Sept 30.

Photo's by Mike Marker

Mike Marker sent some pictures that he took while here recently, and kindly consented to their use in this blog. Mike takes some great pictures, and while he wasn't satisfied with his results, I thought they were great.

Photo's by Mike Marker

 Tami, Isabel and Thayen, and I made our pilgrimage to Arock this morning for Rabbits. I got tired of seeing my tracks in the sand, so we crossed another fence to a spot that we had not hunted as of yet. The girls were missing enough Jacks that I was entertaining thoughts of starving them for a while. Oh yeah they were trying, but not crashing into the brush, more like looking for gimmies and mentally slow ones. Well at this time of the year that doesn't happen. As we walked along seeing Jacks running in front of us at long distances, I finally decided that I was being a bit too harsh and that I really only needed to be more patient and allow them to learn and develop their skills even if it took a full year to do so. They were at least trying, just not successful enough for me. About that time a Jack jumped right in front of us.  Sue goes into another gear on the close ones, and slamed into him about 20 yards in front of us. He was in the process of dragging her through the bush when I got there. I finally got him corralled and dispatched.

 This one was a full grown of at least last year's crop. No dummy here, but he did screw up royally today.

The situation is a bit difficult since I would like for Peg to catch one of her own. As it was I cut a front leg from a previous kill into and tossed part to Peg, and the other part to Sue. She abandoned her kill to eat the part that I tossed her and even though she was almost sitting on the Jack, paid no attention to me picking it up to clean. When they were through I tossed each of them some tidbits, and we continued on our way.

They both ignored numerous rabbits "hopping down the bunny trail" for a while. Neither of them were willing to forgo cave exploration however. 

 

It was actually a bit frustrating and I began to wonder if I was screwing Sue up by not letting her gorge on her kill. About that time we jumped a bunny close to my feet and Sue caught him in 20 feet or so. This time she crashed into a Sage to do so. I wanted to kill it, but she had it by the head and shoulders and there was little room for me to stick my fingers in there, especially my bare ones. I made a tentative  move to do so expecting to be grabbed. Instead she took my finger in her beak, looking for tidbits. I must say that I was very surprised that she didn't feel that I was trying to take her food. It is also the first time that feeding a raptor tidbits has ever worked out. I finally put my glove on and broke its neck, then pulled the fur off a hind leg, expecting her to dig in. She did open the stomach, which was the last thing that I wanted. I then took the hind legs and ripped them apart, and she watched me do so and was very happy to climb on the fist to eat, leaving the rest of the bunny laying there on the ground. I have to tell you that is strange behaviour. You rarely see a bird that behaves in that manner. I am sure that in time she will get over it.

The behaviour is all the more strange since she is the one that threatens me every time I tie her to a perch for the night or to weather after hunting.

She is progressing really well. She take a double almost every time we go out. It takes a lot of slips, and a lot of walking, but that is what hunting is all about I guess. If she killed every thing that she chased, I would most likely be bored and give her away.

Jessie is progressing well, and getting stronger. I just turned her loose yesterday and let her fly as long as she was able then called her to the lure. She begins to look like a falcon more every day.

Bunny double

The last few trips have been at the Ranch next door, and while there are Rabbits there, they are not as plentiful as a bumbling young hawk needs to be successful. There have been some memorable attempts with Jack Rabbits jumping 3 to 4 feet in the air to evade the girls, but little in the way of success.

Roger Hankins, a friend, and Tonya, Tami's sister, joined us for the hunts. We got a lot of exercise, but little that I wanted to write about.

 Photo by Grace.

Sometimes there just isn't enough room for two on the perch.

Our last trip two days ago at Arock did not produce anything for the girls to eat, so they went to bed hungry and then had to wait another day before they got a chance to catch something.

Peg lost down to 820 grams, while Sue lost down to 940. A loss of 3 ounces for Sue. I work on the theory that if they want to eat, they will catch something. Of course when they are young I cut them some slack, but these girls are not beginners, so it comes down to their choice. If there is anything that gripes me, it is a hawk that doesn't give its all.  It doesn't have to be successful every time, and all birds are not as effective. (comparisons between a Gos and a Harris comes to mind.)  I just need them to do the best they can. Working on this method gives you a hawk that is going to give its all, every time.

