Halloween Treat!

 The sunrise this morning was pleasing as is usual for this time of the year. While I finished the chores, Karen snapped this picture for me.

Jessie this morning weighed in at 910 grams, just about an ounce more than I was planning on. I started to put her back on her perch, but I knew that she was empty, not having been fed yesterday. She has always been more interested in killing something rather than exploring the surrounding area, so I decided to take a chance on her, and put her in the truck. I loaded the other two girls, started the truck and waited for Tami to arrive. She promptly drove in at 9 AM, we loaded Thayen and Isabel and made our way to Arock.

There were plenty of Ducks on the pond, so we put her transmitter on her leg and turned her loose. We stayed at the truck again to let her get some height. She circled higher and higher staying over the pond. We started our stroll to the crest of the hill overlooking the pond. Apparently she was a bit heavier than she needed to be as she dropped at least 100 feet of her altitude in anticipation of the flush. She started her stoop as soon as the ducks took flight closing much too fast to be able to catch one over dry ground. She had to change ducks and chased one the length of the pond and out over the ground in a big circle with the duck taking refuge in the water again. Jessie then flew on around and sat down on the hillside to rest. She was out of sight around the hill. I checked her position with the telemetry and we discussed what she had done while she rested. Soon the signal changed and she took position back up above the pond. We ran and screamed, scaring the Gadwall off the water again. She used her height and scooped him up 100 yards below the dam.

 I had intended to take a quail along with me to feed her so that she would lose some weight for Tuesdays flight, but managed to leave it at home, so she got half a duck breast to eat again. Perhaps since this duck was a local and wasn't carrying loads of fat, she will loose enough to hunt then.  I will decide when I see the scales on Tuesday.

We decided to try a spot that we had not yet hunted with the Harris Hawks. There were a few Jacks, but the wind was coming up by this time and they just couldn't make it happen. We walked around the field and back to the truck, loading the girls in their boxes and went to our old standby.

The wind by this time was pretty bad and they were having trouble with it. The Jacks were taking refuge in holes just as bad as the Bunnies were. They ran at least four into holes today. I poked at least two of them and while they would squeal, they weren't interested in coming out. I left them unhurt today, we will kill them later. :-)  Sue chased a Jack into a large deep hole that I couldn't help her with. I took my stick and raked it around, moving what I thought was the Jack a bit closer. I could hear him grunting and scratching in there, so I laid down and reached in, touching what I took to be a front leg. I slowly pulled it out and found that it was Sue that I had hold of. She looked at me like she was wondering what the hell I was doing. I had to call her out to tidbits to get her out of there.  The girls chased a Bunny into one Lava crack, and I was unable to get it out. We walked around the Lava, jumped another rabbit that ran into the same hole. I went around the other side to see if I could do any good from that angle. I got in there further than I would have believed possible. A Bunny zipped past Peg on the other end of the hole and a Jack ran over my foot going the other way. Both escaped!

The wind was really causing trouble, but the girls were getting better. They ganged up on one Jack and one of them pulled a hand full of fur out of his butt. They were beginning to get a little cranky about the whole thing. My butt was dragging so we decided to go back to the truck off in the distance giving them the chance to catch something on the way back. They had several chases, but couldn't make it happen. About 200 yards from the truck, we jumped a close one. Sue has been experimenting with a throw up when the Jack stops, but hasn't been able to follow through with a slashing dive onto the hiding Jack as of yet. Today the wind kicked her higher than normal and glory be she slammed into him without opening her parachute (wings) to break her dive. That has been the only part of the maneuver that has been causing her to miss. The Jack apparently really messed up because she got a shot at his head. When they do that the Jack will try to kick them off and the legs end up split by the hawks legs. Since the hawk isn't going to release its grip on the rabbits face, the rabbit is rendered unable to get on its feet, thus it cannot get away from the hawk. Enlarge the picture and look closely at the legs.

 She allowed me to rearrange his legs and kill the Jack for her. They each got a leg from a earlier victim and I put the Jack in the bag. We fed the birds on the way back to the truck.

That was my Halloween treat!

Today I lost a friend

Indy, our Setter died this afternoon. She was 18 years old, and she was a joy each and every year. This weekend was her birthday. I don't have very many pictures of her, because she would hide every time anyone brought out a camera. I lost a hard drive that had pictures of her, and this one is just about the only picture of her that is left to reproduce. She will be sorely missed.

