Chasing Pheasant With Wacky Dad and Holly

My Crazy Holly!

     Tomorrow is one of my favorite days of the year.  Since I was a young kid, maybe 10 or so, I have gone out in the woods almost every year on opening day of pheasant hunting.  As a kid we had a Brittany Spaniel, the breed has now been renamed simply "Brittany".  My childhood dog was named Lady, and she really lived up to her name. She was a kind and loving dog to all.  But when it came to pheasant time she traded in her mild mannered ways for a more rock and roll style.  This dog could hunt, and was one determined pup!  Lady was a tireless hunter, commonly swimming across icy rivers to retrieve downed birds that Dad so artfully knocked down with his old bolt action 20 gauge, the same style gun I hunt with till this day.  When all the other dogs were worn out Lady was still up for the fight.  As I got older I was able to get a hunting license, and that time in the woods with my father and Lady are memories I'll never forget.  I remember the exact spot where I got my first bird, and still go back there year after year to try my luck again.  It is a dream of mine to relive that magic moment of seeing a whole covey of quail right there under that same pine tree!  As Lady grew older I used to bring her out in the woods earlier and earlier every year to get her in shape.  She always got excited to hunt, even when age started to nag at her.  We both loved being out there together.  She finally succumbed to cancer when she was about 15 years old, and I remember sobbing like a baby with my old man as they euthanized her.  That dog was like gold.  We loved her.

Ailey in the woods with me at 4 Years old on her first hunt

    I then went in the Marine Corps and even though I still hunted in North Carolina with buddies, it was always without a dog.  It just wasn't the same.  After I got out of the Corps and we had our first daughter Abigail I finally talked my loving wife into getting a dog.  Of course it had to be a Britt!  I was so excited to get another dog.  I had to have a female. I dreamed of a dog just like Lady - fine manners - but hell on wheels in the woods.  We drove out to a rural part of Connecticut when I found a breeder with a litter.  I remember all of those little balls of fur - but there was one that stood out above the rest.  Most of them were kind of sleeping or laying there like lumps, but there was one active female that was just sort of all over the place. Then the guy took out a pheasant wing and dropped it to the ground.  The little active Britt pounced on that wing as if it were the real thing and just went to town on the thing!  I was hooked!  I had the pick of the litter and she was mine!

Abby was a veteran at this point.  She is 7 years old!

Well it turns out that I did get one incredible hunter.  Holly was in the woods at about 5-6 months old and was pointing birds her first season.  She is at least as tireless as Lady ever was, and dare I say she may even have a better nose.  Lady was a much more polished bird dog due to my father's training, but Holly's instinct and drive are just amazing.  There are years when friends and I have taken over 35 birds home in a season - all shot over Holly.  This is a pretty rare feat in Rhode Island.  Holly came with a caveat though.  Although she is a great hunter, she keeps me in a permanent state of purgatory for the rest of non-hunting season - 9 months a year!  The damned dog is just insane.  Her favorite delicacy is the white stuffing that is in the couch pillows.  Holly has consumed at least her own weight in stuffing over the years.  She is also an incredible escape artist.  She used to hop the 5' fence at our old house, she actually used to hit the top of the fence with her hind paws and propel herself off like a rocket.  Once she gets out it is like trying to catch greased lightning, and since she is a born athlete, not only is she fast, but she never tires - so chasing the little sucker is a heart attack waiting to happen!  Now you would think that this sort of "puppy" behavior would end when Holly got a bit older.  Well I have been waiting for 10 years now, and have finally given up wishing for her to slow down.  Now even though it pisses me off, I have to kind of respect her spirit when she escapes in the neighborhood and still eludes me for an hour - usually ending up in some neighbors house eating their dogs food, or rolling around in some horrendously stinky "stuff"!  She still eats pillows, it is almost a daily event.  I think part of it is spite - "Well you didn't hunt with me today asshole so I am going to eat your damned pillow again"!  Truthfully Holly is nothing like Lady except in her hunting.  She is brash and bold, not "Lady" like at all.  But I have to say that whenever the air starts to get cool in the fall I look forward to watching her beautiful hunting style.  She really is poetry in motion when she is on a birds scent.

  Holly - Happy opening day you crazy little bastard!  I am looking forward to hitting the fields with you tomorrow morning for our 10th year in a row, and I know you will be as beautiful as ever!  Here is to many more together. Stay crazy!


Love,


Your Wacky Dad : AKA Man Who Likes To Hunt Birds    

Wild Mushooms for Dinner!

My haul on the way home from work

I have been totally obsessed with hunting wild mushrooms this year, and we have been very successful on our hunts.  Here are a few photos and a video of dinner at the Costantino house after a score in the woods!  Time to get out there and pick 'em!  

Mushrooming at Dusk!

Abby with a huge hen of the woods!





Oh how I wish my grandfather were here to enjoy these things.  He spent my whole adult life talking about eating wild mushrooms when he was a kid, and I never really found anything to give him until this year.  I guess where he is there are wild mushrooms on every oak tree!  Happy picking Papa!  



Bon Appetit!


Wacky Dad