It has been unusually hot, and that of course cuts down on their ability to catch these Wiley rabbits. They are not easy, and while the girls are perfecting their technique, it is still far from polished or as good as they will be. After chasing 15 or so dodging and sneaking Jacks, it is pretty normal for a bird to get tired. Perhaps I should stop and allow them to rest more.

Check out this little stinkers laugh. He just loves these trips, and never complains and rarely if ever cries. Isabel also joined us today, and doubles as our flushing "dog" and as an excellent rabbit spotter.

Our first blood came with Sue chasing one into a hole that was so dark and hidden that I would not have found her without Peg standing guard over it. It was covered in Sage and very hard to see into. I lightened the photo in an effort to be able to see her in the hole but not very successfully.

I tried to call her out, but she kept "massaging" something in the hole. I tried to drag her out, but couldn't get hold of anything that I felt comfortable tugging on. I finally gave up and stuck my hand in the hole and finally felt a front bunny foot. It was at the end of my reach and I really had to scrunch to even get that. I pulled her out with the Bunny.

You can see the hole up over her right shoulder. Peg very nicely sat on her rock and didn't cause any trouble. I pulled off a front leg and Sue took it and left me with the bunny. I pulled off the other one and tossed it to Peg to eat while I cleaned the bunny.

I managed to bury the guts, but part of the skin was showing, so of course Peg spotted it, and I had to deal with that.

We hiked over some more of the sage and after a bit the girl's appetite emerged again and gave chase to what I thought was a Jack. Both birds are working off each other, but are still not willing to crash into the brush to make a grab. Peg made a shot at the fleeing bunny but missed. Sue took over and when the rabbit ran into one of the creases between the rocks, she was on a collision course and not slowing at all. I was sure that she had caught it, but I couldn't hear any screaming. I ran as best as I could and found her with the rabbit as I thought, but it was a Bunny rather than a jack.

This is the first time that we have caught two Bunnies in one outing. It is rare to catch even one, and Sue had made a double. These were adult Bunnies too.

Again I pulled off a front leg that Sue took, leaving me with the Bunny. I tossed Peg the other and allowed them to eat while I cleaned the Bunny. A lot more carefully this time. We had a few more chases while we walked to the truck, but their almost full crops slowed them enough that they were not that much of a threat. We fed them up at the truck.

I picked up Jessie three days ago and turned her loose yesterday to fly to the lure. She beat the air in to  submission and flew as much as she could manage. It wasn't pretty, but she did manage to get her flabby butt off the ground enough to make several circles of the hanger with rest stops in between laps. She didn't feel like going up to the balloon, (50 feet) but did land on the ground near us and came to the lure. Her manners were the best they have ever been. I am looking forward to getting her full strength back and showing her some ducks. Not sure we will make opening duck season, but close.

Sue, on her own.

I decided that we would hunt at the Ranch next door, since I only had Sue to hunt. Peggy is still digesting yesterday's Jack. This would give the kids a chance to go out hunting with us as well. Tami's sister Tonya, was here for a visit, so she and her oldest daughter, Esther, went with us to tromp through the Sage.

All Photo's courtesy of Roger Hankins.

Even though Sue had only had Bunny to eat, ( they are the "light, low fat" version of Rabbit) she still weighed 1000 grams when I picked her up this morning. I guess that I am going to have to get used to it.

We traveled the high ground, finding a few Jacks. Sue was chasing well, but they were flushing way out, and there were no apparent dumb bunnies in the bunch. Sue slammed into the ground after one old Jack and he leaped about 3 feet into the air to evade her. I would have loved to have gotten it on film. We couldn't decide if he did a somersault as well. I know that at one point his feet were higher than his head.