Tami and I set out with the birds with only Thayen for our hawking today. The truck seemed strangely empty with only the three of us. The Harris's seemed to miss the extra beaters as well. It seemed today that it took forever for them to get their feet on anything to eat.

We started with Jessie of course. The storms are moving some new ducks in the ponds, so things on the Falcon front are just "ducky". This time I stayed back at the truck after releasing Jessie. She did take a higher pitch. I finally tumbled to the idea that Jessie tries to stay in position when I am close to the pond, which means tight circles and lower altitudes.

We flushed the pond and the ducks flew the long way out of the pond and Jessie scooped up a nice hen Mallard on our side, saving me a lung tearing run for once. I am still not well, and would be better off in a blanky with a large brandy by the fire, but that isn't nearly as much fun as going hawking.

 Jessie is still behaving with perfect manners this year. I helped her kill the duck, she allowed me to snap her up. That would have been worth at least one band aide last year. I allowed her to eat for a while and then noticed that she was watching me. I offered her a half duck breast and she jumped to the fist. Amazing! I could learn to like it though.

We drove on over to the rabbit field and the birds just seemed slow, and inept. They missed Bunnies and Jacks alike. We walked all over the field and finally went on one last jaunt in a field that normally doesn't hold Jacks and was walking back to the truck having decided that if they didn't catch anything I was going to quit any way. Sue flew off the perch as though she saw something, but went on to sit on a rock outcropping. Peg was also riding with me, and we walked the line that Sue had flown. A Jack that was hiding in the brush lost his nerve and bolted. Peg took off and hit him in the back of the head with both feet driving his face into a large lava rock. They flipped up and over, and Sue hit the rear end before they hit the ground.

 While the birds were eating their snacks I looked around the area. There was blood all over the place. The Jack never squealed, I guess the poor thing couldn't. His face was bloody and Peg had knocked all this teeth out on the rock.

I killed the Jack and tossed bunny legs to both birds. We fed them up as we walked back to the truck.

Catch and release?

 Randy at the end of the day finally forced to give up.

Our friend John Hauck decided to continue his winter Odyssey so it was Just Randy, Tami, Thayen and Reubon for beaters yesterday.

 Sunrise this morning.

Jessie was first up again, and we put her up over a good bunch of Ducks at Arock. I was still worried about the Prairie Falcon, but she has apparently decided that she isn't going to challenge Jessie any more. Jessie leveled out a bit lower than I wanted, and didn't seem inclined to go any higher, so we flushed the Ducks for her. She sorted out the flock until she found one that she liked, bound to it on the other side of the pond.

 After she had fed for a while, I picked her up and we headed to the Rabbit warren's. In a fairly short time, Sue grabbed a Jack, but apparently didn't have a good grip on him. Randy went in to help her and did get to touch the Jack, but did not get a hold on him. He broke loose and left them both with egg on their face and hair between their toes.

We moved on and in the next flight, Sue had struck again, but this one got away before anyone could get near them. It was a bit unusual since she had lost only one other Jack in all her hunting. Perhaps it is just that she is taking riskier shots at them, rather than the sure thing.

We traveled on, and Peg grabbed a Bunny, but also lost it after a few squeals. This catch and release is a new thing for us.

A bit more walking and Sue grabbed a Bunny that wasn't able to withstand the combined arial attacks of the girls. A leg a piece and we were about to start again. Tami had picked up Peg and managed to take two steps before Peg slammed into the ground subduing a truly trophy Vole.

Unfortunately it all went down the hatch before a hero shot could be taken.

I have to admit that since we spent a total of 12 hours hawking yesterday with 5 different hawks some of the details are a bit hazy. Sue managed to crash into a barb wire fence, sticking a thankfully short barb into her chest. While she wasn't seriously hurt, it did throw her off her game a bit. She had some chases on a couple of hen Pheasants, but Peg was in a better position and pulled a bunch of saddle hackles out of one of them. Sue ended the day with one Bunny, had her feet on two Jacks, and a full crop. Peg caught two Bunnies, a trophy Vole, lost a Bunny and one Pheasant, and also all she could eat.

Bruce Haak, brought over Jessie's sister, Jinx to fly. It was her second flight and although she flew high, she didn't catch anything. Randy flew Cully (Finnish Goshawk) several times, but things didn't work out for him either. Both are still out shape, and just starting.

