Opening day of a hunting season is a special occasion for the outdoor sportsman. Hunters look forward all year long to the chance to get out there again, to enjoy the outdoors, and to experience the thrill of the hunt.

Many a good night’s sleep has been lost in anticipation of an opener the next morning!

This past weekend provided that opening day excitement for hunters of both wild pheasant and wild turkey. It also marked the re-opening of the dove season. With waterfowl and quail also available, now is the season when opportunities abound for the California bird hunter.

For me, that feeling of excitement and anticipation is never higher than before the opening of the wild pheasant season.

Unlike waterfowl — whose local populations will increase later in the season as birds fly south from Oregon, Washington and Canada — pheasants are not migratory.

Their numbers are completely dependent on the spring hatch in the particular locality. And as hunters are successful throughout the season, the quantity of available birds will only diminish. This puts all the more importance on being out there for opening day.

This year I spent the opener on a Wilderness Unlimited property in the delta farmlands near Lodi. Accompanied by hunting partner Matt Schwanebeck and our two German shorthair pointers, Spider and Cocoa, we arrived at the ranch about 45 minutes in advance of the 8 a.m. start of legal shoot time. A friendly patrolman greeted us, signed us in, gave us a brief layout of the property, and even offered some suggested areas to try.

We then drove along a high levee towards the secondary parking area on the interior of the property. In the distance we noticed an old abandoned flatbed trailer atop the levee just off the road.

We could make out the silhouettes of a few birds perched on its side rails, which we assumed to be crows or possibly hawks. But as we got closer, we realized the birds were three rooster pheasants!

They couldn’t be bothered to hop down off their perches until we were right next to them.

On the ground they joined three more roosters, and the six of them ambled off into the thick cover on the slope of the levee.

If we weren’t already excited enough about opening day, this sight really got us pumped up!

About a hundred yards down the levee we entered the parking area, where we met one other hunter and his dog already there. He had been watching the roosters as well from his vantage point. The six of us impatiently awaited the clock to strike 8 a.m.

With a limit of two birds apiece allowed on opening day, we had visions of the quickest of hunts with those six birds right there just waiting for us.

Finally the time arrived, and we spread out along the levee bank to push towards the tall weeds where we had last seen the pheasants.

The dogs began to dart back and forth frantically as their noses picked up the scent. But they couldn’t find a bird to point, and nothing flushed out of the weed patch. The birds were on the run!

Then suddenly, along a small ditch near the bottom of the levee, a flourish of pheasants flushed out right in front of Matt.

There were perhaps a dozen birds, but all were hens (only the male pheasants may be taken). Then out jumped one of the roosters, and Matt made quick work of that one.

But what happened to the other five? We continued to work our way along the side of the levee past the flatbed trailer and towards a farmhouse.

Just before the end was a blackberry bramble. Here, my dog Spider tracked down a rooster and flushed it out just above me.

But it flew directly towards the buildings and a horse corral, preventing me from getting a shot.

Those pheasants are smarter than we thought!

We regrouped and then split up to cover the fields of harvested corn adjacent to the levee. The checks between fields offered the thicker cover, so we each took one and worked our way across.

When pheasants are in a running mode, they will often flush just before you reach the end of the check, ditch, or field you are working.

This proved true again, as a rooster flushed right next to me about 50 yards from the end.

I was able to down this one and then return to where we’d left off on the check.

Not more than a minute later, another rooster jumped well out in front of me and flew directly over Matt’s head. OK, so maybe not every rooster is all that smart! With that bird Matt had his opening day limit.

We didn’t see any more pheasants that day, so I went home content with just one. It will make a great dinner for my wife and me one night this week!

The other three roosters from that initial group found a way to outsmart three hunters and three dogs, so their genes will carry on to keep the species strong.

Guy Carl is a CPA and partner with BDCo Accountants and Advisors in St. Helena (www.bdco

cpa.com). Contact Guy at GC.outdoors@sbcglobal.net.