Hunting Season is over
February 20th, 2025
I got the chance to go out and photograph out in the fields without the sound of gun fire. I am not against hunting. I do not own a gun myself and prefer to use my camera rather than a gun to enjoy nature, but I do not begrudge other people the right to do it. My only issue is not being able to be out in the fields. There are signs everywhere now saying we cannot be out which limits where I can go. It is nice to be able to wander the fields again. At least I thought so.
There are no signs up in the west 90 area which is odd. I wanted some exercise so I wandered the edges of the water logged fields. It was very muddy and I had to be careful with my footing to make sure to not slip on the mud. My first attempt to wander off the main path was unsuccessful as the water levels were too high for my boots to keep me dry. I decided to wait for another day for exploring those areas again.
When I got to the East 90 area, I discovered that the signs saying you cannot go into the fields are still there. Hopefully they will be brought down soon. There was a group of photographers at the gate watching the fields. I mentioned I hoped that the signs would be taken down soon so you could explore the fields. A mistake as I was bombarded with comments from the other photographers about how I didn’t need to do that. One individual would not stop talking about the fact that he could easily get photographs of a friendly short eared owl with a 200mm and I didn’t need my 600mm. After having to say, I won’t argue with you, it finally settled down and got quiet.
For a brief time we got some good light on nearby fields and the hills in the distance. Magically a harrier appeared and started to fly right across the field in front of us. The lighting on the bird was gorgeous and I got a series of lovely photographs. The lovely light was very brief and it started getting dimmer and the clouds over the sun made it obvious it wasn’t going to change. Dinner time was coming soon so I headed home.