I'm sitting here trying to think of a descriptive title for today's events, and I am drawing a blank. For the Harris Hawks, the description would be Wow! Jessie was a bit blah, but successful. So I guess I will leave it blank.

Randy Carnahan is here for a visit, and a break in period for his Goshawk. He is just out of the mews and is terribly out of shape.

Our day started with Jessie. In an attempt to avoid the Prairie Falcon @#$@#^&%$ we traveled to the far side of Arock to try a pond at the far end of the area. A Pilgrim was parked below the dam with, I think, a bunch of decoys in the pond, he was standing on the top of the dam. Not sure what he was thinking, but a Prairie #$%@%^& was the lesser evil.

We went back to the first pond. The resident Eagle, kindly left the area to us. I put Jessie in the air and although we passed the Prairie on the way in, she chose to stay away. Jessie took a pitch that I was satisfied with, so we flushed the ducks before the Prairie decided to butt in. Jessie avoided smacking a Mallard and diverted to a Gadwall. Not sure how she did it, but she put him down in the spillway of the dam. She went down in there to get him, but landed on the top and sat there waiting for me to fetch it for her. Randy and I went into the ditch and I found the duck in some Rabbit brush. It didn't attempt to fly, but tried to run. Randy blocked it, I wrung its neck and tossed it to Jessie. I gave her a bit of time to pluck and then offered her a Quail. She left the duck with no hesitation, and we returned to the truck. We then traveled to where we were going to hunt the Harris Hawks.

I think she hurt her feet on the last Mallard that she caught at that pond. She is in her first few flights of the year, so things could change after she hits her stride.

We arrived at our Rabbit spot. John Stayed in the truck to pace along with us as much as he could. We hadn't gotten very far when a Jack jumped up and ran to a Lava lump. Unfortunately for him he was a bit unaware of Sue, but she soon made him aware of his mistake by grabbing him in the butt. Randy bull dogged him in the bush that he was trying to drag Sue through, and number one was in the bag. Unfortunately I was busy and very surprised at the speed that things were happening and I didn't get a picture of either Randy's sprawl or the Rabbit. I tossed both birds a Bunny leg each, and we put the Jack in the truck so that I didn't have to carry it.

After they finished their snacks, we began again. We had not gone very far when a Bunny busted with both birds after him. He bumped into two more bunnies on his way and confusion reigned. Sue had taken a perch in a Sage near one of their escape routes, and I tried to flush it. I was successful and both birds were off again. Sue beat him to his hole and number two was in the bag. Peg didn't really act that interested, so I didn't give her anything to eat.

We walked and had a few more chases with no successes, when apparently just the right Jack Rabbit jumped and Peg smoked him, this time in the front end, so Sue brought up the rear.

 Randy again helped out and killed the Jack for the girls. I brought out the rest of their meals and we fed them while we walked to the truck. I felt that a "hero" shot was in order.

 Not a bad morning at all, and the girls made it seem easy today. They have been steadily improving each trip, but they are still not what I would call a finished hunting Hawk.



We wandered on home to put the girls in the weathering area to bathe and rest. Then picked up Randy's Gos, Cully, to see if we could get him a start for the season on ditch Ducks. He is just out of the mews as well and really doesn't have the conditioning that he needs to make it all work. We did our best for him and got him in the middle of a bunch of Ducks.

 But he just couldn't make it happen. Although it was very close.

 While we were walking by the creek, I kept noticing dark spots in the water in the cow tracks. On closer examination found that it was bugs. A check on Goggle revealed that they are Springtails. The internet and Karen's memory are wonderful.

 The wind came up about then and even though we tried some Quail, it just wasn't happening for the boy. There is always tomorrow.

Every bodys a winner

First, none of us took a camera. So today's post will have to survive on description alone.

All the birds were a bit up in weight. Jessie was in the 870 range, Peg weighed the same, and Sue was almost 1000 grams. I am suffering from the first cold that I have had in almost two years and find that I am a bit spoiled. Living where there are few people and thus there are also fewer illnesses brought on by rubbing shoulders with the masses at Walmart. Oh well, the hawking must go on.

We arrived at the Arock pond discussing whether or not the Prairie Falcon gritch was going to steal another hunt from us. I stopped to ask a big Golden Eagle to relocate, which she was kind enough to do. She is a local and so far has not caused any problems. We decided that as soon as Jessie was in position over the pond we would flush, to cut down on the amount of time that she would be visible in the air and thus inviting attack. Unfortunately migrating Prairies have a tendency to want to drive out all competition, and can be a real pain in the butt. Jessie used to ignore them, but after being grabbed a time or two, now pursues with vigor chupping all the way.

