We’re at our Pheasants Forever youth hunt. Today we’ve released 80 rooster pheasants for 40 novice hunters at a local shooting preserve. Dozens of youngsters shoot their first pheasant, and dozens more pheasants are missed. This leaves a lot of naive pheasants loose in the fields and forests around the farm we’re hunting on.
But we’re not the only ones hunting today. Six or eight red-tailed hawks circle above us, waiting for a pheasant to make its last rookie mistake.
It strikes me that we’re kind of like Krispy Kreme donuts. They promote hot, fresh donuts with their glowing neon signs. We advertise hot, fresh pheasants with our bright orange hunting vests and volleys of shot. And the hawks have lined up like cars in the parking lot.