We had some chases but nothing that brought success. We decided to go down by the tree line to see if she could catch a Quail. She had been chasing "dicky" birds for quite some time, either due to boredom or optimism. We had a bit of a close call when we inadvertently flushed a Barn Owl out of the brush. She tried to catch it, but it had sense enough to stay away and hide in some brush .

We decided to go down by the creek to see if there were some Rabbits down there. On the way we ran into a Sharpshin that had been hunting by the tree line.

Almost right away we started flushing Jacks. The brush was high, (Grease Wood) and the slips were a lot closer. High brush is a mixed blessing. On the one hand it blocks the Hawk from the Rabbits view, but there is more for the Rabbit to hide in as well.

The third Jack that she chased, she missed him at a horse shoe bend in the creek. We were pretty sure that he was still in the bend, so I picked her up and we started toward the water. Roger was behind me and almost in the middle of the dry land. The Jack let me go by and then flushed out behind us. Roger was blocking him from the middle, forcing him to the edge of the creek for his escape. Sue was hot after him. He checked, hoping that Sue would overshoot, but she put the air brakes on, he chickened out and tried to run, but she powered up his butt and they went rolling over the bank to the creek.

I jumped down over the bank and pulled them out to dry land, finishing off the Jack for her.

I pulled off the trophy to give to Esther, and then when Sue got her adrenalin back under control, I picked her up to eat her reward.

It was a great hunt. We spent several hours walking the Sage, with Sue never giving up or losing her interest or enthusiasm. Tonya did get to see Sue grab a Bunny that was trying to get away from my bad breath, but she had not seen the conclusion to a good fair chase of a Jack Rabbit. Roger got to see two good chases right in front of him, and Best of all. Sue got all the Jack she could eat.

A little fishing trip

After hunting Peg, and having a bit of lunch, Roger wanted to go fishing. Roger had brought some worms to fish with, and since we didn't have that much time, we went to a spot by the Pillars of Rome. The first place we tried held a few fish, but not enough to keep me interested. We moved down the River to a bend in the river that had some fast water dumping into it.

The Cats and Bass like the seams of the water where they can watch the food flow by without expending too much energy. The only problem is that the best spot to fish it was on the other side of the river and we didn't bring any wading clothes.

The water had undermined the bank, and a lot of it has fallen into the river. There is limited dry space to stand at the bottom. The mud goes at least up to the knee. Roger went down, and I stayed up at the top to fish. We decided that if I caught anything, I would bring it around to where Roger was, and he would take it off the hook, and put it on the stringer. Roger was also fishing for Bass with a lure, and I was using bait for the Catfish.

We didn't have very much time to fish, but we did quite well.

Peg redeems herself

Yesterday Peg was not acting right, not unhealthy, just not participating with the enthusiasm that I require. When I picked her up, I just took her weight down and hunted her, thinking that she remembered all the stuff that she did last year. I have noticed that while she will come to the T Perch, she ignores the fist. When I got back after yesterday's hunt, I put her on the fist and she showed no interest in coming to the fist for a tidbit. I tried her several times with the same result, so I put her up.

This morning I decided that I would take her out here at the house and give her a refresher course. Roger Hankins was over for a visit, and he wanted to see her hunt. The Jacks here are at a pretty low ebb, so I go other places to hunt so that I don't deplete my breeding stock. I decided that since she hasn't been doing that well there was no harm in flying her here.

We walked toward the creek, and I called her a couple of times. She reluctantly came, but for sure not what I wanted. As we neared the creek, a Jack started a hundred yards or more in front of us, and she gave chase, making several shots, hitting the ground and up again. Finally she lost him and sat on a bush by the creek. I decided to go down the creek and called her to me. She sat and watched for a bit, then decided to fly over near me, landing about 5 feet away. I got her on the fist with a tidbit or two, and told Roger to start down the creek. As he did, a Jack ran out of the cover there and started back up the road running up hill. When he broke cover, Peg launched off the fist and powered up his butt grabbing him by the head and butt. I was amazed, that was the best she has done for a long time. I helped her kill the rabbit, tied her to my bag and sat beside her until she didn't want any more to eat.