There were lots of ducks on the pond mostly Mallards. I struck her hood and stuck her up in the air to check where she was, and she took a leisurely look around and started to Chup. Crap! the bitch was here already. Jessie took off and made a couple of shots at her, grabbing her at least once, then running her in a big circle around us at the limit of our vision before coming back to sit on the bare hill across from us.

She sat for a while and then after catching her breath was in the air coming for us. I wasn't in the mood to wait and as soon as she was in position, I flushed. A bunch of Mallards came up off the pond. She took a shot at one over the water, then circled up and around. Another bunch got nervous and left, with her not closing with any of them because she was out of position. Then another group got off and tried to make their escape out the side of the pond. Jess was in position for that and stooped down out of sight behind the bank, and then into a throw up and back over and in to the ground. We made our best time to her position, but the blasted Prairie came back in on a low level strafing run. I hurried as fast as my screaming virus infested lungs would allow. I crested the hill and found that a Redtail had decided to join in as well. I yelled at him, causing him to flee. I was looking for Jessie with some trepidation, fearing the worst. Then the duck, a Mallard drake, tried to fly, but could not due to his injuries. Jessie then deciding that it was safe, jumped on him again and held him until I could get there. What a circus! (I felt better when Jess was not on the duck, as such she had a margin of safety that she could use to avoiding something blind siding her while she was fighting the duck. )

We sat and talked while Jess made a big pile of feathers. We let Thayen out of his back pack to walk around, giving him the Mallards head to play with while Jess ate.

It was now the Harris's turn to hunt. The girls had a couple of chases on Bunnies with no results, but some interesting flights. Finally they ran one into some Lava and Peg was standing guard trying to find him. I looked and could see him back in a hole. I put the birds in position and goosed him. I think they run twice as fast when they have been goosed, any way he made it to a more secure location this time.

Both birds were sitting on my T Perch when a big Jack slipped out behind us, and Peg blasted him with Sue coming in for the head shot, and our first rabbit was in the bag. After they finished their front leg rewards, we traveled on for at least one more. Peg has caught the last three rabbits, two of which were monsters. I don't know what has gotten into that girl, but I like it a lot, and Tami, just glows when she does better than Sue. We spent another half an hour or so before Sue caught a Bunny that I poked out of a hole. It doesn't get much better. Of course a camera would help a bit.

Jessie flubs, Peggy carries the day.

We saw about twenty Ducks come into the pond as we were driving in to position. The morning was cool and clear at 42 degrees. Jessie sat the fist and studied the area before she flew off the fist, circling the pond, climbing higher all the time. We were gathered just under the lip of the last hill before the pond, entranced by the anticipation of the flush and the stoop to come. I told Tami that when she turned one last time up wind of the ducks we would flush. She flew by us and would soon be turning over the far end of the pond. We stepped up into view, the ducks took off in a rush. We stood, watching the ducks fly up and clear the dam at the end, but they flew on unmolested. I said, "Where is Jessie"? About that time we hear - "Chup, Chup! A migrating Prairie Falcon had come in and was crabbing with Jessie while our dreams flew away. She then decided to tour the area, flying a large circle around us and effectively waiting until the last duck had vacated the area. There were lots of Coots left, but that wouldn't do us any good.

I finally gave up and pulled out the lure. Now if you remember the last time I used the lure she got pretty short shrift. You can be assured that Jessie remembered. She just kept on flying and landed on the hill by the road. I swung and threw, she sat and ignored. I finally gave up and we loaded up and drove around. By the time that I got to her position on the hill, she apparently decided that she had punished me enough, and came to the lure. After she finished the pigeon leg on the lure she came to the fist to claim her half of a duck breast. I keep telling Tami, " The hurriered you go the behindeder you get". Better to feed them up and wait an extra day. Perhaps some day, I will remember that it also applies to me.

We took the Harris's over to Phidel's place to try for some rabbit action. Peg was actually up about 20 grams higher than I thought she had done her best in the past. We had a couple of chases with no success, when the birds took off after a bunny, Peg flew up and landed on the side of one of the lava lumps. I was walking around the other side and bumped another Bunny that circled around behind me, right into Peg. They both jumped up in the air in surprise, however Peg was armed and dangerous. Scratch one Bunny! I tossed them a front leg and they left me with the bunny to clean.

