding out in thick brush by a creek somewhere (I sometimes felt like joining them due to the Pluto-like temperatures) and they must be kicked up from their resting place. The last difference I discovered rather quickly into the hunt, and then rediscovered later on, is that you actually are only "allowed" to shoot the males (roosters) and it is mildly illegal to shoot the females (hens).
Here is the problem: they look exactly alike. Sure there are a few minor color differences, but for all intensive purposes they are mirror images of each other. So, if you are not born in Middle America and pheasant recognition is not naturally ingrained in your DNA, then this task becomes somewhat arduous. On top of that, people shouting out "Hen!!" sounds a lot like "Ken-dal!!"
All of this to say that I am an excellent shot! ... And I shall forever be known as The Lady Killer.
posted by Kendal | 2:47 PM
5 Comments:
Kendal, thank you for your honesty. Please enclose a $500 fine and mail to:
Iowa Game and Parks Division
Pottawattamie County Office
200 W. 2nd Avenue
Council Bluffs, IA 51503
Sincerely,
Tom Kaufman
Game Warden
Kendal, I appreciate your cultural distance from pheasant hunting, but honestly: saying that a rooster pheasant and a hen pheasant are mirror images of each other is like saying that Snoop Dogg and Madeline Albright are mirror images of each other.
Kendal, i would not have known the difference, and i have lived here my whole life. if ya need help with the fine, ill chip in 20 bucks...as long as i get a portion of that tasty hen.
Kendal, I'm with Patrick. I would have no clue how to tell a hen pheasant from a rooster pheasant and I too have lived here the vast majority of my life.
That being said, I thought you didn't like the stereotypes about Texans. Yet you say, "Being from Texas, I know my way around a shotgun." So fess up, what kind of pickup do you own, how many teeth does your father still have, and where's you rebel flag and horses? And you can drop the no accent thing too. It's ok, we'll stil love you even with a Texan drawl!
:)
This is about 2 weeks late in coming and unrelated to this post but.... I beat you.
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