62 Nebraskaland • January-February 2021
THE LAST STOP
By Jeff Kurrus
ONEUPSMANSHIP
I had a shot at beating Eric Fowler. And a shot is all I
could ask for.
Snow pushed into eastern Nebraska on February
23, 2019, and by the afternoon, there were blizzard
conditions. Conditions so bad that I had the absolutely
logical thought that Fowler might sit this one out since
he had spent a long number of days in the fi eld that
winter and might just want to kick back and enjoy the
snow falling down from his living room window.
Fowler works hard at his photos. From using sun
angle apps and math equations that resemble calculus
to capture his photos, I've always admired his desire to
improve his craft. But his eff orts aren't limited to the
offi ce. He'll lie on his stomach for hours in sub-zero
temperatures to get photos of mallards on the roost or
walk umpteen miles in the Sandhills to get to a spot
that hopefully no one has photographed from before.
For me, this was my one chance to get him — then
come back and ask him if he shot during the blizzard.
So I headed east from my house a mere 3 miles to
photograph Canada geese at Wehrspann Wetland.
Because of the conditions and my well-known weather
softness through the offi ce, I stayed there for 30
minutes — just long enough to come back with a photo
on Monday morning.
In my mind, I had at least one win under my belt
because he had, in fact, not ventured out into the cold
that day.
Then I found out the reason why. He already had his
allotted blizzard photography assignment done for the
week, capturing white-tailed deer in a Hall County fi eld.
Well … at least we tied.
PHOTO
BY
JEFF
KURRUS
PHOTO
BY
ERIC
FOWLER
