about 6 inches thick on the still water.
It was cold enough that the Starlings were using foot warmers.
In an attempt to keep away from the Geese who are stacking up at the ranch next door since the artesian lake and the creek are clear, we drove down past Rome and back in the hills to another artesian lake there that generally doesn't freeze. Most of it was open, but there wasn't any thing on it at all.
So plan B was Pheasants at Rome. The guy's will let me hunt there, but I really don't like to. The cover is Greasewood so thick that you can't hardly walk through it. There are lots of Pheasants, just not in very good positions that one could take advantage of. I suppose that is why there are Pheasants there.
We saw a couple Roosters at the edge of a hay field, so I turned Jessie loose, and let the dogs out. I suppose that Jess was a bit confused as to where the ducks might be hanging out as she was up pretty high, but wide of where the dogs and I were working the greasewood. Betsy and I flushed a Rooster that flew towards Jess. It flew several hundred yards before Jessie turned over and started her stoop at him. Karen said that she saw her throw up high and turned back towards where the Pheasant would have hit the ground, but the cover was so thick that she couldn't find it again. She started back up in the sky, and then she had a repeat of the ( I think) problem with her transmitter harness. She was flying really weird with one wing low and really flying badly. She came over by me and landed on a clump of hay. I walked over and gave her the lure, and then the rest of her meal. When we got home, we cut the harness off her. I really like her not having anything on her feet, as she hits harder when she is unencumbered. I think that the transmitter on her leg stings her when she hits something hard enough to do some good. I just cannot escape the fact that twice she has had problems with that harness. Enough is enough!
We took Peg to a new spot and she put in some good chases on Jacks, but we ran out of cover and Jacks, so we came home empty handed all around.
Yesterday was a town day, and it was still cold as could be. When we left the house it was 4 degrees at almost 10 AM. When we left Boise it was 11 degrees and the closer we got to the house the warmer it got. It began snowing around 8 PM. We only got about 2 inches of snow, but it has been nice and warm all day. We are due more snow tonight.
Jessie was down in weight so I decided that I would go back to some ditch hawking at the ranch for some ducks. I was pretty sure that the Geese were on the Lake and I didn't want to give her a chance at them again. I had built Sharon, at the ranch, a stand for a wood stove that she was putting in, so we loaded Jessie and the dogs in the truck along with the tools that I would need. After we finished with the stove, it was duck time. There was a small group right by the barn, so I turned Jess loose and after she got her pitch, we walked up flushing the ducks. Jess came rocketing down, grabbed a Mallard, and dropped him back into the water. Circled around picked up some more altitude and smacked one down right into the edge of the water again. She then landed on a hay stack, either to rest or get her thoughts straight. I circled around the barn to walk further down the ditch to get into position to flush some more that I had seen land down there.
Betsy had some fun as we were walking through the field, dodging one of the horses that didn't like dogs. She chased Betsy around the whole time that we were in the field. Jessie decided that it was time to go hunting again and took off the hay stack gaining altitude with each wing beat. A group of Mallards took off the ditch and got over the land. Jessie pounded a Drake into the greasewood, throwing up a pretty good cloud of snow, did a quick throw up and grabbed him on the ground before he could get up again.
The creek flows good and wide as well as deep in that area, so I walked up the creek and finally found a spot that I could get across the creek with just one jump into it. The Mallard was still fighting Jessie when I got there. I helped her kill it and started to step back, when Betsy finally got too close. She has been getting increasingly brave. This time was too much. Jess left the duck with me while she beat Betsy up. She was a lot gentler with her that she ever has been with me. I think it was mostly wing whips, there was no blood involved as it always is with me. I forgot my camera with Karen, so I picked up Jess with half a pigeon breast, and started back to the barn. Karen and Grace ( 10 year old little lady From the ranch) were making their way to us, so I waited for them. Karen helped me cut the breast and wing off the Mallard, and I gave that to Jess as well.
We made our way back to the barn, and as we got to the barn, Jess was looking for "her truck". She likes to eat on her perch without my help from me if possible, so I opened the side window and she piled into the truck with her food. I secured her and closed the window. We all loaded up and drove down, stopping to pick up Reuben, who had fallen into the creek as 6 year old boys are wont to do, and took the kids home. We spent a bit of time talking to Dave and Tammy, (the kids mother and father ) and then went back and talked to Sharon for a bit more, finally driving on back home.
Now Jess is not a slow eater. She mows right through her food with no hesitation. I open the side window to put her back on her perch, and she was still eating. Now I had not paid much attention to the passage of time, but it seemed to me that she should have been finished long ago. Oh well, there was plenty to do, so I closed the window and decided to come back later. I fed the horses, took in firewood for the night and did a few other things. This time when I approached the truck, I looked to see if she was still eating. She was standing up straight as she should have been. I opened the side window and the little stinker ran over, grabbed the remains of her duck wing and started eating again. I guess she wasn't going to take any chances on losing a snack for later. I stood there laughing and made her eat the rest of it. Its bad enough that she ate half a pigeon, and half of a Drake Mallard, she wants to pack a lunch for later.
While I was driving back yesterday, I was thinking back about Jessie's flights this fall as I generally do if I have enough time. She went from killing ducks every time I took her out, to just smacking them and seeming to not be able to catch one. (The apparent key to that problem was that I was trading her quail for ducks. Now, she likes duck fat, but she likes quail better. Somehow she decided that since she was going to get a quail for food that there wasn't much reason to bother with the ducks. Of course that attitude forced me to cut off her rations long enough that I convinced her that I wasn't going to give her anything to eat ever again. So I started leaving the quail in the freezer and taking out duck for a pick up meal. So now when she kills a duck, I let her feed and pluck, then offered her half of a duck breast for the rest of her meal.) A few days ago I caught a wild quail in one of my traps and decided to give it to Jess for a meal when we hunted that evening. That evening was the occasion of the last Goose that she caught. I let her chew on the Gooses neck for a while, and then picked her up with the quail. Now this was a big rooster quail, not a wimpy tame one, but she really didn't seem to be content with the trade. Finally I flopped the goose neck and head up on the fist along with the quail and she settled down and was happier. When she jumped to the perch in the truck, I also put the whole goose neck and head up there with her. When we got back home, she had eaten the quail and nibbled on the goose neck, but she was still happy. Just needs to know that I haven't pulled a fast one I guess. When we got home, I found that she had eaten all the quail and had stashed the Goose neck for later.
Getting back to my original thoughts, she was smacking ducks, then quit catching ducks, until I starved her a bit, then back to smacking ducks, pounding Geese, and today "pussy footing" ducks until she decided that they weren't going to lay down for her. She does keep things interesting.
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