 After they finished eating we moved on to the top of the hill, where there is a bowl that always seem to hold Jacks. We were not disappointed, and Jacks were going every where. They were chasing this one, then that one, then a Bunny would dart off and that chase would be on again. Finally we ran out of Jacks, and started a circle around the bowl. I jumped a Jack, Sue took a shot at him and missed. Peg came screaming in, and almost grabbed him in the shoulders, but skittered off and past him. She got up again and nailed him in the butt just about 15 yards further on. He was screaming and dragging her around, Sue met him on the other side of the bush that he was trying to screen Peggy through, and ended the struggle. It was like calf roping, One had the hind feet the other had the head.

 I have wanted to get a picture of both birds on one rabbit for some time. This one was no exception. I am just going to have to give up. I am much too busy in that situation to stop long enough to get a picture.

 After the Jack was dead, I gave them both a chunk of Bunny to eat, while I cleaned the Jack. He was a big one, perhaps the biggest that we have caught this year.

Its interesting that neither hawk gets discouraged if the other one catches all the game in one or even three or four trips. It has been at least four trips ago since Peg has caught anything. It hasn't lessened her desire, or flight intensity. Today she had all the juice. Damn, these guy's are fun.

Finally a little satisfaction.

I tried to fly Jessie yesterday afternoon at a pond in Arock. Again she hosed me by going to check the pond, (there were Ducks this time) then going up to a rock outcropping and setting down. I waited for a while, but soon got pissed and decided to flush the ducks whether she was ready or not. There was a Redhead on the pond and he had to fly three circles around before she deigned to fly. Of course by that time all the other ducks had gone leaving us with an empty pond and me fuming. Its not good when I fume.

I called her down to the lure with a piece of duck leg consisting of the foot and a chunk of meat big enough to qualify as a Q tip. I fed her the rest of the leg, (There is just not much meat on a Gadwall leg.) when she finished what she had on the lure. She was pissed when she found that she didn't have a full meal. I put her hood on and we drove back home. When I tied her to her night perch, she again thought that I was going to feed her, didn't happen!

I weighed her this morning and found that she had only lost about 1/2 oz. The weather is still warm, so she is still not on her game. I loaded up Jessie and the two Harris's in the truck, and we went to pick up Tami, Thayen and Isabel.

We found a pond that had lots of ducks on it, most were Coots, but there was enough good ones to make it worth while. I was hoping that a night without food, and a pond full of ducks would convince her that she needed to play the game for once.

She took a look at the pond and started climbing. She was holding in tight circles over the pond, waiting for Isabel and I to get into position. We flushed and she was too anxious, smashing a Mallard hen into the reeds at the end of the pond. The pond is a bit large, and she isn't flying high enough for the ducks to fly the length of the pond and still clear over dry land. She went back up and I flushed a Ringbill that cleared the dam on the end, but somehow she managed to be out of position and she tail chased him over the hill and quite a distance away before she broke off and came back. There was another Ringbill on the pond and I managed to push him out the end. She was quite a ways behind, but she was higher and used her speed and height to fly him down at the end of the field.

 I secured her and left her to eat at her leisure, and as much as she wanted. These are local ducks and don't have that much of a fat layer, so I just left her there while we discussed what had happened and let Thayen down to do a little exploring.

 When she slowed down, I picked her and her duck up and we loaded back up in the truck to give the Harris Hawks a chance to hunt. I don't hood her after she kills, and she finished her Duck breast while we were driving and hunting the Harris's.

We went to the hill again, but the rabbits had paid attention to where we hunted the last time, and had moved again. We did find this young one, and Sue caught him in a short intense flight. They both got a front leg to eat, before we moved on. They had several chances at other Rabbits, but neither one connected again.

I was a happy camper however. Jessie seems to be on track again, and the Harris's are really starting to crank it up a notch or two. The only thing that could make it better would be for the price of gas to go down.

Peg turns it on!- Oct 13

Perhaps Peg read the last post, since she seemed determined to make me eat my words. Her weight was not really any different than it has been for the last month or more, but she had fire in her eyes today.

