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Today Was Opening Day

AmbroseAmbrose Member Posts: 3,208 ✭✭✭✭
in General Discussion

The pheasants have been gone from this area for many years. Opening day used to be a big deal. It was a kind of family holiday. I must have been about 12 when my Dad and my uncle let me start going with them carrying a shotgun, a 20 gauge single. As a reward for working here on the farm, Dad gave me one of the pigs we raised. The money from the sale of that pig went to a new 12 gauge Ithaca 37 that was my pheasant gun for quite a while. Then came a Winchester 97 trench gun and then a 16 gauge Marlin O/U and so on. As the pheasants got scarce, we tried buying and releasing them. When that didn't help, we finally resorted to releasing a dozen roosters a few days before the season and then looking for them opening day. I carried a loaded shotgun on those days but wouldn't shoot. The old hunting gang are all gone now. I buried my last hunting dog, a 175 lb. black Great Dane, almost 30 years ago. He is covered with my hunting coat.

But today I thought I'd do something for old times sake. The neighbor's corn field is just across the road. It's a quarter mile long and I thought I'd make a round through it. So I got out one of my old 16 gauge Ithaca 37's, put 5 shells in it and started out. It brought back a lot of memories. My 85th birthday is next week so I won't see many more opening days but I walked through this one.

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