Don’t judge me on this last hunt of the season. I have my reasons!

OK, let me make something clear, I have not been on my last upland or waterfowl hunt, just the last one for this ending season thanks to a nearby shooting preserve. For those who snub their noses at pen-raised birds and claim they are not wild enough, one of the birds on my recent hunting adventure went airborne and kept flying. That rooster rocketed across a nearby road and as far as I know it winged over to Idaho. That rooster’s mom clearly told him to go west, young rooster, har har!

OK, as one hunter Mike hunted with in the past was known to exclaim when birds flew away, “Darn, there went $20!” I did my part and found the bird, hunting hoomans like Mike are supposed to run over and get within range and make the shotgun’s shot fly true and count. Leaves me often wondering why I hunt with hoomans? Oh, they need to drive the truck and take me to a long list of hunting sites, har har!

OK, at the preserve I must give Mike a gold star! He did shoot his Browning shotgun and bring down a couple of birds — which I promptly fetched up. The great news is that other than the winger that flew away, no other birds escaped on this hunt.

Best news of all is that Mike cooked the birds, made a gravy mix to accompany the breasts and served that over rice. I’m still licking my lips over that meal which I helped consume. Until September, I will fill my days with barn pigeon hunts and dreaming of the upcoming fall hunting seasons. Mike will need to stop dreaming and start practicing, har har! —Cameron