Pennsylvania Game News - October 2009 - 20

Brit, my golden and Dave’s young chocolate Lab. At first we had been a little nervous about how the dogs would get along, let alone hunt together, but it seemed the chase had become the most important thing in their minds. Each dog was hunting in its own style and, remarkably, it was working well as they hunted through the snowcovered shocks and stubble. We hurried to the fencerow and were spread out waiting as they approached. Dave’s long-legged Lab was the first to arrive, and as it neared the overgrown fencerow there was an explosion of snow in all directions when two cackling roosters catapulted into the air. While I stood looking at the world through snow covered glasses, and Mike gazed on in awe, Dave instantly reacted and dropped both birds. Mike recovered quickly, though, and shot one that tried to sneak behind him. My golden arrived after all the shooting had taken place, with kind of a humiliated look on her face. It turned out to be a great day, as we ended up with six pheasants, including the one the dog had found when we arrived, two grouse and three rabbits. When we arrived back at the truck the gentleman who owned the farm met us. “I sure hope you fellows had a good day,” he said as he got out of his truck. The old man seemed more interested in where we were all from, what we did for a living and how we enjoyed the day than he did about how much game we had taken. I told him one of us was a lab technician who worked in a large hospital, I was a police officer and the other was a salesman who sold specialized cutting tools to companies worldwide. He, in an almost apologetic manner replied, “I’m just a farmer.” The way in which he said “just a farmer” didn’t sit well with me. He was a lot more than that to me and my friends. I wanted to tell him how much his granting permission to three strangers to hunt his property had meant to us, but I believed further discussion about the subject at that point would likely embarrass him, and that would be the last thing I would want to do to this kind man. We also talked about the posted farms in the area, and when I mentioned that I had grown up on a farm, some of the newer farming methods were also discussed. I then mentioned that when I had seen the posted signs on his property the day I drove by I wasn’t sure if stopping and asking him about hunting was the right thing to do. He explained that many of the farmers in the area have their farms posted, but would give permission to hunt if asked. He and the other landowners posted their properties to better control who was hunting on them, and to have the opportunity to talk about the ground rules with those who did. We offered to share with him some of the game we had killed, but he declined. We thanked him for allowing us to hunt on his property, exchanged goodbyes and then he told us we were welcome back anytime. As I stood watching his truck disappear up the lane, I thought again about what he had said. Did he realize how much this day and his kindness had meant to me and my friends? Being granted the ability to turn our dogs loose on property ranging as far as the eye could see and harvesting a bounty of game was like a dream come true, and this man’s kindness was truly a gift. That evening, after cleaning my game, I sat down in front of the fireplace to reflect on the day. It had truly been a GAME NEWS

Pennsylvania Game News - October 2009

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