John, Tami, and Thayen were my hunting pardners today. Peg had her feet on two Jacks today but wasn't able to hold either one, however she picked up enough fur to make a pair of gloves. She grabs with her right foot, which is the one that is deformed. She doesn't have as much grip or use with that one, but it is her dominate one, and a quick trip through a Sage bush will kick her off. She was on these rabbits so fast that Sue was never in quite a good enough position to give her any assistance. It was really quite amazing to see Peg crashing into and through the brush after the Jacks.

The Jacks again are really quite amazing creatures. I have always known that they were smart, and even have a sense of humor, but the ability to survive attacks of predators is amazing. Twists, turns, stops and starts to throw off their pursuers. I even saw the hawks crash into each other today in an attempt to catch  one Jack. Sue got back up off the ground and chased him some more. I picked Sue up and we jumped him again, this time Sue made a slashing dive into the ground, with the Jack squirting out of the bush, and Peg was right behind. When he ran by me, I thought that he looked weird. Tami went over to where all this had taken place and found that Sue had ripped his ear off along with another "glove".

 I have seen them with their tails ripped off, but this is the first ear. Sue is a head hunter anyway, but I thought she grabbed them in the butt first.

We moved on from there and both birds got after a Bunny, taking it up and over several clumps of Lava. Sue caught up with him at the end of the lump. 

All in all it was quite a hunt. I just hope that Peg will continue with this increased enthusiasm. Both birds are getting a lot of flying and are really strong. There are lots of things to chase, and they are at it from the time we get into the field until we leave several hours later.
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Jessie! 14th Oct

Yesterday afternoon at 3:30 PM I rolled out the plane and took a recon flight over the Lake on the ranch next door to check for ducks. There was in fact some flyable ducks on the Lake, so at 5 PM John, Karen and I picked up Tami and the kids for the effort. Tami and the family has been working on her Mews in an effort to get ready for an inspection by the ODFW. She needs that done before she can get a bird of her own. I pried her away with the promise that it would only take 15 minutes either way, whether Jessie caught a duck or missed.

Well to make a long story short, I turned Jessie loose, she took a look at the pond, and went to find some ducks. We all sat around on the hilltop and waited for her to come back.

Curly, who likes to sit on things, found that Isabel's lap was just perfect. Having a little kid to nose wasn't bad either.

I finally pulled out a pigeon and waved it. Jessie came back, but only for the pigeon. We walked up to the Lake and found it to be totally empty. They had left to feed, leaving me feeling foolish. I fed Jessie up, and we went on home.

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Rabbits again!

This morning after a beautiful sunrise, I loaded up the Harris Hawks for their hunt. John and I picked up Tami,

 and Thayen and headed to Arock. I decided to try a field adjacent to the one that we always hunt since I had been told that there were lots of Jacks there. I had not flown it because it is on the side of the hill, and Jacks always run uphill to stall the hawks out. I thought that the birds would have a hard time in that kind of terrain. It is really less than a sixth of the size of the area that we have been hunting.

We saw three Jacks while I getting the birds out of the truck. I let Sue out, and she sat on a post while I was getting Peg out of the truck. Sue flew down to their regular telephone pole. A Harrier and a Raven both flew down there to harass her. Sue got pissed and took off after the Raven, who soon convinced Sue that she was out matched. The Raven drove her down into the Sage, but declined to duke it out on the ground. Sue was screaming defiance, but the Raven wasn't impressed. Sue soon decided to rejoin us and dodged Ravens and Harriers on her way back.

The fence row is overgrown with Sage that is as tall as the fence and as such is a natural refuge for rabbits and Pheasants. We had a couple of futile chases for Jacks that stayed in the cover. One of the Jacks was running from Peg, saw me, did an abrupt right turn and ran head on into the base of a Sage that was as thick as my wrist. He knocked himself on his butt, but got back up and found a hole that he could get through. Then Peg started after a Fox Sparrow that it looked like she was going to catch. I climbed the fence to see if she did in fact catch it. After I got over the fence with only one cut, she hopped up on Tami's perch.

I decided that I was going to stay on that side to try to turn the Jacks out of the fence row for a good flight. It didn't take long and we flushed one that chose to run in the Alfalfa field next to the fence. Both birds were really stroking after him hard and gaining. He tried to duck into some Bull Thistles, but there was no hiding there and Sue slammed into him. I wheezed my way over the uneven ground and up the hill to help.

