IOWA_Tallgrass
New member
Worked so many hours this week, I was a little ahead of the game, so I bailed early and decided to hunt.
Didn't get home as early as I was hoping, so I decided work the close-in options and headed south a little bit to hunt a piece of public county ground down in Johnson County along the Cedar River. Birds harvested from this property were interesting to me; whenever I cleaned their crops, never was there a single kernel of corn. Their crops were full of a myriad of weed seeds. I thought that kind of unique. Most everywhere else, the birds always seemed to be eating corn.
I can remember days in 2006 and 2007 when it was possible to limit out on this piece of bottom land that was interspered with prairie, marsh, and patches of flooded timber.
Not so today. Got a great workout and the dog loved being out, but all we managed to flush were 3 does and had a spectacular point on a Turkey. Lots on turkeys, in fact, had I tag, I could have legitimatley shot a Tom over a point.
The ponds and marsh were dry. The prairies were still in pretty good shape.
Its amazing to be in a place that once held pheasants -held memories even, see subtle changes, and realize the present reality is far different. Makes me feel old. I'd read stuff like that in hunting stories and articles when I was a younger man, or hear older hunters talk about the "good ole days" and almost roll an eye. Now, I am so there. Go figure.
There are probably guys doing a little better in some of the better ground in this region, so take this report for what it is-one guy's experience on a Fall afternoon in marginal cover.
Regards,
Joe
Didn't get home as early as I was hoping, so I decided work the close-in options and headed south a little bit to hunt a piece of public county ground down in Johnson County along the Cedar River. Birds harvested from this property were interesting to me; whenever I cleaned their crops, never was there a single kernel of corn. Their crops were full of a myriad of weed seeds. I thought that kind of unique. Most everywhere else, the birds always seemed to be eating corn.
I can remember days in 2006 and 2007 when it was possible to limit out on this piece of bottom land that was interspered with prairie, marsh, and patches of flooded timber.
Not so today. Got a great workout and the dog loved being out, but all we managed to flush were 3 does and had a spectacular point on a Turkey. Lots on turkeys, in fact, had I tag, I could have legitimatley shot a Tom over a point.
The ponds and marsh were dry. The prairies were still in pretty good shape. Its amazing to be in a place that once held pheasants -held memories even, see subtle changes, and realize the present reality is far different. Makes me feel old. I'd read stuff like that in hunting stories and articles when I was a younger man, or hear older hunters talk about the "good ole days" and almost roll an eye. Now, I am so there. Go figure.
There are probably guys doing a little better in some of the better ground in this region, so take this report for what it is-one guy's experience on a Fall afternoon in marginal cover.
Regards,
Joe
