That at pheasant it is a typically September hunt, in the sense that from the day of the general opening of the hunt until the beginning of the migratory season there is a massive convergence of the hunting attention of the Italian shotguns on this species. For at least two weeks most of those who own a feathered dog do not give up braving the scorching heat in order to undermine the heir of the partridge, which quantitatively offers the best of itself when ready to go. However, after the brief initial outburst, during which the most naive and inexperienced subjects fall, it is up to the real enthusiasts the task and the pleasure of keeping hostilities open until late autumn and early winter. In this case, they are auxiliary and wild with the attributes, and the emotions, although less recurrent, are those that deserve to be experienced.
To be almost safe and sound at the finish line of the hunt, they must necessarily possess the stuff of real wild.
When in the middle of winter I find myself in the shed in the company of a couple of pigeons in the hope of celebrating some clever pigeon at the end of the season, it is not so rare to hear the quiet of the forest broken, so to speak, by the hoarse and unmistakable song of a male of pheasant. Then it comes naturally to me to try to establish the exact point of origin of that provocative voice and in the event that my morning has been very uneventful for the moment I can hardly refrain from giving in to the temptation to go ashore, take my springer and try to intercept the perpetrator of the crime. I must say that even though I always end up resisting the first impetuous impulse, I still find myself reflecting on the fact that in the surroundings of my tesa and in who knows how many other places, even in the last part of the hunting season, there are specimens of pheasant contrary to what one might think. . And above all, I cannot help but consider the fact that these birds, in order to have almost arrived safely at the finish line of the hunt and above all to have adapted with ease to environmental contexts that are certainly not comfortable or devoid of natural pitfalls, must possess in order to strength of what a real wild stuff. So those sudden warbling, sometimes timid, barely hinted at, almost strangled in half and certainly not explained through the throat as in the mating season, sound like indirect confirmation of a truth I already know well: pheasants represent an important resource and a potential source of hunting pleasure also and perhaps above all beyond the initial part of the season, when no one, as long as they have a feathered dog, gives up the possibility of tapping into the rich reservoir of colchids offered by the September opening. Indeed, although the opening pheasants for a variety of reasons are fun to hunt in the company of their trusted hunting companions, it is precisely the surviving pheasants that exalt and really test the skills and tenacity of dogs and hunters. Of course, since we are dealing with sedentary game it is logical that with the passage of time the opportunities for encounters will gradually diminish but in a certain sense it is as if the satisfaction, emotion and pleasure of hunting this wild increase in proportion to its decrease. When you manage to embody a pheasant in the middle of autumn or perhaps at the end of December, you actually have the distinct feeling of having accomplished a great feat because there can be no doubt about the specimen that we have managed to put on hold and to cheat. This is certainly a game with a capital "S" and certainly not a suspicious "chicken" ready to hunt. Of course, even late in the season there are pheasants and pheasants, emotions and emotions, and in general the difference is made by the place chosen to tempt fate. In fact, we usually think that once the initial September brawl has passed, the pheasant hunt is reduced, for workaholics, to a depressing continuation of repopulation and banished borders that does not always reward the best but perhaps the most fortunate or perhaps the least correct. who "move" the poles, so to speak, in their own way. And we think so because there are many who are satisfied with this substitute for the real pheasant hunting, convinced that the galliforme from October onwards can only be encountered in certain obligatory places. Those who actually have no alternatives have nothing to reproach themselves with. But those who can opt for other contexts, in this case the forest, have the moral imperative to do so. There are areas, especially in Tuscany, where the pheasant actually offers a real hunting opportunity and where you can choose to hunt it all year round as long as you have the desire and adequate means to do so. Wood pheasants if we want to conquer them we have to sweat them, since it is a question of undermining subjects who know their stuff and who are able to make the most of the defense opportunities offered by a territory that is not always easy to beat. Rustic and wild in the true sense of the word, accustomed to drinking in the wild boar huts and in the pools of streams and to feed on the little that passes the convent, these pheasants by the time they meet will have had all the time necessary to gain experience. , and on the basis of their experience they will know well that when a threat approaches they will not have to plunge headlong into the first bush at hand, but will have to quickly gain the thresholds of the narrow scrub to "hide" or perhaps those of a cut from which to be able to whisk at a safe distance like lightning bolts and get back into the heart of their impregnable green fort. In other words, these are pheasants who do not allow themselves to be passively nailed by a statuary firm, but which enhance the skills of our auxiliaries as quick drivers and who in any case often and willingly manage to get the better of it, so much so that their colonies do not run the risk of " become extinct "year after year as happens to those" resident "in the countryside. Every hunter passionate about this sedentary game cannot fail to know that almost everywhere nowadays on the edge of the wood, there are now well-rooted strains, which year after year, inevitably, suffer some losses but which, in due course, also register a natural numerical reset.