 I Killed the Jack, and tossed Peg a Bunny leg, and gave one to Sue. I then cleaned the Jack while they were eating their rewards. I climbed back over the fence leaving the birds to finish. They soon rejoined us, and we started on again. Normally they refuse several slips before they start chasing again. We walked up the hill intending to side hill to give the birds a chance of getting slips at Jacks that they could catch. As we started our turn a Jack busted out in between us and took off uphill, with Sue in hot pursuit. She had just about reached her stall speed but slammed into the ground in an attempt to grab him. Peg who was higher took a shot at him but though she missed, she turned him level to the hill. Sue got up off the ground and grabbed him in the butt. He was screaming and dragging her through the short Sage trying to scrape him off. Peg joined in and grabbed him in the face. I wanted to take a picture, but the Jack was still slamming Sue into the brush, so I tossed the camera to Tami while I controlled the Jack. By this time Peg had decided that she needed to drag him down the hill.

 Peg decided that I had him under control, so she let go and stepped back. Sue seeing an ungrabbed face reached around the bush and made sure she had control of him.

I tossed Peg a front leg from the first Jack, and picked up Sue with the other one. Two full grown Jacks are enough to carry.

Peg has been reluctant to come to the fist for food, and I have been working on her. Our last trip she finally came to Tami for the first time. She flew short distances to get closer, and then decided that it wasn't a trick and came all the way. Today, after she finished the leg, flew right up to Tami's fist for the rest of her meal.

Today was the best that it has ever been. It was amazing in that in five flights we had two adult Jacks in the bag. The smaller Sage and open terrain were big factors, but the cooperation  was the biggest factor. These birds are hard and in really good condition. They are carrying extra weight, but not fat. They are used to spending two to three hours chasing hard after Jacks and Bunnies, and they are slowly learning the game and the games that the rabbits play. We were done, even with gorging the birds, in less than an hour.

A little different

This will be a little different since I am hunting every day with different birds, it makes sense to consolidate two trips into one post. The first part will be hunting with the Harris's and the second with Jessie. Things with the Harris Hawks are beginning to be similar enough to be boring. The only difference mostly is whether they catch Bunnies or Jacks and how many. Things have settled into a routine such that there is little variation. Peg tries with varying degrees of intensity, and Sue pretty much carries the show.

Tami was sick today, so Karen agreed to go with me to help if necessary. We went to Arock so that Karen could take advantage of the better walking. She is doing pretty well, but the uneven ground really kicks her butt.

The rabbits at Arock have been chased so much that they are doing their best to remain unseen. I think that I found at least ten of them hiding in various clumps trying vainly to remain concealed. Perhaps some of them succeeded, but not all of them. All of the hiders did escape capture however. The birds are both crawling down holes after the Bunnies. It pays off just enough that they think that they might be able to drag them out of their hidey hole.

Hunting by myself is not a real problem, but carrying the two of them can be a real chore sometimes. They do get heavy after a while.


The slips that pay off the best are those that are in the semi open. Perhaps the open would do as well, but Sue almost always connects when the slips are close and the Sage isn't large enough for the Jacks to hide in. They still haven't learned how to counteract the Jacks and Bunnies tactic of suddenly stopping in a Sage bush. It is hilarious sometimes to see the Bunnies starting, stopping and dodging turning both hawks into each other trying to figure out just what the rascal is going to do next. Poor ole Peg really gets upset when she gets really close, and then misses because they stop, causing her to overshoot. She really gets vocal about it.

This fella however made the mistake of not having enough cover for those tactics to work. Sue caught up to him just as he tried to duck into a Sage bush.

 We had several close misses after this Jack, but I didn't push it too hard, being content with just one today. Peggy put in some hard chases, but just couldn't connect. I had fed them my supply of Bunny front legs when Sue caught this Jack, and since they were small and quickly eaten, I didn't get a chance to chunk up the Jack. I was trying to hide under the front of the truck to butcher the Jack for their finish meal, and Sue was slowly and surely tracking me down. They both got their fill of Jack Rabbit, and I didn't get any new wounds. We were both happy.















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Jessie, Oct 12th Second flight.

I picked Jessie up at 5 PM and this time I used the new Hood. Her weight was at 870 grams. We went over to the ranch, picked up Grace then went on to Appendix Pt. to give Jessie her second flight at Ducks. This time when given the chance to fly, she took to the air in a much more relaxed attitude. She was picking up altitude nicely, and I wanted to push the ducks to the end of the pond so that when they flew they would be over the ground quicker. Well it was a nice thought, but it didn't happen. I had thought that the ducks wouldn't fly unless necessary with her right up above them. I was wrong! They flew, and Jessie didn't wait, she bashed one into the water, then flew up to the rock cliff and sat.

