Posted by Ed Muderlak on October 22, 2007, 11:02 am
Saturday, October 20: After a day of firewood cutting and deer stand installing, wife Nancy and I slipped into the soothing 104 degree water of our hot tub, looking east over our freshly mowed CRP to the 175 bushel $3.90 corn beyond. A good year! Nancy said something about pheasants, and I said, "I hear them." She said, "No, I mean there's one down in the waterway by the tree." Sure enough, a big rooster was struttin' his stuff about 100 yards away.
ParkerDog, my six-year-old Yellow Lab, was standing by with his tennis ball, wanting to play. I took it, gave him his "Mark" and whistling twice, he was off to his 30 yard limit where he paused to look back for further instructions. I waived him on toward the pheasant, who was in his head-down sneaking-like-a-wet-rat mode. ParkerDog saw him and the race was on, the pheasant running, head up, like a chicken until he went up, up, and away, gliding into the standing corn. I called ParkerDog in.
The gauntlet has been thrown down. The birds are on notice. ParkerDog is primed. My fowling piece is ready. Pheasant season here in Illinois begins two weeks hence. This new member of the LCS group can hardly wait. EDM