Bunny!

The morning dawned colder than it has been since last Feb. I sat the Patio Tomato back under the porch last night, but it was not enough. Twenty Four degrees is a bit much for Tomatoes I guess. I stalled until the temps climbed up into the low 30's before I even ventured out to do the chores. Karen decided that she was well enough to go with me, so I took my time getting ready, letting her believe that I was being considerate.

Pud was actually down a bit lower than I had intended, coming in at 812 grams. My choices were to feed her something and throw another log on the fire, or hunt her until she showed signs of being too low. I chose action, since the temps had climbed above freezing.

She flew out and landed on the rock jack at the corner of the fence as normal, coming to the perch after I crossed the fence. There was a Jack hiding in the Sage not 15 feet in front of us and she crashed into the brush after him, unfortunately just a bit behind. She was actually crashing brush much better today than she had, not because of her reduced weight, actually more because of her increasing experience. She chased almost every rabbit that jumped, near or far.

I watched some Pheasants fly into the Bull Thistles down by the alfalfa fields, so we wandered that way just for the heck of it. I crossed the creek and into the tall Sage,  she took off and slammed into the Sage after something. I saw a Rooster Pheasant running away from the scene, so I tried to cut it off. It headed back in the Sage, and Pud came back across the creek and did her best Coopers imitation racing through the Sage tunnels a heck of a lot faster than I would have thought she could do. Unfortunately the Rooster had enough and busted out for safer ground. Pud stood there for a bit, then a hen that she had run past without seeing, took the other exit out of the scene of the action as well.

We went through a sort of hot spot that held both Jacks and Pheasants without touching anything. Pud was more serious, but still had her moments of trying to find the perfect spot to crash into a Jack. We took a couple of breaks for Karen, or at least Karen sat down and Pud and I walked circles around her looking for that one rabbit that would go home with us. The Eagles are gathering for the fall migration and we had three hanging on the thermals over us. It seemed that every where we turned there was an Eagle, and fur patches on the ground. We have a lot more competition than I would like.

Just about the time that I decided that I was going to have to take Karen back to the car, Pud took off after a Jack that topped a little hill and we could hear him screaming. I hurried in their direction, but the Jack broke loose as I got within sight.

you can see the hair in the grass where she had caught him. Unfortunately she was trapped on the other side of the main stem of the Sage bush, and he pulled free. She was a bit cranky about that.

This is the first time that Karen has been with us in a long time, and apparently Pud missed her. She kept trying to fly to her so often that I gave Karen my glove so that she would be able to land on her fist. I threatened to take it back as it was getting to be a distraction for her.

As Karen stopped to rest a third time, we jumped a Jack and Pud gave chase. She slammed into a bush with an audible thump and then got up off the ground to take another shot at him, slamming into another Sage. Even though she missed it was the first time that she has made another attempt at game in the same flight. Things are looking up. That is what you want to see in a hunting hawk, the refusal to take no for an answer. Those kind of birds are the ones that succeed.

As we walked on towards the car, a bunny jumped and Pud flashed off after it. She did a wing over and a thin scream floated back to us.

 It was unusual that she caught this one so far from cover. That is not normally the case. The bunny's are sneaky little critters, that are much more difficult to catch than Jacks.

 She was really excited. It had torqued her jaws quite a bit to loose that Jack, and she was going to hang onto this one no matter what.

She got the rabbit and I got my trophy, both of us are happy.

We took our time going back to the car. I had given her a Jack rib cage with heart and lungs to keep her occupied while I was cleaning the Bunny. When she finished with that I gave her the bunny's rear leg to eat. When she finished that I gave her the head to work on while we walked to the car. She had not finished by the time we arrived so we sat in the sunshine and talked while she dismembered the skull. When she finished, I opened the door to her box and she willingly jumped in for the trip home.

We spent four hours hunting this beautiful fall morning, with me enjoying the company of the woman that I love and a hawk that is showing more promise every trip. My heart sings with gratitude.