Col. Christie's End of Iowa Season

[Bruce Day]

Jeff sent me these photos for posting.

He says he got these today, two roosters on the next to last day of the season. Wild birds in a tough year. Thanks to his two buddies, without whom hunting would be haphazard at best.

Jeff and his grandfather's D grade. Jeff lives at Lake Okoboji, Iowa, in the NW corner of the state.

Looks like Jeff has his Mayo Clinic experience behind him.

[Jeff Christie]

As much fun as the birds were, the fact that the 'Mayo experience' was 33 days behind me was even more fun. Today, 10 Jan the season closes at 1630. I'll be there.

[Jeff Christie]

The season ended today, 10 Jan 2013, at 1630. No runs, no hits, no errors, and all the birds left for next year. In several hours of hunting in the rain we saw nothing. Actually, I saw one hen fly across the road as I returned to the cottage. It was a very good year under the circumstances. Thanks to all of you out there in Parkerland for your support.

[Angel Cruz Ortiz]

Very nice Jeff. Beautiful dogs!! What gauge is that D grade?

[Jeff Christie]

Thank you very much Angel. The gun in the foto is actually a 12 GH that I got from a fellow PGCA member to satisfy my hunger for a Damascus gun. It has worked out far better than expected. It is bored full and really full and I like it for the late season in the morning (it is heavy and late afternoon slows up). The normal 'go-to' gun Bruce is writing about is a 12 DHE that my great grandfather ordered from Albia, Iowa. It has a few warts but for the most part has been returned to what it was.

[Jim Thynne]

I was raised in N W Iowa and do miss the cackle of those beautiful birds. Around Sac City we were able to shoot our limit at noon hour on most days taking a thermos of coffee and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to school.
What a great place to grow up. What great memories!

[Jeff Christie]

Jim-

You might still get by with it even today. I still see a few kids driving home from school come to a screeching stop, jump out of the car, put on an orange hat, pull a shotgun out of the trunk and kick a rooster out of a ditch. There are just so very few kids actually living on farms as there were 30-40 years ago. Some kids may still hunt over the lunch hour but I haven't run into it. Hopefully I will. The good news is there are still a relatively large number of kids who hunt.

[charlie cleveland]

i m glad some kids get to hunt pheasants..i use to hunt quail when i was a kid and we had plenty of them.but now there is not a huntable number of birds...i know some of the pheasant states have lost their birds that use to have them.. wish all species could return in large numbers... charlie