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We stayed the night in western Minnesota close to the Iowa border
and got up about 7:00 a.m. to go down to Iowa. The Iowa season opens each day
at 8:00 a.m., in Minnesota it's 9:00. We saw two roosters by the side of
the road near a farm in Minnesota as we drove. Just into Iowa we spotted
this *giant* stuffed llama at a llama farm.
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One llama checks me out. The morning was coldly crisp, but not painfully so.
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I faced the other way and took a picture of the sun continuing to come up in
the east. It is about 15 minutes before we can hunt. We took the first gravel
road we found off the highway in Iowa and immediately began to see pheasants.
I saw a hen in the ditch, and soon we saw three roosters just outside a belt
of corn out in a field. Soon it was 8:00 a.m. and time to hunt.
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Very soon Jim spotted a rooster in the ditch and we hopped out and let the dog
go. Jim shot the rooster but it landed just in the standing corn beyond about
25 picked rows. Jake the dog found this bird and brought it to Jim - luckily
the bird did not run. Just look
at the colors on this pheasant! CLICK ON THE PICTURE AND ENLARGE IT.
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Look at the light green color on the top front of his head. I could never take
a picture like this unless Jim was there to hold him for a close up.
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Jim and Jake with and Iowa fall in the background.
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We got out at this spot and started to walk. After about 10 minutes we gave
up because there didn't seem to be any sign of pheasants.
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We drove past the end of this corn the first time and both Jim and I heard
roosters crowing. Jim hit the brakes and backed up to about this spot. We
hopped and with Jake went up the road and looked toward the left down
the edge of the fields. Many pheasants flew, but my only shot was at a running
rooster. Jim said the dirt all around the bird flew up, but the little guy
just kept on running. Hopefully, he wasn't hurt and makes it to spring.
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I saw three pheasants sneaking along this ditch. Jim kept driving, dropped me
off, then drove back past the birds a ways and got out with Jake. We walked
toward each other, but the birds in the middle flew before we were close
enough to shoot. With little heavy cover in this ditch, pheasants are likely
to spook and fly more easily.
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Jake.
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I don't remember why we stopped here, I think we walked a railroad track.
Here is Jim and Jake.
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This is me. I don't worry how I look while I hunt, so I am no fashion statement.
I have my new Danner boots, which are the best boots I have ever had. I walked
all day in them brand new without getting one blister. I have some heavy duty
brush pants on - so no prickly cockleburs can stick to me. I have a light
jacket on and light gloves. This day was perfect hunting weather.
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We are back in Minnesota now.
This is a bad shot of the farmer who let us walk the tree line in his
farmyard when we spotted some pheasants in it as we drove by. His
wife walked out to talk to him. He also
told us he saw 50 pheasants while picking corn earlier and sent us off
with permission to hunt his land and directions to
his it. Many thanks to you, Mr. Farmer.
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This is the farmers land. It took us about 2 1/2 hours to cover it all. We
flushed a few hens close, and Jim got a shot at a rooster, but we didn't see
the big group of pheasants. We did hunt a crick line later and I missed two
roosters in high wind. Then we both shot at a rooster and he dropped in a
picked cornfield but ran so fast Jake couldn't find him. I also hit one huge
pheasant and downy feathers floated downwind on to Jim, but again we couldn't
find him.
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Darkness has fallen and Jim figures out how to get us back home.
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