“The air became full of colors and cackles as five cock pheasants launched themselves into the Indian summer sky. The first two birds to rise offered easy shots and quickly fell. Fumbling to reload, I listened as the sound of shots to my right told me that my partners were sharing the action.

With the gun readied, I looked up to see the last of the cockbirds cutting to my left, the sunshine radiating from its multicolored plumage and a two-foot-long tail streaming behind. Swinging the Ruger in front of the bird I tapped the trigger but failed to connect. Pushing the gun farther ahead of the pheasant I tried and succeeded with the second barrel.

For most hunters it would be the hunt of a lifetime.

We kept walking and the birds kept coming. It would be a conservative estimate to say that the 30-minute hike had flushed a half a hundred pheasants. It would be a fact to say that the bag was an even two-dozen birds. For most hunters it would be the hunt of a lifetime.”

Michael Pearce
Hunting at Lazy J
“Flush With Pheasants”
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL