Jose-Luis was born in Argentina in the mid-1950s and came to the United States when he was 26 years old to begin a fellowship, working at the National Institute of Health. After witnessing firsthand, the political unrest in his native country, he was relieved to embrace the new lifestyle he found here. Over the following years, he served in the U. S. Army and obtained a degree in Chemical Engineering, followed by a Doctorate in Biochemistry and a Doctorate in Virology as his work found him traveling the world. It was in 1988 that his work with the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) took him to Alaska. It was there that he first felt “the call of the wild!” He decided to become a hunter and in subsequent years traveled to Germany to hunt red deer and returned to his native Argentina, where he hunted wild boar and red deer, along with perdix, an upland game bird. Following a trip to Africa where he hunted various plains game, he has been focusing on hunting in and around his home in Maryland — pursuing deer, geese and pheasants.

Several years ago, while hunting by himself for pheasants on a Pennsylvania state game land, Jose-Luis met up with my friend, Bill, and his hunting companion, Mattie, a female German wirehair pointer. Bill suggested that Jose-Luis join him and his dog since hunting pheasants with a dog would be much more productive.

Now, after hearing about Jose-Luis and his sincere interest in hunting, I have finally met the man. At Bill’s suggestion, Jose-Luis called me to ask about hunting black bear on public land here in Pennsylvania. Since Lycoming County is always among the top of the list of counties with high numbers of bear kills, I suggested that he hunt the nearby state game lands.

He arrived here on Monday afternoon with his muzzleloader and camping equipment. For the next 5 days, he would leave the cabin where he stayed and hike the adjoining logging roads and game trails from daybreak until dark. Persistent as he was, he never was fortunate enough to see a bear in all of the walking and watching that he did. The weather was not cooperative either, especially when the daytime temperatures hit the upper-70s, keeping any bear from moving except at night. Frustrating as it was, Jose-Luis enjoyed every minute of being in the woods, observing Mother Nature at work and seeing the occasional deer or hearing a distant turkey. By Friday, anyone else would have been disgusted and headed home, but things were about to change for the better when I received a phone call from Bill asking Jose-Luis and me to join he and Mattie the next day for the opening of pheasant season.

We met up with Bill and Mattie, and our mutual friend Ed and his dog, Henna — a one year old female Vizsla — and headed south to a public hunting area. The grasses and weeds in the fallow fields were wet from a rain overnight, but the dogs eagerly coursed back and forth trying to catch a scent of a pheasant. Watching the dogs work was a highlight of the morning, especially when they would lock up and be on point over a bird. Bill was the first to score on a cockbird on a point by Mattie, and then Ed, I and then finally Jose-Luis was the designated shooter on the next bird. Mattie was on point as Jose-Luis closed in, but the cockbird slipped away and began running before he could take a shot. Mattie followed the bird and went on point again, this time holding the bird as Jose-Luis closed in. As the bird flushed, cackling as it rose into the air, his shot rang out and the bird plunged to the ground. Jose-Luis was like a kid with excitement as he signaled us with a “thumbs up” and praised Mattie for her work.

The hunt that morning took just over two hours, producing 7 pheasants for the four hunters. Watching the dogs work was a real pleasure, but perhaps not as much fun as watching the relatively new hunter, Jose-Luis, each time that he got his bird. He had worked hard on the days he had hunted for black bear, and was rewarded for his hard work with a very good day of pheasant hunting. His week of hunting in Pennsylvania will be remembered as he and his family enjoy a fine meal of pheasant for dinner!