On Lindy (Part 3/Final): Patience and Persistence on Cleaning Feathers from Your Kitchen

I just want to say THANK YOU to everyone that has been so supportive of my writing this blog--my lifelong friends from highschool and college that check in and say hi!  It means the world to me that you take a few moments to even skim some of what I am writing.  It's been awhile that I've spent the time actually writing and I realize that millenials think writing is more like listing in a lot of media these days--so thank you!

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The Beginning of the 2017 Pheasant Season
So I have this new gun.  It's so lightweight.  It's kinda pretty in a weird way.  I shot one time with it at the place I had been practicing.  I was ready to go.

The opening day of pheasant season is really bizzare.  There were people there with pitbulls trying to hunt birds.  I mean, if it works, it works.  I didn't find opening day to be enjoyable.  Too many people, and I felt bb's fly over my head so I left.  We actually had a pretty slow start to the season.  It wasn't that I was still missing, it was that we just weren't finding anything.

Until that one faithful workweek afternoon.  Hunting season #2--2017.

It was hot.  It was still October so it was still warm.

In fact, I had Lindy trimmed down earlier in the summer to help cool her down a bit--they definitely gave her the "GSP" and not the "Brittany Cut" which was pretty traumatic for me--almost looked like how she did out of rescue with the short hair.  I was torn about that.

So we were at a place that was sort of an easy go-to for me.  Blue Marsh Lake was a place I had frequented my first year, and in general because of the multiple recreation opportunities.  My first year here I mountain biked around the whole lake.  That was a task.  Phew.

This day I  remember vividly.

We were in the most popular field right near the parking lot.  It gets a lot of pressure because it's right there & gets hunted pretty hard.  I had a lot of luck there last year, for whatever reason.  Remember, for me "luck" at that point just meant finding birds, not shooting them.

We were probably 20 minutes into our hunt.  Lindy is, oddly enough, hunting very close to me.  She locks into a point and I think I'm just like "OH SHIT THIS IS THE MOMENT".  I "whoa" her.  And she actually whoaed.

(So, I probably didn't explain "whoa" to my non-hunting readers... it's basically a command to make the dog stop where it is--whether it is to avoid bumping the bird, crossing the street, or going after a scrap of food)

So, at this point I still was using eye protection that covered one eye to help with my accuracy.  I quick slid those down as I get in front of her and kick the brush (grass) to release the bird.  She held the point, the bird flushed, I shouldered my gun like I had been practicing, and I shot the bird with one shot!  

And I killed it!

And I am ALONE in this field  FREAKING OUT.  Like, omg!  I just did it!  Well.  Lindy also goes crazy.  It was like she also couldn't believe I had shot a bird.  Totally nuts!!  I forget to yell "dead bird" (honestly, I never had shot one so I totally forgot to yell that command) and she goes looking for it.  But she ends up bumping another bird in her quest.

At this point it's really hot.  We hadn't found my bird, but she's going into maniac mode so I pull her aside to try to calm her down.  It was really hot and honest to God these dogs will wear themselves down to the ground because of their prey drive.

Really, I am just thinking to myself "Me shooting a bird & not being able to find it is something that would totally happen to me"

In further honesty, I think we were both just so excited that we "needed a moment".  Part of me was worried we wouldn't be able to find the bird, but I honestly didn't care.  I couldn't believe it.  After about a 5-10 minute regroup (haha!) we went back out to try to find the bird.

"Dead bird" is the command I use to have her find the dead bird and retrieve it back to me.  And we go to where I think it fell and in that general area she gets on another hard point.

"I am not ready for another bird " I thought to myself, "Hell, I couldn't even find the first one."  

But she ended up pointing the bird I had shot!  And it was actually dead--sometimes they don't die, which is very sad.  It could be a wing-shot or a leg-shot or just not enough shot to kill them.  It's super important to learn how to humanely finish a bird yinz guys!  No animal should go out with a broken neck!!

And that was it.  The limit in PA is 2 birds, but honestly, I just wanted to wrap it up.  My adrenaline was spent within literally 10 minutes.  It was still pretty hot and Lindy was still in maniac mode.  

This is the actual photo of the first pheasant Lindy and I 100% got together.  I will always want to remember her this way.

It Doesn't End in the Field--A detail I forgot to think about

So, one detail that I left out from before was that during the Women's Hunt at Pheasant Valley Farm they teach bird cleaning.  Well, I opted not to take it because at the time I still didn't think I would be hunting.  And I certainly didn't think I would be cleaning a bird.

I mean, let's think about this:  I took the wrong online class to get my license, I was traumatized by the patriarchy for the millionth time buying a gun (heavy sarcasm & truth there), now I have to get the guts out of something I "supposedly" killed?  The likelihood of me getting a bird was minimal, and my first season hadn't even begun.  But I am relentless.

To YouTube I went.  

First of all, when I started down this path one thing I experienced my first season is that everyone has advice.  Like literally friends on Facebook that I didn't even know went bird hunting had advice.  So I was getting pulled in a few different directions with everything.  One thing I learned is that I needed to stick with a small group of folks that I could go to--obviously a huge source of support and knowledge were the folks from the Farm, my friends from the adoption home visit.  But it needed to end there because I was getting confused.  

This is my "First Pheasant Shot" obligatory selfie/obligatory short term Facebook Profile picture.  Spirits were high here.  I didn't realize how much more needed to be done  -- because, ya know, I didn't bother to go to the bird-cleaning part of the women's hunt... because I am not a hunter.

But I couldn't exactly call them and be like "oh hey, so I did shoot a bird, soooo... now what?"  

