Adventures in Connecticut Pheasant Hunting

In the shopping world the day after Thanksgiving is known as Black Friday. It's THE day for the retail business. In the world of Connecticut pheasant hunting, the day before Thanksgiving is THE day. The Wednesday before Thanksgiving is the last day for the state to stock pheasant for the year. That's they day the DEP dumps any remaining pheasants. I managed to take advantage, and to get one bird. It should have been more, but once again my poor shooting left my game bag lite. I'll definitely have to find some way to become a better shot with the shot gun between now and the 2009 season. Despite the misses, it was a good, long day in the field. Everyone in my group managed to get a bird.

The pheasants were not eager to fly on this cold day. We found one cock bird in the middle of the ice of a small pond. The ice was probably only about a quarter inch thick, but it was enough to hold the bird and keep him away from us. I think we'd still be standing there waiting for that bird to move if it was not for some other hunters who came along. They led their Springer Spaniel to the edge of the small pond, and once he saw that pheasant he did not hesitate to dive into the frigid water. He scared up the bird so that we were able to get a shot at it. The owners of the dog were nice enough to defer that bird to us, even though it was their dog that did the hard work! Thanks to Skippy and his owners.

Now that pheasant season is all but over in Connecticut, I'll start concentrating on finishing out the deer season, then eventually doing some ice fishing during the cold winter months.