The bird dogs’ bells fell silent.
The three dogs were solidly on point, alerting the hunters to a game bird hiding in the thick grass and sweet fern covering this part of Kennebunk Plains, one of the state’s wildlife management areas.
Three hunters clicked their safeties off on their shotguns and positioned themselves to get the best shot.
The air suddenly came alive with the beating of wings and a loud cackle. It was a cock pheasant, rising from the thick cover, while the dogs stayed in place and tracked the bird with their eyes as it flew away.
Guns blasted, the bird fell and one of the dogs retrieved it. The dead bird went into a vest pouch, and the hunting party moved on, the three dogs’ bells distinct in the peace of the plains.
It’s a classic scenario for those of us who hunt with dogs trained to find and point birds. But the pheasant hunt is an annual tradition too. It’s a time to get together with friends and to give our trained bird dogs a chance at success.
The pheasant stocking program has been occurring in Maine since 1930. It’s especially popular with people who hunt with bird dogs because the pheasants tend not to spook as easily as wild grouse or even woodcock.
The birds are also bigger and easier for beginning hunters to shoot. Hunters either need a Super Pack hunting license or pay a separate $19 fee for a pheasant permit. You can do it online or at the town office where you purchased your regular hunting license.
The state stocks 20 sites in York and Cumberland counties with farm-raised wild pheasants each year. Pheasants are not native to Maine and only on rare occasions survive in the wild after being released, according to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
The sites where the birds are released can change from year to year. Properties are sold. Farms change purposes. Land is developed.
This year, with help from a half dozen fish and game clubs in Southern Maine, the state stocked approximately 2,000 birds. The pheasants were released on three different dates and may be hunted as part of the state’s annual wild bird season.
Today’s hunt was punctuated by intermittent rain, which kept the number of hunters down a bit at first. But it was successful. Three hunters, me included, came home with our limits of two birds each.