So YouTube is a lot like this unsolicted advice.  Very great tips but still challenging to figure out where to start. At the farm, I had watched them hang the bird to clean it.  Well, I didn't want to hang the bird in my kitchen.  But they were cleaning it inside so I had to be at least starting off on a good foot, right?

Well, their inside space is a garage and not a kitchen.  I am by no means a "ditz" or "airhead" but there was a sink there... I was just trying to draw parallels between the two spaces.  

So, I started by plucking some feathers off from where I wanted to make the incision.  I saw them do that at the farm, and now also on youtube, so I did just that.

Except.  

These birds have a lot of feathers.  

So it quickly becomes apparent to me that maybe I shouldn't have plucked the feathers.  Because somehow now there's blood.  And loose feathers.  On my hands.  Counter.  Lindy has inched her way to be right next to my leg.  Watching me.  Mocking me?

Beggar dog.

So I rinse off all this bloody feathery mess that has gotten onto my hands.  I start over and wrack my brain--I remember the legs getting cut off first.  Well, I grab my scissors ... you don't need scissors.  That actually went quite well.  Legs off.  Wings are next.  I kind of knew how to do those as I have cut whole chickens before so those came off easily.  I still didn't know how to get the feathers off to cut the skin.  

Back to blood and feathers.  I finally get the skin tore off (it separates quite easily).  I fen-angle with the tail a bit.  Then I realize... I have to take the guts out.  I distinctly remember them just grabbing the guts out of the bird.  They pretty much do it without second thought.

Then it hit me.  

The scent.  The scent of guts from the bird.  Vile  and putrid now have context for the next time I need to use those words.  And they feel like how you think the organs of a recently killed animal would feel--warm, bloody, slimy, various textures.

They didn't mention the smell at the training! 

I tried to shake out the rest of the guts.  Lindy still at my feet.  Hands bloody.  Gagging.

I quickly rinsed off the bird and wrapped it in a trash bag... and threw it in my freezer.  Any leftover guts would be addressed later.  I'm not sure why I opted for a 13-gallon trash bag, Ziploc bags work just fine.  Again, I had no idea what the hell I was doing.

My kitchen looked like Freddy Kruger worked at a restaurant.  I tried my hardest to contain the mess (I am a clean cook) but with the feathers and blood... it was totally out of control.  

Another "one and done" -- check shotshells while loading the gun,  clean birds outside.

Now that I can actually shoot the birds, things have really changed for me with this whole hunting thing.  It's not that I am out there to "hit limit" or get super competitive.  I'm actually not driven by competition.  I just genuinely enjoy this entire process even more than I had imagined.  

Wrapping Up

Since I've gotten Lindy, I've really tried to dedicate as much of my free time as possible working to ensure that she has a really good life post-rescue.  I enjoy giving her the things that will help her thrive and grow.  She still has some behavioral issues that I need to work through that hunting likely won't give her--she still has a strong fear of men.  The exceptions being my father, her "God-parent" that did the home visit and has become my hunting mentor, the owner at the farm.  She resisted crate training my first go-round, but is adapting to that quite well (it's taken time and a somewhat atypical approach).  So Lindy is no 100% rehabilitated dog.  She may never be.  She may always be fearful of men until trust is developed, and that's fine.  I've had guys around her that try to push her and it doesn't work.  And that's fine too.  

But I think what has really happened is that in me attempting to give her this life, she's also given me a deeper love of the outdoors (I haven't been on my mountain bike since I got her).  The addage in rescue is "who rescued who".  I get that told to me a lot and truth be told--while I agree that dogs contribute a significant amount to the overall well-being of our life, I am still not sure I see how she rescued me.  I' m looking forward to the day that I see that for myself.  For now, I am just enjoying everything about how this unfolded.

I never thought I would love hunting her the way that I do.  Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the first season taking her out, missing everything, and laughing at myself in the process.  But this is something very different now that I can actually shoot things.  She's got good purpose and I feel like I can control and direct that purpose.  

As I am writing this blog post, here are the number of birds I have shot:

Pheasants in total: 17 (11 regular season / 7 private)

Chukar in total: 3 (these are a challenge for us.... it's not the bird, it's me.  They are frustrating birds)

Quail in total: 2!  They are tasty little things.  

Grouse: 0 -- that's a goal for 2018!  I get an extra week of vacation this year to help that quest :)

Woodcock: 0 -- another goal for 2018!

2018 and Beyond:

Lindy should be 4-ish this year.  We are thinking that with this continued training and refinement (of us both lol!) that she will be entering her hunting prime.  Which actually is kind intimidating for me in terms of handling her--she already tends to go maniac at the farm.

Ducks are my favorite bird ever.  I even have a tattoo of a duck! So I would love to see if I can get her trained and disciplined enough to duck hunt with me.  My biggest concern about it is whether or not she will be willing to sit in the blind long enough.  I've actually never been duck hunting (another adventure?) but I think they are gorgeous birds but moreso I think she will benefit from another training discipline.  One thing about Lindy is that she is very eager to please the humans she trusts, so she has taken very well to all of the training I have given her.

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SO THATS A WRAP!  I have a lot of other topics I can cover, but if anyone has something they would like me to write about, please let me know.  I certainly do NOT consider myself to have any depth of knowledge about hunting, dog training, or rehabilitating behavioral issues in dogs, so I likely won't be able to write from a place of authority.  This was the story of what I went through.  I located experienced resources local to me to help with this.

I think I have a fun/atypical story with Lindy so I thought it would be good to share it.  I hope that everyone enjoyed it. :)

I would never recommend the use of an e-collar on an animal without it being trained by a professional.  Especially on an animal with submission/abandonment issues like Lindy.