6th Prize
Hunting Journal with Weatherby Logo (100 awarded)
Jeffrey Mortensen, Utah
“I grew up in Utah and hunted everything with my family. We hunted ducks and geese in the Great Salt Lake marshes, we hunted mule deer in the Wasatch Mountains, and we hunted pheasants in the farmlands around Salt Lake and Tooele. These memories are the fondest of my childhood. I have grown to cherish the time I spent with my dad and brothers in these pursuits more than I could ever explain to most people. I have shared many of these memories with my son during the time that we have spent in hunting and fishing.
My son, Brian, is now 26 years old and is an avid hunter and fisherman. I would rather go hunting with him than anyone else I know. I have one great regret when it comes to my experiences with Brian in the field. He has never been able to actually hunt and harvest a wild pheasant. We have tried hunting pheasants all over the area in northern Utah. Because of modern farming and land use practices, there are very few places where you can still find a wild pheasant and in those places there are always huge crowds making it almost impossible to fairly pursue one. Brian has heard me talk about the good old days of being able to shoot a limit of three roosters in a short period of time during most days of the short season, and he would really like to see ‘real’ pheasant hunting like that. I would like nothing more than to be able to give him that experience.
I have a friend that hails from South Dakota and still has family there. He returns a couple of times a year and spends a week hunting pheasants with family and friends and talks about seeing literally hundreds of pheasants in fields and swamps everywhere there. He shows pictures of piles of birds in front of smiling and back slapping guys and tells stories of incredible drives and pushes where you run out of shells and still the birds flush. I would dearly love to have Brian see some of that.
He is married now and his wife is pregnant with their first. I hope Brian can pass his experiences and love of the outdoors on to that next generation. I have told him maybe we can try to save our money and one day make a trip to someplace where there is ‘real’ pheasant hunting, like South Dakota. I believe that this could happen one day but I am not getting any younger and the demands on his finances will only get greater from now on.
My dream hunt would be a full-blown wild pheasant hunt in South Dakota with my deserving son, Brian. I have killed my share of pheasants and am not worried about this for me. If Brian could even go and hunt I would be happy to walk along with him and be his ‘birddog’ and retriever. We hunt ducks together several times a year and spend a week hunting deer every year and really enjoy each others company. I can think of nothing I would rather give him than this great outdoor experience. Thank you so much for this wonderful opportunity.”