The 8th Annual First Pheasant Mentor Hunt took place on Saturday, September 12 at the Spruce Creek Upland Club. This event offers 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 sessions exactly half of the 28 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. A shooting seminar was also held. This is a popular session for mentees. We were blessed to have the leadership and expertise of Phil Evans at the helm. Phil is a champion shooter and expert instructor.
Brian Ness held a Gear and Clothing Seminar at lunch hour and a cleaning seminar at the end of the day. Lastly the group talked recipes in a round table cooking seminar.
Thanks to Mike and Rodney Perkins and Brian Ness for mentoring the hunts and thanks to Scott Price, Ron Belt and Jody Funk 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.
Importance of the Cleaning Seminar
Teaching the “field to table” tradition helps the next generation develop a deeper respect for wildlife, sustainable food sources, and conservation. Connecting their pheasant harvest directly to a meal helps these mentees learn ethical responsibility, self-sufficiency, and an appreciation for the hunting tradition and habitat that Pheasants Forever is trying to conserve.