I of course am still having trouble with my camera, perhaps by tomorrow when I hunt Sue, I can take some more pictures.

Larry the "Bunny Gooser"

That's the nickname that John Hauck and Karen stuck on me last year when we were hunting Peg by her self. The blasted little twisting, dodging, waskally wabbits are really hard to catch because there are so many Badger holes that they can escape down into and out of our clutches. I stuck my hand down in enough holes "goosing" bunnies to give the hawks another chance, to earn my alias. My theory is that if there was a snake down there, the rabbit wouldn't stay. So far I have been right.

Sue was over 1000 grams or 35 1/4 ounces today and I was wondering if I had finally found her upper limit. I think that I have, and will take her down before we go out again.

She is mentally ready to hunt, but physically not able to twist and turn fast enough to catch rabbits. I unfortunately had some difficulty with one of my camera cards and replaced it with a 16 MB instead the Gig card that I intended, so I don't have many pictures to go with today's or the last hunting trip.

Sue was putting on some really good twists and turns on a Vole, but unfortunately? he got away, forcing us to hunt rabbits instead.

We tried a field that I had hunted last year, but found the rabbits to be a little more scarce than I was willing to accept, so we loaded back up and went to Arock again. Peg deserted us and sat on a water truck while we hunted the rest of the field. Sue chased a Bunny that ran down into a Lava rock overhang that didn't have an escape hole. The last time that we hunted we had a similar situation and I used my PVC perch to poke down into an escape hole and by yelling into the end of the pipe ran the Bunny out of the hole and Sue caught it. Tami had just asked me if poking in the holes worked. I told her not every time. Sue was standing vigil at this last escape hole that the rabbit had taken refuge in. I stuck my perch in the hole and blew into the end. Out came the bunny and Sue grabbed him. It pays to have breath so bad that Bunnies would rather face a mortal enemy rather than stay in an unvented hole with it.

Rock House fly - in.

As you might have gathered, we had a group of flying friends gather here for a visit with John Hauck. John is here for rehab for his broken leg and yearly western visit. First in was Boyd Young from Utah.

The rest trickled in over the next three days. Ken Korenek flew in with his Titan, then Gary Haley and Henry Kurd from Texas, and last was Mike and Jan Marker from N Mexico. Boyd had to get back to work and missed most of the group activities, and bull sessions.

Betsy's buddy!

Henry, Ken and Gary

Jan, Gary,Mike, Ken, Henry and Karen with Betsy and Curly

John, Jan, Karen, with Mike standing by.

It was a lot of fun as all of these people are very interesting and just all around good company. We managed to take all of them hawking, and some of them fishing.

All too soon, they all had to go back to their lives, leaving us with an empty house.

Henry's Bonanza

Murphy Rebel

Titan Tornado

Dreams are always better than reality

Ken Korenek and I became acquainted because of the death of a mutual friend. I was asked to be a Pall bearer at the funeral of John Williamson. John died while on a trip here in May of 2008. He crashed his plane at an airstrip near here.

I have not owned a suit since I was 16 years old. Don't need one, don't want one. The funeral was in Arlington Texas, and the logistical aspect of this was fairly daunting. Ken and his family took me in, took care of me, rented a suit for me, bought a pair of shoes for me to wear, gave me a place to stay, made sure that I got to the right place. He and I liked each other at first contact. I of course told him of the Rock House and Oregon, and he read my blog. I invited him here to see the area, and this year he decided to fly up and visit JW's crash site, and join the fly-in. He had two goals- to fish in the river and to go hawking.

The Hawking was easy and can be read in an earlier post. After we got back from Hawking, we loaded up the Quads with the fishing poles and headed out. John Hauck took Boyd Young on his Quad while Ken and I got on mine to hit my favorite fishing hole.

It is seven miles on a two track road down into the Owyhee Canyon on the Quads. It is a bit late in the year for really good fishing, but Ken said that he would be happy just to stand in the river and not hear civilization.

Well we could do better than that. The Small Mouth Bass are small, but they are tasty.

