You'll never guess what I did today. I don't know whether I mentioned that I have joined Rhine/Plymouth Field and Stream, a sportsman club. I suppose that since Bobbie and I joined, it is truely a sportsPERSON club but I don't get concerned about that. Sportsmen is fine with me.

Anyway, our club is a part of the county pheasant program. Each year we get several thousand pheasant chicks and raise them for the summer and then release them all over the county. Of course, most of them are immediately harvested, which may seem kind of unfair. However, the strongest and the smartest survive and breed and pheasants are becoming a much more common sight all around the county roads. They also have a pretty pleasant life during the summer with food, water, shelter and protection provided for them. At least they have a chance to live on, unlike domestic turkeys or chickens.

Today we prepared the brooder pens for the baby chicks who will arrive on Tuesday. Then in a month, when they are stronger and bigger, we put blinders on them (so they won't beat each other up) and release them into the outdoor pens where they feed and grow. In the Fall, we remove the blinders and transport the birds all over the county. That is a really fun day. Maybe next year, I'll go pheasant hunting. I haven't done that yet.

My greatest hunting day will be the day I actually get something. It is FUN being out in the woods and doing the hunting but just like playing any game, it is much more fun when you win.

Mary