So let's see what are the requirements to be able to challenge the winter pheasants with some concrete possibility of succeeding in the arduous undertaking.
The recipe itself is not so complex: first of all you need to have dogs up to the situation and then be real pheasant hunters to be able to lead our auxiliaries in the best possible way and put their action to good use with determination and sagacity at the moment of fatal encounter. But which dogs would rise to the occasion? In this regard, there is no special recipe: in the presence of a real game, the auxiliary must prove to be a real hunting dog. And this whether it is a pointing dog or a hunting dog. Let's say right away that for the latter it is easier than for the others. To facilitate them in their task is the type of work that characterizes them and the fact that most of them are able to do it effectively. True, there are also listless springers, but we will certainly never find them in the hands of real hunters, especially pheasant hunters, and they are rather sporadic cases. Generally the springer is a greedy dog and difficult undertakings, in which resourcefulness, stubbornness and determination are required, exalt him. The pheasant is a wild game that fits him perfectly and the winter one represents for him the maximum of pleasure, teasing the dowry that most distinguishes him, that is the speed. In fact, it is no secret that unlike many congeners that happen to find at the opening and surroundings, the winter pheasant tries above all to beat the hunter and his auxiliary on the weather. So, once you have crossed our path with that of one of these crafty creatures, it is above all necessary not to get lost in vain squiggles but to aim at the point, that is to urgently pursue it up to put it back to the wall before it vanishes, on foot and in flight, where we can no longer reach him. And a springer who knows his own fact will immediately try to shorten the distance, devouring the eats until the moment of the discovery. The real problem for the owners will be to understand the situation, read it as soon as possible and take appropriate countermeasures. The pointing dog, equally, must be one of those more willing to fight with the sword than with foil. A firm purist will not do for us, as well as a brainy woodcock accustomed to using the utmost caution. This is not a question of nailing the wild, since it will certainly not allow itself to be "managed" at a short distance by its opponent. The winter pheasant does not stop to think, because when we are lucky enough to be close enough to be able to undermine him he will have already evaluated what to do well in advance. It will be a question of making the most of that short period of time that passes between his hesitation (due not to naivety but to cunning) and the moment of saving himself who can, when our opponent breaks the delay because he makes himself I realize that stalling will not save him from danger. Therefore, even the pointing dog must be able to shorten times and distances, to counter the most probable solution chosen by the pheasant as a remedy to its contingent problems: the escape of pawn! Therefore, even entrusting himself to a stopper, the hunter will certainly not be able to think about taking it easy, otherwise he will not even hear the whirring of the pheasant. The qualities of the dog must therefore necessarily be added to those of the handler, who are certainly not limited to having good legs and quick reflexes. These are important requirements but they are not enough. As mentioned above, you must first be true pheasant hunters, that is, you must know the game, its reactions when hunting but also its habits, in order to be able to better evaluate how, where and when to try to "cheat" them. A fact plays in our favor: the wood pheasants are quite habitual and if they are not disturbed excessively, or if there are no completely unusual weather conditions, they go out in search of food at more or less the same times. For the hunter it is important to be able to take advantage of this regularity, to the point that, if you encounter a wild at a certain time of day without being able to shoot it, you can advise to let a few days pass before returning to annoy it so that it resumes its own routine and, when we deem it appropriate, we can go and look for it almost certain to find it in the same place and at the same time. Speaking of particular weather conditions, at the end of abundant rain or during the blowing of a tense and cold wind, it is easy to surprise the pheasants outside their tree-lined stronghold: to leave their damp appolos and go down to dry their feathers in the first case. and to avoid the annoying rustling of the fronds in the second. Other topical moments are learned with practice, the same that also teaches us how to regulate ourselves at the moment of the encounter. In most cases, as mentioned, it is a question of beating the opponent on time, catching him by surprise in such a way as to prevent him from effectively "running" for cover: also running in the literal sense, because these specimens, constantly on the who goes there , do not hesitate for a moment to run away in order to avoid exposing themselves in flight in front of a pressing danger. In some cases it may even be a question of deceiving our opponent by cutting him off the road that would soon bring him back to the heart of the woods and therefore safe. Combining speed with absolute silence will then be an indispensable condition. Furthermore, where it is impossible to penetrate into the thicket to follow our auxiliary, we will have to let him work and wait for events by exploiting the sense of placement that certainly should not be lacking for any valid pheasant hunter, especially if he loves hunting alone. The handler, depending on the conformation of the terrain and the vegetation, will have to try to quickly gain the place that he will consider most suitable to dominate the possible directions of flight from the wild, in the hope that the whisk does not occur at an impossible distance, which should not be excluded. since in most cases a genuine wood pheasant will try to outdistance the dog and then silently leap and glide far out of sight and even hearing of the hunter.
Text and photos by Pierluigi Mugellesi