I have hunted for waterfowl (ducks, geese, brant, etc.) which involves sitting a blind and slowly freezing to death. Spring Turkey hunting, which takes place in April and May, involves sitting in the woods. That’s it, just sitting in the woods.

Upland bird hunting is the classic image we all have: hunters in bright orange, walking slowly through the dry winter grass, eyes fixed on the fine pointer in front of them.

It was a lot of fun. Our host Tony was kind enough to play guide for us four “hunters” and his buddy Bing the pointer performed admirably. On this gray, cool day we could walk, talk and have a laugh.

When we first started out, Bing flushed some small birds, quail and grouse, and we all got a feeling for the tempo of the hunt. Suddenly Bing became a pointing dog statue. As we approached there was a large, colorful flourish and a giant creature took to the air. We all shot and missed miserably. Even Milton (who teaches tactical self-defense and shooting and is built like a Navy SEAL) was caught by surprise. After the ordeal, he looked at all of us, bug-eyed, and asked, “What the heck was that? A pterodactyl?”

Pheasant

The Dreaded Jersey Pterodactyl

I blog about real estate and business at http://propertyprophet.wordpress.com/ and my website is www.gaglianoco.com.