6 Pointing dogs freeze in place to let hunters know when there is a bird nearby
At the end of the barnyard the hunters stop to load their shotguns They enter a harvested wheat field spread into a line and begin to walk slowly along Their dog runs back and forth in front of them searching for the scent of birds When the hunters are approximately halfway through the field of prairie grass a couple of pheasants flush The birds are too far away to shoot at Pheasants are careful and alert birds This makes them tough to bag The hunters keep going Soon the dog is working harder Its sniffs the ground and wags its tail excitedly Then the dog stands still Its nose is pointed down and its stubby tail is locked straight out Its nostrils quiver The dog is pointing It has been bred and trained to do this Pointing usually means a pheasant is hiding nearby The mother calls the girl over The young hunter quietly walks in from the side trying to flush the pheasant that is somewhere ahead of the dog 7
Dogs help hunters quickly track down and retrieve their pheasants Kyak-kyak-kyak-kyak A male ringneck or rooster cackles and launches itself up from the grass The pheasant is loud colorful and bigger than a chicken It startles the young hunter But she has practiced hard with her shotgun She stays focused She brings the shotgun up and swings it toward the bird in one smooth motion By now the bird is nearly 30 yards 27 m out Boom The pheasant tumbles through the air to the ground The dog runs over digs around in 8
the wheat stalks and hurries back with a colorful ringneck in its mouth The family takes a break from hunting to admire the bird It is a male called a rooster or cock It has a red eye patch a green and purple head and a white ring around its neck It has bronze and powder blue feathers on its body and long tail feathers The legs have long sharp spurs The bird is a trophy to be proud of Pheasant Hunting History Ring-necked pheasants are not native to the United States They are native to China and the Korean peninsula Pheasants were introduced successfully in North America for the first time in 1881 in Oregon’s Willamette Valley America’s landscape was changing at this time Large areas of wilderness grassland were being turned into farmland Native game birds such as prairie chickens were not adapting well to the changes But the new habitat was perfect for pheasants 9
