by Sue Bagienski

The weather was perfect for NJ OWL’s Educational Pheasant Hunt on Saturday, October 25, 2003. NJ OWL worked with Tony Cangemi of the Wild Wings Hunt Club, and arranged for seven NJ OWL members, including myself, to participate in an actual hunt. It was quite thrilling. Tony provided us with coffee and donuts when we arrived. Wild Wings club members - Al, Nick and Chuck - donated their time to guide us with their dogs through the beautiful club property located in the Pine Barrens in Burlington County.

The goal of the day was to give those of us who are new to hunting pheasants theopportunity to gain hands on experience of pheasant hunting and all that goes along with it.

The day began with an introduction to safety out in the field. Dave Archer and Rich Rist, Hunter Education Instructors with the NJ Division of Fish & Wildlife, and Tony, gave us all a reminder of gun safety.

The 3 main safety rules are:
1) always treat any gun as if it were loaded,
2) always point your muzzle in a safe direction, and
3) know your target and beyond.

All our guns were inspected for obstructions before heading out into the field. We were then introduced to our individual instructors and the guides with their dogs.

We went out in groups of 2 and 3. Each group had at least one Hunter Ed Instructor, one guide from the club and one dog. NJ OWL member Mary and I were teamed up with Rich and Al. We started off down the road as Rich and Al gave us instruction on how to hunt with a dog.

The dog wears a bell on its collar and basically it runs continuously until it finds a pheasant. When we don’t hear the bell, then we assume it is pointing at a bird. Al would say "whoa" to make the dog stay still until we got there to check out the spot.

Al’s dog is a Brittany spaniel, named Boy. After what only seemed like a few minutes, Boy pointed a pheasant in the field. All the dogs we used were called pointing dogs because they point at the bird, rather than flush it. That’s our job. Flushing means that you go up to where the dog is pointing, and kick the bush or the leaves until the bird flies up.

Mary was first - she flushed the bird, up it came, but it came up so fast, she missed it. There are a lot of things for us a first-time hunter to think of. Like remembering to take off the safety, being absolutely sure that no person or the dog is in the line of fire, bringing the gun up to the correct position, and then pulling the trigger.

A little while later it was my turn and the same thing happened with me. The bird flew up, and I shot at it, but missed. I was using a pump shotgun, so I needed to remember to pump for my second shot! We watched the bird fly and followed to where it went. Then the dog found it again, and the second time I got the pheasant. It was my first pheasant! It was very exciting.

A little while later, the next pheasant was Mary’s and she got it too. I was amazed at how hard the dog worked. We continued to hunt for a few more hours, and flushed about 6 pheasants total. It was such a pleasurable experience walking through the woods and learning how the dogs work. Al and Rich are very knowledgeable and helpful to us. Many great tips were given.

Carol cleaning her pheasant.