This is one huge horse.
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There were many farmers out picking corn. What caught my eye here
was this tractor and wagon driving so fast and reckless to catch
up to the combine. It is hard to see here, but there is only
one combine swipe down and one swipe back to finish picking this
field.
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The wagon has caught up to the combine and without stopping, the
combine is transferring corn. As they neared me, I put down my
camera and waved. Just then, a rooster flushed from the small
strip of corn left standing and flew across past me and landed
in the cornfield in back of me. This time of year, pheasants
can spend all day in the corn so it's very hard to find them.
I am amazed that this rooster held so long in the last little
bit of corn. Then again, earlier I witnessed them holding while a
train roared by.
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Boots nailed up against a telephone pole. Okay ....
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For all of you who have never hunted cornfields, here is a typical
view down a row. You don't walk corn unless you are in a big group
or unless you have a good dog. Otherwise, the wily roosters just
go wide or circle around in back of you. Some dogs just run down the rows
and aren't any good in corn. As you walk a row, your shoulders
and knees hit stalks sticking across the rows. Often, you trip over
bent stalks and have to catch your balance. Think gun safety, everyone.
The corn is
often three feet over your head. If you are
lucky, you will see pheasants lumbering ahead of you as they
run down the rows out ahead.
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I wonder how old this house is.
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Just a view in the distance as I turned down yet another road
in northern Iowa. I like the swirling clouds.
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More harvesting. Note the small American flag on the combine.
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Llama. I have crossed the border at 4 p.m. and can hunt in
Minnesota until sundown, which is 5:02 p.m. today.
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The sun is going down and my day of hunting is over.
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Here is my last walk, which was along this abandoned railroad bed.
On the way back, I swing out far wide right and came back to
the railroad along a grass swale. Just like in Iowa earlier, I figured
my hunt was over. Not far down this railroad bed a rooster
suddenly flushed. Totally surprised, I fumbled with the
safety on my gun. My regular gun has the safety in back of the trigger,
the model 12 is in front. By the time I got the safety off the
rooster had disappeared. That's okay.
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Let's watch the sun go down, shall we? Nice pink color.
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The last of the corona has slipped over the horizon.
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I had a great day.
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I had a great day.