As we grow older, we reminisce as to how it was when we were young. My thoughts often go back to hunting with a fine dog, a good side-by-side shot gun, clear weather and beautiful fall colors. If you want to step back in time and reminisce as to the “way it was, the way always has been and the way it never will be again”, grab your side-by-side shot gun, preferably a straight stock 12 gauge ejector type side lock from your gun room, catch your black lab and go pheasant hunting in Iowa.
Your mode of transportation will hopefully be an old half worn out pickup truck and your clothing should consist of a tattered hunting coat, orange cap and of course LL Bean boots.
As you take off to the fields for a morning pheasant hunt, you are stepping back into time with your dog, your gun and your truck, hunting much the way it’s always been. This is what hunting is all about. This is probably the same feeling your great-great grandfather had when he stepped out in the Iowa prairies to hunt prairie chickens or your grandfather felt when the first Iowa pheasant hunting season opened in 1925 and hopefully the future generations will feel about hunting.
Hunting is a philosophy and a feeling that I have, you have and future generations will have. Never lose it, never leave it, always find it and keep it with you.
As you approach the fields of standing corn, you release your gundog ahead of you and grab your side-by-side shot gun and go back into time, to the way it was, philosophically, traditionally and the way it should be.
Have a good hunt and keep on fishing!
--Ron Kuntz
