Pheasant Hunting: A Family Affair in Northampton

Anthony, our guide, holds up the first pheasant....
Jim and Cory scout the brush for more...
Henry, don't let her fly away.....

"Good boy, Hunter!" (a trusty pointer, flusher and retriever)

Four birds down, two to go....

Photos: Lexi Van de Walle

Even though I don't have my hunting license, on Saturday, the most gorgeous day of the year so far, I decided to go out shooting with the family. In my shirt sleeves, equipped with my Nikon D90 and zoom lens, I got about a hundred shots (photos of course) while everyone else shot pheasants with their shotguns.

With Hunter, the Brittany Spaniel and Anthony, our guide, Henry, my husband, Jim, my brother and Cory, my stepson shot six pheasants in all -- three hens and three cocks -- over at Hunters Garden in Northampton (just east of Manorville Road off of the LIE).

Now, the cleaned birds are carefully wrapped and in the freezer at our house in Southampton.

Since I'm headed to Paris soon, it will be a few weeks before I cook up the birds and share any new recipes. In the meantime, check out some delicious pheasant recipes: Pheasant Soup, Roasted Pheasant with Vermont Maple Syrup and Pheasant Gumbo in the November 2009 Lighthearted Locavore archives.