The 7th Annual First Pheasant Mentor Hunt took place on Saturday, September 27 at the Spruce Creek Upland Club. This was the first of two such events this fall offering folks who’ve never hunted pheasants a shot at their first birds.
Each hunt is designed to match a real-life pheasant hunt. The session featured two mentees with a mentor and a dog handler and eight liberated rooster pheasants. At the end of the 4 sessions exactly half of the 48 birds were bagged, cleaned and went home with the mentees for cooking.
Aside from the hunt, the attendees were provided a seminar on the history and hunting of upland gamebirds in southern Alberta. Brian Ness held a Gear and Clothing Seminar at lunch hour and a cleaning seminar which culminated in everyone cleaning their birds was held at the end of the day. Lastly the group talked recipes in a round table session that was our cooking seminar.
Thanks to Mike and Rodney Perkins and Brian Ness for mentoring the hunts and thanks to Vince Aiello, Chris McLean and Steven Wier for handling the master pointers.
A special thanks to Tanner, Ashley and Lily who supported us with the use of Spruce Creek Upland Club. Their helpful personalities made it a most welcoming environment for all participants.
Thanks also to Alberta Chapter of The Wildlife Society for their support in our mentor programs.
