Pheasant Hunting Statistics for Opening Day

According to six Iowa Conservation Officers in various sections of the state, hunters had mixed success when checked on opening day October 27th. Heading over to the eastern border in Jones and Jackson counties Officer Mike Macke reported having checked five hunters. Two birds had been bagged at the time of the interview with Des Moines Register reporter Juli Probasco-Sowers. He commented that conservation set aside ground has become limited in his area eliminating good cover for the pheasant populations. Traveling to the far west side Buena Vista, Cherokee, and Woodbury counties , then south to Union and Ringgold all seemed to reflect a lower hunter number with lower success rates. They attributed some of the difficulties to crops still being in the fields and some extreme weather conditions like our late severe spring snows and sporadic flooding. Coming back to Linn and Benton, close to Jones and Jackson the hunters were seeing good results for their early morning foray. Conservation Officer Aric Sloterdyk reported talking to between 50-60 hunters in his area with the average of one bird for each by noon. Closer to home in Marshall and Grundy counties, Officer Jeremy King had some positive information as well. He said he had visited with 100 hunters and saw 25 dead birds. The comment made was that the people who were out have seen more birds than they did last year. So far there has been one "freak accident" sending a pheasant hunter to the hospital. In Iowa's Tama county, for some reason a hunter had put his gun on the ground. Apparently not putting the safety on,his dog stepped on the gun and it discharged, injury was to the hunter's leg. Again we must not second guess being safe - Anything can happen! ...

Pheasant Season Opening

This morning marks the opener for Pheasant Season at 8:00 A.M.- 4:30 P.M. here in Iowa. The weather is cool and looks like the sun will be shining when it finally comes up, wind speed looks like it is going to be between 11-16 from 7:00A.M. - 4:00 P.M. Going by the Air Sports Net Launch Code for the Marshalltown,IA airport. Have to keep abreast of the flying weather might as well use it for hunting weather. ; ) Those who are participating will be hunting from now until January 10,2008. I plan to be among those putting their money on the counter to get a license.( Yes, I am a straggler) May be this year I will get one and may be I won't but I am going to be out none the less. Won't know if I could get one unless I get out there and give it a try... Happy Hunting!

Eyes to the Sky

The Discovery Space Shuttle lifted off Tuesday at 11:38 A.M. EDT and docked this morning with the International Space Station at 8:46 A.M. EDT ... Last night Hubby and I had the chance to watch the International Space Station streak across the sky from the Northwest to the Southeast over our property, pursued by Discovery almost a minute later. Oh, did I mention it could be seen with the naked eye? They both appeared like moving stars through the almost night light. The sun was glowing in the West from below the horizon and the moon was shining brightly from it's rising in the East. The weather crisp, the sky extremely clear. Tonight,about 20 minutes later than last night, I once again caught the Space Station/Shuttle making a pass over central Iowa. The moon in full phase, named the "Hunter's Moon" is making the landscape shine even now...Hope everyone gets a chance to stop to take a look ; see the big and little things that make our world special...

What Season is this?!

Yesterday, the morning started off cool and calm. Hubby jumped out of bed before sunrise to pull the voisin 3/5 out of the hangar. He wanted to head it up above the cool temps into the inversion layer, warm, smooth sailing. The voisin went higher than it has ever flown. Sunrise came shortly after he was air borne. Said he" wished he had remembered his camera." Needless to say he wished he would have extended his flight time by a half an hour, loves to soar... Caught some deer activity before the sun came up. Headed one in the direction of the pasture north of the house; cut a buck off from crossing our country road as I drove in the direction of the local blacktop. Was wishin' the light of day had been brighter so I could check out the statistics. We reached the pleasant temperature of 77 degrees, not what you might consider very good hunting weather. Had to open some windows to cool the house down, with the sun making good thermal heat and the oven working to bake that special treat for the weekend things got HOT. Watched for things considered out of the ordinary due to the calendar date. Bees still swarming out of the hallow in the tree. Monarch flitting by the window, Asian Beetles making their presence unmistakeably conspicuous, where's the Box Elder bugs?! Heard some gun shots in the vicinity . The youth and disabled individuals of Iowa were given two days to find their Pheasants for this year on October 20th and 21st. Can't say for sure that the activity was for that purpose, but I can positively confirm that someone was cultivating the art of using a shotgun. Before the sunset on this gorgeous day I was off into the timber to checkout the well worn deer paths. Didn't see anything but I did hear activity on the other side of the ravine, running away from me. Ah, the imagination, replaying what I saw in the back yard earlier in the week. Maybe, it was one of those guys....