Great report and fantastic pics! I’ve not hunted Iowa or Kansas but now you’ve got me thinking about both states! Appreciate that you take the time to photograph and write such good reports!

Photo #7 is home page worthy.:)

Season is over for me now also, but I am going to take the dogs out to the local wildlife area just to see how many coveys I can still find--only about a half hour drive from home

A good opportunity to get photos when you’re not wielding a gun. We look forward to your report, Harold.

Garry, you should have an artist do a rendition of the picture of you looking over that barbwire fence and title it as you did your post. The combinations of visual mood and verbage are simply poetic. Having hunted much of the same ground 40 plus years ago, Elaine's photos and your narratives of this milieu really put the lid on it for me. Thanks so much for sharing and taking me back!

Just beautiful, Garry. And very much appreciated.

I cannot imagine the work involved in digging and lining that open well by hand. Occasionally I see something that makes me appreciate the work ethic of our early farmers/ranchers who did almost everything for themselves. That is pretty much lost today, I'm afraid. We hire crews to put up new fences, dig wells, work on equipment (these newer JD tractors are totally computer controlled), etc.

Thanks for the great pics and narratives.

Thanks, Kevin, I might see if I can recreate that photo you cite in a watercolor. I remember your accounts of hunting Southern Iowa from past posts. It just dawned on me (duh!), that we’ve been hunting Iowa for over 40 years and that our paths may have crossed “back then” — what a small world.

Thanks, Stan. I learned to respect the work and skill of our forebears from my father. He always would stop and admire old homesteads, and Elaine and I always pause to do the same. I guess we have a strong nostalgic streak in us that seems much more pronounced as time goes by.

Great pics and story. Thanks for sharing

Garry,

I didn’t look at this thread until now. Looks like a nice end to the year for you. It would have been great to see a picture of the English, Irish, and Gordon setters hunting together.

I always have this cross-stitch in my mind when people talk about hunting with the 3 types of setters.

https://i.imgur.com/phykx9C.jpg

Ken