The Shot

I think the year was 1963, October the month. My high school sweetheart, Bonnie, and I traveled to Midland, MI for a long weekend with my brother Dean and his family. It was a Michigan fall, trees pretty much barren of leaves, but still a pretty time of year. Leaves on the ground, the wind brisk, and a hint of winter in the offing. We enjoyed the weekend, good conversation, good food, and even a partridge hunt.

Dean and I left the house Saturday morning after breakfast and headed out to the field. I do not know where we were, it was an area of hard woods, with patches of wetlands and marsh. Mixed shrubs and tall grass provided ample cover. We did not see much in the way of birds, but enough to keep our interest for a few hours.

We entered a lowland area that had hummocks of grass. It was not easy walking as you had to step in deep grooves along side these grass hummocks or you had to step up on the hump and footing was a little precarious. You could twist your ankle if you slipped, but it wasn't dangerous, just inconvenient.

I had moved off to one side and had gained the edge of some hardwoods where the walking was easier. Dean was still laboring through the hump backed grass area. A large hummock was in front of him and he had stepped up on it due to its size. About that time a partridge flushed in front of him. Dean brought his gun up, stepped back slightly to get a stance so the kick of the gun didn't knock him down and promptly stepped off the hummock into one of the deep ridges. He fell backwards, his gun was loosely pointed with his right hand and his left foot was coming up into the air. The shotgun discharged and Dean disappeared from sight in the tall grass. Suddenly the air was shattered with this wild cackling laughter which Dean could emit. I heard the flush, saw the movement of my brother to take a shot, saw him fall and shoot at the same time but did not see what happened.

I yelled to see if he was OK and what Dean yelled was "I got the damn thing. Can you believe that, I got it." Sure enough, falling backward, gun in one hand, about the take a serious pratfall, Dean shot the bird one handed. I'm not sure if we got anymore partridge that day, but I witnessed "The Shot."

It was a good day!