Full day of hunting

Tami agreed to come over today around noon to hunt Jasper and help me with Pud and Yogi. I wanted to take the girls out to one of my regular fields and further their relationship in the field.

We decided it would be best if we flew Jasper so that he could be eating while we were hunting the girls. He is very slow when he eats, and that would cut down on the time that she was gone.

Tami turned him loose and he checked the yard to see where the birds were hanging out. He finally flew to the A frame, and I went back to their normal escape hatch to block. One of them busted out right in front of him and the chase was on. It took refuge in the loafing shed. Tami went to it and I went to the chicken house, where the flight would most likely end up. As I neared the chicken pen, Jasper came whizzing out after the Sparrow, and landed on top of the pen. There were Sparrows all along the back rock wall, and I went to flush. When I got in the pen there was a Starling still in the pen. He made a flight to the front then the back and started squeezing out the end where they normally get out. As he was clearing the pen, Jasper met him and they tumbled down into the weeds with the Starling screaming bloody murder. Tami and I got there at about the same time, ( she had much further to go) and she went to help him. I was worried about the Starling's formidible beak, but Jasper had his beak inoperable since he had a talon in his mouth. Tami went to help him and I ran ( figuratively of course ) for my camera.

 This little guy really cracks me up. There is no fear, nor hesitation in him at all. He is all business when you take him out of the box. You will notice in this and the following photo's that he has hold of Tami's finger. He was still in killing mode and her finger moved. He has it in a "death grip". I had to pry his talons out of her finger. She mentioned that it didn't hurt nearly as much as when Puddy grabbed her while I was gone.

We opened up the brain for him and waited until he had the breast opened, then sat him on Jessie's inside perch to finish his meal while we hunted the girls.

It was Yogi's first time in a giant hood and I must say that she was an unwilling participant. She rattled around a bit at first. She seemed OK when we got to the field, and sat on a Tee perch while we started. We jumped a Bunnie the first few yards from the car and both birds were after it. Yogi after her first try at it went to the top of a telephone pole that was close by. We jumped it again and Pud took a shot at it, then Yogi came sailing off the pole and put in a really great shot of her own. The Bunny had seen enough and retired to his hole until things got a little quieter.

The whole trip was like that. The girls tried hard, but the closest we got was a foot full of fur that might have included the tail. We chased Bunny after Bunny, as well as Jacks, Pheasant, ( that one was really close) and Quail for 3 full hours. Yogi showed some insight into a bit more advanced hunting techniques than Pud. Pud even started copying some of them. Once Yogi gets into shape and gets used to the differences of the terrain that she is hunting in, things will get serious. They worked their butts off, and as the evening got a bit later the Voles started coming out. Yogi's first official kill was a nice Vole. ("Timber Tiger" ) She is quite fastidious when she eats. Pud wanted to help, but I kept her at bay with the Tee Perch.

My guilt in keeping Tami out so long finally kicked into overdrive, and we went back to the car. Pud has seen that routine before and flew off so that I couldn't put her up. Yogi followed suit, so I called Pud to a chunk of Jack. I then gave her to Tami to feed while I called Yogi. I gave Yogi the bottom part of a Jack's hind leg. There is no way to hold one in your fist, so she soon had control of it. She felt that it would be much nicer to eat it on the ground. I insisted that she eat it on the fist. Finally after two tries to go to the ground, she dropped it. I bent over to get it, and Yogi growled the way that pissed Harris's do, and bit me on the ear. It was so funny that I couldn't stop laughing. She then ate her food while I laughed all the way to the car. Tami said that it was scraped a bit, but I didn't bleed. If she had wanted to hurt me she would have used her feet.

I will take her out again tomorrow to see if we can get a Jack in her feet. They did really well together. They shared the same perch a few times, and learned to watch the other for clues when game was afoot. When they learn to use the other to set up shots at game, things will start happening.