Ken has little chance or experience fishing, and got hung up on some rocks with the lure. I showed him how to get it free, and in jest, told him he was on his own. He took me seriously and the next time he got snagged, he tried to get it off. He wisely gave me his camera and watch just in case. It was a very good thing.

Once I decided that he wasn't going to drown, I remembered his camera.

Unfortunately he hit something sharp on his way out and cut his shin pretty good, as well as bruised his shin. Of course we rassed him a lot more than we should, but he was a good sport and took it well.

We caught enough fish to feed eight people a very good meal.

Today he flew for two and half hours and got to see some scenery different from Texas. Tomorrow he has to go home and back to work. Perhaps he will get a chance to spend enough time to perfect his wading technique.

Visitors to the Rock House

We are hosting a bit of a fly- in for our friends, mostly Kolb Flyers, but all pilots. All have read of the adventures of Peg and Sue, and this is the time to see it first hand. Boyd Young got to go the last trip and now Ken Korenek from Arlington Texas was to get his chance to see what it was like first hand.

We got into the field and Peg who was sitting on top of the telephone pole finally saw something to chase. It happened to be a Pheasant, and she gave it her best, but missed. Sue took up the chase and put it in some large Sage at the end of the field. She unfortunately did not catch it, so we started on rabbits. We got several chases on Bunnies, but the girls have not mastered Bunnies as yet.

It is not for lack of trying however. Most Bunny chases end up this way. If the Bunny is in a real hurry, they sometimes don't pick the best hiding places and I can poke them out. At least often enough to keep Sue interested.

I try to cover areas that I haven't hunted for a while, as the Rabbits tend to change  hiding places. As I said in the earlier posts the Jacks are starting to hide rather than flush and run, so some of them are close slips. That is the very thing that really turns these girls on. One jumped at Tami's feet and Peg was off in a flash and had him in less than 15 yards. He was squealing and trying to get loose, but Sue joined in and he wasn't going anywhere. Unfortunately my camera malfunctioned and I again got no shots of it. Things were beginning to get a bit hectic, so I gave up and joined in the fray. I killed the Jack and tossed it to Peg, then gave Sue a front leg as a consolation prize.

This is the first time that Peg has really turned on. Tami and I were really stoked, and exchanged high fives over her success. I decided to leave her with the rabbit to eat as a reward for her efforts. I tied her to a bush, and Tami and Reuben stayed with her.  Boyd and Ken went on with me to see if we could score one for Sue. She was still a little burpy from the front leg that I had fed her, so she watched a few run with no response. Finally there was one hiding at the base of a lava lump, and I rushed it, screaming at the top of my lungs with her on the perch. She had to either fly or hang on for dear life. She chose to ride the Jack instead. She flashed off after another one that I hadn't seen and disappeared over the lump out of sight. I listened and no scream was forthcoming, for a while, then faintly I could hear the music that signaled success. I hurried up and Sue was in one of the thickest Sage bushes that I have seen. I had to walk around the other side to even see the Rabbit. It was trying to pull her through the bush, so I went around. I reached for the Rabbits head, it turned and Sue had it by the face. Once that happens it is all over for the Rabbit. I killed it for her, and let her have it.

This one was a full sized last years Jack. Sue handled him with no trouble. I let her have the Rabbit for a while, even skinning a hind leg, and cutting it as well. She really didn't show much interest in taking advantage of that, so I offered her a front leg that I pulled off. She stepped up on the fist with no problem. We headed back, joining Tami and Peg to walk back to the car.

It was a good hunt and the girls lived up to our guests expectations. Tomorrow we will go again with an even larger "peanut gallery".

When we got back to the car, Tami gave me the Rabbit that Peg had been eating on. Peg had put a considerable amount away. I told her that I would gut her rabbit. She informed me that it was already done. I said that I would cut its head off. She informed me that she had already done that as well. It is such a pleasure to work with a "ranch girl", rather than a squeamish decoration. Falconry is not a sport for the faint of heart. It requires some dirty work on occasion, and Tami has been as dependable as one could ask for. Lovely and sensible too, It doesn't get much better than that.