The Hunters Are Coming!

With the 2009 garden all but put to bed for the season, thoughts turn to seasonal activities such as pheasant hunts, turkey dinner preparations or dragging out the Christmas decorations. 

Pheasant hunting is big business here in western Kansas.  We’ve got pheasant farms that hatch out thousands of birds to assure the hunter’s some success.  Hotels and motels, resturants and B&B’s get ready for an influx of visitors with one thing in mind, money.    We have our share of camoflauged visitors knocking on our door.  We’ve tried to be generous landowners and for the most part, they have been responsible and considerate hunters.  However, they all have to listen to some specific counsel before they tromp my real estate. “Sure you can hunt but first we need to agree on some edicts here.  I had to go to town and swipe my squirrels, they are all tamed and named, so no squirrel hunting. (Try that on a Missourian!)  The quail come in the yard and drink from the pond, we can practically hand feed them, so no quail hunting.  Our two Great Horned Owls, Oscar and Edna, will keep an eye on you and they will tattle!  For every pheasant you harvest, you must bless me with a dead cottontail (they eat my veggies and munch on my flowers).”

Courtesy of Championguide.com

Our friends from New Mexico butter us up with big sacks of pecans.  The guys from Springfield, Mo., have the friendliest dogs.  I once answered the front door to find a confused and pooped bird dog, begging for a drink.  Together we found his lost owner, they were both glad to see each other.  Now sometimes you have to explain to a Missourian what a quarter of land is or mention a half section and you can see you’ve lost them.  In the land of hills and curvy roads, these measurements may not count for much, but they learn quickly.

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