Pheasant Camp 2011: Part 3

After the final push in the corn it was time to call it quits for the day. I collected the birds and herded the family for a group photo.

What a wonderful camp!

After picture time it was the usual clean the birds time. Nick and I rallied hard to go on a last hunt between the two of us, but we were refocused to bird cleaning. With the help of many in the crew it took us 15 minutes to clean everything. Some trap shooting and bow shooting filled the last gap of time until 6pm.

At 6pm we all collected ourselves and made it down to the fen.  The fen was the last place our beloved Jill retrieved a bird. She snuck out of the house behind Al and hobbled her way out to hunt with the rest. Uncle Al dropped a rooster and watched his dog work towards the bird in the tall grass, or so he thought. Our old grizzled Labrador lumbered into the harvest field, picked up the rooster, slowly made her way back to Al, and laid the bird at his feet. Couldn't have had a better last retrieve. Jill died this last spring and her ashes were placed in a box at home where they were stored until now. We held a ceremony with some fine whiskey, a toast to all faithful retrievers of the past, and a heart-string pulling poem read by my mother. We toasted to our dog, and then spread some of her ashes around the fen where she was able to have one last hunt.

After our ceremony we reconvened back up at the house. We were all together enjoying each others company and some of the best Venison Stew the Lord has bestowed upon us. Prepared by the hands of my mother we all stuffed ourselves with stew, bars, and more stew. Perfect batch. There is nothing better than a great day in the field and then coming back to a fabulous meal. Great food, great family. Doesn't get better than that.



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