Back in the groove again.

Yogi has not been putting in the required effort to actually catch rabbits. She has been going through the motions, but on the whole, she has been coasting. That is just not acceptable! I began three days ago, cutting her weight, and taking her out on her own. I wanted her to have no excuses or anyone to depend on. The first day did not last all that long. She refused several Jacks, so I took her home with no food other than the tidbits required to pick her up. She lost down to about 1125 Grams. The next day I took her out, and she didn't really want to hunt with me, but to go off on her own as she was used to doing while she was in the wild. That one didn't last all that long either. She lost down to 1100 grams. Yesterday I again took her out, and she was trying for all she was worth, but it was obvious that she needed some of the type of help that Pud could supply. On the whole, a thinking and unhurried Jack Rabbit is a safe Rabbit. About the only way that the girls catch one is to keep it unsure of where the danger is coming from. She came so close to catching one of the close ones that I was amazed that she had not in fact caught it. She again went off on her own to hunt. I called her back to the lure, only feeding her a bunny front leg, before taking her home.

Today Tami was able to go with me to help, so we took both birds. Pud is still a bit high, but Yogi was at 1120 grams. I expected Puddy to catch something pretty fast, but to my great surprise Yogi took off and climbed up a bit, then turning over, slamming through the Sage to stop a fleeing Bunny.

 Puddy flew over to see if there was room for her to jump in, but Yogi had it pretty well covered, and I was able to interject the T Perch, and hold her off long enough for Tami to get a hand full of tidbits to placate her.

We went on after feeding Yogi a front leg. She was still quite anxious to hunt. Apparently the bunnies are not all that filling, at least front legs aren't. :-) We got a few more slips, and Yogi was giving it her all, while Puddy was sulking, and not trying at all. Yogi took a perch on the fence line, and didn't want to leave. I had to toss my glove up in the air to get her to come. Pud of course grabbed it. I finally got it away from her, and we turned away from the fence.

 We had not gone too far when a Jack busted right beside Tami and Yogi. Yogi jumped high in the air and came down over some rocks and nailed the Jack. This time the front end was empty and Puddy wasted no time in jumping in. 

 We got them separated, by offering Yogi another leg. Pud also came off quite well with a leg from the Jack. I retired to the bushes to clean and skin the rabbits, as well as to rip the bunny apart for their meal. We were in the field about an hour. This is Yogi's first time to make a double, and both of these were caught without the added distraction of Pud as well. A few days of "tough love" and no food will change any raptors mind set. Even with the late start that we have had, they have caught 20 Rabbits. That is not a lot by any stretch of the imagination, but I am not "campaigning" them either.

Jessie was again at weight and anxious to have me pick her up to hunt, so after we got home, I did a few chores and at 4PM I went to get her. She was still down about an ounce from where I normally consider her ideal flying weight.

After much consideration of the last few days of hunting, my brain finally understood what she has been doing. I have been trying to hunt in front of Tami's house. There are generally one or two ducks in there, but the major flocks are further down the creek. Jessie, as all intelligent raptors are wont to do, will go to where the game is. It is much easier to see a large flock of ducks and go there, patiently waiting for her dumb shit falconer to come down there and flush them for her. What she has been doing is flying really high for her (3 to 400 feet) until she gets tired, then sitting down to do it again, and I have been up the creek without a clue, waiting for her to come to me. It is so obvious that I am a bit embarrassed.

The creek is called Crooked Creek, and for good reason. The area that the ducks prefer is a series of tight serpentine curves where the creek is a bit wider.  Last night was better, but again, I missed seeing, because of preconceived ideas. I asked Tami to go further up the creek, and we would bracket them by about 100 yards. We would then either be in position to block them and to keep ducks in the air as well. Good ideas, but I still fell down. I turned her loose way too far from the creek, thinking that she was just enjoying the ability to fly. Not so! She kept circling one area, and while I adjusted, I didn't go far enough down the creek to hit them right. Instead I hit them in the middle and they choose to go down the creek away from Tami. While we got her some shots, they were not anywhere what she should have had. About the only chance she had was a head on shot with Mallard drakes. She once broke her leg by hitting a Drake Mallard head on, and I consider her smart to avoid that kind of thing. So again we wasted all her energy, and she had to come to the lure.

We had found a closer area to drive to that did not leave us a nasty walk through the Grease wood. This time, my brain was working a bit better, and I realized what she had been doing. As I walked down towards the creek, I could hear ducks down the creek, but she kept her circles tight in one spot. I adjusted and came in at the edge of her flight circles and flushed a pile of Mallards up the creek to Tami. She waved her arms and yelled, turning them inland. One separated out of the flock and was trying to cut back to the creek just in front of me. Jessie came out of her stoop on an interception course, dropping lower than he was and hit him a slight uppercut in either the head or the neck, knocking him out of the air with a whack. She turned a tight circle and landed on him. When I got there the ducks head was stuck in a Grease Wood Bush and Jessie was trying to drag him out. I helped her pull him to the open, and I kept him from beating her with his wings.

 This is the first time in four years that she has hit one from the front. I know that she was frustrated with the past few days, and was not about to go home without a full crop.

After she had killed him and drank a bit of his blood, she began to pluck. I offered her a Pigeon and she was only too glad to trade. I secured her to my bag and left her alone to eat while I cleaned the duck. After I was done, I picked her up with absolutely no objections on her part and we walked back to the car while she finished the Pigeon.

Quite a day! I got one of my hawks to listen to me, and Jessie got me to listen to her.