 

She sat for about 15 minutes and then took off gaining much more altitude. The ducks weren't leaving, but she bashed another one into the water. From that point on, it was just an exercise in futility, so I called her down to the lure, and we trekked on home, with at least one of us smarter.

We traveled home with the Sunset in our rear view mirror.
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Jessie's Early start.

Those of you that followed Jessie's progress last year know that she can be a bit of a challenge. Last year I molted her in the mews, loose. I had to really take her weight down a lot more than I was comfortable with, and it seemed to take forever to get her conditioned. It took almost 20 days to get any strength built up. This year I didn't take her down past her flying weight and only flew her to the balloon twice before she was wanting to fly longer and ignore the balloon. Our last free flight to the balloon resulted in her flying for upwards of 45 minutes before she came back to the house, totally ignoring the balloon. Normally I don't fly my birds on opening day, to avoid the gun hunters. The Chukars are still really low, so the hunters are scarce as well. Saturday I rolled out the airplane to check cows and took a turn by Appendix Point to see if there was any evidence of hunters. There was none and there were Ducks on it. Wanting to keep the birds flying on alternate days I decided to wait for today to see how she was going to do with a chance at wild game.

We went over to the ranch to pick up Tami and the kids for Jessie's first hunting flight of the year. I very foolishly decided to use her old hood ( I have a new one courtesy of Ron Richter) as I felt that it might be more comfortable. I have not yet pulled the braces on her hood, although I have been putting her hood on her, just not tightening the braces. I was pretty sure that she was going to throw a fit when I did, and I wanted to make sure that it wasn't going to rub her any where. That turned out to be a mistake. She managed to throw her hood while we were driving the rough road to the pond and by the time we got there she was hot, frazzled and upset. I turned her loose anyway and she made a short circle around and landed on the rock cliff.

 We all walked up to be in position should she decide to take a pitch over the pond.

 You can see from her wing position that she is hot and tired from the trip. We all stood around waiting for her to get her breath back. She just sat as though she was very happy to be sitting on a rock cliff and there was no hurry to do anything. I am trying to develop patience. It is a trait that I have never been much good at, but this time I out did myself. This was Curly's first trip hunting and he was beside himself with excitement. That of course resulted in an over active set of bowels and he bracketed our little space with very smelly piles of the results of his stomach upset. There was no wind to speak of so we were surrounded by Eau de Dog. So after about 15 minutes of that, I decided to walk to the other side of the pond to where I went to flush Ducks last year, hoping that she would fly off the cliff and start hunting. No dice!

 So I went back and did the one thing guaranteed to make her fly. I called her to me. She is smart enough to know that if she succumbs to the temptation of the food in my hand, it is all over for the day. She considered trying to snatch it out of my hand, but the odds of that are slim, so she took to the air. 

 After a few turns she had enough height that I thought a flush was in order, so we rousted the ducks off the water and she cut through the flock and snatched one out of the air.She was a long way off when she went down, and all the ambulatory personnel started off to see if we could find her. I of course left my Telemetry receiver in the truck, so it was in essence an Easter Egg hunt. The Rabbit brush was just too high to see anything. I finally gave up and yelled to John to bring the truck as he and Karen were still back where we started.

 By the time that he got there, Isabel found her at the edge of the road that skirts the pond.

 I let her pluck and eat on the duck for a while and then offered her a Pigeon breast in exchange for the duck.

By this point she had plucked enough of it to feel satisfied and stepped to the pigeon willingly. She ate almost all the Pigeon so she was very happy and willingly jumped to her perch in the truck for the trip home. I will feed her the duck when she kills again. When we arrived she jumped to the edge of the truck side window to be picked up. A new and welcome trick that she has never shown before. Karen had gone in the house so I tried to take Jess's transmitter off her leg by myself. That brought out the old Jessie that I know so well. She tried to grab me so that she could bite me better. I sighed and took her to Karen, whom she allows such familiarities.

I am quite frankly very pleased and amazed at her improved behaviour this year. The molt on the block has kept her used to handling that she is much more pleasant to handle. She is no further behind on her molt that she would have had she been loose all year.